Digital Literacies: The Use of Social Networking Services to Prepare for and Aid in the Process of In-class Discussions, Debates and Projects

South Korean students spend a significant amount of their free time online, and digital literacies are playing a part in their social lives on an increasing scale. I investigated a redesign of my teaching with an English conversation class of second year university students. The redesign entailed creating an online link between the classroom and the students’ extra-curricular lives. Using the popular social networking service Facebook, I created an online space where my students were able to meet outside of class hours. Using a private group that I created on Facebook, the students joined the group and were given a range of tasks to complete using the group. In addition to the teacher administered tasks, the students were encouraged to use the group to communicate in English outside of the class. In the redesign I used the Facebook group for the students to prepare for in-class discussions and debates. The use of SNS with in-class projects was also explored. Using genre analysis and qualitative data analysis of transcripts of the in-class activities plus interviews and questionnaires, results showed a positive effect in the preparation and development of class activities, that can be adapted for use with primary to university level.