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Mobile devices have penetrated all levels of society worldwide, including what are predominantly considered inaccessible, low-income communities in developing nations. Mobile devices are frequently used for economic, political, and social interactions and even business transactions. In a similar fashion, teachers are slowly adapting to the use of mobile devices as a pedagogical tool in education. The aim of this study was to ascertain how a WhatsApp group, a messaging facility, could be used to enhance group interaction among pre-service teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moore's Transactional Distance theory and Salmon's five-stage model guided this qualitative study. Twelve pre-service teachers, out of a class of thirty-five, were purposely selected to work on a group task using the WhatsApp application during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also participated in a focus group interview. WhatsApp artifacts and focus group interview transcripts were analyzed deductively;the results showed that the WhatsApp intervention helped improve pre-service teachers' engagement and the sharing of content to successfully undertake the group activity virtually. WhatsApp's social nature has proven to be an enabler for keeping people connected despite physical distance: reducing cognitive loneliness resulting from social isolation. It is recommended that teacher educators, academics, and researchers, as well as students working remotely take advantage of the usability of WhatsApp for learning and research purposes.
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At first, the pandemic caught the world off-guard, and then the rate of change to innovate did not give many the time needed to adapt. With physical distance added to the equation of the new normal, higher education might never look the same again. For many of us, this means teaching through a new medium, higher dependence on technology, delivering live lectures to students who hide behind turned-off cameras, decreased participation, and higher performance anxiety. The new normal makes us wonder how to lead our students during these unprecedented times;how to create an active faculty presence in the courses that we teach remotely or online;and how to build student engagement without adding to the performance anxiety. This chapter aims to answer all these questions considering the practices that have repeatedly helped me establish my presence and outstanding student engagement during these unprecedented times of COVID-19. These involve the use of audio visual tools, breakout rooms, short lectures, content update, classroom games, social media and faculty branding. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.
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The pandemic situation is affected in various ways in the education domain. The sudden transformation from offline to online teaching-learning process made students and teachers use different tools like WhatsApp for communication. The reason for this consideration is to investigate the impacts of WhatsApp utilized for instruction and decide the suppositions of understudies towards the method. The study is designed, keeping in mind the current COVID-19 situation and how it affected the education system turning it into online mode. On different questionnaires, regression and heatmap analysis is performed. The investigation showed that both learning situations have diverse impacts on the victory of understudies while supporting the conventional environment by utilizing WhatsApp is more successful for the increment of victory. The assessment moreover showed that students had superior pleasant reviews closer to the usage of WhatsApp in their courses. They requested the same workout in their one-of-a-kind courses as well. They expressed that picking up information can moreover take out unwittingly and the messages with pics were more prominent and viable for their picking up information. Be that as it may, some college understudies have communicated harming audits approximately the timing of a few posts and the repetitive posts within the bunch. At long last, it is supported that the utilization of WhatsApp within the preparing framework is to be energized as a steady innovation. . © 2023 IEEE.
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With the recent COVID-19 pandemic and disruption of campus-based education, the use of mobile social networking applications to supplement formal education has attracted a great deal of attention. Teachers do have opportunities to join students' online groups to share, clarify, and exchange housekeeping information and course-related content with them. Teachers can, in particular, provide English as a foreign language (EFL) students with more sources of linguistic input, interaction, and feedback. Research investigating this potential, however, is still scarce in such contexts. The current study explores the likely affordances of teaching presence in students' WhatsApp groups for designing, facilitating, and guiding cognitive and social processes conducive to their language learning. A mixed-method design was employed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data and information from English-major undergraduates (N = 111) and faculty teachers (N = 8) who joined the same WhatsApp groups for one academic semester at a major university in Oman. Descriptive and thematic analyses of data from a survey with both closed-ended and open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews indicate that the shared WhatsApp groups functioned as small close-knit communities where students were able to constantly access teachers for their assistance, feedback, and clarification of content. Despite these merits, however, the participating faculty believed that the presence of teachers in WhatsApp groups might have consequences for students' tolerance of ambiguity, scaffolding, and autonomous language learning. The paper concludes by discussing several pedagogical implications and directions for future research.
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This chapter discusses an exploratory study that examined the use of WhatsApp in mathematics teacher education as a remedial alternative to the accessibility challenges of specialised online educational platforms. Participants were drawn from a class of 41 preservice secondary school mathematics teachers during their final year at a public university in Malawi. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a switch from the usual face-to-face mode to specialised e-learning platforms provided by the university. The study attempted to answer the question: What are the factors that influence preservice teachers' adoption of an online interactive teaching platform in connectivity-constrained settings? Data were collected from the transcripts of the online class discussions. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was used as both the theoretical and analytical framework. The chapter discusses ways in which the preservice teachers adapted the features of WhatsApp for moderating online lessons and how they proposed innovative ways of using the platform for handling special features of teacher education such as peer teaching. These are discussed with respect to the knowledge demands on mathematics teachers amidst the fourth industrial revolution, with the guidance of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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In response to disruption to education during the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile phone-based messaging has emerged in some instances as an accessible, low-connectivity way of promoting interactivity. However, no recent reviews have been undertaken in relation to how social media and messaging apps can be used to effectively support education in low- and middle-income countries. In this scoping review, 43 documents were identified for inclusion, and three main thematic areas emerged: supporting student learning (including interacting with peers and other students, peer tutoring and collaborative learning;and interacting with teachers, through content delivery, teaching and assessment);teacher professional development (including structured support and prompts, and informal communities of practice);and supporting refugee education. The discussion and findings are both of practical use, to inform responses to the current pandemic and designing initiatives in the future, and will also be useful for advancing research in this expanding field. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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This study analyses the decisions made by current generations of young people (Millennials and Generation Z) as users of digital technologies for interpersonal communication through ICTs, describing the expressive characteristics they attribute to social networks (Instagram) and instant messaging (WhatsApp). A mixed method is used to approach the research: on the one hand, the application of a self-administered questionnaire, as a pilot study and development platform for qualitative research;on the other hand, ten group dynamics with national and international undergraduate and postgraduate university students from two Spanish universities, one public and one private. The results show that WhatsApp and Instagram are the main channels for communication and the shaping of digital identity, but their use changes depending on the needs, interlocutors, and services of the application. The representations linked to these applications for interpersonal communication are well differentiated and clear reasons are given for their preference and suitability to the interests of digital natives. Millennials and Centennials are linked to a digital culture of "resident" users (White and Le Cornu, 2011), although some differences are observed between both groups with regard to the uses they make of these applications. WhatsApp and Instagram are affected by the COVID19 experience and undergo important transformations.
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This study aims to reveal the strengths and limitations of the WhatsApp application as a support service in distance education, conducted through a learning management system during the Covid-19 pandemic, and make suggestions on improving its use in this capacity. Despite the lack of readiness on the part of the students and the lack of sufficient knowledge regarding distance education during the pandemic, many universities had to revert to emergency remote teaching. This situation necessitated the intensive use of various support services for the students to get the most out of their emergency remote teaching However, their lack of experience with distance education prevented them from using the support services offered by learning management systems. Due to the increasingly widespread use of mobile technologies, one of the support services used by course instructors became the WhatsApp application. The following research is a qualitative case study. The sample for the study was determined through purposive sampling. The data was analyzed using the content analysis method. Nvivo qualitative data analysis software was used to contribute to the detailed and versatile data analysis. The most important results of the study were that the application supported and strengthened distance learning by allowing instant communication, but that the absence of a moderator caused various limitations in this communication. In addition, it was concluded that incorporating natural language processing techniques into learning management systems and clearly stated rules by course instructors improved the use of such instant communication applications as a support service for distance education © 2023,Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. All Rights Reserved.
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The purpose of this study is to validate the role of social media among peers in a virtual community of practice, VCoP, by applying the Delphi technique of data collection and analysis. The study adopts the Grounded Theory methodology to identify the theoretical frame that is developed from the data analysis. The research design identified the areas of social and professional support from Maslow's hierarchy of human needs from the faculty members' responses that were chosen by "purposive sampling” rather than random sampling The qualitative data collection took three months, wherein 26 faculty members interacting on WhatsApp during COVID-19 were identified as experts: one of the corner elements of the Delphi technique. The thematic analysis of the results indicated that fulfilling Maslow's needs was an integral component of social media VCoP. However, unlike Maslow's model, expressions of the need for safety, belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization took turns as the most important need depending on changing context, gender, and individual preferences. The answer to the research questions, thus, becomes embedded in the research methodology that involves instructors' perceptions as a validating element of the findings. The main recommendation is to replicate the study in various contexts to monitor faculty well-being to reach a sustainable educational environment. © 2023 by the authors.
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Background: South Asians, inclusive of individuals originating in India, Pakistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal, comprise the largest diaspora in the world, with large South Asian communities residing in the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and elsewhere. There is evidence that South Asian communities have disproportionately experienced COVID-19 infections and mortality. WhatsApp, a free messaging app, is widely used in transnational communication within the South Asian diaspora. Limited studies exist on COVID-19-related misinformation specific to the South Asian community on WhatsApp. Understanding communication on WhatsApp may improve public health messaging to address COVID-19 disparities among South Asian communities worldwide. Objective: We developed the COVID-19-Associated misinfoRmation On Messaging apps (CAROM) study to identify messages containing misinformation about COVID-19 shared via WhatsApp. Methods: We collected messages forwarded globally through WhatsApp from self-identified South Asian community members between March 23 and June 3, 2021. We excluded messages that were in languages other than English, did not contain misinformation, or were not relevant to COVID-19. We deidentified each message and coded them for one or more content categories, media types (eg, video, image, text, web link, or a combination of these elements), and tone (eg, fearful, well intentioned, or pleading). We then performed a qualitative content analysis to arrive at key themes of COVID-19 misinformation. Results: We received 108 messages; 55 messages met the inclusion criteria for the final analytic sample; 32 (58%) contained text, 15 (27%) contained images, and 13 (24%) contained video. Content analysis revealed the following themes: "community transmission" relating to misinformation on how COVID-19 spreads in the community; "prevention" and "treatment," including Ayurvedic and traditional remedies for how to prevent or treat COVID-19 infection; and messaging attempting to sell "products or services" to prevent or cure COVID-19. Messages varied in audience from the general public to South Asians specifically; the latter included messages alluding to South Asian pride and solidarity. Scientific jargon and references to major organizations and leaders in health care were included to provide credibility. Messages with a pleading tone encouraged users to forward them to friends or family. Conclusions: Misinformation in the South Asian community on WhatsApp spreads erroneous ideas regarding disease transmission, prevention, and treatment. Content evoking solidarity, "trustworthy" sources, and encouragement to forward messages may increase the spread of misinformation. Public health outlets and social media companies must actively combat misinformation to address health disparities among the South Asian diaspora during the COVID-19 pandemic and in future public health emergencies.
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Rapid development and adoption of mobile technologies including mobile instant messaging (MIM) platforms have transformed teaching and learning practices over the past decade. This paper presents an analysis of how students used WhatsApp as an example of a MIM platform to organise their learning activities. Drawing on rhizomatic learning theory (RLT), the study showed that WhatsApp supported students to navigate through a complex network of learning where knowledge was generated beyond the confines of the formal learning context. WhatsApp supported learners during the transition to remote learning that was introduced during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, WhatsApp use supported learners to cope well with new learning experiences and practices. The study offers insights into the perspective of learners on the use of technology during challenging and uncertain times. The insights can be useful for lecturers when developing technology strategies and teaching best practices during uncertain times. © 2022 IGI Global. All rights reserved.
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Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper documents how ordinary digital technologies, such as WhatsApp, were (re)appropriated for communication and pandemic coordination at a time when face-to-face meetings were impossible. However, there was also an emergent ‘dark' side to its use. In the context of India's democratic backsliding, middle-class Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) deployed everyday technologies to (re)configure exclusionary digital socio-spatial boundaries through practices of ‘grassroots authoritarianism'. The paper documents how the national government co-opted RWAs in the implementation of COVID-19 rules and examines their role as an extension of the state within a longer history of middle-class power in India's cities. We evidence how the ‘WhatsApp panopticon' was mobilized as a tool of everyday community care and surveillance to shape morality regimes and influence the compliance of residents with national and locally enforced rules. We argue that digital socio-spatial practices of securitization, fear and compliance represent forms of ‘grassroots authoritarianism' that echo and ensconce state-led ideological change in India. Building on ‘everyday authoritarianism' we show how digital technologies and middle-class organizations are mediating India's authoritarian shift from below. © 2023 Regional Studies Association.
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Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled educational institutions to explore alternatives to face-To-face instruction. The primary objective of this study is to identify the teacher s role in the English argumentative writing performance of low proficiency university students via WhatsApp. In this case study, data were collected from multiple resources including WhatsApp discussions, interviews, and students argumentative writing on 13 undergraduate students from Universiti Sains Malaysia, chosen based on their Malaysian University English Test (MUET) results. The argumentative writing essays that the students sent every week for eight weeks after three days of discussion in WhatsApp with the teachers were based on eight topics. The students writing scores revealed that teacher s role helped students improve their writing skills and the students attitudes. The findings suggest that WhatsApp is recommended to support the students in writing and highlight the importance of teacher s role in the students motivation, engagement, and effective learning. © 2022 IGI Global. All rights reserved.
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Social capital is the collection of social assets and resources that provide value to an individual and on which they can rely in times of need. Social networking sites (SNS) have contributed significantly to the development of social capital. A common classification of social capital is into bridging, bonding and maintained social capital. Often social capital is built and maintained in the online and offline environments together but each environment can foster social capital separately. With the constraints on physical contact and interactivity brought about by Covid-19-related restrictions, the assumption is that there would be greater reliance on SNS to develop and maintain social capital. This research examined whether, in an environment of ongoing restricted physical social contact, the use of SNS contributes positively to the establishment and development of social capital;and whether the use of different SNS exert different influences on the establishment and development of social capital. SNS use was assessed in terms of frequency and intensity of use;and social capital was assessed in terms of bridging, bonding and maintained social capital. Three SNS (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) were studied. A cross-sectional survey of 282 New Zealand residents was used to gather the data, and regression analyses were conducted to analyse the data. Findings indicated that frequency and intensity of use were key contributors to social capital, contributing mostly towards bridging social capital and the least towards bonding social capital. Additionally, intense and frequent use of Instagram contributed most towards bridging and maintained social capital, whereas intense and frequent use of WhatsApp contributed most towards bonding social capital. The research contributes to the theoretical understanding of the role of SNS, particularly with regard to the building and maintenance of social capital but also against a background of restricted physical social contact. It is furthermore of benefit to managers who have - and can - embraced the use of SNS to build and maintain team cultures, especially in terms of Covid-19-related contact restrictions. © The Authors, (2022). All Rights Reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors.
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Based on the shift from face-to-face participatory action research (PAR) with groups in situations of vulnerability to digital methods during COVID-19, we reflect on how we can go beyond compensating for the physical absence of the researcher from the field. We argue that instead of simply aiming to replace face-to-face research with a digital equivalent for maintaining ‘participatory' and ‘inclusive' research practices, remote practices have the potential of being more-than compensatory. We suggest that when producing multi-method digital approaches, we need to go beyond a concern with participant access to remote practices. By rethinking remote PAR in the light of expressive rather than participatory research practices, we critically reflect on the (sometimes experimental) process of trying out different digital research method(s) with Brazilian youth in situations of digital marginalisation, including the initial ‘failures' and lessons learned in encouraging diverse forms of participant expression, and ownership using WhatsApp. © The Author(s) 2023.
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Intercessory prayer remains an integral part of Ghanaian Christians'social lives. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted regular in-person congregational intercessory prayer meetings in the country of Ghana. Rather than abandoning the practice of intercessory prayer, churches such as the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) used chat messenger apps like WhatsApp to leap over the disrupted activities of in-person congregational meetings. This research employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach and the Uses and Gratification Theory and Theological Acceptance Model as its theoretical frameworks to ascertain whether ICGC members consider WhatsApp to be more efficacious than in-person congregational settings for intercessory prayer. The results from 330 ICGC members revealed that ICGC members prefer in-person congregational meetings to WhatsApp for intercessory prayer and augment their intercessory prayer experience with WhatsApp based on the context. WhatsApp, in this regard, is an alternative tool and not a replacement for in-person intercessory prayer. The study provides a spiritual motivations perspective to the Uses and Gratification theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
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Objective: To study the contribution of teledentistry, via the WhatsApp application of the "Dentists of Senegal", on the management of oral and maxillofacial pathology. Material(s) and Method(s): This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study took place over a period of 3 months, from 1 October to December 30, 2020. This study was conducted on the WhatsApp group platform of the Senegalese Dentists. A total of 150 communications were included. Result(s): Public sector dentists sent more communications, 88% of the communications. By specialty, general practitioners had sent more communications, 82.7% of communications. For the oral surgery receiver site, 71% of communications were received. 65% of referring dentists had given a diagnosis. Patients with tumours and cysts represented more than half of the sample (53.3%) followed by trauma patients (18.6%). The most common infections were cellulitis (46.66%) and osteitis (33.33%). Oral and maxillofacial surgeons managed 69.33% of the pathology. Conclusion(s): WhatsApp is a fundamental contribution to the remote diagnosis and management of oral and maxillofacial pathologies, especially during the current covid-19 pandemic.Copyright © 2021
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INTRODUCTION: Messaging services (MS) are used widely worldwide. The implications of MS usage in daily hospital patient care have not been investigated. In this study, we discuss the extensive usage of MS in our Pediatric Neurosurgical Department, introduce our bubble algorithm, and provide additional input from an international survey. METHODS: WhatsApp activity in the department of pediatric neurosurgery at Dana Children's Hospital, Tel Aviv, Israel, was analyzed. We designed a graphic representation of the content of the different conversation bubbles and how they interact. We also described a survey evaluating MS use in daily neurosurgical practice was sent to 25 neurosurgeons around the world. Collected data included details on the usage of MS, the type of information being transferred, and the participants' opinion of the potential risks and benefits of these systems. We began collecting messaging data November 2018, before the COVID pandemic era. We continued to collect data over the course of almost 3 years. RESULTS: We identified a bubble network structure that reflects a logical method of communication between different segments of pediatric neurosurgical care in our institution. Additionally, we analyzed 22 survey responses, received from 14 different countries. The vast majority of centers with "department groups" use messaging services to transfer multimedia files of patient-related data. Nineteen responders believe that MS significantly improve overall patient care. CONCLUSION: MS has revolutionized and improved the patterns of communication in our department. The great benefits of quick, simple access to information strongly outweigh formality and the potential for medicolegal disadvantages (e.g., HIPAA).
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COVID-19 , Neurosurgery , Humans , Child , Neurosurgical Procedures , Surveys and Questionnaires , NeurosurgeonsABSTRACT
Purpose: This study aims to investigate the potential association between use of WhatsApp in healthcare settings for work-related purposes and depression, stress, and anxiety levels among a sample of healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of healthcare employees working in different hospitals in Jazan. The data was collected via a semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire with three components that measured the demographics of the sample; the presence of depression, anxiety, and stress; and their use of WhatsApp in the work environment. A multivariate regression analysis was carried out to estimate the statistical likelihood of depression, anxiety, and stress as a result of using WhatsApp and how these factors affected occupational and social relationships. Results: A total of 294 healthcare workers participated in the current study. The median age of the participants was 32 years, and the gender distribution was almost even. Over 90% of the participants stated that they were members of work-related WhatsApp groups, and nearly 70% agreed that use of WhatsApp in work-related settings could be stressful. Among the recruited sample, 48.6% exhibited abnormal levels of depression, 55.8% had abnormal levels of anxiety, and 63% showed abnormal levels of stress. The findings of the regression analysis (P values <0.05) indicated that the likelihood of these participants suffering with depression, anxiety, and stress was high, with the participants themselves agreeing that using WhatsApp in work settings could be stressful and affect their relationships with colleagues, friends, and family members. Conclusion: The findings suggests the presence of a potential association between use of WhatsApp for work-related purposes and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, especially among those who perceive its use as a stressor and influencer on occupational and social relationships.
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This study investigates the outcomes of virtual nutritional counseling (VNC) for oncology patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our study evaluated the nutritional status data of cancer patients at the baseline and after VNC. An oncology dietitian evaluated the patients by video calling each patient via WhatsApp and sent an individual nutrition diet plan and recommendations via e-mail. Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) was used as a screening and evaluation tool to assess nutritional status. A total of 157 patients with a mean age of 55.8 ± 14.7 (r = 19-89) were included in the study. Researchers detected at least one nutrition-related sign in 77.7% of patients. After the VNC and based on the final PG-SGA assessments, 62.2% of the patients whose baseline PG-SGA Score-B improved to Score-A, 12.5% with a baseline PG-SGA Score-C improved to Score-A and 54.2% with a baseline Score-C improved to a Score-B (χ2 = 55,000, P < 0.001). Based on the number of VNCs, the improvement in malnutrition status following two sessions and three or more sessions was found to be 17.6% and 35.7%, respectively (P < 0.001). Our results confirm that VNC can improve the nutritional status of cancer patients. Hence, nutritional counseling should be an integral part of oncological treatment.