Using Facebook as a Course Management System: One Instructor's Journey

My options seemed too limited. In the fall of 2010, I found myself disappointed with the course management system (CMS) options available for the university-level courses I instructed. The institution provided Blackboard, where far too often I spent time training students how to use the CMS, instead of instructing course content; or, I was frustrated by the clunkiness of using it. My needs were not being met.

Earlier, I had tested using open-licensed options like Moodle and Sakai. Unfortunately, when teaching the students how to use these systems, I found the cognitive load was even greater than with Blackboard. I wanted to focus on teaching the course content, using a system that was intuitive to students (and me), yet robust enough to fit my instructional needs.

So, I turned to Facebook.

My decision to use Facebook as a CMS was fairly simple. Students are already familiar with Facebook. They know the basic functions of the platform, so utilizing it as a CMS requires little additional learning of the tool. The Facebook selection did require some testing and creativity on my part, which I found no more cumbersome than utilizing any other CMS.

After exploring the instructional possibilities in Facebook and identifying the tools I needed for my courses, I chose to set up a Facebook Group (instead of a Facebook Page or Facebook Event). With a Group, I have built-in functionality that includes e-mail, messaging, text and video chatting, administrative access, discussion board wall, student access, and the ability to upload and monitor digital files and documents. A Group affords the most useful aspects of a CMS, including the management of students and course content, and communication with and between students.

To create a Facebook Group, an instructor logs into Facebook and clicks on “Create Group” under the “Groups” label found in the center sidebar. At this point the instructor names the Group. This is the name that will be listed under the “Groups” label and appear at the top of the Group when inside the Group. The administrator of the Group can change this name as often as needed in the “Group Name” field under “Edit Group Settings.”

As part of creating a Group, the instructor also adds specific people to the Group. Once added, these individuals become “members” of the Group. Students can also be added later, after the Group is created.

After creating the Group, as the administrator, I can either add each student in the course to the Group (if I did not add them when I created the Group) or have students request to be added by clicking “Join Group” and then I approve the requests. Either way, all the students in a course become members of the Group.

A nice feature of the Facebook Group is that after a student becomes a member of the course Group, the Group name appears under the “Groups” label in the sidebar each time the student logs into Facebook. This visibility of the course Group is incredibly convenient, as students, who are already logging into Facebook, see the course Group and check it regularly. They do not have to log in to another system, such as Blackboard, to check course content and updates. For instructors, it is convenient as well, since all Facebook courses are listed under the “Groups” label in the sidebar, making it easy to click through various courses to monitor and update them.

Groups can have three levels of access: Open, Closed, and Secret. This level can be selected when the Group is created or can be selected after the Group is created. An administrator can switch between different levels whenever a change is desired, by clicking the radio button in the “Privacy” field under “Edit Group Settings.” Because of this field name, the Group access level is commonly referred to as the “Group privacy setting.”

I choose to leave the access level of my courses set to Open, meaning anyone on Facebook can see the Group, its members, and the messages posted on the Group Wall. In a Closed Group, anyone can see the Group and its members, but only members can see messages posted to the Group Wall. In a Secret Group, only members see the Group, who is in it, and what members post to the Group Wall.

A potential concern to the Open Group is that anyone in the world may happen to find the Group and request to join. They also would be able to peruse the content of the course even without being a Group member. I view this potential concern as a positive because, unlike in a completely password-protected, closed CMS course, an Open Facebook Group can have participants who are not taking the course for credit. On several occasions, I have had experts on topics related to the course participate in discussions with students, which enriched the content and experience for the students. My favorite Group visitors are authors of the course readings. Even students accustomed to regular social media use find it exciting to interact with authors and other experts.

Selecting an appropriate and relevant address for the Facebook Group is an important task that often gets overlooked. The Group address is important because, not only does it appear in the domain (web) address of the Group, it is also used as part of the Group e-mail address. When anyone in the Group sends an e-mail to the single Group e-mail address, each member of the Group receives a message in his or her personal e-mail account and Facebook Inbox, and the message is also posted to the Group Wall. Thus, using the Group e-mail address becomes an easy way of disseminating course announcements.

To assign an address to a Group in Facebook, the administrator goes to “Edit Group Settings,” then types in an address in the “Group Address” field. Once this is set, there is no way to change it, so it is important to properly select and input the address. The URL (domain address) of the Group then becomes www.facebook.com/groups/groupaddress and the Group e-mail address becomes groupaddress@groups.facebook.com I name my Groups according to the course number and semester. For example, the Group address for an EDU 600 course offered spring semester 2013 would be edu600spr2013 This naming convention makes it easy for me to keep track of my different course Groups, and ensures each course Group has a unique address, which is required when assigning an address to a Facebook Group.

Along with housing announcements generated from e-mails sent to the Group e-mail address, the Group Wall serves as the discussion board. Here students and the instructor can post questions, share interesting items that relate to the course content, and easily share and access external links of readings, images, and videos.

Participants can also attach files, photos, and videos to Wall posts. When a post is made to the Group Wall, Facebook sends a notification message to every member in the Group as well as flags the Group name under the Groups label in the sidebar. Students can then choose to contribute to the discussions at their leisure. Using the Group Wall in this way can seamlessly enrich the course experience. Though it is possible to require all posts to be approved by the administrator before being visible to Group members, I choose to have them automatically appear without approval.

Group members can also post a simple poll on the Group Wall. Any Group member can click “Ask Question” above the Wall to create a poll. This provides a great way for the instructor and students to ask questions in a polling format and have Group members select from multiple answers. Polling can be useful, especially for the instructor, in quickly acquiring feedback from Group members. For example, I might ask about students completing certain readings, or understanding specific topics.

In addition to communicating with members using the Group e-mail address, Group members can send Facebook Messages to each other, either all at once, or by selecting specific individuals. These Messages are delivered to individuals’ Facebook Inboxes, not their personal e-mail accounts. Upon arrival of these Messages, members can receive notifications in Facebook and via e-mail. Members can also attach files to Messages, in the same manner as attaching them to Wall posts. And, since Facebook Messages also serve as the familiar chats (like instant messaging)—both text and video—the conversations with and among students in the Group can be either asynchronous or synchronous.

Digital course content is uploaded to the Photos Tab and the Files Tab of the Facebook Group. An instructor can upload and organize picture and video files—such as JPG, PNG, and MOV files—within the Photos Tab, while text files—such as DOC, PPT, and PDF files—are uploaded to the Files Tab. Students can view and/or download (but not edit) these files within the Group. An instructor can also click “Create Doc” within the Files Tab to create an editable document that any member of the Group can edit. All files and documents can be labeled by module, by week, by topic, or however is needed to fit the course. Any time anyone makes a change to a file or document, a message and a link are posted to the Group Wall, therefore students can easily find a continual stream of change notifications.

I utilize the Photos Tab to house the video-recorded course lectures and any images that illustrate points made in the lectures. My written lecture notes are either uploaded to the Photos Tab or to the Files Tab depending on the file format. I upload any presentation files, typically in PDF or PPT format, to the Files Tab, which is nice because students can view these files in their browser, or download them to their computers for later viewing. Since my Syllabus (which includes the course calendar) needs to be updated throughout the course, I make it an editable document in the Files Tab.

For course readings, care must be taken when considering fair use and copyright protection. I make the choice of including readings of which either I am the copyright owner, or which are open-licensed and available online. Should an instructor be utilizing readings that need a higher-level of protection, it is better to have the Group privacy setting on Secret, as this most approximates the password-protected environment typically required for limited-access readings housed in a CMS.

Something innovative, which I found to be very effective, is to upload audio-enhanced PDF files created with the Livescribe Smartpen. This is a pen that instantly turns what is written on a page into a digital PDF document file. These files have hand-written text that is synced to audio that was occurring while the text was being written. This hand-written text is either made by me when describing a topic, or by a student recording a live version of the course lecture or discussion. Using these audio-enhanced files, I can explain a complicated concept while drawing it out for the students to see. It is as if I am using a recorded white board. These PDFs can be replayed over and over, similar to a video file, with the drawing on the page synced with the audio.

There are two approaches to student submission of assignments: closed, between the instructor and the student; and open, between the student and the world. The former allows feedback, interaction, and assessment from only one person, the instructor. The latter facilitates feedback, interaction, and assessment from anyone who reviews the assignment. Should an instructor desire closed assignment submission, students can submit assignments using the Facebook Message feature. The assignment can be typed in the body of the message or added as one or more attachments. Should an instructor desire open assignment submission, students can submit assignments by posting them to a blog. In general, I choose open submission.

Since not all students have a blog prior to enrolling in the course, in the syllabus I outline the process of setting up and utilizing one for course assignments. I typically recommend students use www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com as these are relatively simple and readily available options. Something I also recommend is for students to name their blog some amalgamation or diminutive of their name, and not some abstract reference. For example, while I would recommend Jonathon Smith naming his blog something like “jonsmith,” I would not recommend something like “princessboy.” Following this naming recommendation makes it easier for Group members to locate specific student blogs and it also lowers confusion.

I require students to post their assignments to their blogs for each topic covered. The deadline is typically 11:59 p.m. on a particular day. This allows students flexibility to submit assignments at their convenience.

Regarding the requirement of students to post their assignments openly, sometimes there is trepidation. Some students express concern regarding having anyone able to view their course assignments. My perspective is if students do not feel their assignments are good enough to publish on their individual blogs, then they likely are not good enough to hand in as final assignments for a course. Once I explain the reasons and benefits for open assignment submission, students embrace the concept. They tend to utilize posting their assignments on their blogs to establish their voice, opinion, and reputation.

Another ancillary reason for open submission of course assignments is the potential of getting “discovered.” Since the world can read student blogs, the potential of professionals, experts, and interested people reading student submissions exists. I have had many students make connections and even land their career opportunities because of having someone find their blog assignments. This cannot happen in a closed submission environment of assignments. I recommend that students not label these assignments as “class assignments” or something similar, but instead treat course assignments as examples of their professional abilities. Oftentimes, students use their blogs as the beginning of their online professional portfolio.

To keep track of all the student blogs, I create a document in the Files Tab that I call “Blog List” where students input their name and blog address. This allows them to change their blog name, if they need to, throughout the course, by simply updating the address. Facebook also automatically makes the blog address a hot link so it becomes easy to click out to the students’ blogs. Once a deadline has passed for a particular assignment, I go to the Blog List document and click through the blog addresses to review and assess the submitted assignments.

Assignment assessment is best handled with a combination of two methods: closed, where only the instructor and student know the assessment; and open, where anyone can review the assessment. Careful consideration must be made by the instructor in deciding when and where to use each.

I have found students appreciate giving and receiving feedback from one another on their assignments. This peer feedback offers an added element of learning around a specific topic. Therefore, I require students to read other Group members’ blog assignments and post comments by 11:59 p.m. the day after a particular assignment is due. After this deadline, I review the assignments and the blog comments and leave a final summary comment of assessment to each assignment. It is enjoyable to see when a discussion between students continues even after I have posted my assessment comment.

Sometimes, I make a judgment that my feedback is sensitive, either due to the nature of the assessment, or due to the personality of the student. When this is the case, I use a closed method by sending feedback to the student directly and individually through a Facebook Message.

Additionally, on the occasion when I have a closed assignment that is required to be submitted through a Message, I respond to each student with the assessment in a response Message.

When it comes to the final numeric score of an assignment, I use a closed method for recording and dissemination of grades. This is mostly due to the mandates of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which disallows the open posting of final grades. Figuring out how to handle this when using Facebook as a CMS presented an interesting challenge. Before I began using Facebook as my CMS, I explored several third-party online grade book options and I chose to use www.gradebookportal.com It was simple, intuitive, and password-protected. Students found it effective for disseminating course assignment grades, so I included a link from the Group to the web address and a description on how to use the grade record site in the syllabus.

In the fall of 2011, my institution switched from Blackboard to Instructure's Canvas. I found many of the weaknesses of Blackboard still persisted in Canvas, but the fact that my institution automatically placed students in the course's online Canvas grade book, made it an obvious choice for me to switch from using GradeBook-Portal to the gradebooks in Canvas. This has been a simpler, more efficient, and more effective option for recording and disseminating numeric scores to students in my Facebook courses.

One of the biggest limitations to using Facebook as a CMS is the inability to create automated quizzes in Facebook. For a large class size, this limitation is magnified. My courses tend to have 15-50 students, so I can conduct them without automated quizzes. If I were to need to use a quiz, I would utilize some kind of web code, like JavaScript, or an embedded application to achieve this purpose. When Facebook first announced the ability to utilize Ask a Question, I thought this option might be the answer to the need for quizzes. Unfortunately, it is not, since Ask a Question is for the entire Group, and not an individual.

Another limitation is using Facebook for courses where the students are minors. If I were not teaching adults, I would make changes in order to properly use Facebook as a CMS with children. I would likely only use a closed submission method for assignments, not “Friend” any of the students, and clearly outline the parameters of what is included in the course and what is outside of the course. Though it is not required to be Facebook Friends in order to interact with individuals within the Group, interaction outside of the Group typically requires “Friending.” Additionally, Facebook requires users to be at least 13 years of age to sign up for an account. So a course involving younger-aged students would be limited by Facebook.

Finally, the fact that all students in the course need to have a Facebook account can be viewed as a limitation. I have found this not to be much of a hindrance, since nearly all university-level students I have encountered already have a Facebook account. What has been a small hindrance is overcoming the perception that Facebook is for having fun and wasting time, and that it is not used for doing something productive, like a course. Any instructor considering using Facebook as a CMS should anticipate and prepare for this perception.

In my search to improve my ability to offer courses online, I have found Facebook to be a user-friendly and robust alternative to the traditional course management system. I spend less time teaching university-level students how to use the system, and more time focused on course content. College students in my courses feel they can begin building their professional network, while at the same time doing coursework in Facebook.

Something I recognize when utilizing a social media platform for any productive use is there is no complacency. What works today might not be what works tomorrow, so it is important to be ever adapting. In this light, I plan to always be looking for ways to improve using Facebook as my course management system.