Using Contradictions to Ravel Teaching and Learning Challenges in a Blended IS Course in an African University

摘要

Although university students are immersed in Facebook interactions, little is known about the impact of these Social Media on lecturers' pedagogical strategies and student learning. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory's (CHAT) notion of contradictions, this paper examines the influence of Facebook on lecturers' teaching strategies and student learning in a blended Information Systems course at a middle-sized African university. The research employed a multi-method approach that corroborated data from in-depth semi-structured interviews, in-class observations, and post-observation debriefings to unravel lecturers and students' experiences of Facebook use for teaching and learning. Several contradictions emerged from their Facebook use, namely, tensions between lecturers' teaching strategies and student conceptions of learning, dilemma between recruitment of student academic participation on Facebook and prevention of its resentment by uncooperative students, challenges of redundant postings, limitations of collective responsibility, intergenerational tensions between lecturers and students, and constraints of time. The findings include shifts from implicit to explicit teaching, pedagogical change from setting academic engagement rules to student persuasion to participate on Facebook, shifts from private academic support to consultation in public online spaces, and development of a collegial, mutually-beneficial consultative environment. Students reported ambivalent experiences of Facebook use with implications on lecturers' pedagogical strategies.