Why should I use this?

Adopting a social network site in tertiary education

Abstract

This paper reports an ethnographic study in which I investigated how students made sense of, and in their turn shaped, a social network site in intensive courses in film and media production. Broadly based on a sensemaking approach, the study aimed to reveal how students' expectations, strategies, 'knowledge gaps' and other perceptions of the situation and digital affordances shaped the use of a social networking space. Results showed that students brought expectations that were sometimes met and sometimes not. The paper suggests that while preserving students' freedom of choice, the institution should aim to clarify how online tools fit into the larger environment of learning and offer strategies in their use. Learning design should an ongoing process of students' and online designers' collaborative sensemaking.