Exploring university students’ use of technologies beyond the formal learning context: A tale of two online platforms

Abstract

<p class="abstract">Situated within an informal learning context, this study examines how a group of pre-service teachers in Hong Kong use Facebook and Google Sites on their own initiative to fulfil their academic and socio-emotional needs during their teaching practice. Also included in the study are the motivating and inhibiting factors that influence student online participation. Guided by an informal learning model and the literature relating to online participation and sense of community, this exploratory study generates its findings from questionnaires, individual interviews and online postings. The results show that the Google Sites created an avenue for the students to share a range of self-developed teaching resources and ideas. Facebook is a more interactive platform through which the participants seek peer support, exchange teaching ideas, and engage in discussions on a variety of topics. Structure and control provided by Google Sites and immediacy and interactivity afforded by Facebook become complementary to each other.</p><p> </p>

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

“…With specific reference to teacher education, several authors pointed out the importance of familiarizing pre‐service teachers with social networking sites, so they could use these sites as teachers and educational agents in the future (Daher, , ; Demiraslan Çevik, Çelik, & Haşlaman, ; Deng & Tavares, ; Kim, ).…”

“…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, ).…”

Assessing the dimensionality and educational impacts of integrated ICT literacy in the higher education context

“…The word transferable points out that ICT literacy is a universal or generic tool, which could be applied for a variety of purposes in academic study or the workplace (Wilson et al, 2015). The word set indicates that ICT literacy itself is not homogenous as it is made up of various component capacities (Deng & Tavares, 2015). The term capacity includes not only knowledge and instrumental abilities, but also personal and interpersonal attributes, as well as capabilities to apply them in specific contexts (Lonsdale & McCurry, 2004;Zylka et al, 2015).…”

“…Also, the proposed scale should be supplemented with other qualitative methodologies such as interviews, sampling of students' practical work, and classroom observations, to cope with the ambiguities that might result from the self-reporting nature of the scale. Students should have acquired a certain level of ICT literacy capacities during their university years (Deng & Tavares, 2015), and teachers should be able to assess students' ICT literacy capacities empirically and to integrate ICT into teaching and learning (Ansyari, 2015).…”

“…Information and communication technology (ICT) has transformed people's daily activities (Keane, Keane, & Blicblau, 2016). Technologies are a driving force behind much of the development and innovation in both developed and developing countries as the current knowledge economy and its functions depend heavily on ICT use (Deng & Tavares, 2015;Russell, Malfroy, Gosper, & McKenzie, 2014). Higher education (HE) institutions have adopted ICT as a means of enabling students to access the knowledge and skills required to meet the demands of the ever-changing global environment (Altbach, Reisberg, & Rumbley, 2009).…”