‘There is space for the official and the unofficial’: A case study of a module-led Facebook page in online distance education

Author's Biography

Sharon Mallon PhD, SFHEA, is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Wellbeing. She has been teaching for over nine years on the Health and Social Care Degree. Her teaching areas include critical approaches to mental health theory and practice. Her scholarship research interests include the use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to connect and engage with students. She received a nomination to the National Teaching Excellence Awards in 2020 for her work with students on a module-led Facebook page. She is also particularly interested in the needs of vulnerable students and teaching sensitive research topics or those likely to trigger challenging emotions.

Beccy Dresden PGDip, is an online learning consultant, editor and writer with 22 years’ experience of developing undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD courses and resources. After 18 years at The Open University, where she worked in a variety of roles collaborating with academic experts and media professionals to deliver world-class, student-centred learning, she set up her own company in 2019 and now supports a range of university clients to produce engaging, accessible, constructively aligned online learning for adults. She has a particular interest in the role of social media in higher education — in terms of both how it can be used to improve the attraction, progression and retention of students, and how it can support the career development of academic and professional services staff. An advocate of lifelong learning, she is an active member of the Association for Learning Technology and is aiming to start a PG Cert in Digital Education Practice in autumn 2023.