How to use Facebook to make a "virtual" study group.

1. Facebook For “Virtual” Study Groups At Texas State Technical College, you are often given assignments that require you to meet with your fellow students in groups. At times, this can be quite challenging due to rising gas prices, commitments to children, or TSTC having so many students that are geographically dispersed.

3. Setting up your personal profile

4. Sending files back and forth

5. Sending and receiving private messages. If you follow the step by step instructions below, you will not only be able to accomplish the above, but will be well on your way to utilizing Facebook for even more.

6. How to Use Facebook for “Virtual” Study Groups Instructions Step One: At your computer, with your internet browser open, type the following website address: www.facebook.com . You will see the following home page:

7. Step Two: You will need to follow any directions for security that Facebook asks you for, such as typing a list of security letters. Once you do so, click on the button that says “sign up” (again).

8. Step Three: You will then be taken to a page that has email accounts. You can look for your friends, or fellow students from your study group, if they are already on your email list. Facebook will search through your existing email lists to find them. This is probably the easiest way to locate your friends and fellow students. You don't have to do this and you can click on “skip this step” if you like.

9. Step Four: You will then be taken to the profile information page. It will ask you for your high school, college and employer information. This will make it easier for your fellow students to find you if you put TSTC under college. As with the previous step, you can choose to “skip this step”.

10. Step Five: The next page will be the profile picture page. To make it easier for your fellow students, and friends, to differentiate you from the many other people that might share your first and last name around the planet, you can upload a picture of yourself for your profile. They will be able to see your photo and instantly recognize you. This might be a wise idea when time is of the essence. You can choose to upload a photo from your hard drive or using your computer's webcam, if you like. Once you are done, you can click on “save and continue” or choose “skip” which is located right next to that button (but in much smaller letters).

11. Step Six: From here you will be taken to the welcome to Facebook page. At this time you continue to customise your Facebook page and application by simply following the instructions that Facebook asks for.

13. Upload a picture of yourself as your default profile. This is in case you didn't find one previously or want a different one from the one you used initially.

14. Fill out your profile information

16. You can do a search for people you know next. These should be the TSTC students that are currently in your study group. If they already have a facebook account, and followed these instructions, they should be easy to find. You can also use this to find your friends that are outside of your study group.

17. Next you will be able to control exactly what information you share on Facebook. Security is important; however, for the goals of these instructions (to form a virtual study group), you can learn more about this by following the instructions. All pages on Facebook have a “help” button at the bottom.

18. At this point, you can click on the button that says “home” on the top right. Your friends, that are online shall appear on the left. The middle part is your “wall” where you and your fellow classmates can comment about your assignment publicly or you can choose to private message in real time.

19. Closing You have now succeeded in making your Facebook account and are ready to use it as a tool for “virtual study groups” and social networking With the price of gas looking like it will go into the stratosphere, Facebook is a great alternative to driving to someone's home (that might be in another city) to have a study group. Having a weapon and not using it, is the same as not having one. You now have Facebook. Use it wisely. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at: [email_address] Best of luck!