Using Facebook Within a Pharmacy Elective Course

To the Editor. In her recent article, Estus¹ described the use of the social networking Web site Facebook as a component of an elective course within a pharmacy school curriculum. At our institution, we developed an adult ambulatory care pharmacy elective course that attempted to incorporate Facebook in a similar manner. We considered using this method of instruction as reports have estimated that 80%-90% of college students in the United States have Facebook profiles.² Similarly, a study among pharmacy students found that 88% of students have an existing Facebook profile with 53% logging in at least daily.³ Despite the popularity of social networking, prior to course development a search was completed that was unable to identify any literature pertaining to the use of Facebook within pharmacy curriculum.

One of the objectives for the ambulatory care elective course was to begin exposing students to the continual learning process that is necessary throughout a pharmacist's career. It was felt that Facebook would be a unique and innovative way to approach this concept in a method that most students were already using. Our course involved assigning 2-3 students per week as Facebook moderators. These moderators would be responsible for leading informal Facebook discussions about topics being reviewed in class and other newsworthy topics or debates relevant to ambulatory care pharmacy. Students not assigned as moderators were expected to contribute to these informal discussions during the week. Students would earn points throughout the semester based on the frequency and content of their posts. While acting as moderator, students would earn additional points for their role and were to be evaluated by faculty members on the quality of information posted, how well the overall conversation was promoted among peers, and the ability to accept differing opinions about the information that was posted.

Thirty students enrolled in the course; however, during the first week of the semester, enrollment dropped to fewer than 10 students. The decision was ultimately made to cancel the class. A survey was sent to the students who dropped the course to assess why enrollment dropped. Among other items, students were asked which aspects of the course they liked the most and the least. We found that 91% listed Facebook as one of the aspects they liked the least, but only 45% were not interested in participating in the Facebook group. Some of the comments regarding the use of Facebook in the educational setting included: “I consider Facebook to be for social enjoyment rather than homework,” “I don't think Facebook discussion is an appropriate or professional setting,” and “I do not think Facebook belongs as part of course-work because it is more for social things.”

While initially discouraged by this response, as educators we believe that there is still a valuable role in expanding learning beyond the traditional classroom model through methods commonly used by pharmacy students. We are encouraged by the success of Estus¹ in incorporating this educational medium into her course. Our current plan is to modify certain aspects of the course and offer the elective again in the future, complete with a Facebook component. We likely will share the success of Estus¹ and the use of Facebook as an educational tool in our course introduction to expose students to the alternative learning strategies being used by their peers.

• © 2011 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy