Exploring Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use of Facebook as a Tool for Continuous Assessment in a Sri Lankan State University

Abstract

This study aimed to explore how a group of English as a second language students (ESL) of a Management Faculty at a state university in Sri Lanka perceived the usefulness and ease of use of Facebook (FB) as a tool for Continuous Assessment (CA). It was imperative to assess students' perceptions regarding the implementation of FB for CA, as it represents a novel concept within the institute where this study took place. The study involved 257 participants, 191 females and 66 males. Data were collected through two open-ended questions, and the measurement scales developed and validated by Davis (1989) were used to analyze the usefulness and ease of use of FB. Findings indicate that most of the participants perceive FB as a useful tool for CA. As for its ease of use, only a few participants commented. The study's conclusion suggests that while FB has potential as a tool for CA, improvements are necessary regarding its ease of use. This study contributes to the current debate on the use of social media platforms as tools for CA, in higher educational contexts.