This study seeks to extend current research on the social networking site Facebook by examining the effects on Teacher/Student communication when information is learned online versus offline. The purpose of the study is to understand how communication on Facebook can influence classroom relationships between teachers and students. The theoretical construct Social Capital provides a foundation for this exploration. This study proposed four hypotheses. First, students want to be friends with faculty on Facebook. Second, faculty/students will be more willing to communicate with other faculty/students if they are friends on Facebook. Third, students are more confident in communicating with their instructors in and out of class if their instructors have a Facebook profile. Fourth, the relationships between Faculty and Students, resulting from Facebook, promote classroom learning experience and academic outcome. The two online surveys yielded 811 students and 114 faculty for a total of 925 respondents.

While each of the four hypotheses were rejected, the study identified overall significance in two of the dimensions of Social Capital and how they specifically relate to Facebook's affect on Teacher/Student communication.