WhatsApp as a tool for Building a Learning Community

Abstract

WhatsApp groups are considered useful for creating and supporting virtual communities. This mixed method case study explores the patterns that emerged when we used WhatsApp to create a community of learning during the multimodal presentation of a postgraduate course in research proposal writing. Three questions drive the study: (1) What kinds of messages were sent? (2) Who participated and how? (3) How did the learners experience the use of WhatsApp in support of the community of learning? Data were collected during the presentation of a five-evening proposal writing workshop that was conducted using Zoom, WhatsApp, and YouTube as communication platforms. To answer the first question, all WhatsApp messages were analysed through both manual (individual) and automated (meta) content analysis. The third question was answered by analysing students’ responses to the end-of session online questionnaire that was administered via Google Forms. Results indicate that many messages were administrative in nature, while the most notable academic messages concerned a discussion of empirical research, research paradigms, and research design. The presenter and co-presenter together accounted for almost half of the messages sent, and the other messages were evenly distributed between members of the class, with five notably vocal students. Student responses indicated that they liked the high level of interactivity and the content, but that they disliked the time it took to form groups. The paper contributes to the literature by showing how this use of multiple WhatsApp groups was effective in creating a sense of community by facilitating access, relationships, vision, and function (West and Williams, 2017). More research is needed in determining the extent to which students might support one another with conversations outside of the main WhatsApp group.

Unlocking ESP Learners’ Leadership and Higher-Order Thinking Skills through Whatsapp Community of Practice

“…Scholars also have indicated that CoP in social media develops knowledge management (Al-ghamdi & Alghamdi, 2015;Ekici, 2017;Li et al, 2009;Trust, 2015), collaboration (Li et al, 2009;Della & Jurberg, 2019), sense of belonging (Ekici, 2017;Li et al, 2009;Della & Jurberg, 2019), motivation (Ekici, 2017), and the ease of using social media platform (Dogoriti & Pange, 2014). Cronjé and Izak (2022) highlight the value of CoP via WhatsApp tool as it facilitates information sharing, feedback provision, and interaction among individuals with shared interests, promoting the development of autonomy skills. The researchers reiterate that using WhatsApp in education builds an influential learning community by allowing continuous discussions.…”

“…They identified that online group discussion through the WhatsApp tool among visually impaired learners allowed knowledge sharing and developed collaboration, communication, and a sense of belonging. Cronjé and Izak (2022) investigated the use of WhatsApp as a platform for a CoP among postgraduate students in a research proposal writing course. They found out that most learners favoured using WhatsApp as a medium for CoP because it fosters interactions and knowledge sharing.…”

“…They found out that most learners favoured using WhatsApp as a medium for CoP because it fosters interactions and knowledge sharing. However, the major challenge faced by the learners was the time it took to form the WhatsApp group (Cronjé & Izak, 2022).…”

“…The concept of the CoP in education is more analytical as it is derived from the situated learning theory, and as such, it focuses on exposure to real-life issues and experiences (Wenger et al, 2002). Scholars state that CoP can bring learners together (Fisher et al, 2014;Della & Jurberg, 2019), develop collaboration and interaction (Cronjé & Izak, 2022;Ekici, 2017;Della & Jurberg, 2019), increase academic grades (Andrienko, 2017), and enhance knowledge and skills (Penfold, 2010;Soto & Waigandt, 2017).…”

“…The conceptual framework of this study centered on knowledge management, regular interaction, ease of using technology, and a sense of belonging within the WhatsApp CoP (Alghamdi & Al-ghamdi, 2015;Ekici, 2017;Cronjé & Izak, 2022;Dogoriti & Pange, 2014;Della & Jurberg, 2019;Trust, 2015), is designed to examine their influence on ESP learners' leadership and HOT skills. Moreover, this study broadens its focus to investigate gender differences in skill acquisition.…”