Efl Students’ Perceptions on the Integration of Whatsapp in a Low-Tech Learning Environment

Abstract

This paper explores how WhatsApp as social media is embedded into the educational practices of university students. The paper draws on an analysis of 79 questionnaires and 10 online interviews. The questionnaire survey was administered online and collected from students majoring in English Education at Universitas Sintuwu Maroso, Poso, Sulawesi Tengah. The survey was followed up by online interviews, which were meant to provide deeper understanding of the students’ experiences on the integration of WhatsApp to aid their learning practices. The discussion in this paper focuses on how students make meaning of WhatsApp integration in their formal study. The results indicate that although WhatsApp has the potential as a space for learning, the students simply valued WhatsApp as a channel for exchanging information of the courses and other practical information. Based on these results, some models of social media integration in educational practices are suggested to be applied in the context of low-tech environment.

Teachers’ role in online learning: Perspectives of prospective Indonesian EFL teachers

“…Teachers use videos and short clips to reinforce their material. Furthermore, teachers combine social messaging, LMSs such as Moodle and Neo and social media apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Facebook to deliver the materials (Campana & Agarwal, 2019;Nicol, Owens, le Coze, MacIntyre, & Eastwood, 2018;Tungka & Tarinje, 2021). 2.…”

“…Instruction for these activities is hands-on and delivered through gadgets or LMSs. Gadgets are used by teachers for instruction or assistance, collaborative work using technology such as using Google Docs collaboratively rather than working together from a computer or laptop is uncommon (Nicol et al, 2018;Tungka & Tarinje, 2021). 5.…”

“…Higher education institutions in Indonesia interpreted this policy as a perfect opportunity to innovate online learning. Various digital tools, platforms and learning management system (LMS) platforms facilitate all the processes including communication or interaction between faculty, lecturers and students (Irianti & Putra, 2021;Satyawan, Wahjoedi, & Swadesi, 2021;Tungka & Tarinje, 2021;Udil, 2020). Assignments, feedback and a discussion forum are also available online.…”

Peningkatan Literasi Digital Guru Sd Melalui Penerapan Empat Prinsip Dasar Penguasaan Teknologi Digital

“…Prinsip familiarity, senada dengan simplicity, menganjurkan para guru untuk memanfaatkan sebaik mungkin fitur-fitur dalam aplikasi yang selama ini sudah mereka gunakan, misalkan Google Classroom dan WhatsApp. Ketika tim pelaksana memperkenalkan Polling sebagai salah satu fitur di WhatsApp yang dapat mereka gunakan untuk mencatat daftar hadir peserta, memberikan tes berbentuk pilihan ganda, dan meminta tanggapan peserta atas topik pembelajaran tertentu, para guru merasa sangat antusias karena peluang menggunakan WhatsApp dalam kegiatan pembelajaran menjadi terbuka lebar (Tungka & Tarinje, 2021). Pada akhirnya, prinsip experimentality berusaha membentuk mental guru bahwa aplikasi harus dicoba dulu sebelum digunakan dalam kegiatan pembelajaran.…”

“…Kedua masalah ini berhubungan erat dengan tingginya kebutuhan para guru dan siswa untuk mengakses media pembelajaran digital yang tersedia, kapan saja dan dimana saja, sehingga kegiatan belajar dapat terfasilitasi dengan baik. Untuk itu, kegiatan ini mengaplikasikan hasil penelitian tentang literasi digital dan kompetensi guru dalam memanfaatkan berbagai jenis teknologi digital (Christiani et al, 2023;Isrokatun et al, 2022;Tungka & Tarinje, 2021) untuk memecahkan masalah yang dihadapi oleh mitra.…”