Feedback theory through the lens of social networking

Feedback has long been utilised as an effective tool to enhance learning. Between students and teachers; students and students; students and schools, feedback provides a channel of communication between all parties within an education system. With the emergence and development of social networking sites (SNSs) over the past decade, it has become very convenient for people to stay in touch with each other, through computers, tablets and mobile phones. On SNSs, the barriers of face-to-face feedback between students and teachers can be diminished, and students can ask questions any time, anywhere. SNS can serve as a platform for effective feedback communication to improve student-teacher relationships and student performance. This paper presents a case study in which a class of students used Facebook as a hub for feedback between themselves and their teacher. The study utilises a mixed-method approach that substantiates the analysis with both quantitative and qualitative schemes. It also taps into both student and the teacher perspectives on their experiences with using SNS for feedback. Various aspects of the feedback mechanism have been manifested on Facebook, especially in terms of timeliness, motivation, consistency and clarity of feedback. Strategies for teachers to moderate the feedback process on SNS effectively are presented.