Using Social Network Sites to Foster Informal Learning and Intercultural Awareness

Project description

This project uses a social network site (SNS) to foster informal learning and intercultural reflection in students in modern languages who are going, or planning to go, on a year abroad. It makes use of a peer mentoring structure, with students who have returned from their year abroad in the role of mentors.

Background

Personal development events run in 2007-08 by staff in Educational and Staff Development and the Careers Service for 2nd and 3rd year languages students highlighted the value to students of being able to listen to, and share, their insights and experiences of the year abroad. Informal comments from other students suggested that there was a need to facilitate such a dialogue, both peer-to-peer and peer-to-tutor, while abroad. Although languages students have access to a WebCT course area for accessing essential documentation, there is little incentive to use this once abroad.

One approach to facilitating conversations and dialogue about the year abroad is by using a social network site (SNS). SNS are 'web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system' (Ellison and boyd 2007). A recent report by the UK Office for Communications (OFCOM) asserts that over half of 16-24 year olds have a profile on a SNS, and that most users check their profiles at least every second day. Queen Mary University of London has a network of its own within Facebook, one of the most well known social network sites. Other examples include MySpace and Flickr, although these sites are more oriented towards facilitating the sharing of videos, music, and photos.

The OFCOM report identifies the main ways in which SNSs are used, but does not explicitly identify formal learning as being among their benefits. There are implicit descriptions of informal learning such as building confidence and leading individuals to engage with political and social issues which could be envisaged as beneficial. However, as a survey of the scholarly literature on the topic reveals, there is a growing practice and pedagogy related to SNSs. Facebook, for example, is being used to facilitate communication with students on modules at Oxford Brookes University, the University of Leicester, West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Northeastern University, among many others. Dan Scheirer, a professor of biology at Northeastern, found that the benefits of using Facebook included the ability to share recent comments among the student group through mini-feeds, and the fact that students' responsiveness was higher when the in-built email function in Facebook was used instead of Blackboard (see also Bowers-Campbell 2008: 81). However, other research indicates that up to a third of students in a course module may not expect - or want - to see academic staff inhabiting this same virtual space (Hewitt & Forte 2006). It seems likely that any site must deliver a real sense of student ownership in order to be accepted.

This project, then, is a timely one, given the general interest across the higher education sector in SNS, and the growing interest within QMUL for exploring the potential of these technologies, and how best to manage the learning environment in a way that is sensitive to the social parameters of this virtual environment.

Publications

As part of the project, a bibliography and literature review on existing uses of social network software in higher education and the teaching of modern languages has been produced by Rhianne Jones, a PhD student at Salford University. The literature review and the bibliography are available to download in various formats by following the link under Resources to the right.

Please continue to check back regularly as this site will be updated with publications and reports arising from the project.

Funding

This project is funded by a Small Grant for Development of Learning and Teaching from the college's Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund.

Using Social Network Sites to Foster Informal Learning and Intercultural Awareness

Project description

Background

Publications

Funding

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