Using Facebook to Transfer Knowledge into

Practice and Aid Student, Lecturer and Content Interaction

A Case of Bachelor of Information Technology Undergraduate Students

at Makerere University

Emily Bagarukayo

, Dick Ng’ambi

, Rehema Baguma

and Proscovia Namubiru Ssentamu

Department of Information Systems, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

School of Education, University of Cape Town, Capetown, South Africa

Quality

Assurance Department, Uganda Management Institute, Kampala, Uganda

Keywords: Knowledge Transfer, Facebook, Interaction, Collaboration, Operating Systems.

Abstract: Employers have criticised graduates for inadequate skills to apply knowledge into practice due to the

traditional teaching and learning methods which concentrate more on theory than practice. Technology

affords several teaching and learning methods like social media which students are already motivated to use.

The research therefore used Facebook technology to facilitate students’ application of operating systems

knowledge to record and upload a video installing a virtual machine and operating system onto a group; to

promote content access, and interactive and cooperative learning. The results from the study show that the

overall effect of Facebook on students learning process and experience was positive because it enabled

putting knowledge into practice, sharing, collaboration, interaction, flexibility and learner – centred

activities, among others. Therefore, to increase learning outcome, motivation, desire and interest, new

educational technologies should continuously be explored by educational institutions, educators and learners

for teaching and learning in the digital era. In this light we recommend that Facebook should be assessed in

more studies and integrated as a tool for learning at the university since students appreciate it, find it easy to

use and familiar.

1 INTRODUCTION

Although social media, like Facebook, is used for

sharing learning experiences, research, academic

events and getting latest information (Hussain et al.,

2012), its use for learner-centric teaching is

underutilized. Facebook has potential of sharing of

videos, which can aid in transferring knowledge into

practice, which is a challenge today. In Uganda there

is more concentration on theory compared to

practice, which leads to a mismatch between what

students expect and what educationists deliver. The

education system currently does not emphasize use

of technology and practical skills development.

Facebook technology is an online application that

students are familiar with and can support, connect

and engage students outside formal in-class hours

(Monopolis, 2014). Facebook has stronger roots in

the academic community, since it was developed as

a university project (Bosch, 2009). Beldarrain

(2006) notes that today’s workplace requires

individuals who can create and collaborate within

constraints of time and place. Therefore, he

highlights the need for real-time communication and

tools to create a stronger learning community where

members can build expertise and develop problem-

solving skills. For students to be prepared for the

complex and rapid changing work demands, they

need a variety of skills including analysis, critical

thinking, decision-making and problem solving

(Mbarika et al., 2010). Therefore, educationists need

to tap into technology that affords students the

ability to learn effectively learning and be

productive to address this mismatch.

2 BACKGROUND

Makerere University has not yet embraced e-

learning to its full potential since technology use in

402

Bagarukayo, E., Ng’ambi, D., Baguma, R. and Ssentamu, P.

Using Facebook to Transfer Knowledge into Practice and Aid Student, Lecturer and Content Interaction - A Case of Bachelor of Information Technology Undergraduate Students at Makerere

University.

DOI: 10.5220/0006329104020410

In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2017) - Volume 1, pages 402-410

ISBN: 978-989-758-239-4

teaching and learning is noncompulsory. An optional

e-learning policy exists for the individual Colleges

or lecturers. A customized Moodle, Makerere

University E-learning Environment (MUELE), is

used to disseminate notes to students, however,

collaboration tools are not used. The lecturers only

upload notes which students access at convenience,

therefore, there is limited interaction, engagement,

and collaboration.

2.1 Context, Problem and Goal

Bachelor of Information Technology second year

students undertaking the Operating Systems (OS)

course unit took part in the study. The course unit

provides basic knowledge and skill in using,

evaluating and managing existing OSs. Employers

have expressed concern that graduates hardly apply

knowledge and skills acquired to solve real life

problems at work (Bagarukayo et al., 2012; Mbarika

et al., 2010). The education system concentrates

mainly on theory and not practice, which contributes

to this problem. Therefore the mismatch between

teaching methods in the digital era does not address

different learning styles. Therefore, there is need to

develop learning activities where students can

transfer knowledge into practice to develop skills to

address real world issues and yield greater

productivity and return on investment. Therefore,

the goal was facilitating students’ application of OS

knowledge to record and upload a video installing a

virtual machine and OS onto a Facebook group; to

promote content access, and interactive and

cooperative learning.

3 LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 Transferring Knowledge into

Practice

Learning is acquiring new information, knowledge

and sharing best practices and for a permanent

learning process, time should be invested in

transferring knowledge into practice and

understanding the outcomes (Tenkasi and Hay,

2004). Hands-on opportunities provide a rich

learning space in supporting students to transfer

knowledge into practice and test newly acquired

skills. Applying newly learned skills and behaviors

for the workplace greatly enhances knowledge

retention. The gap between knowledge generated

through studies, evaluations and application of

these findings in practice needs to be addressed.

Bloom’s Taxonomy emphasizes the need for

holistic learning (Churches, 2001). Before one

analyzes a concept, they must be able to apply it and

before they can evaluate its impact, they must have

analyzed it and before they create it they must have

remembered, understood, applied, analyzed and

evaluated it. Therefore, before students create an

artifact, they should remember, understand, apply,

analyze and evaluate it. Bloom notes that applying

knowledge is using information, concepts and ideas

in a new situation and includes implementing,

carrying out, using, executing, doing, running,

loading, playing, operating, uploading, sharing and

editing (Churches, 2001). Applying involves digital

activities of running and operating, playing,

uploading, and editing.

3.2 Research Studies That Have Used

Facebook

Murumba et al., (2015) noted that integrating social

networking tools into learning is beneficial to

students for better engagement and motivation,

better instructional materials, better communication

and interaction, increased family involvement and

application of real world skills. They state that

teachers enhance professionalism and collaboration

with peers and gain opportunities to build

relationships with students. Bagarukayo and Kalema

(2015) advocate for social software approach to

promote learning activities that improve the learning

process since there is a paucity of research on its use

for academic purposes in Africa as compared to the

developed world. Students are engaged in social

media platforms and therefore educators need to tap

these spaces for the learning process. Monopolis

(2014) said Facebook facilitates communication and

collaboration between faculty and students, allows

interaction and information sharing. Bosch (2009)

reported that learners are more engaged with

Facebook and prefer it to the Vula Learning

Management System (LMS) and a lecturer said it

was quicker to ‘talk’ to learners on Facebook than

finding them in class. Facebook enabled lecturers to

be more accessible and approachable in a less formal

environment and made students ask questions freely.

Facebook is effective for academic discussions

because students find it familiar and easy to navigate

(Hurt et al., 2012). Ractham et al., (2012) reported

that 55% of the students found Facebook helpful in

learning and 78% found it a useful supplemental

learning tool. Facebook facilitates interactive

communication, enhances participation and

Using Facebook to Transfer Knowledge into Practice and Aid Student, Lecturer and Content Interaction - A Case of Bachelor of Information

Technology Undergraduate Students at Makerere University

403

discussion, and provides personal and professional

growth (Barczyk and Duncan, 2013). It facilitates

the development of community of practice that

pinnacles in knowledge sharing, collaboration and

interaction, and learner-centered activities. Rinco

and Sandoval (2014) say Facebook was the greatest

host (81%) therefore, making it the most popular

social network. Learners were more familiar with

Facebook and preferred it for discussions (Brady et

al., 2010). Cloete et al., (2009) notes the benefits of

Social Networking Sites like Facebook as a higher

level of engagement, development of digital literacy

skills, and integration in learners’ daily practices,

potential to make identity information more relevant

during class discussions, adding a ‘social’ peer to

peer component and managing alumni through the

group.

According to Beldarrain (2006), technology as a

delivery method should encourage contact between

students and faculty, develop reciprocity and

cooperation among students, use active learning

techniques, give prompt feedback, emphasize time

on task, communicate high expectations, and respect

diverse talents and ways of learning. Facebook as a

tool affords these 7 principles and was used as an

interaction tool to increase collaboration between

learners and lecturer.

In conclusion, Facebook was used because it is

the most popular social media platform, students

were already motivated to use it, makes it easy to

combine teaching and learning with social

interaction which makes learning interesting,

facilitates students’ engagement with one another

and instant access to lecturers, brings interaction and

collaboration with content, peers, and teachers into

the classroom and forms communities of practice,

which facilitates development of Higher Order

Cognitive Skills.

4 APPROPRIATE

FRAMEWORKS TO DEFINE

EDUCATIONAL GOAL

4.1 Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (BDT) addresses new

objectives, processes and actions presented by

emergence of ICTs into the classroom and their

impact on students’ lives. BDT introduced new

digital verbs that aid collaboration, which are

elements to facilitate higher order thinking and

learning. Collaboration is a 21

century skill integral

to the learning process and has an increasing

influence on learning. Collaborating and sharing are

higher order thinking skills, which are facilitated by

digital media and increase learning influence. Social

networking is a key element of collaborating and

networking because it forms links between people

and helps to develop networks.

4.2 Anderson’s Interactions

Framework

Anderson (2008) states that for learning to be

effective, there has to be interaction between

students, teachers and content. Therefore, the tool

identified needed to afford these interactions. The

task of facilitating students’ application of OS

knowledge emphasized teacher –content, teacher-

student, student- student and student –content

interactions using technology to enhance effective

learning.

5 METHODOLOGY

5.1 e-Learning Design Methodology

Framework

Bowers Affordance analysis framework was used to

match requirements of this task with affordances of

the tool (Bower, 2008). Affordances refer to the

perceived and actual properties of the thing. Bower

(2008) classified affordances of e-learning

technologies to include Media, spatial, temporal,

navigation, emphasis, synthesis, access control,

technical, usability, aesthetics and reliability

affordances. Facebook has the affordances required

to facilitate achievement of the learning and teaching

objectives. Affordance analysis was used as follows:

1. Identify the Educational Goals

The intentions of the learning design were

facilitating students’ application of operating system

(OS) knowledge to record and upload a video

installing a virtual machine (VM) and OS onto a

Facebook group; to promote content access,

collaborative and cooperative learning.

2. Postulate the Suitable Tasks to Satisfy the

Educational Goals

a) Understand the key concepts

Students needed to research on ‘how to install

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Virtual box software and UNIX OS and download

an ISO image of Ubuntu 14.04 OS’. Students were

required to explain in video - what file systems they

chose for the OS to use, justify their choice and

explain use of swap space.

b) Apply knowledge acquired to install the Virtual

Machine and OS and Record and Upload Video

Students needed to use knowledge from research to

practically install VM and OS onto VM while video

recording themselves and upload the video on the

Facebook group.

3. Determine the Affordance Requirements

of the Tasks

a) Understand the key concepts

In order for students to research about installation of

the VM and OS, read-ability, write-ability, search-

ability, view-ability, listen-ability, access-ability,

browse-ability, data-manipulation-ability, link-

ability, download-ability were necessary for

reviewing, searching, downloading, adjusting and

relating information.

b) Apply knowledge acquired to install Virtual

Machine and OS and Record and Upload video

In order for students to install the VM and OS they

needed to set up the software and create Video

installing the OS on VM. Therefore, Record-ability,

watch-ability, move-ability, combine-ability, listen-

ability, view-ability, video-produce-ability, focus-

ability, resize-ability, playback-ability share-ability,

and permission-ability were necessary for recording,

playing back, editing, putting together the video and

posting it on the group.

4. Determine affordances from Facebook

The technology considered for this task was

Facebook because it has affordances of

‘uploadability’, ‘downloadability’,

‘commentability’, ‘sharability’ and ‘likability’ to

enable this task to be accomplished.

a) Understand the key concepts

The tool needed to afford read-ability, write-ability,

search-ability, view-ability, listen-ability, access-

ability, data-manipulation-ability, link-ability and

browse-ability by allowing students to research and

‘download-ability’ for OS and Virtual box software,

which were necessary for

reviewing, searching,

downloading, adjusting and relating information.

b) Apply knowledge acquired to install Virtual

Machine and OS and Record and Upload video

A tool was needed to enable students’ record

themselves installing the OS and VM and upload the

video on Facebook group. The technology needed to

afford Record-ability, video-produce-ability,

combine-ability, watch-ability, move-ability, resize-

ability, focus-ability, listen-ability, view-ability,

playback-ability, share-ability, and permission-

ability necessary for recording, playing back,

editing, putting together the video and posting it on

the group.

5. e-Learning Task Design

The task required students to create a video

recording installing a VM and OS and post it for

peers and lecturers to comment and interact thereby

learning from peers and lecturers online as a

supplement to classroom. The process of integrating

available and required affordances, that is, selecting

the appropriate tool to match tasks was as follows:

a) Understand the key concepts

Facebook is a tool, which enables students to

research and understand key concepts. It provides

affordances for reviewing, searching, downloading,

adjusting and relating information.

b) Apply knowledge acquired to install Virtual

Machine and Operating System and Record and

Upload video

Students installed the OS and VM on their machines

and used their phone or computer cameras to record

the video. Facebook provides affordances for

recording editing, putting together the video.

Facebook provides affordances necessary for

playing back the video and posting it on the group.

The researcher chose Facebook which students are

already motivated to use to account for motivation

and student ability.

Facebook affords social networking, seeking

peer support, community building, student activism,

general communication, sharing information and

maintaining group and personal communication on

public spaces. Facebook also affords students with a

shared connection and collaboration with students,

lecturers and communities of practice, Interaction

and engagement with students, teachers and content

and Chatting, liking, posting, uploading and

downloading video, text and audio file.

Using Facebook to Transfer Knowledge into Practice and Aid Student, Lecturer and Content Interaction - A Case of Bachelor of Information

Technology Undergraduate Students at Makerere University

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6 DATA COLLECTION AND

ANALYSIS

a) Questionnaire to Determine Students’

Attitudes and Perceptions on Facebook

Use

A validated questionnaire was used to determine

attitudes and perceptions of students on the use of

Facebook to accomplish the video upload

assignment. The results are presented in section 10.

b) Data Analysis

The qualitative data collected was analyzed by

reading individual responses as summarized in 10.1.

The quantitative data collected was analyzed using

MS Excel to total up the number of responses on

each question as presented in table 2.

7 RESULTS

The researchers created a Group page in Facebook

for students taking OS course unit. Through the

group students had discussions, commented on

posts, posted videos, links, uploaded and shared

created videos. The task required students to create a

video, using mobile phones or cameras, installing

OS and uploading it to the group to enable peers

interact, critique it and learn from one another in the

process. They learnt by doing, by creating the video,

from peers, lecturers, and content uploaded by peers

and lecturers which promoted use of educational

technologies for learning and teaching. It was

important to use Facebook because it affords

students the ability to communicate, interact, and

collaborate which enabled them to put knowledge

into practice in a new context.

BDT helped understand that students needed to

attain higher levels of thinking skills to enable them

acquire practical skills. Therefore, it was necessary

to create learning activities that make students put

knowledge into practice to develop hands on skills.

BDT was applied to train students holistically to

attain knowledge, skills and attitudes, which

addressed all levels of three domains. Students were

trained from lowest to highest levels of the BDT by

teaching them theory about installing an operating

system and virtualization in an introduction lecture,

which enabled them to gain skills at lower levels of

Remembering and Understanding. At ‘Applying’

level digital activities were carried out by students

during video creation and upload on Facebook.

Activities that enabled ‘applying’ include

demonstration by video, collaboration by students

interacting and sharing ideas, playing and editing.

Digital additions include commenting and

reflecting, reviewing, posting, moderating,

collaborating and networking, testing (alpha and

beta) and validating. The activities that promoted

this level include chat rooms, discussions,

collaborating tools, camera, searching, presentation,

recorders, posting, collaborating and networking.

Students attained ‘Evaluating’ level by commenting,

posting, testing, and experimenting during the task.

The creating level involves designing, constructing,

planning producing, inventing, devising and making

the video which students acquired during video

creation, editing and upload on Facebook.

The students put together their ideas from

research on VM and OS installation, and created and

posted the video on Facebook. Facebook was used

as a tool for collaborating and sharing or publishing

the video, therefore, HOCS were achieved in the

task. Students did the assignment practically, which

enabled them gain skills at higher levels of Analysis,

Applying, Evaluating and Creating. This helped

students to practically install the OS onto VM

thereby applying knowledge into practice. Ensuring

that students produced video as a final product

enabled them to gain ‘creating’ skills, at the highest

level of taxonomy, therefore practical skills were

attained to address industry needs of putting

knowledge into practice. Therefore, before students

created the video, they had to remember, understand,

apply, analyze and evaluate it. Collaborating,

commenting, posting, networking, chatting, texting,

reviewing, questioning, replying which are

collaboration spectrum of BDT at all levels of

cognitive domain happened. For effective learning,

students required skills of interaction and

engagement provided by the platform because it

affords collaboration and communication needed for

uploading and presenting video recording, sharing

ideas, and commenting on peers’ videos to enhance

the learning process.

Facebook has facilities which introduced agents

that increased interaction, it is not dependent on

institution’s infrastructure and empowers both

educator and student. Students also have face-to-face

interactions with lecturers and peers as emphasized

by Anderson’s (2008) interaction framework for

effective learning. Students interacted and

‘followed’ their mentors and society leaders who

influenced learning. Facebook promotes innovative

and transformative learning. Students were involved

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in choosing the cover photo for the group to

personalize the ‘BIT II CSC 2200 Operating

Systems class’ page and feel at ‘class’. The peers,

lecturer and systems administrator followed

students’ discussions to monitor progress.

a) Facebook Usage Findings

Students were actively engaged, appreciated and

enjoyed use of Facebook as a communication and

interaction platform basing on participation.

Students were very excited and interactive. They

created a video and posted it on the group to

supplement and complement collaborative activities

introduced in classroom. Students learnt at all levels

of cognitive domain of BDT (Churches, 2001)

because the task enabled them to carry out different

activities.

Post-Assignment Questionnaire Responses

a) Quantitative Findings

A validated students’ questionnaire used to

determine ‘perceptions and attitudes about use of

Facebook for the assignment’ basing on a likert

scale ranging from Strongly Disagree, Disagree,

Neutral, Agree and Strongly Agree, was filled by 48

students after uploading video. The results of the

number of individual responses per question are

shown in Table 2 as follows (Where S= strongly

disagree; D= disagree; N= neither agree nor

disagree; A= agree; SA= strongly agree; FB=

Facebook) 523 responses positively (Strongly Agree

and Agree) rated Facebook as a convenient platform

for classroom discussions and allowed them to

interact with classmates. Students noted that

Facebook should be used as a learning tool, since it

had changed their view of the course, was well

integrated into assignment, was more effective and

preferred than MUELE, had an overall positive

experience, made students feel more connected,

enhanced their OS understanding, enabled lecturer-

student interaction, enhanced experience of

participation, allowed finding and sharing of

resources, provided collaborative opportunities,

encouraged learner-centered activities and allowed

flexibility in learning. However, 123 responses were

neutral, while 89 either disagreed or Strongly

disagreed with the statements. Therefore, the overall

effect of Facebook on students learning process and

experience was positive because it enabled putting

knowledge into practice, sharing, collaboration,

interaction, flexibility and learner – centered

activities, among others. In addition, the

questionnaire had open-ended questions to capture

students’ views regarding their experience,

challenges and recommendations using Facebook for

the assignment.

Table 1: Total of individual responses per question.

Question / Response S D N A SA

1. Facebook for classroom

discussions is very

convenient

3 4 3 19 18

2. Facebook allows me to

interact with classmates

0 3 4 20 18

3. Facebook should be used

as a learning tool

1 5 6 28 10

4. Facebook changed my

overall view of the course

1 8 17 14 6

5. Facebook was well

integrated into the assignment

3 3 6 26 6

6. Facebook was more

effective than MUELE

1 2 7 15 20

7. I preferred using Facebook

over MUELE

3 2 8 15 19

8. Overall experience using

Facebook was very positive

2 5 3 22 15

9. I felt more connected to

fellow students using

Facebook

2 2 7 20 16

10.FB enhanced my

understanding of OS

3 8 11 17 8

11.FB enabled me to interact

with the lecturer more

2 3 5 20 13

12. FB enhanced my

experience of participation

1 3 9 22 13

13. FB allows me to ﬁnd and

share educational material

2 4 8 20 10

14. FB provided collaborative

learning opportunities

1 4 9 19 14

15. FB encourages learner-

centred activities

2 2 12 22 7

16. FB allows me flexibility

in learning

1 3 8 27 4

Total 28 61 123 326 197

Using Facebook to Transfer Knowledge into Practice and Aid Student, Lecturer and Content Interaction - A Case of Bachelor of Information

Technology Undergraduate Students at Makerere University

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b) Qualitative Findings

i) Students’ Experience using Facebook

The students noted that it was a good experience

because it made them active, learning was more

effective, convenience of time and place, interaction,

information distribution was easy, getting notes was

faster. Facebook was easy to use, access and

familiar, promoted peer and self-learning, and

instant updates. It was better for mobility purposes,

availability and accessibility, was not limited and

enabled bonding with classmates and Online

discussions, Interactions with lecturer and constant

communications. The experience was educative

because even without prior knowledge they clearly

understood concepts, and changed overall view of

learning.

One student noted that using Facebook was not a

good experience because of waiting for approval to

join. However, majority of students characterized

the affordances of Facebook as per Anderson (2008)

and the tool bringing fun in learning.

ii) Conceptual Understanding

Majority of students positively rated using Facebook

as improving their conceptual understanding because

it was good, exciting, interesting, practical and

interactive, and helped understand concepts,

approach made students more involved, promoted

multiple views of activities and connecting with

peers helped them learn better, promoted Learning

by doing, and built confidence. Facebook is a good

platform and greatly improves teacher-student

interaction, research-intensive and more

participatory, promoted access to educational

materials from anywhere, good lecturer-student

relationship, idea generation, technical skills,

knowledge sharing, Peers approached others which

helped them learn more. Although one student noted

he did not learn the concepts better because

explaining in person would have been a better

option, the rest found the use of Facebook as further

promoting their practical, research, communication

and interpersonal skills, and consequently improving

their conceptual understanding.

iii) Students’ Challenges using Facebook

Students noted the challenges of time, cost and

difficulty in uploading large videos, some phones

could not support Facebook, poor network

connections, Privacy of information shared, not all

students were on Facebook, pseudo names usage,

few students on platform at times, others did not

want to mix social life with academic purposes, and

lack of personal computers. Most challenges were

related to resource constraints, implying that limited

resources are a hindrance in using social media for

learning.

iv) Students’ Recommendations on using

Facebook for Learning

Students made recommendations that Facebook

should be used for future assignments and learning

opportunities because it is simple to use, enables

interaction, peer learning for understanding concepts

easily. It should be customized for academic work

and lecturers should use it as a learning and grading

tool. In summary, students recommend the use of

Facebook and its integration with other tools to

enhance research, teaching, learning and assessment.

8 PROOF OF CONCEPT

The tool in action provides evidence of the prototype

test and show that students put knowledge acquired

into practice by uploading videos of installation of

VM and OS on VM and show interaction between

students, peers and lecturers and using Facebook to

solve learning problems. Some students uploaded

videos after a struggle thereby learning by doing.

Uploading of videos show the educational goal was

achieved since students managed to learn how to

install VM and OS and recorded, uploaded or posted

the video on Facebook. Facebook affords interaction

relevant for effective learning by lecturers

commenting on students’ posts and student to

student interactions and problem inquiry.

9 DISCUSSION

The students researched and uploaded a video

recording installing a VM and installed the UNIX

(Ubuntu 14.04) OS onto VM and the class Facebook

group ‘BIT II CSC2200 Operating Systems Class’.

Since students were already familiar with Facebook,

they did not hesitate using it and enjoyed the

experience. From the results, it is clear that the

overall experience was positive. Most students

indicated increase in motivation, collaboration, and

interaction and believed they learned better through

this approach. Therefore, use of Facebook in

teaching and learning has potential to facilitate

application of knowledge to solve real world

problems.

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The student who observed that Facebook was not

a good experience because of waiting for approval to

join the group is unfortunate because the

administrator was online and approved requests

immediately. The student who said they did not

learn concepts better because explaining in person

would have been a better option emphasizes that

students have various learning styles, which need to

be addressed in the learning process. The Web

provides several tutorials on YouTube where this

student could have found explanations as required of

them. The lecturer also explained in class in the

general introduction to operating systems and

virtualization.

10 CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

The research focused on Student’s inadequacy to

transfer knowledge acquired in class into practice.

Further, lecturers teach practical courses in a

theoretical way curtailing students’ acquisition of

the expected practical skills. The lecturer gave an

introductory lecture about OSs, and installations.

Students carried out research on how to install OS

and VM, and recorded a video installing OS and

uploaded it on Facebook group, and uploaded the

videos and later presented them in class. From the

perceptions, majority thought they learnt better with

this approach and therefore, it curbs the problem.

Technology affords new ways of learning using a

variety of tools and media that address different

needs of digital learners and provide various skills

required. Technology provides knowledge sharing

opportunities where students and educators can

access content and network with peers to share best

practices from different institutions to develop deep

learning approaches amongst students and lead to

production of new knowledge and artifacts and

transform institutions and society. Therefore, to

increase learning motivation, desire and interest it is

important to design meaningful learning tasks and

use of new educational technologies should

continuously be explored by institutions, educators

and learners for teaching and learning in this digital

era.

The current experiment enabled students to

transfer knowledge acquired in class into practice

and thereafter upload the video onto Facebook

where they interacted with peers, content and

lecturer. In future the study should be repeated with

more course units and topics to assess Facebook

effectiveness, integrated as a tool for learning.

Students without Facebook accounts should be

accommodated, and challenges of network

connectivity and shortage of computers addressed.

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