Challenges and opportunities for business communication: A Facebook approach conundrum

Facebook is currently one of the most popular platforms for online social networking among university students. The ever-growing prevalence of Facebook has led business educators to explore what role social networking technology might play in business training and professional development. Nonetheless, much is left to be learned about how Facebook is influencing student learning in the area of business communication. This paper examined the effect on learners’ satisfaction of incorporating Facebook into business communication courses. A total of 147 undergraduate students from a national university in Taiwan participated in this web-supported study. To analyze the students’ reflection quantitatively, a survey was employed. The findings showed that the incorporation of Facebook into coursework effectively assisted students’ learning of business communication. Facebook worked as the social glue that connected students together in a learning community, provided opportunities for sharing, and transformed students’ learning attitudes towards their business presentation projects. Students deepened their understanding of content knowledge learning not only from the class input but also via peer feedback activities on Facebook. In addition to the benefits gained, care should be taken not to over-privilege Facebook. Weighing the balance between social networking practice on Facebook and face-to-face interaction in class, pedagogical suggestions and recommendations are addressed for future pedagogical use and research direction.