International Journal of Education and Social Science (IJESS)

Online teaching and learning environments have been booming worldwide. However, many universities cannot afford learning management systems. This qualitative study explores the possibility of using social media sites for online instruction due to the fact that their prominent utilities are similar to those of learning management systems. Through purposeful sampling, four university professors using social media sites for online instruction were selected as participants for this research. Data was gathered and triangulated from participant interviews, observations of participants’ online courses on social media sites, and documents collected from their online courses. Thematic findings revealed that powerful features: Discussion board, collaboration, and community features of social media sites play vital roles in the active online learning environment. It is believed that the significance of the research findings can be transferred to the similar online instructional contexts where learning management systems cannot be afforded. Index Terms: Qualitative research, LMS, Social media sites,