Understanding communication behaviour via facebook among distance learners at International Islamic University Malaysia

Abstract

The pervasive use of Facebook had become a popular social network as a means of communication among young people and adults. Researchers had shown interest in investigating the benefits of Facebook to be used in learning, particularly in distance learning. The main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of communicative behavior on affective learning. The second objective was to find the extent to which International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Program Pensiswazahan Guru (PPG) students used Facebook for interactions in their learning. The third objective was to explore IIUM PPG students’ self-disclosure with regard to their gender. A purposive sampling survey was carried out among the PPG students of IIUM. There were 450 students, out of which 425 students participated in the research. Three types of analyses were applied to the three research questions in order to find the answers from the empirical data. For the first question, “What is the intensity of Facebook usage for interactions among distance learners of IIUM?” a descriptive analysis was performed. For the second question (Does communication behavior namely self-disclosure, the consequences of self-disclosure and interactive interaction, via Facebook, have influence on IIUM Distance learners’ affective learning?) A multiple regression was employed. The third question “Is there any difference of students’ self-disclosure on Facebook with regard to their gender?” was dealt with by an independent t-test. The findings reveal that, communication behaviors such as self-disclosure, consequences of self-disclosure and interactions influence affective learning. In addition many types of interactions take place in Facebook regarding learning. However interactions between students and instructor seem to be very low. Moreover, the study has concluded that there are no significant differences of gender with regard to IIUM PPG students.