Students’ Types of Online Interaction through Facebook Discussion

AbstractIn this paper, we discussed on the potential of Facebook as a social networking tool that could promote students interaction and discussion with instructor in relation to academic content. In online learning environment, interaction plays key elements that will measure students learning process. Therefore, we intended to identify students’ types of online interactions through Facebook discussion and investigate its pattern across time as it is actually represents their learning process. However, setting up an academic-related discussion through social networking tool is a quite challenging task for instructors. In order to access students’ types of online interactions through Facebook, a total of nine Masters’ students in Educational Technology programme involved in the Facebook discussion. Students’ posts in Facebook discussion were coded accordingly into types of online interactions based from their interactivity with the instructor. Result shows that students rather express their opinions and convey their judgments in academic-related discussions in terms of responses towards instructors’ comments and questions while the least types of interactions transmit by students are comparing and differentiating between facts with existing knowledge. This study also discussed further on the importance of proper guidance that essentially needed in supporting students’ online interactions especially in social learning environment