Facebook in higher education

Nice study that looks at the difference between social and academic engagement. Study by psych lecturers who looked at ABC (affective, behaviour, cognitive) aspects. Found:

• Facebook is what people look to when they are bored, and those who are characterized as conscientious generally avoid FB
• Use of FB tends to be social and not academic, FB is actually a distractor to study
• Further, students see approaching an academic on FB like asking them a question at the pub!
• Best use appears to be a help desk like facility with an avatar or anonymous helper
• Worst use is 'Stalker' pages
• LMS actually applies necessary constraints unlike FB which is not a good teaching space, things like Stalker spaces
• LMS interface needs to be more friendly like social media interfaces (FB)
• Collaboration occurs in informal spaces (comments from the floor)