WhatsApp and Its Potential to Develop Communication Skills among University Students

Authors

  • Suraya Morsidi Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
  • Norazrena Abu Samah Universiti Teknologi Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6127-0210
  • Khairul Anuar Abdul Rahman Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
  • Zakiah Mohamad Ashari Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
  • Nurul Farhana Jumaat Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
  • Abdul Halim Abdullah Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v15i23.27243

Keywords:

WhatsApp application, communication tool, learning tool, collaboration tool, communication skills

Abstract


Excellent communication skills among graduates are very crucial for their future and career development. WhatsApp application is seen to have the potential to develop these skills since it has robust functions and features, easy to use, and free. However, there are still issues in implementing this application as a tool in developing communication skills by utilizing this application for educational purposes among UTM students. Hence, this study was aiming to investigate the level of WhatsApp usage in education, the level of communication skills by utilizing WhatsApp for educational purposes among students, and their correlations. Student’s perception of using WhatsApp in education was also investigated. This study was based on quantitative research conducted using a survey design, where online questionnaires were distributed randomly among 400 UTM students based on simple random method. Findings showed that there is a high level of WhatsApp usage in education among UTM students and also a high level of communication skills by utilizing this application for educational purposes among UTM students. It was supported by a strong positive linear correlation that existed between these two variables. Students also showed positive perceptions of utilizing WhatsApp in education to develop their communication skills. Therefore, lecturers and students are encouraged to utilize WhatsApp application in education as it can help in fortifying communication skills among students who later become competent graduates that can meet the demand from the industries.

Author Biographies

Suraya Morsidi, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Suraya Morsidi is alumna of Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UTM. She had just pursued a Master Degree in Education (Educational Technology), in year 2018/2020. She also specified in Computer Science majoring in Software Engineering (Bachelor Degree). Currently, she is an Academic Coordinator at Real International & Private School, Johor Bahru and her current interest is educational robotic training.

Norazrena Abu Samah, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Norazrena Abu Samah is currently works at the School of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UTM since 2009. She received her Bachelor Science and Computer with Education (Mathematics) and PhD in Educational Technology from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Her research areas are educational technology, online learning, mobile apps for education, statistics, education for sustainable development (ESD) and environmental awareness. To date, she has received five research grants as a Principal Investigator and 24 grants as a co-investigator, including 3 international grants, namely ERASMUS+, ERASMUS and SATU-JRS.

Khairul Anuar Abdul Rahman, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

Khairul Anuar Abdul Rahman is currently works at the Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) since 2018. He received her Bachelor of Technology of Electrical Engineering with Education and PhD in Technical and Vocational from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Her research areas are alternative of teaching and learning in TVET, competency based education, and project oriented problem based learning (PoPBL). To date, he has received seven research grants.

Zakiah Mohamad Ashari, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Zakiah Mohamad Ashari is currently serving as Senior Lecturer since 2015 at the School of Education, Faculty of Sciences Social and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She hold a degree in Preschool Education from Universiti Universiti Sains Malaysia and Ph.D. degree in Educational Psychology from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Zakiah has conducted a study on teaching and learning in preschool education, early mathematical learning, child development, module development as well as using ICT as medium in learning.

Nurul Farhana Jumaat, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Nurul Farhana Jumaat is a senior lecturer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She is also the editorial board for Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Innovative Teaching and Learning Journal. To date, she has secured 7 research grants in which she acted as Project Leader and a member of 44 other research related to online learning, learning analytics and computer-based T&L.

Abdul Halim Abdullah, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Abdul Halim Abdullah received his B.Sc. (Edu) and M.Sc. (Edu) degrees in Mathematics Education from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). He obtained his PhD degree in Mathematics Education from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). He has been serving at the School of Education, UTM since 2006. His research areas are geometry thinking, higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in mathematics and technology-aided teaching and learning in mathematics. To date, he has received nine research grants as a Principal Investigator including one from Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), plus 20 grants as a co-investigator. He was also involved as a researcher in a collaborative IRU-MRUN research between the Malaysian Research Universities and Australian Innovative Research Universities.

Cover iJIM Vol. 15 No. 23 (2021)

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Published

2021-12-08

How to Cite

Morsidi, S., Abu Samah, N., Abdul Rahman, K. A., Mohamad Ashari, Z., Jumaat, N. F., & Abdullah, A. H. (2021). WhatsApp and Its Potential to Develop Communication Skills among University Students. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), 15(23), pp. 57–71. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v15i23.27243

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 23 (2021)

Section

Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Suraya Morsidi, Norazrena Abu Samah, Khairul Anuar Abdul Rahman, Zakiah Mohamad Ashari, Nurul Farhana Jumaat, Abdul Halim Abdullah

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.