Abstract
This paper identifies Malaysian university students’ needs and preferences for online English language activities on a Facebook group that supports their formal learning. Two methods of data collection were employed; content analysis of the Facebook interactions, and semi structured interviews. Four main learning preferences or characteristics of online activities are identified; a) teacher-led activities (tasks and learning content provided by teachers), b) teachers’ presence (one or two authority figures to facilitate learning and keep group lively), c) topics or content (entertainment-oriented, grammar quizzes, opinion-based discussions), d) structure of the group (optional and ungraded). The passive participants found the activity beneficial in improving their online communication ability, while the more active participants felt a boost of confidence to use English in a more public space like Facebook. The findings indicate that the students are in need of technological changes in learning, but are dependent on teachers’ instructions to initiate the process. They exert selective interests in learning topics and content, and demonstrate partial autonomy in negotiating the online group’s structure. The theoretical and practical implications, and recommendation for future research are briefly presented.
Highlights
The proliferation of social networking sites (SNS) in education is a phenomenon in higher institutions
Using Facebook as their personal domain, they communicate peer-to-peer to negotiate academic topics, group discussions and assignments, but they do not often see these as learning (Donlan, 2014). They feel that that their teachers disapprove of their use of Facebook for academic purposes (Fewkes & McCabe, 2012); there is a discrepancy in the way that teachers and students view Facebook in educational settings
The Facebook group data were gathered for a six-week period, starting from when the university resumed its semester for the year
Summary
The proliferation of social networking sites (SNS) in education is a phenomenon in higher institutions. Schools often have the traditional, standardise needs that they have to meet, in the forms of syllabus, curricula, and exams; while the current generation of students thrive on online recreational activities, i.e. video games, SNS, and creative tools (Halverson, Kallio, Hackett, & Halverson, 2016). Using Facebook as their personal domain, they communicate peer-to-peer to negotiate academic topics, group discussions and assignments, but they do not often see these as learning (Donlan, 2014). They feel that that their teachers disapprove of their use of Facebook for academic purposes (Fewkes & McCabe, 2012); there is a discrepancy in the way that teachers and students view Facebook in educational settings
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