Using Facebook to Engage Learners in a Large Introductory Course

Abstract

Classes of hundreds pose special challenges for teaching and learning. Notable among these challenges is the tendency for students to feel like anonymous spectators rather than active, collaborative participants. To combat this tendency, we used the popular social networking site Facebook to cultivate a sense of community among 200-plus students in an Introduction to Sociology course. The Facebook Group proved a powerful tool for community-building and learning. We describe our Facebook Group, present evidence of its benefits in the course, and discuss the pedagogical potential of social media.

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

“…The purpose to informally involve as many students as possible was specifically claimed in large classes or in MOOCs, where cultivating a sense of community was also an objective (Bowman & Akcaoglu, ; Dougherty & Andercheck, ; Dyson et al, ; Harvey et al, ).…”

“…With reference to Facebook affordances, more than half of the studies ( N = 36, 52.9%) exploited the combination of instructional material with information and knowledge sources produced elsewhere and available through several channels (Alexander & Sapra, ; Arouri, ; Asterhan & Hever, ; Barden, ; Baya'a & Daher, ; Birkeland et al, ; Brewer et al, ; Clements, ; da Silva de Vargas et al, ; Daher, , ; Deng & Tavares, ; Dougherty & Andercheck, ; Dyson et al, ; Ekoç, ; Esteves, ; Gabarre et al, ; Gray & Howard, ; Hall & Maughan, ; Harvey et al, ; Ho, ; Jaffar, ; Kim, ; Kinchin & Bryant, ; Kostka‐Rokosz et al, ; Krom, ; Lantz‐Andersson et al, ; Lieberman, ; Magogwe et al, ; McCarthy, , ; Rashid & Rahman, ; Razak et al, ; Román & Martín, ; Sincar, ; Whittaker et al, ).…”

“…Twenty‐four (35.3%) studies exploited the possibility of mixing the context of learning with issues relating to social and personal lives, by means of personal reflections provided by students' real‐life and personal experiences (Barden, ; Baya'a & Daher, ; Birkeland et al, ; Brewer et al, ; Daher, , ; Deng & Tavares, ; Dougherty & Andercheck, ; Dyson et al, ; Ekoç, ; Gray & Howard, ; Hall & Maughan, ; Kim, ; Kostka‐Rokosz et al, ; Krom, ; Lantz‐Andersson, ; Lantz‐Andersson et al, ; Lieberman, ; McCarthy, ; Rashid & Rahman, ; Razak et al, ; Román & Martín, ; Sincar, ; Whittaker et al, ).…”

Students and Corporate Social Media: Do College Students Care about Social Media Usernames?

“…Social media can play an integral role in the adjustment to college by helping students gain support from peers (DeAndrea, Ellison, LaRose, Steinfield, & Fiore, 2012). In addition, through social media like Facebook, the academic learning experience can be increased (Dougherty & Andercheck, 2014). The authors of all these studies would agree that social media is a large influence in a student's life, hence it is an important topic to study.…”

Social Media in Higher Education

“…Another common objective for social media use is facilitating or continuing discussions beyond the classroom environment, particularly in courses that meet infrequently, as well as prompting students to reflect on their course experiences. Several scholars have described the integration of Twitter for these purposes (George & Dellasega, ; Junco, Heiberger, & Loken, ; Megele, ), whereas other interventions have focused on Facebook (Dougherty & Andercheck, ), blogs (Schroeder et al., ), Google Plus (Kivunja, ), or private social sharing site Ning (Hung & Yuen, ; Junco, Elavsky, & Heiberger, ). One intervention described by George and Dellasega () used Twitter to supplement in‐class discussion in a medical humanities course by requiring students to respond to writing prompts from their instructor and their classmates and then, later in the term, collaboratively edit these responses into a cohesive narrative on a shared blog.…”