| Class, go to Facebook page - Dhaka University professor uses networking site as teaching tool | ||
| ANANYA SENGUPTA | ||
Dhaka, Sept. 1: A professor at Dhaka University is using Facebook as a teaching tool, uploading class notes, assignments and semester marks on the social networking site. Anwarul Islam's class, the masters batch of information science and library management, has no use for a blackboard. In the dimly lit room, where students are all ears and no one is taking notes, a Facebook page glows from a projector. The professor, who was a student not long ago, uses his laptop to open links that could be helpful for research, refer to notes he had uploaded on to the Facebook profile and sometimes teach from the material he has put online. "I did a small survey and found out that almost 80 per cent of my students are on Facebook. I decided that I could use it to my advantage. What I did was create a profile that would be exclusive for my students. I upload all my class notes, their assignments and even their semester marks. I post links that they might find helpful. They are happy that they don't have to stand in queue and peer over shoulders to see their marks," Islam laughs. The country has one million Facebook users, a sixth of all Internet users, according to the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission. "We never took FB seriously. It was where we used to chat with friends. Now, whenever I am on FB, in between chats, I check out what sir has put up for the next class. I read and try and be prepared," a student, Umme Habiba, said. Islam says that since he started using Facebook as a teaching tool, his students are more prepared in class and show a keen interest in what they are being taught. "Since I upload the topics for my next session, I see that they come prepared. But what has been most satisfying is that often in an hour's class, a teacher cannot address all the questions a student might have. "I take classes twice a week, and students had to wait four-five days to get in touch with me. Now, using Facebook, they can just post their queries online and I can address them immediately, irrespective of time and date," he says. Professors from other departments have also got interested, Islam claims. "I also have quite a few students who are shy of asking questions in class. But they are fearless on Facebook. I have kept the option of sending private messages too where students can send me a query and the rest of the group need not know," he says. Sabrina Akhtar, one such shy student, confirmed that Facebook made her comfortable. "It is a great way to communicate with sir without feeling silly. I posted my query and it was answered in a jiffy," she said, adding that she would earlier hesitate to ask for suggestions for her thesis. If she misses classes, the notes help her get ready for the next session, Akhtar added. The profile, Master's ISLM Summer, is run with an iron hand — it is a limited profile with controlled settings and no photos, videos or status updates. The profile is open only to students of Information Science and Library Management. "I have realised that there is more to education than reading out notes in class. A teacher has to interact with his students, in a manner that they are interested in what they are being taught. Students these days don't read emails, so Facebook is a great method, as a reply to one query reaches every student. I don't forbid them to chat, but I know that if they are already logged in to chat on FB, they will automatically check out what's going on in their department profile," says Islam. For a networking site that was banned in the country for 10 days in June, Facebook has come a long way. As Mohammad Rabibul Kabir, one of Islam's students puts it: "Notes can get lost, copies can be misplaced, and even we may forget. But what we have on Facebook now is for ever. It's storing knowledge for us, a ready reference." |
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