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Facebook and the Societal Aspects of Formal Learning: Optional, Peripheral, or Essential

Facebook and the Societal Aspects of Formal Learning: Optional, Peripheral, or Essential
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Author(s): Carolyn Woodley (Victoria University, Australia)and Petrina Dorrington (Open University, Australia)
Copyright: 2014
Pages: 23
Source title: The Social Classroom: Integrating Social Network Use in Education
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Gorg Mallia (University of Malta, Msida, Malta)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-4904-0.ch014

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Abstract

An online subject used social media to provide “collaborative spaces” that were “additional and complementary” to discussion in the university’s Learning Management System (LMS). Facebook and Twitter provided optional “informal spaces” in which students “talk about general issues to do with media and connect with other students in the unit.” This chapter’s analysis of Facebook posts shows a cooperative group of peers providing advice on assessment and recommending useful resources. Analysis, however, reveals that, as well as supportive posts, a proportion of posts could be considered inappropriate, distracting, or even, infrequently, inflammatory. Guidelines about acceptable behaviour must be imposed by teaching staff. More importantly, optional participation in social media sites requires critical consideration. If Facebook is used as a student support space for an online subject, it should be integrated into the curriculum and have an explicit purpose; making social media sites optional alongside mandatory university-supported platforms can prove problematic.

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