The Use of Social Media Platforms WhatsApp and Telegram as Educational Tools During COVID-19 in Cameroon

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science

© 2022 by SSRG - IJHSS Journal

Volume 9 Issue 3

Year of Publication : 2022

Authors : Nforgwei Malvina Anyinyong, Ümmü Altan Bayraktar

10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V9I3P107

How to Cite?

Nforgwei Malvina Anyinyong, Ümmü Altan Bayraktar, "The Use of Social Media Platforms WhatsApp and Telegram as Educational Tools During COVID-19 in Cameroon," SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 9,  no. 3, pp. 48-55, 2022. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V9I3P107

Abstract:

The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic led to Cameroon's educational sector revolution. This paper investigates the use of social media platforms WhatsApp and Telegram as educational tools in the Department of English Modern Letters of the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences of the University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper aims to evaluate the use of these social media platforms and see how they have been exploited during the pandemic. Using the survey method to collect data, collected responses from 40 undergraduate students, level threes, using the research instrument google forms. The analysis revealed that the lecturers effectively use WhatsApp and Telegram as educational tools. Students are happy with using these two platforms even though they would have preferred others like zoom meetings, skype, and google classroom. However, the results contradict the results as the students say that the classes or lectures are not very effective. It shows that even though they accept the use of these media, their preferred choices would have been other tools that allow for more interaction between teachers and students. Their choice of WhatsApp and Telegram would be down to the fact that these platforms are accessible and do not consume a lot of internet data. However, the study has shown that these two media are the go-to media for online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

Media and education, Covid-19, social media, Telegram, WhatsApp.

References:

[1] S. Carr, “As Distance Education Comes of Age, the Challenge is Keeping the Students,” Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 46, no. 23, pp. A39-A41, 2000.
[2] J. Kenny, “Student Perceptions of the Use of Online Learning Technology in Their Courses,” Ultibase Articles, 2003.
[3] J. R. Maltby, and J. Whittle, “Learning Programming Online: Student Perceptions and Performance,” Proceedings of the Ascilite, 2000.
[4] L. Y. Muilenburg, and Z. L. Berge, “Student Barriers to Online Learning: A Factor Analytic Study,” Distance Education, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 29-48, 2005. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1080/01587910500081269
[5] E. Simon, “The Impact of Online Teaching on Higher Education Faculty’s Professional Identity and the Role of Technology: The Coming of Age of the Virtual Teacher,” University of Colorado, 2012.
[6] N. A. Soliman, “Using E-Learning to Develop EFL Students’ Language Skills and Activate their Independent Learning,” Creative Education, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 752-757, 2014. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2014.510088
[7] L. David, Learning Theories website, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://learning-theories.com/e-learning-theory-mayer-sweller-moreno.html
[8] R. C. Clark, and R. E. Mayer, “E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning,” John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
[9] A. Datnow, “The Role of Teachers in Educational Reform: A 20-Year Perspective,” Journal of Educational Change, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 431-441, 2020. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-020-09372-5
[10] Pummy Sheoran, “Meditation as a Therapeutic Tool for Boosting Mental Health During COVID-19 Times,” SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 37-41, 2021. Crossref, https://Doi.Org/10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V8I2P107
[11] F. D. Davis, “Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and User Acceptance of Information Technology,” MIS Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 319-340, 1989. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
[12] F. A. A. Eksail, and E. Afari, “Factors Affecting Trainee Teachers’ Intention to Use Technology: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach,” Education and Information Technologies, vol. 25, pp. 2681-2697, 2020. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019- 10086-2
[13] E. Harrison, and M. McTavish, “‘i’Babies: Infants’ and toddlers’ emergent language and literacy in a digital culture of iDevices,” Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 163-188. 2018. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798416653175
[14] S. Maulina et al., “Secondary School Mathematics Teachers’ Views on E-Learning Implementation Barriers During the Covid-19 Pandemic: the Case of Indonesia,” Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 16, no. 7, 2020. Em1860. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8240
[15] A. N. Manson et al., “Home-Based Learning (HBL) Teacher Readiness Scale: Instrument Development and Demographic Analysis,” Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 4, p. 2228, 2021. Crossref, http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.3390/Su13042228
[16] A. Muhammad, and A. Kainat, “Learning Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Students' Perspectives,” Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, pp. 45-51, 2020.
[17] C. F. Pasani, R. Amelia, and Z. Hassanhassan, “Covid-19 Impact in Indonesia’s Education Sector: Challenges and Strategy,” Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 1722-1731, 2020. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.5373/JARDCS/V12SP7/20202281
[18] S. Pusvyta, “Motivating Learning Using E-Learning,” Journal of Ummul Quro, vol. 6, no. 2, 2015.
[19] M. D. H. Raheim, “Indonesian University Students’ Likes and Dislikes about Emergency Remote Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Asian Journal of University Education, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1-18, 2020.
[20] K. Ratheeswari, “Information Communication Technology in Education,” Journal of Applied and Advanced Research, vol. 3, 2018. Crossref, https://doi.org/DOI: 10.21839/Jaar.2018.V3is1.169
[21] M. F. Samat et al., “Online Distance Learning Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic Among University Students: A Practicality of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling Approach,” Asian Journal of University Education, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 220-233, 2020.
[22] S. L. Schneider, and M. L. Council, “Distance Learning in the Era of COVID-19,” Archives of Dermatological Research, vol. 313, pp. 389–390, 2021. Crossref, https://Doi.Org/10.1007/S00403-020-02088-9
[23] Y. Shiue, “Investigating the Sources of Teachers’ Instructional Technology use through the Decomposed Theory of Planned 534 Behavior,” Journal of Educational Computing Research, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 425-453, 2007.
[24] Wildana Wargadinata et al., “Student’s Responses on Learning in the Early COVID-19 Pandemic,” Journal of Education and Teachers Training, vol. 5, no. 1, 2020. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.24042/tadris.v5i1.6153
[25] W. C. Savenye, “Improving Online Courses: What is Interaction and Why Use It?,” Distance Learning, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 22-28, 2005.
[26] J. C. Setzer, and L. Lewis, “Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary school Students: 2002–03,” National Center for Education Statistics, 2005.
[27] L. D. Thomson, “Beyond the Classroom Walls: Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives on How Online Learning Can Meet the Needs of Gifted Students,” Journal of Advanced Academics, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 662-712, 2010.