Using Facebook groups to engage your students

Using Facebook with your students should not be done on a whim or because you feel you have to. The only reason to ever use a particular piece of technology is because it enhances your experience or helps you achieve something. With that in mind, let’s look at the potential for using Facebook with your students. 

The most basic rule of communication is: go where your audience is. Are your students using Facebook? Most likely the answer is yes. So how can you use it to improve engagement, encourage better online safety and make your teaching more effective? 

The best way I have found to do this is by using the “groups” function. It is a great way to gather your students together in the setting of a private forum and they can help to improve engagement by helping you to keep your subject in front of your students for longer and enabling better cross-curricular conversations.