Publication History
Submitted: June 25, 2024
Accepted: July 10, 2024
Published: July 31, 2024
Identification
D-0332
DOI
https://doi.org/10.71017/djsi.3.7.d-0332
Citation
Nadira Afroz (2024). Using Facebook as a teaching and Learning Platform during Covid-19 in a Govt. College of Bangladesh. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 3(07):417-423.
Copyright
© 2024 The Author(s).
417-423
Using Facebook as a teaching and Learning Platform during Covid-19 in a Govt. College of BangladeshOriginal Article
Nadira Afroz 1*
- Brojomohun College, Barishal, Bangladesh.
* Correspondence: afroz.nadira71@gmail.com
Abstract: Facebook are being adopted by millions of students rapidly with a huge number of objectives. In a study Ractham, & Firpo, shows that Facebook support the activities of education through interaction, collaboration, participation and resource sharing. Hence, in education social networks like Facebook can be considered as effective and powerful teaching and learning media because teachers and students are spending a huge time on these online activities although the current generation have many alternatives to choose. In Bangladesh all educational institutions based on traditional teaching and learning Methods up to COVID-19 crisis.This study is based on Barisal Govt. Women’s College which institution is providing higher education for female students in Barisal district and is committed to serve the best teaching and learning atmosphere. All teachers and students are already using this social media for their entertainment our other work (Liu, 2010). Another participant in his interview agreed with him and expressed that in this COVID-19 situation Facebook is a blessing website for teaching and learning where teachers shifted their teaching from face to face to online using a prepared online communication media. As various features of Facebook are helpful for teaching and learning, it has gradually become an education-friendly medium. Facebook authorities is adding new features time to time that are very suitable for teaching and learning. The education system has become completely online as there is no alternative to online communication during house arrest like Corona.
Keywords: facebook, teaching, platform,covid-19,Bangladesh
- INTRODUCTION
21st century is called the era of technology Technology has revolutionized communication where social media has made it easier [1]. Day by day Technology use in education is increasing where Facebook have an essential role in teaching and teach (Nguyen, 2017). But In education physical and technological application are changing for the rapid change and development of ICT [2]. Facebook are being adopted by millions of students rapidly with a huge number of objectives. In a study Rackham, & Faro, shows that Facebook support the activities of education through interaction, collaboration, participation and resource sharing [3]. Hence, in education social networks like Facebook can be considered as effective and powerful teaching and learning media because teachers and students are spending a huge time on these online activities although the current generation have many alternatives to choose [4]. In Bangladesh all educational institutions based on traditional teaching and learning Methods up to COVID-19 crisis [5].This study is based on Barisal Govt. Women’s College which institution is providing higher education for female students in Barisal district and is committed to serve the best teaching and learning atmosphere [6]. Before COVID-19 situation this institution was based on traditional Methods of teaching and learning where they followed face to face lectures in classroom. But the sudden spread out of the deadly coronavirus COVID-19 shook the whole world as well as this college [7]. This pandemic situation challenged the education system and the educators are forced to shift them online teaching of this college. The institution rapidly turned from offline mode to online mode for the COVID-19 crisis. Recently for the Covid-19 situation, all academic functions are running online [8]. There has a multi-platform for online teaching. Different teachers of this institution are using different platform. The Government of Bangladesh also directed to continue academic functions using online platform. On the other hand, Facebook is common and familiar to both teachers and students for using social communication media [9]. It’s allowed Video chat, audio chat, share pictures, videos, and files within personally and also in the group [10]. Teachers and students of this college are using Facebook in different way for teaching and learning in this Covid-19 situation, although they have no previous experience to use it for academic purpose [11]. Therefore, the present study focused on finding out the way of using Facebook and its impact on both teachers and students in this COVID-19 situation in a Govt. college in Bangladesh. The resource helps to find out how the Litterers and students use Facebook end what are the using benefits and challenges up Facebook in teaching and learning purpose [12]. The study result contributed to solving the initial problems arose from using Facebook for teaching political science in this COVID-19 situation in a government college of Bangladesh. Students benefited in their online learning using Facebook and overcome the challenges from the recommendation of this study. This study helped to find out how education policymakers can face any pandemic situation like COVID-19 and can continue teaching and learning [13]. It also helped for online teaching and learning parallels face to face learning at the normal situation [14].
- MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study intends to explore the process of using Facebook for online class and also, it’s using benefits and challenges in this COVID-19 situation in teaching and learning process in a government college of Bangladesh. In this section discussed about the research methodology, method, Plan of data collection and data analysis process, resource instrument and participants used in this study. This study is a qualitative study conducted in a Govt. College of Barisal. Purposive method is followed for select the sample. Data collected from teachers and students both using online meeting on Zoom for the COVID-19 situation. In this study data processed in thematic approach to find out the answer of research question. Qualitative research involved with non-numerical data. It is to understand the concepts opinions or experiences. It also called exploratory Research. Qualitative research concerned with Humans’ lives and social worlds (Fossey, Harvey, McDermott, & Davidson. It does not analyze mathematical data but Apply the technique of scientific knowledge. It is concerned with qualitative data and subjective analysis. According to Mohajan, H. K. Qualitative research is used to understand how and why a phenomenon occurred. In qualitative research data are collected through observation, questionnaires, focus group discussion, interviews. Data are collected by in depth investigation in this method. This research is a Social Research and aim of this research is to find uses, benefits and challenges of Facebook, a social communication media for teaching and learning which demand in depth investigation. In qualitative method responded can go outside of structured question and possible to find out real facts. It also has scope of justify the opinion of respondent. Hope this fact I used qualitative methodology for my study to find out the in-depth information about my research topic.From the beginning of COVID-19 all face to face academic functions declared shutdown by the Government of Bangladesh. But in this situation All Government College decided to continue academic function using online platform. That’s why choice them as population for this study. But the study has conducted at Barisal govt. women’s college, a reputed government college of Barisal district. This college is continuing online teaching from the beginning of COVID-19 with various limitations. There have 62 teachers and about 6500 students within 16 departments in this college. Political science is one of the historic departments. There have 600 students in Honor’s level and 4 skilled teachers in this department. Among them teachers and Honor’s 2nd year students of political science are using Facebook for their online teaching and learning in this pandemic situation. For this sample was selected from the Department of political science (honors’ 2nd year) of this college considering the using Facebook for teaching and learning in this COVID-19 situation. In this study purposive sampling was followed. Considering the use of Facebook for online teaching and learning in this COVID-19 situation in Barisal Govt. Women’s College, from 120 students of Honour’s 2nd year of the Department of political science 5 are selected as sample for this study. Those 5 students are selected for their highest attendance in online class. Within 4 teachers 2 are using Facebook for teaching another 2 are not expert in ICT use. From these criteria 2 teachers are selected as sample for this study. For collect data in this study three methods are followed. This study was conducted when the whole World is in a pandemic situation for a deadly Disease for coronavirus (COVID-19). Peoples are house arrest. All face to face academic functions are off. Only there have the chance of online communication. For this condition data was collected using online communication media. For this study selected participants were informed about the purpose of this study and set up a group discussion using virtual platform zoom meeting. In Social Research FGD can provide different opinion from different participants involved in the process. He also added that FGD is essential for qualitative research. Supporting this Krueger, explained that, FGD has been widely used because of its advantages on economic, high face legitimacy and fast results. As a qualitative social research in this study Data was collected through FGD to identify the real facts. An open-ended questioner was used to conduct FGD in this study. 5 participants were attended in this online group discussion session. For this study data collected from sample using a questioner for FGD (Apendix-1). The questioner was relating to research objective. For the COVID-19, FGD was conducted in online group meeting using Zoom apps. Another questioner was used for interview (Apendix-2). FGD and interview was recorded in audio and video format in a computer and saved with a protected password. The recording of FGD and interview was converted it into written format. FCD and interview was conducted in Bangla language. To use the data collected from FCD an interview was converted into English. An online class of a lecturer of political science Department contacted by Facebook Messenger room was observed using laptop following the protocol of observation. A checklist was maintained in this class observation. For qualitative data analysis, Thematic analysis is a good method for research where tries to find something about a person’s opinion or knowledge this study is a qualitative study where data collected using interview, Focused Group Discussion and Observation. To identify the research objective thematic analysis is appropriate for this study. That’s why Thematic analysis are followed to analyze qualitative data of this study. Reliability guarantees the acceptability and compression of indicators. On the other hand, validity Represent the specific content of set up which we’re interested For this study data were collected through a focus group discussion of five students. Interview of two teachers and class observation of a political science class. For focus group discussion and interview two separate questionnaire where used the questionnaire were prepared considering the objectives of the study.
- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From focus group discussion and interview tried to find out how teachers and students using Facebook for online teaching and learning. The first interview question was about online teaching environment using Facebook. To the answer of this question both teachers agreed that using Facebook for online teaching is very much friendly and easier to conduct. One of them expressed that as a teaching platform Facebook is user friendly because this social media is not new website for teachers as well as for students. All teachers and students are already using this social media for their entertainment our other work (Liu, 2010). Another participant in his interview agreed with him and expressed that in this COVID-19 situation Facebook is a blessing website for teaching and learning where teachers shifted their teaching from face to face to online using a prepared online communication media. Answer of the question ‘why they are interested in Facebook’, one of the participants of FCD answered that all students and teachers are connected with Facebook. It is possible to use messenger room for online class activities. All other participants agreed with him and pointed out that, teachers also share article, journals relating to study political science which they can get easily. From the findings of my class observation for conducting online class teachers of the Department of political science, Barisal govt. woman’s college are using Facebook Messenger room. There have separate room for separate cores and teacher. In answer to another question for interview ‘how teachers using Facebook for online teaching’, one of the participant states that, he uses Facebook Messenger Room for conducting online session. He also shares online class schedule using Facebook group for the departmental students. Sometimes he uses Facebook live from personal profile where he discusses about a specific topic related to Political Science. Beside this he gives assignment and share various materials related to political science outside of the class using Messenger group and take feedback. Through interviews, focus group discussions, and class observations, an attempt has been made to find out the benefits and challenges of Facebook in teaching and learning. The interview participant said in response to a question about motivation of using Facebook in education that, Students can be more attentive in teaching when they can teach through joy. Although online education was not introduced before the advent of Corona They also added that the use of technology in classroom made the education enjoyable.
Discussion
From the above findings of interview, focus group discussion, and class observation it is clear that Teachers and students both are comfort to use Facebook in teaching and learning process [15]. In this COVID-19 pandemic teachers and students of political science of Barisal Govt. women’s college using Facebook as a platform of online teaching and learning [16]. In Facebook have some features which meet the demand of online teaching and learning that is already defined in the literature revue section. However, these tools are most often used by students for personal entertainment rather than for educational purposes [17]. Nevertheless, during the Coronation period, Facebook features made teachers and students more focused on using them in teaching and learning [18]. Facebook authorities are adding new features like Messenger Room to make it useful for teachers and students, keeping in mind that Facebook is useful for teaching and learning in any emergency like Corona. As a result, Facebook is slowly emerging as a powerful platform for teaching and learning for teachers and students [19]. In addition to Facebook, Zoom or Google Meet is used for online learning activities during the Corona period, but Facebook is more effective [20]. Because students have become accustomed to using it. There are also a number of features on Facebook that are effective for students to quickly communicate with teacher and themselves outside of online live classes [21]. Political science is a contemporary social science where new knowledge is constantly being created [22]. Facebook is a social media through which there is an opportunity to know any contemporary events in any part of the world. However [23], teachers and students fear that excessive use of Facebook can create a kind of Facebook addiction in them from which it is difficult to get out [24]. Moreover, there is an opportunity to mislead teachers and students through Facebook. All students are not getting chance to learn political science due to lack of digital instrument which is a major challenge for online education [25].
- CONCLUSION
Although Facebook’s main goal is social communication, its ease of use and versatility have led to its gradual expansion. The highest number of Facebook users is between the ages of 18 and 26 who are mainly students. Students continue to use Facebook for social communication as well as learning for their own needs. As various features of Facebook are helpful for teaching and learning, it has gradually become an education-friendly medium. Facebook authorities is adding new features time to time that are very suitable for teaching and learning. The education system has become completely online as there is no alternative to online communication during house arrest like Corona. Facebook is more effective in teaching and learning due to the opportunity to use multipurpose. The study collected information from both teachers and students on the use of Facebook in teaching and learning, where the practical benefits and challenges of using Facebook emerged. Teachers and students are mainly habituated to using Facebook which is the result of long practice. So, Facebook is more effective for online teaching and learning during this time. All the activities required for online teaching and learning are possible through Facebook. Although there are some limitations of Facebook. A live stream Facebook Messenger Room was added for the online meeting in but only 50 participants could join at the same time. However, the teacher can create videos, audios, or slides and share them through the Facebook group so that even if a student cannot join the live stream, they can learn from it later. Outside of this, the teacher can contact the class using live from the personal wall or group. But in all these cases teaching-learning will not be more interactive because there is no opportunity to ask direct questions. While online teaching and learning using Facebook is effective during coronation, it is not a permanent solution. Because online teaching and learning cannot be a substitute for face-to-face teaching learning. However, after this situation in Corona, how teachers and students can use Facebook to make teaching and learning more interactive in addition to face-to-face classes is a matter of future research. Studies have shown that teachers and students are becoming addicted to Facebook through online learning using Facebook, which will be a big challenge to get them out of there later. There is also a possibility of a more detrimental one in terms of teaching and learning as there is a lot more chance of rumours and misinformation as well as proper learning through Facebook. However, it is possible to make teaching and learning more effective by using Facebook through proper guidelines and monitoring during the coronation period.
REFERENCES
- Munni, B. E., & Hasan, S. M. (2020). Teaching English during COVID-19 Pandemic Using Facebook Group as an LMS: A Study on Undergraduate Students of a University in Bangladesh. Language in India, 20(6).
- Sengupta, S., & Vaish, A. (2024). A study on social media and higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Universal access in the information society, 23(3), 1249-1271.
- Zafitsara, J., & Velo, N. M. A. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the 2020-2021 Academic Year at Fianarantsoa University: The Use of Facebook as a Mode to Switch to Online Learning. Research in Learning Technology, 30.
- Ahamed, M. J., & Tazuddin, S. M. (2020). The scenario of E-Education in COVID-19 pandemic: A study on some selected colleges of Bangladesh. Journal of Commerce and Management Thought, 11(4), 339-390.
- Mary Grace G. Alsaen (2024). Teachers and Parents’ Level of Awareness and Level of Implementation of School Based Management System in the Elementary Schools in La Trinidad, Benguet. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 3(06):310-317.
- Singh, M., Adebayo, S. O., Saini, M., & Singh, J. (2021). Indian government E-learning initiatives in response to COVID-19 crisis: A case study on online learning in Indian higher education system. Education and Information Technologies, 26(6), 7569-7607.
- Kayode, A. E., KwaZulu-Nata, S. A., & Ekpenyong, M. (2022). Social Media, University Communication and E-Learning Platforms: A Focus on Educators and Learners’ Accessibility during Post-COVID-19 Era, in Nigerian Universities. A Journal of Social Inclusion and Educational Advancement, 429.
- Aduba, D. E., & Mayowa-Adebara, O. (2022). Online platforms used for teaching and learning during the COVID-19 era: The case of LIS students in Delta State University, Abraka. International Information & Library Review, 54(1), 17-31.
- Mukhter, I., & Chowdhary, R. (2020). Teaching during covid-19: teacher and students’ experience. Space and Culture, India, 8(2), 25-35.
- Babu, J., & Jayakumar, P. (2020). Academic engagement of college students during the national lockdown due to Covid-19. GIS-Bus, 15, 463-482.
- Avila, E. C., & Cabrera Jr, H. I. (2020). The use of Facebook group in distance learning during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 17(6), 1859-1871.
- Ngussa, B. M., Fıtrıyah, F. K., & Dınıngrat, S. W. M. (2021). Correlation between Facebook use, mental health and learning engagement: a case of universities in Surabaya City, Indonesia. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 22(1), 229-245.
- Gunawan, G., Suranti, N. M. Y., & Fathoroni, F. (2020). Variations of models and learning platforms for prospective teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Indonesian Journal of Teacher Education, 1(2), 61-70.
- Sobaih, A. E. E., Palla, I. A., & Baquee, A. (2022). Social media use in e-learning amid COVID 19 pandemic: Indian students’ perspective. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(9), 5380.
- Pema Wangdi (2024). Challenges faced by the primary science teacher while teaching elements and their symbols in two schools under Monger Dzongkhag. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 3(06):340-348.
- Addae, D., Amponsah, S., & Gborti, B. J. (2022). COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to digital learning: experiences of students in a community college in Ghana. In Community Colleges’ Responses to COVID-19 (pp. 103-114). Routledge.
- Laskar, R. U., & Mazumder, R. A. (2021). Alternative ways for providing library services to support teaching learning process during Covid-19 pandemic: A study of degree colleges affiliated to Assam University, Silchar. Library Philosophy and Practice, 1-16.
- Rahmatullah, A. S., & Ghufron, S. (2021). The Effectiveness Of’facebook’as Indonesian Language Learning Media For Elementary School Student: Distance Learning Solutions In The Era Of The Covid-19 Pandemic. Multicultural education, 7(04), 27-37.
- Bhattacharya, S., & Faisal, M. (2020). University branding during covid-19: A study on the role of social media in promoting covid-19 awareness and building brand image. Journal of Content, Community & Communication, 12(6), 281-290.
- Ghosh, R., Khatun, A., & Khanam, Z. (2023). The relationship between social media based teaching and academic performance during COVID-19. Quality Assurance in Education, 31(1), 181-196.
- Juny Geraldizo Patierez (2024). Effects of Learning Motivation and Engagement on the Academic Performance and Satisfaction of Senior High School Students. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 3(05):251-266.
- Hashim, S., Masek, A., Abdullah, N. S., Paimin, A. N., & Muda, W. H. N. W. (2020). Students’ intention to share information via social media: A case study of COVID-19 pandemic. Indonesian journal of science and technology, 5(2), 236-245.
- Abdillah, L., Handayani, T., Rosalyn, E. R., & Mukti, Y. I. (2021). Collaborating digital social media for teaching science and Arabic in higher education during COVID-19 pandemic. Ijaz Arabi: Journal of Arabic Learning, 4(2), 12-25.
- Joyce P. Plando (2024). Teachers’ Performance Based On Educational Sustainable Development Goals. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 3(02):104-114.
- Shukla, A. (2022). Social media usage in higher education: Role in marketing and communication during covid-19. Transnational Marketing Journal, 10(1).
Publication History
Submitted: June 25, 2024
Accepted: July 10, 2024
Published: July 31, 2024
Identification
D-0332
DOI
https://doi.org/10.71017/djsi.3.7.d-0332
Citation
Nadira Afroz (2024). Using Facebook as a teaching and Learning Platform during Covid-19 in a Govt. College of Bangladesh. Dinkum Journal of Social Innovations, 3(07):417-423.
Copyright
© 2024 The Author(s).