Consequently, students at off-task classroom talks
would exchange about “trying a new game,” “leveling up” or
requesting “add me so we can chat about our homework”.
The teacher’s ingenuity could help in making use of the
interactive facility embedded in the OSN applications, as
one teacher informant tells: “It can be used to post messages,
talk to students of -school in a way that is dif erent. Some
students can’t just speak their ideas in the class or are
hesitant, but in the Internet, through chats and emails, they
are more open.” For another teacher: “Communicating
online removes barriers of face-to-face communication,
because it reduces the anxiety”. For the students: “We use it
to stay connected with our friends and classmates… and to
have updates about school works”; “We get to be reminded
of what to do for school, then we can do our homework”.
Introducing a new media impacts a teacher’s style of
teaching [36] OSNs may not be new to students and to
teachers who are active in the Internet, but integrating its use
for instruction may probably have impact on both teachers
and students. A teacher confirms, “It’s popular among the
youth, so I might as well use it to get along with the
students”. The informants reported that they visit their OSN
accounts more frequently than they would visit other sites in
the Internet: 9.5 times with other sites, and 12.5 times in
their OSN accounts in a day.