Using Facebook for cross-cultural collaboration: the experience of students from Taiwan

Learning design research (LDR) is establishing itself as a separate and specialised field of educational research. Worldwide, technology-mediated learning experiences in higher and further education are on the increase. LDR investigates their success in providing effective outcomes-based and personalised learning experiences. This paper reports on a meta-ethnographic review study of a subsection of current LDR to document current conceptualisations, preferred methodologies and possible themes and struggles. The findings suggest that LDR often uses an ad hock approach to Learning Design conceptualisation. It is concluded that the current ontological and epistemological disparity presents a great hindrance to the advancement of LDR.     

Parent–Child Communication on Facebook: Family Communication Patterns and Young Adults' Decisions to “Friend” Parents

The role that family communication patterns (FCPs), sex, and Facebook® use play in young adults' decisions to “friend” their parents on Facebook was examined, as well as whether students who friend parents adjust their privacy settings. Results from an online survey of college students (N = 189) indicated that young adults who friend their parents are more likely to be female and report higher conversation FCPs than those who do not friend their parents. In addition, young adults who adjust privacy settings after friending parents (25.3%) update their profiles more often and report lower conversation and higher conformity FCPs than young adults who do not adjust privacy settings.     

Face it: The Impact of Gender on Social Media Images

Social websites like Facebook enable users to upload self-created digital images; it is therefore of interest to see how gender is performed in this domain. A panel used a literature review of pictorial features associated with gender traits, and a sample of Facebook pictures to assess gender stereotypes present in Facebook images. Traits emerging in greater prominence in pictures of males included active, dominant, and independent. Those prominent with female users included attractive and dependent. These findings generally conform to gender stereotypes found in prior research and extend the research regarding stereotypical gender traits displayed in professional media depictions to self-selected social media displays. They also extend the research on gender differences in impression management generally, in both interpersonal communication and social media, to include gender-specific traits that are part of young mens and women's impression management.     

Online and blended learning approach on instructional multimedia development courses in teacher education

In this study, an e-learning environment was designed for teacher candidates. Teacher candidates developed multimedia-based projects by means of multimedia tools. This research aims to determine the effects of online and blended learning approaches on the success level of multimedia projects and the teacher candidates' attitudes, opinions and perceptions on e-learning. This study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. There were two different groups in the study: online and blended groups. The online and the blended groups consisted of 30 and 32 teacher candidates, respectively. Teacher candidates in the blended group developed multimedia-based projects and shared information communicating in a WiziQ and Facebook environment with their peers and instructors when they were not at school. On the other hand, the teacher candidates in the online group communicated with their instructors and peers only in a WiziQ and Facebook environment. The results showed that the blended learning approach was more effective than the online learning approach. The usability of online learning and blended learning in higher education is addressed in recommendations for future research and practice.     

Teaching Mature Students

ABSTRACT

Online discussions are widely viewed as a valuable tool for encouraging student engagement and promoting interaction with course material outside of the traditional classroom. Strategies for conducting online discussions vary and are not confined to traditional, university-sponsored learning management systems (LMS). Social media platforms such as Facebook, which provide a variety of social benefits to students, might also represent a viable mechanism for educational information exchange and learning. Our study tested this proposition by comparing the effects of a Facebook-based and LMS-based online discussion forum on students' participation, achievement of learning goals, and overall course performance. Our findings suggest that different forums can affect classroom dynamics and student learning in different ways. While Facebook may be better at fostering student participation and encouraging peer-to-peer dialogue, the university-sponsored LMS may be a more effective tool for encouraging students to develop coherent arguments and apply course content in other contexts. Since this study shows that platform of an online discussion assignment matters, college instructors should consider the benefits and drawbacks of each platform before developing an online discussion assignment. Instructor choice of platform should depend on course content, instructor's teaching preferences, and online discussion assignment goals.     

Facebook: Maintaining Ethical Practice in the Cyberspace Age

Current technology provides counseling center clinicians regular and immediate access to the students they work with via social networking. Focusing on Facebook in particular, this article discusses the opportunities and challenges this access creates and specifically explores how utilization of ethical, clinical, and cultural lenses might affect decisions about Facebook use, with particular emphasis on consideration of appropriate ethical principles and standards. The authors encourage counseling center staff members and trainees to consult with one another regarding use of Facebook and offer specific scenarios for engaging in discussions about this topic. The article concludes with guidelines for making decisions related to social networking.     

Company Facebook and Organizational Identification

This study examined links between organizational Facebook pages and employee connection to the larger organization. Employee interaction with their company’s Facebook page was linked to higher levels of organizational identification and bridging social capital outcomes. Bridging social capital outcomes was also associated with organizational identification. Results indicate that the company Facebook page, considered primarily as a tool to engage external stakeholders, may also function to engage employees.     

Still Too Much of a Good Thing? The Replication of Tong,Van Der Heide,Langwell, and Walther (2008)

Tong, Van Der Heide, Langwell, and Walther (2008) tested the relationship between the number of Facebook friends and impressions of the profile owner. They found the number of Facebook friends a person had influenced impressions of social attractiveness and extraversion, but not physical attractiveness, of the profile owner. The current study replicates their original study by experimentally testing for differences when the Facebook profile owner has 102, 302, 502, 702, or 902 friends. Results of the replication indicated no significant effect of the number of Facebook friends and impressions of social attractiveness or physical attractiveness. However, results did indicate significant differences in impressions of extraversion. Warranting theory is applied to aid in interpretation of results.     

Networked counterpublics and discursive contestation in the agonistic public sphere: political jamming a police force Facebook Page

Drawing from agonistic public sphere perspectives, this study examines the jamming of the Hong Kong Police Force Facebook Page by users from its establishment in October 2015 to March 2016. 203 posts accounting for 96,791 comments were analyzed using a mixed-method approach. Findings showed that the early posts were heavily jammed with three types of counterpublic comments: (1) calls for justice regarding alleged police brutality during the Umbrella Movement one year prior, (2) emotional statements with impolite tone, and (3) accusations of comment deletions by the Page administrators. But, the relative intensity of the three types of counterdiscourses diminished over time. Moreover, despite the extensive use of embedded YouTube videos as counterdiscourses in the comments, there were few URL linkages to Hong Kong's dynamic counterpublic sphere. This study highlights the opportunities and constraints of Facebook's technological architecture for activists and networked counterpublics to challenge dominant discourses in situ.     

Evaluating teacher and learner readiness to use Facebook in an Australian vocational setting

There has been a progressive move towards the adoption of social media in formal post compulsory learning. This qualitative study evaluated the readiness of teachers and students to use Facebook to enhance learning in a tertiary vocational setting in Australia despite a lack of support from the institute. Readiness was understood to be the balance sought between potential energy available (power) and the energy required for change (load). The findings, from surveys and focus group interviews, show that students were much more likely than teachers to have a Facebook account and to be interested in using Facebook as part of their learning. Agreed benefits, evident through a student-initiated closed Facebook group, included collaboration through sharing resources, knowledge and ideas, increased communication with peers and teachers, and a platform that was familiar to students. The difference lay in perceptions of purpose, places and spaces for learning, and an understanding of social norms.