Innovation in Language Learning

This paper presents an explorative study of the correlations between the use of social media and the extent of collaborative learning between senior university students enrolled in a course on French and Francophone social media. Research has shown that learning is not an individual process, it is a social process that is defined by interaction, participation, negotiation and learning communities (Vygotsky, 1978; Hung & Yuen, 2010; Lave & Wenger, 1991). According to the connectivist theory of learning (Siemens, 2004; Downes, 2007), knowledge develops through connections within networks. “Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions” (Siemens, 2004). Digital networks and social media facilitate these connections and have the potential of enhancing students’ engagement, sharing and co-creation, cooperation and collaboration. Do social media, when integrated into course design, foster students’ participatory interactions and collaborations within the course learning community?

This study analyses the different types of student online interactions present in the French social media course (weekly reflective postings, communications between students working on a common research project, peer evaluations of student-produced videos) and identifies the types and quality of occurrences of collaboration between students, or groups of students. Results show that mostly students limited their online collaborative activity to assigned tasks. Occurrences of “spontaneous” feedback or suggestions to other students were infrequent even though collaboration and a sense of community were cited by students as features they valued the most in the course. Potential reasons for this apparent disconnect are investigated and changes in course design discussed.