Development Of Social Networks-Based Learning Scale: Validity And Reliability Study

The use of social networks, which have become widespread nowadays for learning purposes is seen as important and valuable in terms of informal learning. It is seen that social networks and social media applications are now becoming part of a world called Social Web (Web 2.0) and educators attempt to make learning unique and customized. This research aims to develop a scale for determining how learning is actualized on social networks. A pool of 47 items was created as a result of literature review and discussions with pre-service teachers. For expert view, 6 experts gave their ideas using 7 point likert scale. Then, validity index of the each item and overall scale were calculated. Scale applied to two different groups. For the construct validity of the scale, exploratory factor analysis was conducted with data collected from 350 pre-service teachers and confirmatory factor analysis was done with another study group including 325 pre-service teachers. After the model was verified with confirmatory factor analysis, the Social Networks-Based Learning Perception Scale was developed as a 20 - item four-factor scale. Cronbach Alpha coefficient correlation was found out to be (α)=.90 and explained variance to be (%58.14). Additionally, Pearson Moment Correlation analysis showed that there was a high level of correlation between individual items and overall score. The four-factor structure, which shows the ideal values with the help of modification indexes, indicate that the Social Networks- Based Learning Perception Scale is valid and reliable and can be used in future research