Abstract

The study brings out those opportunities Facebook offers to foster effective communication between students and teachers. Communication between students and teachers is no longer limited in the classroom.

The introduction of Social Networking sites particularly Facebook has completely changed student-teacher interactions. The purpose of the study is to research on student-teacher interaction on Facebook.

Facebook is a utility for social activities with potentials that are yet to be exploited in academics. Up to date, the use of Facebook is considered as playful, time-wasting and a distractive factor from schoolwork. The behaviours students and teachers portray on Facebook has little to contribute to academic as students prefer the classroom to Facebook. Thus there is a need to project these classroom interactions on Facebook so as to boast teaching given the benefits Facebook offers.

The quantitative sampling technique employed is called cluster sampling where the researcher divided the student population in the University of Buea into N groups (Departments), called clusters. Facebook has been noted to have a strong influence on academics and it educational potentials are numerous.

Students constitute a greater proportion of Facebook’s users and this provides enough evidence for educators to implement Facebook as a teaching tool. In this finding, 48% of student-teacher interactions exist on Facebook with 44% directed towards academics. Academic issues remain the main reason teachers communicate with students on Facebook. Students and teachers use Facebook as a tool to enhance classroom communication. Facebook has become a learning tool that is well received and used by students today.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Chapter one embodies a general introduction to the work. It presents the statement of the problem, objectives and significance of the study. This is preceded by a background discussion which gives a brief overview of how Facebook is changing the method of communication between students and teachers.

1.1 Background to the Study

The emergence of Facebook has changed the manner students and teachers communicate. Students and teachers used other means of communication to complement classroom communication. Interpersonal communication has been the basic method for transmitting information between students and teachers. This occurs in the classroom which is the oldest platform for student-teacher interaction.

The constant evolutions in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are fast changing the way students communicate with their teachers. Beside the classroom, students interact with teachers using WhatApp, Email, Skype, MySpace, Twitter, Friendster and Facebook. The use of Facebook interaction is common among students and teachers as many students have Facebook account and are more interested in Facebook campaigns.

In Canada, teachers sign up on Facebook mainly because many students are on Facebook (Hewitt and Forte, 2007) and 90% of students at the undergraduate level use Facebook for communication (Stutzman, 2006).

Facebook has ameliorated students’ interaction with teachers. Facebook is fast dominating the classroom.  Students can be well informed ahead of time on issues related to course work. Facebook is a tool for research and makes available a network where students can easily communicate and share ideas concerning academics. Facebook has the potential to promote collaboration among teachers, students and educators.

As students communicate with teachers on Facebook, a community is created. This community helps students and teachers to build and maintain a relationship on Facebook. Students spend time and energy creating and maintaining relationships with teachers who share similar interests and ideas (Maloney, 2007).

The existence of a relationship between students and teachers helps students to be motivated and active in classroom participation. The interaction between students and teachers brings about numerous opportunities and generate information that can assist the creation of course materials. School administrators are facing difficulties in building a relationship between students and teachers in the classroom. With Facebook the whole process is complicated.

1.2 The Origin and Educational Potentials of Social Network Sites

Social Networking Sites (SNS) are platforms on the internet that allow users to communicate freely with one another. They are easy to use and require no formal training. Social network sites in recent years have become a major field for communication research and remain the most used site in the internet (NielsonWire, 2010).

Sixdegree.com was the first social networking site, launched in 1997 with two million users. This later failed in 2000 (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). Other networks such as Asian Avenue, Black Planet, and Migente came to the scene between 1998 to 2000 (Boyd and Ellison, 2008). The most used today are Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and Friendster. When Friendster, MySpace and Facebook were introduced, social networking sites (SNS) became popular and spread across the globe (Comscore, 2007; Nielsenwire, 2010). They are the most common and interactive forms of web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0 technologies include the following blog, podcast, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Facebook.

Social networking sites have features similar to those in current pedagogical paradigms. For this reason, educational authorities are optimistic on the potentials that social networking sites can contribute to facilitate the flow of information between students and teachers in universities. In traditional class settings, these numerous opportunities are limited. SNS are best known to provide platforms for interaction that can be formal and informal.

They make available diverse facilities for users to engage in critical thinking which can also be visible in a classroom (Bugeja, 2006). Some researchers think an integration of social networking sites into education will drastically change the traditional system of education (Ziegler, 2007). Social Networking sites provide a platform for self-presentation.

Students have access to the personal information of other students and exchange information with them making SNS a suitable platform for student-teacher interaction.  Social networking features have many attributes that can promote a formal application in learning. It is out mainly to resolve students’ problems in connection to their studies. SNS tools allow students’ feedback and can be used to assist student’s collaboration with teachers at all levels (Mason, 2006). These tools are noted to assist students achieve their academic objectives.

Furthermore, Social Networking Sites act as a platform where teachers can become empowered and gain skills to better train students (Selwyn, 2007; Byrne, 2009; Gunawardena, Hermans, Sanchez, D., Richmond, Bohley & Tuttle, 2009). Contrarily, some teachers suggest that the implementation of SNS to enhance students and teachers interactions during learning is reducing active participation, distancing and creating gaps between learners and instructors.

The emergence of social networking sites as suitable tools for learning, with its numerous distractive features are noted to negatively affect students’ academic performance (Cassidy, 2006). These has negative influences on students’ traditional skills and literacies, as social networking sites present a method of communication which is completely different from what is experienced in the classroom (Brabazon, 2007).

There exists a fear that the internet is contributing negatively towards students’ intellectual and mental competence. This uncertainty has become an area of research. The vast amount of information on Google helps to reduce the rate of content generation by students as students become less creative (Ziegler, 2007). In the digital field of education, social networking remains a debated subject. The increasing number of users has brought about the need to establish models to guide operations on social network sites.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Facebook is a social utility for social activities. The obvious question is ‘how can Facebook be a part of Academics’? The issue of who is to begin a conversation on Facebook remains a basic problem in Facebook communication.

Students think they will disrespect their teachers if they do so. Teachers on their path are of the opinion that initiating an interaction will bring down their dignity as teachers. Teachers and students on Facebook do not know if they should view each other profiles, send friend request or chat, send messages, read information about others as well as comment on each other post, write on others’ Timeline, tag others and join groups belonging to others.

Students involve in Facebook interactions with teachers hardly give out complete information to teachers on Facebook; a problem attributed to poor expression or language problem. Students are often nervous or frighten to interact with teachers.

A teacher’s character will have determined the rate at which students will exchange ideas with him. It is difficult to schedule a time for students and teachers to actually meet on Facebook. Educators still find it difficult to manage the information flowing between students and teachers. What information should be allowed and avoided is a concern.

In getting answers to questions, the classroom still remains the most suitable platform for students and teachers to collaborate freely. The manner in which students will communicate with one another on Facebook is quite different from their teachers. In most institutions of learning, Facebook still need to be allowed for student-teacher interactions. As such students find it difficult to interact with teachers on Facebook.

Furthermore, teachers are still to implement Facebook, they are to be vigilant, pro-active, be willing to respond to students’ difficulties on Facebook. Poor understanding on Facebook between teachers and students is directly affecting the intention to use among teachers.

Most importantly, the use of Facebook by students is considered as a playful, time-wasting and a distraction factor from schoolwork. Students generally portray themselves on Facebook profiles in manners that have no connection with academics. They upload photos, comments and react on issues in a manner that prevent teachers from participating.

They go as far as uploading photos in beer parlors, night clubs and chat with friends on social issues that might not have anything to contribute to their studies. This has led to poor academic performances as students tend to invest a greater part of their time chatting. Most teachers are laggard when it comes to Facebook implementation. To them, interacting with students on Facebook has no teaching benefits. The main concern is whether these teachers can implement the use of Facebook to enhance an out of class communication.

Moreover, negative impressions created by students on Facebook are often difficult to manage. Instead of using departmental Facebook groups to discuss academic matters, Facebook pages have now become a forum where students make their grievances known. They discuss societal issues and problems associated with lecturers, the department and school authorities. Also, it is believed that the use of Facebook by students encourages prostitution as some posts and photos on Facebook are unethical.

This gives the impression of a busy and crazy social life which is an indication that Facebook is not a suitable tool for interaction. The absence of privacy on Facebook also allows students to socialize with a vast and diverse social group online.

This socialization could widen their understanding of many happenings and resources, these can reduce the level of commitment and concentration students have towards studies. Encouraging student-teacher interaction therefore on Facebook, will act as a major source of distraction for students. This research is out to discover if students and teachers find it convenience to communicate on Facebook.

1.4 Objective of the Study

The primary objective of this study is to examine the interactions between students and teachers on Facebook.

The secondary objectives include the followings:

1. This study aims at discovering what students and teachers discuss on Facebook.
2. The study examines whether students have teachers as friends on Facebook
3. The study seeks to know if students are the ones to begin an interaction with teachers on Facebook.
4. The study identifies behaviours students and teachers portray on Facebook.
5. The study examines challenges students encounter in communication with teachers on Facebook.
6. To see whether students prefer Facebook to classroom communication.

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