Abstract-The features of social media sites make them potentially effective as a learning platform for student communication and collaboration in higher education. Moreover it has become apparent that student Facebook users have been repurposing its features to fit their academic requirements. This study aims to determine if Facebook Groups and the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) can enhance the learner experience, and if so, in what way. The study made use of a heuristic evaluation with an educationally relevant criteria set [1]. The results, amongst other things, indicate that Facebook Groups are more useful for peer-to-peer communication than Blackboard, probably due to the notification system in Facebook. Analysis indicated that in some instances the strengths and weaknesses of Blackboard and Facebook were complementary and therefore could, arguably, improve the overall student experience.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is increasing in relevance as it, in part, concerns the design of digital interfaces such as downloadable apps. Despite the importance of the subject area students frequently find the topic boring, dry and overly theoretical. In order to address this apparent lack of student interest, a gamified learning resource for a HCI module in the second year of University was created. A literature review into the HCI educational requirements was conducted and used to inform the design. A further analysis of the literature on dialogic feedback, simulations and gamification features was conducted and key features were matched to the educational requirements. The resultant gamified learning resource, dubbed the 'work simulation', was evaluated first by a two cohort comparison for module lecture attendance and exam attainment. The results of the first phase of the evaluation showed a statistically significant improvement in both attendance and attainment for the cohort experiencing the 'work simulation'. A further evaluation was carried out by means of interviews with students, which suggested that dialogic feedback and the game narrative/fiction, in particular, were useful.