Table 1
Study design
|
Phase 1 |
Focus groups General overview of medical students use of Facebook for educational purposes Participants: Medical students from the undergraduate medical programme, Years 1–4 |
|
Phase 2 |
Semi-structured interviews Focused case study on how a student-created educational Facebook group was used by a small group of medical students Participants: Medical students from the intercalated degree in Medical Education |
Table 2
Characteristics of intercalating students’ online Facebook group
|
Aim |
‘Just thought it would be good to make a group so we can all get to know each other, and it may come in handy next year if we need to contact one another about work/projects etc.’ |
|
Context |
Informal student-created group for students (n = 12) taking the intercalated degree in medical education ‘Secret’ group: found in the search bar only by members Membership by invitation only No faculty present Controlled by the students |
|
Rules |
No formal rules established |
|
Tools and features |
Discussion ‘wall’ allowing users to post comments, all commentary activity occurred here Create events and create polls Share files and documents Upload photos and videos |
Fig. 1
Screenshot example of collaborative learning
Fig. 2
Screenshot example of strategic uses for the preparation for assessment
Fig. 3
Screenshot example of sharing experiences and providing support
Fig. 4
Screenshot example of personal planning and practical organization
Table 3
Examples of resources shared on Facebook
|
Student work |
|
Tutorial learning objectives e.g. PBL session |
|
Lecture presentations |
|
Educational images, websites and YouTube videos |
|
Literary articles |
|
Online books |
Fig. 5
Screenshot example of sharing and evaluating educational resources
