A presentation from the STEM Annual Conference 2014.
Virtual learning environments (VLEs) like Blackboard are commonly used to support bioscience learning at degree level. They are excellent for didactic purposes but generally lack the interactive tools necessary for real time communication. Though a chat tool is supported its adoption by both academics and students is very low. We wished to find a means of conducting real time drop-in online “surgeries” for course feedback and exam revision. Student polling revealed that Facebook is most widely adopted by students. We therefore used a Facebook page as a forum to post support material and run online surgeries for a year 1 module in molecular genetics. Sign up to the page was voluntary and reached 334 out of 650 students however reach statistics showed that posts were being indirectly read by up to 2954 individuals. Support for the page was increased by regular posts of relevant material over the time the module was running. A poll of 118 students revealed overall very positive responses to the page and to the online surgeries. Seven individuals played an active part in the online surgeries and 24 posts were exchanged over its course. These posts were accessed 1644 times by site followers indicating a reach well beyond the active participants. 56% of students polled found the exercise helpful even though they did not directly participate. This study indicates that a Facebook page can be a useful adjunct to a taught course and delivers increased interactivity and viral reach compared with a traditional VLE.
