Winking at Facebook: Capturing Digitally Mediated Classroom Learning

Abstract

This article discusses the combination of methods used in a study of the use of Facebook as an educational resource by a class of five students at a sixth-form college in north-west England. Through a project in which teacher-researcher and student-participants co-constructed a Facebook group page about the students' scaffolded research into dyslexia, the study examined the educational affordances of a digitally mediated social network. Combining multiple data-collection methods including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, video recordings, dynamic screen capture, and protocol analysis helped to capture multiple perspectives on the learning that happened in the classroom over the five weeks of the research project's lifetime. Aggregating the resulting data permitted meticulous, comprehensive reconstruction and analysis of aspects of that learning. Crucially, insights were gained which would not have been afforded by a more orthodox approach. The article presents and analyses excerpts from the data which help to illustrate these insights. The discussion identifies potential benefits of employing these methods and also acknowledges factors which hampered fully effective joint implementation in this study. As well as suggesting improvements that could make the approach worth considering for any study exploring screen-mediated classroom learning, it is hoped to offer researchers investigating similar settings some insight into the potential, pitfalls and limitations of attempting to combine these methods.