Using Facebook for Discussion Between Students and Faculty
Using Facebook for Discussion Between Students and Faculty
The goal of incorporating Facebook into the Comprehensive Disease Management course was to encourage students to participate more frequently in discussion of course-related content outside of the classroom. We hypothesized that integrating the course-related online interaction with the social network most used by our students would enhance visibility and improve participation as assessed by numbers of posts contributed by students. Our findings confirmed that students were more likely to be exposed to content posted on Facebook than to that posted on Blackboard. While at the beginning of the course, many students (42%) were skeptical about viewing course-related posts in a forum they primarily use for social interactions, by the end of the course, 86% found the Facebook page beneficial overall and 57% said they would actually miss the posts when the course ended. A majority of the students in the class used the Facebook page, with most page traffic occurring around examination times. However, many users were passive observers and further strategies will need to be used to encourage students to be more interactive. For example, an active-learning technique called "the muddiest point" could be used with the students within the Facebook platform. Students could be asked to bring a device (eg, laptop, smartphone, tablet computer) to access Facebook in class and a few minutes could be allowed for students to post their "muddiest points." The instructor could address these points, speaking to the students in class if time allowed, or if not, then on Facebook outside of class to promote further discussion. Three subsequent Comprehensive Disease Management course coordinators continued to encourage the use of the Facebook page, however, the instructors in these courses were infrequent Facebook users and page use decreased substantially. This suggests that students and instructors need to be reminded, incentivized, or otherwise encouraged to post comments and questions on online forums such as Facebook or Blackboard. Our students were naïve to Facebook use as part of coursework, which could have explained their more passive behavior. Interestingly, use increased slightly as this cohort of students began their APPEs. We saw a few students use the course Facebook page to post links to news such as Food and Drug Administration alerts, new publications of interest, updates in clinical practice guidelines, and other useful professional resources.
Setting up a course page was a simple process and because we used an open page that anyone could "like," there was no additional workload associated with approval of participants. However, we had several followers who were not associated with the class, which could have presented problems with inappropriate posts, comments, or liability issues associated with the discussion that occurred on the Facebook page. While we did not encounter any problems, a closed group page would have provided more control and security. Another concern of faculty and student users is loss of privacy through connecting via the course page. However, only public user profiles are visible to page "followers" and addressing these concerns upfront ensured high class participation. Going forward, we plan to use closed groups for our courses. Additionally, we plan to invite several fourth-year students and outside experts to participate and share experience and expertise on topics covered in the course.
During the period of the study, the course syllabus did not address the use of Facebook and no school or university policy existed about appropriate Facebook or other social media communication etiquette. While, in theory, student professionalism issues could have arisen, our students are consistently engaged in discussions about appropriate electronic etiquette and professionalism throughout the entire curriculum and we did not encounter any problems. Following the pilot semester, the syllabi for all Comprehensive Disease Management courses were modified to include a section on Facebook use and communication policies to ensure all students adhere to course policies.
We shared our experience internally with the school of pharmacy faculty. These discussions led us to believe that many of those who were already Facebook users were open to the idea of offering this tool to students in their courses, while those who did not have Facebook accounts saw creating Facebook course pages as an increase in their workload and/or had concerns about the professional consequences of Facebook use. Prior to the creation of a course-related Facebook page, we recommend that faculty members have an open discussion of the benefits, workload implications, and possible risks for students and course instructors.
Discussion
The goal of incorporating Facebook into the Comprehensive Disease Management course was to encourage students to participate more frequently in discussion of course-related content outside of the classroom. We hypothesized that integrating the course-related online interaction with the social network most used by our students would enhance visibility and improve participation as assessed by numbers of posts contributed by students. Our findings confirmed that students were more likely to be exposed to content posted on Facebook than to that posted on Blackboard. While at the beginning of the course, many students (42%) were skeptical about viewing course-related posts in a forum they primarily use for social interactions, by the end of the course, 86% found the Facebook page beneficial overall and 57% said they would actually miss the posts when the course ended. A majority of the students in the class used the Facebook page, with most page traffic occurring around examination times. However, many users were passive observers and further strategies will need to be used to encourage students to be more interactive. For example, an active-learning technique called "the muddiest point" could be used with the students within the Facebook platform. Students could be asked to bring a device (eg, laptop, smartphone, tablet computer) to access Facebook in class and a few minutes could be allowed for students to post their "muddiest points." The instructor could address these points, speaking to the students in class if time allowed, or if not, then on Facebook outside of class to promote further discussion. Three subsequent Comprehensive Disease Management course coordinators continued to encourage the use of the Facebook page, however, the instructors in these courses were infrequent Facebook users and page use decreased substantially. This suggests that students and instructors need to be reminded, incentivized, or otherwise encouraged to post comments and questions on online forums such as Facebook or Blackboard. Our students were naïve to Facebook use as part of coursework, which could have explained their more passive behavior. Interestingly, use increased slightly as this cohort of students began their APPEs. We saw a few students use the course Facebook page to post links to news such as Food and Drug Administration alerts, new publications of interest, updates in clinical practice guidelines, and other useful professional resources.
Setting up a course page was a simple process and because we used an open page that anyone could "like," there was no additional workload associated with approval of participants. However, we had several followers who were not associated with the class, which could have presented problems with inappropriate posts, comments, or liability issues associated with the discussion that occurred on the Facebook page. While we did not encounter any problems, a closed group page would have provided more control and security. Another concern of faculty and student users is loss of privacy through connecting via the course page. However, only public user profiles are visible to page "followers" and addressing these concerns upfront ensured high class participation. Going forward, we plan to use closed groups for our courses. Additionally, we plan to invite several fourth-year students and outside experts to participate and share experience and expertise on topics covered in the course.
During the period of the study, the course syllabus did not address the use of Facebook and no school or university policy existed about appropriate Facebook or other social media communication etiquette. While, in theory, student professionalism issues could have arisen, our students are consistently engaged in discussions about appropriate electronic etiquette and professionalism throughout the entire curriculum and we did not encounter any problems. Following the pilot semester, the syllabi for all Comprehensive Disease Management courses were modified to include a section on Facebook use and communication policies to ensure all students adhere to course policies.
We shared our experience internally with the school of pharmacy faculty. These discussions led us to believe that many of those who were already Facebook users were open to the idea of offering this tool to students in their courses, while those who did not have Facebook accounts saw creating Facebook course pages as an increase in their workload and/or had concerns about the professional consequences of Facebook use. Prior to the creation of a course-related Facebook page, we recommend that faculty members have an open discussion of the benefits, workload implications, and possible risks for students and course instructors.
