F acebook and classroom group work: A trial study involving U niversity of B otswana A dvanced O ral P resentation students

In the 21st century, the use of information technology in the classroom is advancing rapidly, especially in higher education. The I nternet, through social networking, has made it possible for students to learn and teachers to teach outside the classroom walls. F acebook in particular has made it possible for students to interact and communicate with their teachers and among themselves about their progress and about the problems they encounter in learning. Yet, limited research exists on the use of F acebook in education in S ub‐ S aharan A frica more especially in B otswana. This is in spite of the observation that S ub‐ S aharan A frica is the fastest growing I nternet population with a growth of more than 2500% between 2000 and 2011. This study therefore set out to examine (1) the students' interest in using F acebook to facilitate group work activities in the A dvanced O ral P resentation S kills course; (2) whether the students interact and communicate using F acebook on matters relating to the A dvanced O ral P resentations course; (3) whether the students benefitted from using F acebook for learning advanced oral presentation skills; and (4) what challenges the students encountered when using F acebook in the A dvanced O ral P resentations course. In this trial study, students were allocated groups and assigned to conduct their group activities via F acebook. Although this was optional, more than 80% of the groups opted for F acebook and less than 20% chose to do their group work traditionally. A follow‐up evaluation of the experiment was done through a questionnaire and interviews. The findings suggest that F acebook could facilitate student communication and interaction about group assignments.