Facebook As a Supporting Tool for Enhancing Social Interaction Skills in A Physics Teaching Subject

Abstract

In 21st century, a lot of importance has been given to information and communication technology (ICTs). Integrating technological tools into a pedagogical world has gained a lot of importance everywhere. During Covid-19 situation, various online platforms are being used to teach the physics subject in schools. But it has been seen that these platforms don’t help to inculcate social interaction skills among students. Social interaction skills comprised of communication skills, collaborative skills, critical thinking skills, problem solving skills etc. This paper highlights the utilization of ICTs and social media platform such as Facebook that helps to develop social interaction skills among Physics students. This paper examines Facebook group as a better alternative in place of LMS. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population consisted of 100 secondary school students studying Physics subject. A sample was sub-divided into two groups- Facebook group (50 students) and LMS group (50 students). A structured questionnaires tagged Influence of Facebook on Social Interaction Skills Questionnaire and Influence of LMS on Social Interaction Skills Questionnaire were used to collect data from the respondents. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the collected data in order to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that Facebook group usage had significantly positive influence on social interaction skills as compared to LMS group among Physics secondary school students. It was concluded that Facebook when used effectively helped to improve social interaction skills among Physics students. Social media platforms like Facebook can be used to present the e-modules related to subject course in the sequence and provide opportunities to students’ for answering in real time situation. Therefore, this paper emphasis on developing social interaction skills among physics students through collaboration of various ICT tools and social media platforms.

Keywords: Physics, Facebook, Social interaction skills, LMS, e-learning environment