Caipang et al.

: Use of Facebook for learning

Use of Facebook as a medium for asynchronous learning:

perceptions among undergraduate industrial technology
students at a public higher education institution
in the Philippines

Christian Le Marjo A. Caipang1*, Alfredo P. Porras2

and Christopher Marlowe A. Caipang3
1College of Industrial Technology, Iloilo Science and Technology University, LaPaz

5000, Iloilo City, Philippines

2College of Arts and Sciences, Iloilo Science and Technology University, LaPaz 5000,

Iloilo City, Philippines

3College of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Education, University of San Agustin, Iloilo

City 5000, Philippines

Correspondence: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The online social networking, Facebook has gained much

popularity among the public primarily for interactions and for
the exchange of information. However, the extent of the benefits
of this social networking platform in facilitating students’
learning needs to be assessed. A quantitative descriptive study
was conducted to determine the perceptions of undergraduate
industrial technology students in a public university of using this
social networking platform as one of the tools for asynchronous
learning. Seventy (70) randomly selected respondents were
asked to answer some questions related to their perceptions of
using Facebook in their learning activities. The respondents, as a
whole group, had a “Favorable” perception towards using
Facebook as a learning tool for asynchronous learning. There
were no significant differences in the perception of using
Facebook when the respondents were grouped according to sex,
length of membership and the time spent on using the social
network. Respondents who had low scholastic standing had a
“Strongly Favorable” perception towards Facebook as a learning
tool and their level of perception was significantly different from
both groups with average and high scholastic status. There was a
weak correlation between the level of perception towards the use
of Facebook and the different independent variables and the
degree of relationship was not significant. Nevertheless,
Facebook can still be used as a platform to create awareness
among students about their lessons in school and can be used as
one of the avenues to help students who are weak academically
through online tutorials and correspondence.

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

78
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

Keywords: academic performance, e-learning, network, online

learning, social media

INTRODUCTION

Social network allows individuals to construct a personal profile within

a bounded system and connect with common users within that system (Boyd
and Ellison 2008). Over the years, the use of social networks has considerably
expanded, and these include websites that are related to work (e.g.,
LinkedIn.com) or those that are used solely for recreation (e.g., MySpace).
These social media sites do have a common purpose, and that is to connect
people digitally.

Social network sites (SNSs), including MySpace and Facebook are

popular among young people (Silius et al. 2010) because these can be used in
education to enhance student learning and encourage them to network and
share resources with one another (Alexander 2006; Boulos and Wheeler 2007;
Chen et al. 2009). In these social networking sites, a user has direct interaction
with another participant; thus, creating different kinds of groups that cater to
different needs.

Facebook, one of the popular social network sites, has become a

powerful communication medium. In fact, Facebook is described as “one of
the new titans of the Internet” as it facilitates interconnectivity among users
through personal relationships and recommendations with the inclusion of
features including like and comment (Schwartz 2011). On a global scale,
slightly more males than females use Facebook and the largest Facebook users
are those in the age group between 26-34 years of age followed by 18-25 years
old and then 13-17 years old (Hilton and Plummer 2012).

The use of Facebook also allows the possibility of creating closed

groups that allow asynchronous and synchronous interactions among its
members (Meishar-Tal et al. 2012). This facilitates sharing of information,
such as links to websites, text documents, pictures, and many other
features. The Facebook group contains at least two of the three components of
the learning management systems: the digital content component and the
interaction component. Hence, it raises the possibility of utilizing Facebook as
an alternative learning management system in both synchronous and
asynchronous teaching platforms.

There are few research studies that demonstrate the educational

potential of Facebook in higher education (Boyd and Ellison 2008; Junco
2012). Selwyn (2009) stressed that the conversational, collaborative and
communal dimensions of Facebook are what its users’ value. Moreover, much

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

79
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

of the learning that takes place on Facebook is similar to the type of learning
that happens outside of the classroom. It is evident that Facebook provides an
environment for informal learning that encompasses a range of essential skills
including teamwork and organizational competencies, which are relevant for
future employment (Madge et al. 2009). Likewise, Vivian (2011)
recommended further research into the relationship between the use of social
network services and informal learning so that teachers can be informed about
how to effectively incorporate this technology into the teaching and learning
process. The perceived benefits of Facebook on the facilitation of informal
learning among students provided the impetus for this study as there is
scarcity of available data along this line of research in the Philippines. Using a
small cohort size of undergraduate students of Industrial Technology in a
public higher education institution, the students’ perception towards using
Facebook in asynchronous learning was assessed and the relationships of the
different variables such as sex, scholastic status, length of membership to
Facebook and the time spent of using Facebook to these perceptions were also
determined.

METHODS

Respondents

The study was conducted at the Iloilo Science and Technology University
(Main Campus), a public institution of higher education located in Central
Philippines. The subjects were the students enrolled in the Bachelor of
Industrial Technology (B.I.T.) during the First Semester 2017-2018. A total of
70 respondents were included in the study determined by random sampling.

Data-Gathering Procedures

The instrument used to gather data was a modified version of the

validated questionnaires of Hilton and Plummer (2012) and of Barczyk and
Duncan (2013) on Perception on the use of Facebook for asynchronous
learning. These items were modified from the validated instrument on
Classroom Community Scale that measures students’ responses in relation to
their attitudes towards the use of the internet for distance education (Rovai
2002). The standardized instrument had a Cronbach’s coefficient of 0.93 and
the equal-length split-half coefficient was 0.91, indicating excellent reliability.

The questionnaire was composed of two parts: Part 1 was about the
respondent’s personal details such as sex, grade point average in the preceding
semester, length of membership to Facebook and the duration spent on
browsing Facebook per day, and Part 2 which consisted of 10 questions,
pertaining the use of Facebook in the various areas of their learning activities

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

80
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

which they rated based on a scale of 0-100. The approval to conduct the study
was granted by the head of the institution and the respondents who took part
in the study gave consent to have their responses used anonymously in the
study.

Data Analyses

The respondents were categorized into the different variables

including sex (male or female), academic status (High: GPA of 1.75-1.0;
Average: GPA of 2.5–1.76; and Low: GPA of <2.5), length of membership to
Facebook (less than 1 year, 1-3 years and more than 3 years) and the amount
of time spent browsing Facebook per day (less than 1 hr, 1-3 hours, and more
than 3 hours). The students’ perception on the utilization of Facebook as one
of the tools to assist them in learning was expressed in percentage based from
the mean values that the student has rated in the 10 questions. The mean
values were classified either as: strongly unfavorable (0-20), unfavorable (21-
40), neutral (41-60), favorable (61-80) and strongly favorable (81-100).

Descriptive profile of the respondents and the degree of their

perception on the use of Facebook for asynchronous learning were determined
by obtaining the means, standard error of the mean, frequency counts and
percentage. Significant differences among variables tested using two tailed t-
test (sex) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) (for scholastic status, length of
membership to Facebook and time spent for using Facebook) were
determined. Correlation analysis was used to establish the relationship
between the different variables of the study and the degree of perception on
the use of Facebook for learning activities. Statistical tests were all done at
0.05 level of significance.

RESULTS

In terms of personal details (Table 1) majority of the respondents were

males (88.6%), had average scholastic status (GPA of 2.5–1.76; 78.6%), been
a member of Facebook for more than 3 years (62.9%) and spent browsing or
using Facebook on the average less than 1 hr per day (50.0%). Although
majority (54.3%) (Table 2) of the respondents had a “Strongly Favorable”
perception towards the use of Facebook in asynchronous learning, the average
perception of the group was 78.9%+ 6.1, which was “Favorable”.

When grouped according to sex, majority of the males (75.0%) and

females (51.6%) had a “Strongly Favorable” perception towards the use of
Facebook in asynchronous learning (Table 3A) and no significant differences
(P>0.05) in the levels of their perceptions were noted (Figure 1A). In terms of
scholastic status, all in the low academic status and majority (51.0%) of those

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

81
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

in the average scholastic status had a “Strongly Favorable” perception on the

use of Facebook for asynchronous learning (Table 3B). Further analysis
revealed that the perception on the use of Facebook in asynchronous learning
among students who were low in their scholastic status was significantly
different (P<0.05) from the groups who had either Average or High scholastic
status (Figure 1B).

Table 1. Profile of the respondents in the study (n=70).

Variable Frequency Percentage (%)

1. Sex
Male 62 88.6
Female 8 11.4
2. Scholastic status
Low 8 11.4
Average 55 78.6
High 7 10
3. Length of Membership
Less than 1 year 8 11.4
1 - 3 years 18 25.7
More than 3 years 44 62.9
4. Time spent on Facebook
Less than 1 hr per day 35 50
1 - 3 hrs per days 24 34.3
More than 3 hrs per day 11 15.3

Table 2. Perceptions of the students on the use of Facebook in asynchronous

learning (n=70).

Perception f %
Strongly Unfavorable 2 2.9
Unfavorable 1 1.4
Neutral 7 10.0
Favorable 22 31.4
Strongly Favorable 38 54.3
TOTAL 70 100

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

82
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

Table 3. Distribution of the students’ perceptions towards the use of Facebook

in asynchronous learning activities according to (A) sex, (B) scholastic status,
(C) length of membership to Facebook and (D) amount of time spent on
Facebook per day (n=70).

When the respondents were grouped according to the length of

membership to Facebook, majority (55.5% and 59.1%) of those who have been
a member for at least 1 year had a “Strongly Favorable” perception towards
the use of Facebook in asynchronous learning, while those who have been a
member of Facebook for less than year perceived the use of this social media
platform as either “Favorable” to “Strongly Favorable” (Table 3C). However,
no significant differences (P>0.05) in the levels of perception were observed
among the groups (Figure 1C). In terms of the daily use of Facebook, majority
of those who spend at least 1 hour in Facebook had a “Strongly Favorable”
perception on the use of the social media platform in asynchronous learning

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

83
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

(Table 1D), and the levels of perception among the groups were not
significantly different (P>0.05; Figure 1D).

Figure 1. Perception (expressed as percentage) of the students towards the use

of Facebook in their learning activities. A total of 70 respondents were
involved in this study. An asterisk above column bars indicates significantly
different (P<0.05).

Correlation analysis revealed a weak but no significant relationship

(P>0.05) between the different variables and the levels of perception towards
using Facebook in the learning activities of the respondents (Table 4).

Table 4. Correlation of the different variables with perception towards using

Facebook in the students’ learning activities (n=70).

Coefficient of
Variable Significance
Correlation (r)
Sex 0.042 Not significant
Scholastic status 0.174 Not significant
Years of membership 0.13 Not significant
Time spent on FB 0.023 Not significant

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

84
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

DISCUSSION

The present study clearly demonstrated that Industrial Technology is

still a male-dominated degree program, with more males taking this course
than females. Not only this scenario is prevalent in the Philippines but in other
countries as well, where Industrial Technology has one of the lowest numbers
of female students, faculty members and even those involved in the executive
department (Kulatunga et al. 1999; Kassi and Dugger 2000; Weber and Custer
2005). In order to attract more women to enrol in this degree, there should be
intensive campaigns in re-directing the public perception that this course
could also be suitable for women and there are job prospects along this field
that women can enter. Schools that offer degree programs in industrial
technology are encouraged to redesign the curriculum and break sex-role
stereotypes in the choices of degrees by providing more opportunities for
women participation in traditionally male-dominated degree programs. For
example, Weber and Custer (2005) suggested that more women can be
recruited to take up technology courses if curriculum developers in technology
education are able to design and implement teaching and learning methods
that can comprehend “women’s ways of knowing”. Moreover, Shroyer et al.
(1995) stressed that the inclusion of environmental and social technologies
into industrial technology curriculum could also be appealing to female
students.

It is evident that students had a generally favorable perception

towards using Facebook as one of the means to help them in their learning
particularly when they are not inside the classroom. The favorable perception
towards Facebook is manifested on the widespread use of this social media
platform in the daily lives of the students. For example, Cain (2008) estimated
that 80-90% of the college students in the United States use Facebook. Among
secondary school students in Ontario, Canada, more than 70% agreed that
Facebook is a useful a tool in learning (Fewkes and McCabe 2012). A survey
done from 126 universities in the US and one Canadian university revealed
that 90% of the students used social networking services, and 97% of them
used Facebook (Junco 2012). Similarly, about 95% of the British
undergraduate students regularly used social networking services (Madge et
al. 2009). Aside from its widespread popularity and use, Facebook is also an
important method of communication, particularly for students in their late
teens to twenties (Hilton and Plummer 2012). Learning institutions can take
advantage of this positive perception of students towards Facebook so that
teachers can prepare teaching and learning materials that can be uploaded to
a Facebook page, which the students can access when they are not in school.
Facebook could help convey the teacher’s messages (Madge et al. 2009;
Roblyer et al. 2010) and thus can reinforce learning among students.

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

85
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

Four independent variables were used to find out if these had

correlation with the level of perception of the students regarding the use of
Facebook as a platform for asynchronous learning. No significant correlations
were found, yet, students had a favorable perception towards Facebook as a
tool in asynchronous learning. This indicates that there are other factors that
need to be explored, which might have an effect on how students perceive the
use of Facebook in their learning of a particular subject. Kabilan et al. (2010)
in their studies involving college students in Malaysia obtained similar results
on the use of Facebook in the learning of English. In general, the students
favorable views toward Facebook as means of facilitating the leaning of a
particular subject might be explained by the fact that online platforms, to
which Facebook belongs, offer genuine interactions among students in an
informal setting. If students experience positive interactions among
themselves, they develop increased self-confidence and a deeper sense of
connectedness with one another, which are important factors in a learning
environment (Wang and Chen 2007; Kabilan et al. 2010). Moreover, Lave and
Wenger (1991) opined that students will have a positive view towards learning
if it is viewed as a form of social participation brought about by authentic and
relevant interactions. Teaching-learning situations including asynchronous
learning that are carried out in social online communities, such as Facebook
should therefore allow and facilitate the necessary interactions among
students that result in the enhancement of learning (Wenger et al. 2002). As
such in this study, the students viewed the use of Facebook as a positive
experience for them and they could use that favorable experience when they
study a new subject. This positive reinforcement will help them understand
and learn better the various concepts and lessons that are given to them.

Taken together, the results of the study showed that the undergraduate
students of Industrial Technology had a positive and favorable perception
towards the use of Faceboook as a means of facilitating learning outside the
classroom. This social networking platform can be used by teachers and
perhaps included in the course syllabi as an additional way of connecting with
students. It should provide encouragement to educational institutions in
considering the use of Facebook to move forward in their efforts to recruit and
interact with students in order for them to attain their institutional objectives.
Facebook is not a “silver bullet” for educational or any other kind of
organizations’ efforts to recruit and communicate with students, rather it
should be added to the toolbox of those reaching out to young adults. Although
there is so much to learn about social media in general, and Facebook in
particular, it is evident that this is one of the tools in asynchronous learning
that cannot be overlooked in terms of its potential. Future research should also
focus on methods that can assess the ability of Facebook towards the
development of competencies among students when online platforms are
integrated in the subject. Moreover, a comparison between traditional
learning management approaches and the use of Facebook in the teaching-

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

86
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

learning process should be done in order to determine the most efficient

educational platform for student engagement and learning.

Overall, the authors believe that educational institutions should

explore Facebook as a means of not only to communicate with students but
also to facilitate self-directed learning. There is still much to learn on how
Facebook or any other social media can aid students’ learning, nevertheless, it
offers potential benefits in the teaching-learning process that should not be
overlooked.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The funding support provided by the administration of the Iloilo

Science and Technology University and the approval by the Dean of the
College of Industrial Technology of ISAT-U for the conduct of the study are
greatly appreciated. Acknowledgment is also extended to the BS in Industrial
Technology students Class 2017-2018 for their participation in the survey.
Much appreciation is also extended to the anonymous reviewers who
contributed to the improvement of the manuscript.

REFERENCES

Alexander B. 2006. Web 2.0: A new wave of innovation for teaching and
learning. Educause Review, 41(2): 33-34.
Barczyk CC and Duncan DG. 2013. Facebook in higher education courses: an
analysis of students’ attitudes, community of practice, and classroom
community. International Business and Management, 6: 1-11.
Boulos MN and Wheeler S. 2007. The emerging Web 2.0 social software: An
enabling suite of sociable technologies in health and health care
education. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24: 2-23.
Boyd DM and Ellison NB. 2008. Social network sites: Definition, history, and
scholarship. Journal of Computer -Mediated Communication, 13: 210-
230.
Cain J. 2008. Online social networking issues within academia and pharmacy
education. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 72(1):
Article 10.
Chen PD, Guidry KR and Lambert AD. 2009. Engaging online learners: A
quantitative study of postsecondary student engagement in the online
learning environment. Paper presented at the 2009 American
Educational Research Association Annual Conference. San Diego,
California.
Fewkes AM and McCabe M. 2012. Facebook: learning tool or distraction?
Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(3): 92-98.

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

87
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

Hilton J and Plummer K. 2012. To Facebook, or not to Facebook? Digital

Culture and Education, 4: 203-217.
Junco R. 2012. Too much face and not enough books: The relationship
between multiple indices of Facebook use and academic performance.
Computers in Human Behavior, 28: 187-198.
Kabilan KK, Ahmad N and Abidin MJZ. 2010. Facebook: An online
environment for learning of English in institutions of higher education?
Internet and Higher Education, 13: 179–187.
Kasi B and Dugger JC. 2000. Gender equity in industrial technology: the
challenge and recommendations. Journal of Industrial Technology,
16(4): 1-9.
Kulatunga A, Shaw R and Nelson M. 1999. NAIT demographics study-1997.
Journal of Industrial Technology, 15(2): 1-7.
Lave J and Wenger E. 1991. Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral
participation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 138pp.
Madge C, Meek J, Wellends J and Hooley T. 2009. Facebook, social
integration and informal learning at university: it is more for
socializing and talking to friends about work than for actually doing
work. Learning, Media and Technology, 34: 141-155.
Meishar-Tal H, Kurtz G and Pieterse E. 2012. Facebook groups as LMS: A case
study. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed
Learning, 13: 33-48.
Roblyer MD, McDaniel M, Webb M, Herman J and Witty JV. 2010. Findings
on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and
student uses and perceptions of social networking sites. The Internet
and Higher Education, 13: 134-140.
Rovai AP. 2002. Development of an instrument to measure classroom
community. The Internet and Higher Education, 5: 197-211.
Schwartz B. 2011. Facebook Losing Users? Search Engine Roundtable.
http://www.seroundtable.com/facebook-marketshare13554.html.
Accessed on 20 February 2019.
Selwyn N. 2009. Faceworking: exploring students’ education-related use of
Facebook. Learning, Media and Technology, 34: 157–174.
Shroyer M, Backe K and Powell J. 1995. Developing a Science Curriculum that
Addresses the Learning Preferences of Male and Female Middle Level
Students. In: Baker D and Scantlebury K (eds). Science “Coeducation”:
Viewpoints for Gender, Race and Ethnic Perspectives. (NARAST
Monograph 7), National Association for Research in Science Teaching.
USA. pp. 88-107.
Silius K, Miilumäki T, Huhtamäki J, Tebest T, Meriläinen J and Pohjolainen
S. 2010. Students’ motivations for social media enhanced studying and
learning. Knowledge Management and E-Learning: An International
Journal, 2: 51-67.
Vivian R. 2011. University Students’ Informal Learning Practices Using
Facebook: Help or Hindrance? Communications in Computer and

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

88
 Caipang et al.: Use of Facebook for learning

Information Science, 177: 254-267. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-22383-

9_21.
Wang Y and Chen N. 2007. Online synchronous language learning: SLMS over
the Internet. Innovate, 3(3): 1−7.
Weber K and Custer R. 2005. Gender-based preferences toward technology
education content, activities, and instructional methods. Journal of
Technology Education, 16(2): 55-71.
Wenger E, McDermott R and Snyder WM. 2002. Cultivating Communities of
Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Harvard Business School
Press, Boston, MA. 284pp.

ARTICLE INFO:

Received: 27 April 2020 Role of authors: CLMAC – conceived the

Revised: 26 August 2020 study, gathered the data and wrote the
Accepted: 25 November 2020 manuscript; APP - gathered and analyzed
Available online:30 December 2020 the data; CMAC - analyzed the data and
co-wrote the manuscript.

The Palawan Scientist, 13(1): 78-89

© 2021, Western Philippines University

89