WhatsApp Messenger as a Mediating Tool in Times of COVID-19 for Enhancing Student Engagement in e-Tutorials at a Rural South African University (original) (raw)
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WhatsApp as A Tool for Teaching and Learning during the COVID-19 Lockdown
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The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted higher education. The implementation of the lockdown level 5 brought all educational institutions to close their doors. Traditional pedagogy became a challenge and caused lecturers to seek alternative teaching approaches. The innovation of social media has revolutionised the communication process through digital communication. This innovation, more specifically WhatsApp, made it easy to connect with students to share teaching and learning content. WhatsApp offers its users a quick engagement process for instant messaging; most lecturers use it to connect with their students. However, WhatsApp was not designed as a learning app but for online social interaction. The study, therefore, focused on the merits and drawbacks of lectures' using WhatsApp for teaching and learning during the COVID-19. Furthermore, the study looked at whether teaching and learning were achieved effectively by using WhatsApp. The paper adopted a qualitative and quantitative approach, and questionnaires were used to gather data from both students from the Department of Communication Science. The paper was conceptualised using the Two-way Communication model, Connectivism and the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT). Findings revealed that by using WhatsApp, students experienced a sense of being and staying connected to their lecturers and classmates. The use of WhatsApp in lectures has been effective in assisting students with remote learning during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, the major challenge faced by students was the issue of internet connectivity and internet data usage within rural areas that lack proper infrastructure.
Perspectives in Education, 2022
The purpose of this research was to identify students' views on the use of WhatsApp in an online postgraduate course at a South African Open Distance eLearning institution during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, lecturers and students relied on their mobile devices to communicate using different tools, including WhatsApp. Although it is a trending communication tool in teaching and learning, little is known about students' views on using WhatsApp to support teaching and learning in a time of crisis. Within an interpretative paradigm, the research followed a case study design and a qualitative approach. The study used questionnaires with open-ended questions to collect data. The sample consisted of 16 students enrolled for a Master's in Education programme. Data were analysed using a thematic approach. The findings showed that WhatsApp groups provided students with immediate, fast, easy to use and affordable communication and connection, thus, creating a sense of belonging. However, a possible disadvantage was also observed. A WhatsApp group can defeat its purpose if students use it for non-academic chats and it can become a distraction. This study proposes that institutions of higher learning consider using WhatsApp groups to support learning communities as they can alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation, specifically in times of crisis. Furthermore, the study recommends that the purpose of WhatsApp groups should be clearly outlined to students and that lecturers and students should agree upon some ground rules before they start using WhatsApp groups to support teaching and learning.
2021
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Use of WhatsApp in Higher Education for Teaching and Learning: Sociocultural Perspective of Learning
Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 2021
Drawing from social learning theory, this study aims to investigate the experiences of third-year students regarding the use of WhatsApp group chat for teaching and learning. This is premised during a COVID-19 lockdown context at a rural South African university, wherein opportunities to learn socially from each other are created as students interact with their peers, educators and facilitators, and learning materials, objects and activities are collaboratively co-created, shared and disseminated through WhatsApp groups. Data were collected through focus group interview of eight third-year students registered for a Bachelor of Education in Senior Phase and FET degree majoring in English and Life Orientation. The study found that WhatsApp allows students to communicate, collaborate and encourage in remote learning to disseminate knowledge as a way of improving their academic performance. The results provide an insight into how WhatsApp plays a significant role in learning English in the development of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, which consequently improves students’ academic literacy and interpersonal skills. The findings of this study further reveal a disparity of network connectivity, accessibility and electricity between those residing in the urban and rural areas.
Online learning at the Durban University of Technology during the COVID-19 pandemic
Open Learning as a Means of Advancing Social Justice: Cases in Post-School Education and Training in South Africa
Online learning can be seen as a way to broaden educational provision. The South African Department of Higher Education and Training is turning to open learning approaches (such as online learning) to provide cost-effective mass enrolment in post-school education. This study adopts a qualitative approach to explore how online learning may be opening up education at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). The chapter shares the experiences of three staff members and one student, gathered via online interviews and WhatsApp chat discussions undertaken during emergency remote teaching (ERT). Although online learning is a strategic objective at DUT, it was not yet at full-scale implementation before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The national lockdown thus accelerated the institution’s plans to take teaching and learning online. This research uses Nancy Fraser’s (2005) conception of social justice as parity of participation to examine the extent to which online learning creates ‘partic...
BMC Medical Education
Background In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, to palliate to the lockdown and cover academic programs, the faculty of medicine and pharmaceutical sciences (FMPS) of the university of Dschang (UDs) in Cameroon has implemented e-learning using WhatsApp®. Aim Describe the opinion of students and lecturers after its implementation of e-learning at the FMPS of UDs. Methods We designed a uniform teaching scheme using WhatsApp® during the university lockdown. Students and members of the teaching staff of the FMPS of UDs were enrolled after receiving clear information on the study implementation. At the end of the online-teaching period of two and a half months, we surveyed our students and teaching staff. Sociodemographic characteristics and opinions about e-learning were collected using a standard questionnaire. Results We enrolled 229 students and 40 lecturers of the FMPS. Students reported a decremented quality of internet connection (p 0.05). While lecturers were mainly more comfo...
Learning Through Whatsapp During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study
Asia-Pacific Journal of Information Technology and Multimedia, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic forced lockdowns that severely affected the educational sector. The necessary shift to online learning was hindered in countries that lack communication technologies. In addition, the inadequate media and information literacy among educators and students alike exposed deficiencies in disaster preparedness. This resulted in the use of commonly used applications, such as WhatsApp, as a learning platform. We hereby present the learning experience of a mathematics class of the 10th grade through WhatsApp in a Lebanese public school. After analysis, we assess the initiative using the Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation. Although WhatsApp, as a learning tool, was functional, accessible, and technically effective, it hindered the learning experience with the lack of social, teaching, and cognitive presence. We offer our insights and recommendations on improving the learning and communication experience as we continue to navigate the current and any future pandemic.
International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research
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Education as Change
After the announcement of a national lockdown by the South African state in March 2020, university students and lecturers had to conduct learning activities online. In countries where reliable information and communications technologies exist, this transition was relatively smooth. Students were able to learn using internet-based online learning systems. This is not the case in South Africa. Based on in-depth interviews with some students and lecturers and the use of internet resources, this article demonstrates that the participation of students from poor and working-class households evinced many deficiencies. This is because South Africa’s information and communications technology infrastructure disadvantages poor and working-class households. The poor access to online learning that students from working-class and poor households experienced demonstrates that in South Africa the argument about the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which must supposedly be embraced by ev...
African Perspectives of Research in Teaching & Learning, 2021
The spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus in South Africa, like in many parts of the world, has led to a sustained national lockdown meant to prevent the continued spread, as well as a potential resurgence of the virus. This meant all institutions of learning (higher and basic education institutions) were closed. Higher education institutions in South Africa were forced to adopt Emergency Remote Online Teaching and Learning (EROTL) Modalities to salvage what was left of the 2020 academic year. This was partly to avoid a systematic and institutional collapse of the education sector. Therefore, in this paper I reflect on the pedagogical difficulties and successes that I have encountered as a teacher-educator (lecturer) at a rural university in Limpopo Province, South Africa relating to the sudden, unprecedented, shift from face-to-face teaching and learning to EROTL. This I do by employing a decolonial framework underpinned by decolonial love as decoloniality, and a living theory methodology with action-reflection cycles as a method. I concluded, for instance, that for EROTL to be meaningful and impactful; university departments need to have a reliable institutional memory that would enable new academic staff members to know what was taught previously in a specific module or course allocated to them. Beyond this, as lecturers, we need to build solid relationships with our students that centre their interests, and these relationships need to be informed by decolonial love. This will enable us to meaningfully collaborate with them in our pursuit of a successful academic project that is transformative. We also need, in our pedagogical choices, to consider other online platforms such as WhatsApp, especially in managing larger classes. Higher Education; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Rural University.