Change Agent of Education: WhatsApp
A glimpse into our latest research focusing on WA as a learning tool in developing economies. Accepted to ICALT 2023.
Written by Sai Gattupalli
Updated: Oct 11, 2023
Fresh pub alert: In a new collaborative research project, a team of researchers from UMass Amherst, IIM Bodh Gaya, and the Global Climate Association, investigates the educational potential of WhatsApp, examining its current applications and exploring future possibilities.
As a co-author, I am excited to announce that our work has been accepted for presentation at the prestigious ICALT 2023 conference. This annual international event focuses on advanced learning technologies and technology-enhanced learning.
Last year, I met two university professors from India, after meeting whom I became aware that WhatsApp is widely used in the education paradigm. Both are teaching faculty and have first-hand experiences conducting their instruction on WhatsApp during the height of COVID pandemic. I mean, WhatsApp is social media technology, designed for communication. But the app still found its way into the core of erryday education as millions of people use the app for their educational needs.
I found out that Whatsapp is among the top 3 global internet traffic drivers. At the same time, in November 2022, a new one-way top-down announcement channel feature was launched, and they called it Communities. Net net, after spending a couple of minutes with the Communities feature, I figured they are making WhatsApp to be more like Slack and Discord. This presents teachers and teacher educators, with new opportunities for practical instructional delivery methods and develop purpose-built community models that promote learning and peer interaction, based on discussion-based learning frameworks (Zhao & Potter, 2016).
The word "every day" reminded me of TJ Miller's Erryday.
Any way,
Our paper has been recognized in Track 3, which emphasizes Mobile Applications of Learning Technologies for Education and Development (MALT). The conference features a total of 15 tracks, as well as a dedicated consortium track for advanced graduate degrees. We are honored to participate in this esteemed event and are grateful to the conference committee for finding our work valuable, and grateful for being recognized for our scholarship and to the entire learning sciences community.
In the paper, we emphasize the existing real-world applications of Whatsapp in education, as well as the platform's potential for future growth. This powerful tool has already demonstrated its ability to enhance communication and collaboration among students, educators, and administrators, and we continue to explore its potential to further revolutionize learning experiences (see references in our article).
Here is a TechCrunch piece on WhatsApp from November 2022, right after the feature launched. In the maniscript, we show real-world examples of all the ways WA is being used by real classroom teachers - which is where our curiosity and motivation to do this work stems from.
Image source: https://blog.whatsapp.com/communities-now-available
We detail how the app has evolved into a versatile tool for virtual classrooms, peer evaluations, and enriched student-teacher interactions. By analyzing the ingenious ways educators are already leveraging Whatsapp, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the platform's capabilities, while also unveiling its potential to shape the future of education. We wished we had more than 3 pages, but that's the policy for the IEEE ICALT short paper. We squeezed in as much information as possible, thoroughly, in 3 pages. Maybe next time, we present a longer, expanded variant including empirical research.
Our work is scheduled to appear in the ICALT 2023 Conference proceedings site here in the coming weeks. When it becomes available, I will update this article with a direct link to our short paper.
Update: Link to published work.
References
Zhao, B., & Potter, D. D. (2016). Comparison of lecture-based learning vs discussion-based learning in undergraduate medical students. Journal of surgical education, 73(2), 250-257.
Author bios
Sai Gattupalli, a learning scientist with a deep passion for education, is currently pursuing his PhD comprehensive in the Learning Technologies department at the College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst. As an integral member of the Advanced Learning research lab, Sai is dedicated to the development of Wearable Learning, a cutting-edge online multiplayer embodied games platform for math learning that seamlessly combines gameplay and game design practices to enhance learning outcomes. Sai's research is centered around the exploration of learner culture, seeking to understand the nuanced contexts that can lead to improved learning experiences.
Dr. Poulomi Chakravarty, an environmental scientist and educator, serving as the Founder of the Global Climate Association, a #ClimateEd research and resource-sharing community. With a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Micrometeorology, she has imparted her extensive knowledge to both undergraduate and graduate students through various courses, further enriching the academic landscape. Poulomi continues to spearhead innovative research and education initiatives and inspire the next generation of environmental experts. Check out the Global Climate Association website, which I've been told is being developed at the moment. Link to Poulomi's personal website.
Dr. Urjani Chakravarty is an esteemed Assistant Professor of Business Communication at the Indian Institute of Management Bodh Gaya, with a PhD in Humanities and Social Sciences from IIT Roorkee. Her teaching interests encompass a wide range of communication topics, while her research explores areas such as linguistics, digital media, and discourse analysis. Previously, she was invited as visiting faculty at IIM Indore, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Ranchi. In addition to her academic pursuits, Urjani teaches air traffic controllers her seminal Aviation English Trainer course, a program run by the Airports Authority of India. Check out her IIM Bodh Gaya profile.
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