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

Manca, Stefania; Ranieri, Maria

doi:10.1111/jcal.12154

Cited by 161 publications

(139 citation statements)

References 152 publications

(305 reference statements)

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“…However, the majority of existing research has focused on adult, higher education (e.g., Deng & Tavares, 2013;Hew, 2011;Jones, Blackey, Fitzgibbon, & Chew, 2010;Junco & Cotton, 2012;Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010;Manca & Ranieri, 2016;Wang, Woo, Quek, Yang, & Liu, 2012), on researcher-initiated interventions (e.g., Puhl, Tsovaltzi, & Weinberger, 2015;Wang et al, 2012), or on the potential of such tools (e.g., DeGroot, Young, & VanSlette, 2015;Labus, Despotović-Zrakić, Radenković, Bogdanović, & Radenković, 2015;Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb, Herman & Witty, 2010;Teclehaimanot & Hickman, 2011). Few studies have investigated the actual, spontaneous use and uptake of these tools by teachers and students in secondary schools.…”

Section: Teacher-student Social Network Technologies Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“WhatsApp, Teacher?” - Student Perspectives on Teacher-Student WhatsApp Interactions in Secondary Schools

Rosenberg

Asterhan

2018

JITE:Research

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Aim/Purpose: In this paper, we analyze the phenomenon of “classroom WhatsApp groups”, in which a teacher and students from a particular classroom interact with one another, while specifically focusing on the student perspective of these interactions. Background: The instant messaging application WhatsApp enables quick, interactive multimedia communication in closed groups, as well as one-on-one interactions between selected group members. Yet, very little is known about the extent, nature, and purposes of these practices, the limitations and affordances, the type of discourse and conflicts that develop in these spaces, and the extent to which it affects teacher-student interactions outside of WhatsApp (e.g., the social climate in class, the teacher’s status, teacher-student and student-student relations), especially from the students’ perspective. Methodology: Our methodology combines questionnaires, personal interviews, and focus groups with Israeli secondary school students (N = 88). Contribution: The present study adds to the expanding body of empirical research on social media use in educational settings by specifically focusing on a heretofore underexposed aspect, namely, secondary school student-teacher communication in the popular instant messaging application WhatsApp. We report on findings from the student perspective and discuss the advantages and limitations of this form of communication sphere, and on the social functions of the different classroom WhatsApp groups in secondary school students’ everyday life. Findings: The combined findings reveal that classroom WhatsApp groups have become a central channel of communication for school-related topics. It is used primarily for organizational purposes (sending and receiving updates and managing learning activities), as well as a means for teachers to enforce discipline. Students mentioned many advantages of WhatsApp communication, such as easy access, the ability to create communities, the ability to safeguard personal privacy, and the communication format (written, mediated, personal, or group). However, they also recognized limitations (i.e., communication overload) and challenged teacher ability to monitor and affect student interactions in social media, even when they are present in these WhatsApp classroom groups. Finally, we report on the role of parallel, sans-teacher WhatsApp groups, which are characterized as back stage discourse arenas that accompany the front stage offline classroom activities and the “official” classroom WhatsApp group. Recommendations for Practitioners: The combined findings of this study indicate how WhatsApp-based, joint teacher-student groups can serve a variety of educational purposes, namely, organizational, instructional, and educational-disciplinary. In addition, and in spite of teachers concerns, students are aware of the challenges inherent to the use of WhatsApp for communication with their teachers. Some of the main characteristics that prevent teachers from using other ubiquitous digital communication media, such as Facebook or Twitter, are not relevant when it comes to WhatsApp. Both teachers and students view WhatsApp as a favored channel of communication because of the low exposure to personal information and minimal invasion of privacy. Future Research: The qualitative methodology of this paper limits the ability to generalize the current findings to other contexts and population groups. Future research should preferably explore the generalizability of our findings to larger sections of teenage populations. It should also explore similarities and differences with other age groups. Finally, the present study was set in a particular country (Israel). Local norms of cellphone use and of appropriate teacher-student interaction, as well as locally developed media domestication patterns, may differ from country to country and/or from one cultural group to another. Future research should then include and compare the current findings with data from different countries and cultures in order to complete the picture.

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Section: Teacher-student Social Network Technologies Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“WhatsApp, Teacher?” - Student Perspectives on Teacher-Student WhatsApp Interactions in Secondary Schools

Rosenberg

Asterhan

2018

JITE:Research

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“…Specifically, we investigate whether and how use of the microblog, Twitter, as a conference backchannel, facilitated professional learning and expanded sites for participation in the 2012 and 2016 annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). While research on social media in education has focused largely on undergraduate or graduate education and is driven by surveys rather than examinations of practice (Greenhow & Askari, ; Greenhow, Cho, Dennen, & Fishman, in press; Manca & Ranieri, , ), our work focuses on adult learners, a professional learning context in two time periods and combines quantitative and qualitative analysis of actual tweets. In addition, as scholars’ use of social media varies by discipline, and research on education scholars’ social media practices generally (Veletsianos, , ; Veletsianos & Kimmons, , ), and their digital backchanneling specifically (Kimmons & Veletsianos, ; Li & Greenhow, ), is nascent, this paper aims to contribute to the growing research in this area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From tweeting to meeting: Expansive professional learning and the academic conference backchannel

Greenhow¹,

Li²,

Mai³

2019

Brit J Educational Tech

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As new technologies shape and are shaped by human practices, educators and researchers must consider the impact that participating in social media—to access, reflect upon, question, evaluate and disseminate scholarship—is having on their professional development and practices. This paper investigates how members of the educational research community use social media to advance professional learning and scholarship dissemination in online–offline networks. Specifically, we examine whether and how participating in the microblogging service, Twitter, as a conference backchannel, facilitated professional learning and participation in the annual meetings of American educational researchers in 2012 and 2016, respectively, and the nature of that participation. Insights from this paper will benefit educators of varying disciplines and experience levels interested in the changing nature of social media in education, scholarship, and professional learning ecologies.

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“…Digital media, of course, have played a pivotal role in this transformation process. Social network sites provide an exemplary case of how digital technologies support extended opportunities to learn by weakening the boundaries between formal and informal, personal and professional, friendships and professional belonging (Manca & Ranieri, , ). That said, there is still a relatively low level of understanding of how learning ecologies work, how they impact on the development of learning agency, especially for professionals who need a personalised approach to learning (Giampaolo, ), and how they influence the building up of professional identities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring educators’ professional learning ecologies in a blended learning environment

Ranieri¹,

Giampaolo²

2019

Brit J Educational Tech

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In recent years the concept of learning ecology has been interpreted in different ways to highlight its potential for learning and professional development. However, there are several aspects that still deserve to be understood such as, eg, the role that the different contexts come to play within a learning ecology. For this purpose, this paper presents and discusses the results of a study exploring the learning ecologies of educators in a blended programme delivered in higher education. The participants in the study were 85 professionals in the field of education aged between 28 and 58 years. The research design adopted here can be defined as a convergent mixed method where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through an e‐portfolio. The study found that educators in the sample had different postures, of whom some more aware of their professional roles or Self than others. Moreover, different professional identities seemed to be linked to different learning ecologies, where elements like formal or informal education, cultural artefacts, personal experiences, colleagues or work experiences played a different role. Formal education emerged as having a questionable function, while colleagues came up as a crucial resource.

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

Cited by 161 publications

References 152 publications

“WhatsApp, Teacher?” - Student Perspectives on Teacher-Student WhatsApp Interactions in Secondary Schools

“WhatsApp, Teacher?” - Student Perspectives on Teacher-Student WhatsApp Interactions in Secondary Schools

From tweeting to meeting: Expansive professional learning and the academic conference backchannel

Exploring educators’ professional learning ecologies in a blended learning environment

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