Is Facebook still a suitable technology‐enhanced learning environment? An updated critical review of the literature from 2012 to 2015

Abstract

This study provides an updated critical review of the literature on Facebook as a technologyenhanced learning environment based on papers published between 2012 and 2015. It adopts a revised classification of the categories identified in a previous study, which emphasized three main Facebook affordancesmixing information and learning resources, hybridization of expertise and widening context of learning. The aim is to investigate to what extent studies using Facebook as a learning environment exploited these affordances. Literature has been also analysed according to three types of educational use of Facebookformal use in formal learning settings (FUF), informal use in formal learning settings (IUF) and use in informal learning settings (UI)to highlight if and how Facebook affordances have been exploited in these learning settings. Literature search identified 147 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The results show that most of the articles can be classified as dealing with FUF (N = 69; 46.9%) or as IUF (N = 68; 46.3%); only a minority concerns the UI (N = 10; 6.8%). Overall, the study found that Facebook pedagogical affordances are still partially implemented, although different types of educational use of Facebook exploit these affordances to different degrees. It also provides indications for future research.

“WhatsApp, Teacher?” - Student Perspectives on Teacher-Student WhatsApp Interactions in Secondary Schools

“…However, the majority of existing research has focused on adult, higher education (e.g., Deng & Tavares, 2013;Hew, 2011;Jones, Blackey, Fitzgibbon, & Chew, 2010;Junco & Cotton, 2012;Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010;Manca & Ranieri, 2016;Wang, Woo, Quek, Yang, & Liu, 2012), on researcher-initiated interventions (e.g., Puhl, Tsovaltzi, & Weinberger, 2015;Wang et al, 2012), or on the potential of such tools (e.g., DeGroot, Young, & VanSlette, 2015;Labus, Despotović-Zrakić, Radenković, Bogdanović, & Radenković, 2015;Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman & Witty, 2010;Teclehaimanot & Hickman, 2011). Few studies have investigated the actual, spontaneous use and uptake of these tools by teachers and students in secondary schools.…”

From tweeting to meeting: Expansive professional learning and the academic conference backchannel

“…Specifically, we investigate whether and how use of the microblog, Twitter, as a conference backchannel, facilitated professional learning and expanded sites for participation in the 2012 and 2016 annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). While research on social media in education has focused largely on undergraduate or graduate education and is driven by surveys rather than examinations of practice (Greenhow & Askari, ; Greenhow, Cho, Dennen, & Fishman, in press; Manca & Ranieri, , ), our work focuses on adult learners, a professional learning context in two time periods and combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of actual tweets. In addition, as scholars’ use of social media varies by discipline, and research on education scholars’ social media practices generally (Veletsianos, , ; Veletsianos & Kimmons, , ), and their digital backchanneling specifically (Kimmons & Veletsianos, ; Li & Greenhow, ), is nascent, this paper aims to contribute to the growing research in this area.…”

Exploring educators’ professional learning ecologies in a blended learning environment

“…Digital media, of course, have played a pivotal role in this transformation process. Social network sites provide an exemplary case of how digital technologies support extended opportunities to learn by weakening the boundaries between formal and informal, personal and professional, friendships and professional belonging (Manca & Ranieri, , ). That said, there is still a relatively low level of understanding of how learning ecologies work, how they impact on the development of learning agency, especially for professionals who need a personalised approach to learning (Giampaolo, ), and how they influence the building up of professional identities.…”