Personal interviews
Nine students took part in the personal interviews, revealing the following aspects:
- They liked using Facebook for learning.
- Facebook allowed them to learn regularly, in an informal way, without the pressure of studying just for the exam in the days before.
- Most of them read the posts immediately they appeared in their Facebook newsfeed.
Some said that they appreciated the fact of being able to take advantage of time on public transport, reading posts on their smartphones.
- The students that joined the group late complained about the randomness of the posts, which made it difficult for them to be updated.
- The older members in particular felt comfortable in the group, and they recommended new members to join.
Some of them were motivated by the desire to collect “likes” from their classmates with regard to their posts.
- Students remarked how the respectfulness of the professor was decisive in their participation, and that they would not want to join such a Facebook working group with any other professor.
- Students appreciated the use of the Facebook group, in that it helped them build as a team and work together, which made the learning more interesting and fun.
- Students pointed out that it was easier to express their views on Facebook than in the classroom.
This is because they had more time to reflect on their views and were not afraid of participating as they might have been in public.
- Students found the recording of the discussions useful in order to re-read them.
- Students pointed out that the Facebook group encouraged them to be aware of new opportunities for learning about the subject outside the classroom, and to share them with their classmates, and that from then onwards they would be interested in reading any news about the subject that they came across, thus initiating lifelong learning.