This is an example of how the online environment can be used to increase social interaction in the face-to-face class.
First year university students often comment on feeling isolated as they move from a highly cohesive high school class environment to large lecture style education. International students also find the first year experience difficult and often feel they can't easily interact with local students. As part of his first year architecture course, McCarthy used the online environment, through Facebook try to break down some of these barriers and help students build social relationships with their peers. A Facebook group was created where students could post images and review and comment on each others submissions. He found that at the end of the course there was an increase in social interaction between the students in the online environment as well as face-to-face.
Comments from the students:
"The best thing about the Facebook galleries was that they got everyone talking from day one - all of a suddent I had all these new friends on Facebook and from there friends in class." (local Student)
"It was great being able to communicate with the other students – due to my language skills I couldn’t do this at first in class, but the galleries helped everyone get to know each other, and by the end of the course I was much more confident." (international student)
The results were quite interesting you can read the article here and a more recent update on the project from the ascilite conference here.
References
McCarthy, J 2009, Utilising Facebook: immersing Generation-Y students into first year university, The Journal of the Education Research Group of Adelaide, Vol 1, No 2, Feb 2009, https://www.adelaide.edu.au/erga/ergo/ergo_v1n2_p39-50.pdf
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This makes a lot of sense to me, Dayle. What strikes me is that the total number of students was 100 and that so many students responded positively in regards to the impact of the task on f2f social interaction. I would not have been surprised if it were a group of 20. I wonder if the FB page helped students interact socially with just two or three others, but that this was enough t make them feel less isolated?
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that connecting with just two or three others would be enough as these kinds of things seem to grow exponentially.
ReplyDeleteI think large classes (although 100 is not considered that large for 1st year uni) often make it more difficult to interact as students get lost in the sea of bodies in the lecture theatre. Facebook makes it easy to connect with people and the image gallery gave students something to talk about. Also, these students were mostly already using facebook (75% in 2008 and 91%in 2009) so the environment was familiar and comfortable... unlike a cold scary lecture theatre!
I think its a great idea for university students, as the paper states: "The galleries allowed students to connect with each other in a
ReplyDeletevirtual environment, and thus to develop academic relationships freed from the constraints of the classroom and their own inhibitions. Through the use of such collaborative learning, students were able to engage with their peers and develop a sense of belonging within the learning community." But I guess these students are 'adults' and can make sensible decisions. I wonder how it would go in a secondary school (13+ of course!) Maybe superclubs plus is the answer to this idea? AT least the VIT agree with this (as far as I know). Andrea
Hi Dayle,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this article - it is fascinating. I love the idea that it only takes a connection with one or two others to make a difference to the quality of the student learning and engagement.
In the 2004 study
"Linking thinking - Self-directed learning in the digital age"
Philip Candy makes this point about the nature of online learning - and the McCarthy/Facebook study seems to be a great illustration of this blurring of boundaries...
"The boundaries between online learning and other life activities are becoming increasingly indistinct because technologies are becoming seamlessly woven into work, leisure, shopping and banking, social activities and other domains of people’s lives."
http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/training_skills/publications_resources/summaries_brochures/linking_thinking.htm
I think facebook is a good tool if managed responsibly. Although I work with students who are technically adults, their irresponsible behaviour among some is very frequent. A lot of it is to do with the language they use and facebook really has no block on that sort of thing. Perhaps a more controlled online social environment would be applicable (certainly where I teach). Definitely a good idea, but a similar face to face activity might be more secure?
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