University Students’ Use and Perceptions of Telegram to Promote Effective Educational Interactions: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Student interaction is a pivotal element in any educational environment. Accordingly, employing technologies to increase these educational interactions has attracted both instructors’ and students’ attention. This qualitative paper investigated the means of employing Telegram, a social network site (SNS), to increase students’ educational interactions and explore their perceptions of using it as an interactional medium in a university course. A thematic analysis was applied to assess data collected from the posts of 77 university students in three Telegram groups created for this course and the students’ reflection papers required at the end of the course. This study’s findings identified several instructional activities that can be employed on Telegram to enhance students’ interactions, as well as presented how students interact with their instructor and each other on Telegram. The findings also highlighted the students’ perceptions of Telegram as a technology to enhance their course interactions, including the advantages and disadvantages of using Telegram in this course. Implications of this study can allow university instructors and policymakers to reconsider their teaching methods and even encourage using Telegram or similar SNSs to aid students’ learning.

The Effects of WhatsApp and Telegram on Student Engagement: An Analysis from the Mixed-Methods Approach

“…e quantitative results assert that the use of Telegram functionalities with collaborative activities in Moodle promoted greater engagement in the student body. ese results coincide with similar investigations by Conde et al [17] and Aladsani [10]. Collaborative interactions through chat groups and peer evaluations increased engagement and motivation.…”

“…e possibilities offered by Telegram related to chat groups, peer assessments, support for various types of online interaction, exchange of digital media, and the design of surveys made it possible, under the guidance of teachers, to promote engagement. Similar studies [10] obtained similar results, and although they were based on virtual courses supported by Blackboard, they also reflect that students prefer to interact through the DSNs and not in interactive activities (forums and chat rooms) designed in the learning management platform.…”

“…Measuring engagement is not a simple process given that it involves external variables that often cannot be controlled by teachers, such as demographics, economic, social, migratory, and family status. Empirical studies tend to focus on how to promote engagement within the virtual course and not so much on how to enhance it "as a whole" with interaction and interactivity activities in the DSNs [3,10].…”

“…Similar results are observed in the educational use of Telegram [15,16] allowing the promotion of interaction and interactivity and, consequently, student engagement. e main functionalities employed were chatbots, chat groups, channels, and video calls [10]. Although both DSNs are used for educational purposes, the use of Telegram allows teamwork to be enhanced to a greater extent [17].…”

“…ird edition: Computer Engineers ( 16), Graduates in Computer Science (5), and Graduates in Computer Education (9). Fourth edition: Computer Engineers (22), Graduates in Computer Science (15), and Graduates in Computer Education (10). Fifth edition: Computer Engineers (34), Graduates in Computer Science (15), and Graduates in Computer Education (18).…”