Educational Benefits of the Social Media

Facebook

A lot has been said and written about the negative side of Facebook in Papua New Guinea and in other countries. I will not dwell too much on the negative side but on the positive side especially sharing thoughts for learning in higher education.

My experience
Before i share my thoughts on learning with Facebook in higher education let me share my experience as a user and friend of over a hundred young people. There is no doubt that informal learning and peer learning is now taking place on Facebook on the hour. More and more young people are joining Facebook for various reasons. One of them is to keep in touch with their friends or classmates. They share how they are feeling, telling each other that they are sick or angry over this or that. They even share experiences with perverts and laugh it off or curse the perpetrator. They capture events in photographs and share and discuss the situation with each. For example, a police arrest, a tribal fight, a building on fire and many more. Most of these are first hand information that reaches the public before it gets out through the traditional media. These information come from an engaged audience - the young people actively involved in interaction with each other in real time.

Informal/Peer Learning
Informal learning or peer learning takes place regularly on Facebook. From observation it is more frequent in groups where someone does not know how to solve a problem he/she asks a question. Members in the group then offer solutions and the problem is usually solved. In some cases the problem is referred to outside of the group by another member who knows where the problem may be solved. To illustrate this i share me experience next.

 I am a member of a number of groups including PNG ICT Community, PNG BOOKCLUB and  New Guinea Islands Historical Society (NGIHS). As of one hour ago from this writing a member of  PNG ICT Community posted this seeking help from members:

I tried to reset a CMOS password from an Acer Aspier 4738 model by removing its CMOS battery from MB but i still cannot solve. Any other alternatives? Please need help!

So far four comments have been posted thus:

1. There used to be a jumper on the main board but it has been a few years since i opened an Acer.

2. I couldnt locate a jumper on its MB. Maybe its MB should be replaced with a new one?

3. This blog may help http//:akidammdyusup.blogspot.com/2013/12/laptop-acer-bios-password-cleaner.html

4. Bro is it the BIOS password you are trying to remove? If so, Restart and see if it hasbeen cleared.

Members in PNG BOOKCLUB exchange ideas on reading and books, book reviews, and seek help where to locate a particular title. Members share information on favourite authors.

Students studyng Social Science, or specifically History learn a lot from NGIHS. They ask questions and their questions are answered by members in the group. They also learn facts about the New Guinea Islands region from reading posts in the group's timeline.

What can be done with Facebook for learning?

Some lecturers may have learnt from this and are using Facebook for formal learning. I have no proof of this. However, i think most have yet to consider this option and apply in their academic work.  There may be one or two exceptions, for security reasons, that may not be safe on Facebook and that includes essssment which can be done off Facebook. Google Classroom can take care of assessment and other learning activities.

Facebook Page can be used to post lecture notes and other instructions as well as additional notes and links to readings on the web. Even tutorial questions can be posted and discussions may take place there also besides the physical classroom. The lecturer may let the students drive discussions.