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

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v16i09.19281

Keywords:

Social network sites (SNSs), social media, Telegram, Interaction, Instructional activities, higher education

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.

Author Biography

Hibah Khalid Aladsani, King Faisal University School of Education 31982, 400, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Hibah Khalid Aladsani received her Ph.D. degrees in educational technology from the University of Sheffield, UK, in 2019. Since 2019, she has been an Assistant Professor with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (Educational Technology), at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia. Her research interests focus on online learning, educational use of social network sites, and employing new technology in education using qualitative research approach. She acts as a reviewer for various prestigious journals and publishers. She likes tweeting on her account @HibahKA regarding teaching and researching issues.

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Published

2021-05-04

How to Cite

Aladsani, H. K. (2021). University Students’ Use and Perceptions of Telegram to Promote Effective Educational Interactions: A Qualitative Study. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 16(09), pp. 182–197. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v16i09.19281

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 09 (2021)

Section

Papers

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