-add of the use of Facebook in ES2007S was that content-relevant topics that had not been discussed thoroughly enough in class – or perhaps not dealt with at all – could be shared within the course community.
To summarize, through the Facebook wall posting process, students were being encouraged first to source for relevant content, and then to share that with coursemates, who could build upon that material in their own manner. Ultimately, through this posting and the commenting process, each student was furthering their knowledge in a socially active manner. Learning in such a way, as Siemens (2004) states, “is no longer an internal, individualistic activity.”
The Facebook platform also gave the instructor an enhanced role to play, one for collaborating out of class in these “conversations” on the student-generated themes. This was in addition to the more conventional instructor role of introducing material for student consideration and connecting that to an academic theory, as demonstrated by the post in Figure 7:
Figure 7: ES2007S instructor posting a relevant article link
Of note in this post is that 13 students – eight from one tutorial group and five from another – ‘liked’ the link, meaning that they had accessed and reviewed the New York Times photo essay. Of those 13, four made comments. What is also noteworthy is that two of the student commentators reflected not on the instructor’s original post or on the photo essay but on the accompanying remark made by a fellow student. Once again, these students are utilizing the Facebook page – though non-compulsory – as a place for an explicit “conversation” with their peers.
A final way that the Facebook page was used in ES2007S was for administrative purposes. At the end of the term, the ES2007S instructor reminded students via the Facebook wall of his earlier request for them to do an online survey regarding their course Facebook experience. Even in this instance, the platform’s value-add became apparent, as evidenced through one of the follow up comments made to the instructor’s post (see Figure 8):
Figure 8: ES2007S instructor request for students to do an online survey
Of obvious merit in the comment by the second student is the assertion that convenience and engagement are enhanced when materials are presented on an easy-to-access social media platform such as Facebook.
Student feedback: ES2002
To gather and record student perceptions and beliefs about using Facebook on the course, the 39 ES2002 students from three tutorial groups in one semester were asked to complete a survey at the end of the semester. The survey used a Likert scale (from strongly agree to strongly disagree) to assess student responses to questions about their use of the class Facebook page in general, as well as their perceptions about the advantages and disadvantages of the course Facebook page. A summary of the survey findings is provided in Appendix 1.
The results of the survey were extremely positive. 97% of the students watched course related materials using links made on the class Facebook page. This is supported by the fact that over 97% of students found the links their peers and the instructor posted useful. 89% of respondents found searching and sharing information effective for learning whilst 100% thought accessing/viewing video links and articles were effective for learning. In addition, 94% agreed with the statement,
“Having a course FB page helped me better understand communication principles and effective practice”.
This positive feedback is further supported by the qualitative comments the students gave in the survey. When asked what they thought the strengths of having a course Facebook page are (see Appendix 2), students remarked how accessible, convenient and useful it is for sharing information. A number of students stated that it was a more interactive way to communicate. Others mentioned the idea that it extended the curriculum, making it more extensive. Indeed, one student wrote,
“…the curriculum becomes more comprehensive as it exposes us to information we would usually