Whats app 2015 presentation kizito 2015

Lecturers experiences on the use of ‘WhatsApp’ for staff development

Rita Ndagire Kizito02 September 2014

“A personal reflection”

The Story line

• The hurdles• Context• The inquiry

(questions)• Data• Findings• What next? https://vulcanpost.com/329021/whatsappening-to-us/

Image Credit: India Times

The hurdles

• The usefulness of most of the digital apps that we are trying to use in education is sometimes difficult to isolate because these ‘technologies’ were built for other purposes – not teaching and learning.

• The rate of technology evolution is too fast for the rate at which education provision can adapt to these changes.

The hurdles

Social purposes Academic purposesInformation-sharingCommunicationCollaboration

Information-sharingCommunicationCollaborationDeep engagementDevelopment (Learning)

What is in “WhatsApp”?• worth 19 billion• mobility• instantaneity

has changed the face of communication

Conradie, P. W., Lombard, A., & Moller, M. (2013). Learners’ perceptions of mobile devices for learning in higher education–towards a mobile learning pedagogical framework. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 73, 514-519.

Alsaleem, B. I. A. (2013). The effect of “Whatsapp” electronic dialogue journaling on improving writing Vocabulary Word Choice and Voice of EFL Undergraduate Saudi Students. Arab World English Journal, 4(3), 213-225.

* Yeboah, J., & Ewur, G. D. (2014). The impact of WhatsApp messenger usage on students performance in Tertiary Institutions in Ghana. Journal of Education and practice, 5(6), 157-164.

Lauricella, S., & Kay, R. (2013). Exploring the use of text and instant messaging in higher education classrooms. Research in Learning technology, 21.

Impact on

student learning

Lecturer learning?

“MIM has potential to create alternative dialogic spaces for student collaborative engagements in informal contexts, which can gainfully transform teaching and learning” (p. 540)“WhatsApp also transformed pedagogy by fostering social constructivist environments forlecturer–student and peer-based co-construction of knowledge” (p. 560)

Rambe & Bere (2013)

The inquiry – from a learning activity design perspective What is the best way to incorporate WhatsApp in a higher/vocational learning environment ?

What are the benefits of using WhatsApp for staff development?

What challenges do lecturers encounter when using WhatsApp in their personal learning spaces?

The Context :CHEC short course on Emerging Technologies to Improve Teaching and Learning for higher educators at the four Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Western Cape (2014 cohort)

02 April09 April10 April16 April17 April23 April24 April30 April01 May07 May08 May14 May

face-to -face

face-to -face

face-to -face

online support

whatsApp

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

The Context :CHEC short course on Emerging Technologies to Improve Teaching and Learning for higher educators at the four Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Western Cape (2014 cohort)

Case study

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Task 5

WhatsApp conversations

02 April09 April10 April16 April17 April23 April24 April30 April01 May07 May08 May14 May

face-to -face

face-to -face

face-to -face

online support

whatsApp

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

08 April09 April14 April15 April16 April17 April18 April21 April22 April23 April06 May07 May08 May09 May10 May12 May14 May16 May17 May19 May22 May

(21 days)

Data Collection

‘WhatsApp’ was used to facilitate the online sessions of the 2014 emerging technologies course. The Teaching and learning challenges for the 5 academics participating in this study were collected using a content analysis of the Google drive posts and ‘WhatsApp’ conversations.

Data Collection & Analysis

Who is doing the ‘talking’ ( Total 331 posts)

F1

F2

A1

A2

A3

A4

A5

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

WhatsApp Post counts (%)

facilitators

lect

urer

s

What was said

Facilitators F1 & F2 provided information, clarificationsand advice:

F2: “Please make sure you have something for your first reflection at 11h00”F1: “If you encounter problems with hangout tomorrow from your university try using your laptops and 3g cards or cell phones”

What was said

Lecturers asked for guidance about the technology initially: A4: “My doc has been saved on Google docs/ Will all members be able to see it?”; A3: “ How do I get to hangout?”

Later on the inquired about the tasks: A5: “ I have created a folder & moved my reflection in it. Can you all see it?”

What was said

Once they became comfortable with the technology, lecturers started engaging deeply with the learning tasks. A1 beginning to identify the learning challenge:A1: “ I feel the dental terms and understanding them can only be overcome by the students themselves. More reading or journals and articles pertaining to dentistry can improve their knowledge greatly and this is what they do not do….”

What was saidThey even began supporting each other:

A2: “ Will rework my challenges to achieve intended outcomes esp. to provide resources which will facilitate learning”A5: “ I was considering that as well… I was thinking Google drive would be a great platform for our 3rd and 4th years where they cover case studies”

Wang, Chen & Anderson’s ( 2014) framework for interaction and cognitive engagement *

mapping on

google drive posts

ChallengesThere were challenges with connectivity;A5:” Is anyone on the X Campus struggling with their internet connection?”And sometime loss of the thread of the conversations:A2: “I am lost”One participant did not feel very comfortable discussingissues in the WhatsApp space.

Overall participants were pleased with WhatsAppA5: “ I am happy with WhatsApp. It won’t leave

us in the lurch”A3: “ Yes, WU has been a revelation”A2: “ WhatsApp is a cheap and easy method to communicate and post links to. E.g. YouTube clippings etc.”One participant did not feel very comfortable discussingIssues in the WhatsApp space

However this does not translate into use later (2015)3. Are you using WhatsApp in your teaching? If yes how and if no , why?A4:“No. Students are not very interested in engaging with technology. I am also not very ofay with how to use WA in education besides for messaging. I would like to learn how to use it more effectively. Any articles that could be recommended for ideas?”

However this does not translate into use later (2015)3. Are you using WhatsApp in your teaching? If yes how and if no , why?A1: “No. No time to respond to all the chats”A2: “No I have not implemented the use of WhatsApp .I did not find the need to do so with my class this year but will however give it a try next year”

What are the benefits of using WhatsApp for staff development?

What challenges do lecturers encounter when using WhatsApp in their personal learning spaces?

What is the best way to incorporate WhatsApp in a higher/vocational learning environment ?

?

Additional References

Rambe, P., & Bere, A. (2013). Using mobile instant messaging to leverage learner participation and transform pedagogy at a South African University of Technology. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(4), 544-561.

Wang, Z., Chen, L., & Anderson, T. (2014). A framework for interaction and cognitive engagement in connectivist learning contexts. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 15(2).

Thank-you