Using social media in college teaching and learning at Government Brojomohun College, Barishal: challenges and solutions
Keywords:
Social Media, Online Pedagogy, Student Engagement, Digital Divide, Digital LearningAbstract
This study investigates how social media, especially Facebook and YouTube, might improve instruction at Government Brojomohun College (GBMC), Bangladesh. The study is to investigate how these platforms can enhance learning accessibility, instructional efficacy, and student engagement in a higher education setting with limited resources. A qualitative study design was used, semi-structured interviews of five teachers and five students and a focus group discussion conducted of ten participants. To find important trends about the possibilities, difficulties, and institutional needs of social media-supported learning, data was thematically examined. The results show that because of teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and poor technology infrastructure, GBMC's teaching-learning environment is still mostly teacher-centered. The finding reveals that Facebook already serves as unofficial extensions of classroom instruction by promoting peer interaction, communication, resource sharing, and YouTube for self-paced learning. The study also highlighted that social media could promote constructivist and collaborative learning methods and increase student participation, especially among less engaged learners. Significant obstacles still exist, though, such as unequal access to the internet, gaps in digital literacy, privacy issues, distractions, and a lack of institutional support. The study concludes that to enhance teaching quality and student engagement in Bangladeshi higher education, social media integration requires strategic institutional investment, digital capacity building, and well-defined policy frameworks.
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