Using Smartphones and Facebook in a Major Assessment: The student experience

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Using Smartphones and Facebook in a Major Assessment: The student experience

Elisa Backer

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of an alternative form of assessment employing new technology, such as smartphones and Facebook which are two modern tools that are rapidly increasing in popularity and application in the business environment. This paper adopts an experimental approach to examine whether these technologies could not only provide students with relevant skills but also increase their learning experience. Eleven out of the 12 students reported that the use of smartphones and Facebook increased their motivation, independent learning and sense of responsibility. The implications from this paper are that integrating new technologies into assessment was beneficial to students who had experience with the new technology, however, not all students were capable of using the technology and this requires further work when implementing new technology.

Keywords

Smartphones, Assessment, Student experience, Social media

Annotation

This qualitative study looked at the effect of smartphones and Facebook on student motivation, responsibility and learning. 12 students were interviewed and 11 of the 12 respondents felt smartphones and Facebook increased levels of motivation. One other finding of note was that not all students were tech savvy as only 3 initially had Facebook pages and many experienced tech issues throughout the semester. Despite this, 9 of the 12 still felt that the use of technology “enhanced their learning experience” throughout the semester (p. 28).

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