STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ON CHALLENGES OF THE USE OF ZOOM AND WHATSAPP AS SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORMS IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

The COVID-19 pandemic made educational institutions apply online learning. A combination of two models of online learning is used, combining both synchronous and asynchronous learning. Zoom and WhatsApp are the popular online learning platforms to use in the teaching-learning process. This study aimed to investigate the perception of students towards the challenges of using Zoom and WhatsApp as the online learning platforms in order to support the online English teaching-learning process. A descriptive qualitative method was done and 32 senior high school students from SMA Dharma Wanita Surabaya participated. Open-ended and close-ended questionnaires were chosen as data collection methods, and the data were examined using flow model Miles and Huberman. The study reveals that using Zoom and WhatsApp as online learning platforms helped students in practicing English during the pandemic era, made teaching-learning process more effective and interactive, and facilitated interaction and communication between teacher and students. In addition, the features provided by Zoom and WhatsApp are very helpful and useful for students in learning English, especially in emphasizing reading skills. Even so, the use of Zoom and WhatsApp are challenging for students because of unreliable internet connection, limited internet quota, storage and space availability and unsupported digital devices

Google Classroom as a Tool of Support for Flexible Learning in the New Normal

The global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic affected all areas of life significantly paving the way to the new normal set-up. In response, the higher education system in the Philippines opted to implement flexible learning as its delivery model. Flexible learning unlocked critical areas in redesigning the pre-pandemic learning and teaching paradigm, one of which is the deployment of learning management systems or online platforms to contribute to the effective implementation of flexible learning. The present study attempts to explore Google Classroom’s potentials and acceptability as a tool of support to flexible language learning and teaching. A survey questionnaire was given to a group of 44 university students who completed the Purposive Communication course. Using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) analysis of data, the findings revealed that the majority of the students agreed that Google Classroom could provide accessibility, utility, and students’ satisfaction. Similarly, students agreed it could support communication and interaction and instruction delivery in flexible learning. Further, a qualitative-inductive approach using thematic analysis of the open-ended question in the survey questionnaire revealed that Google Classroom supports flexible language learning through the following: (a) easy monitoring of tasks, assignments, projects, and announcements; (b) excellent storage of learning materials (ex. backup files); (c) motivates students to manage time; and (d) motivates students to perform well. Therefore, it occurs that Google Classroom, as an educational interactive tool, has the potential to contribute to the effective delivery of flexible language teaching and learning, provided that responsive and timely faculty guidance is in place

The Result of Studying on The Use of Online Knowledge Sharing and The Key Factors to Supporting of Online Knowledge Sharing in The Context of Undergraduate Management Students

The success of online learning thus depends on the participation, engagement, and social interaction, which leads to knowledge sharing. The concept of online knowledge sharing is online communication of learning and doing among students to share and exchange knowledge by using technology as a tool to share knowledge to create understanding or enhance performance. The purposes of this study were to investigate the current situations in the use of online knowledge sharing for teaching and learning in higher education in Thailand. This study has employed a mixed method research consisting of two parts. Part 1 involved a quantitative research to investigate the current situations of online knowledge sharing use among university students in Thailand. The sample group was composed of 421 students. Part 2 was a qualitative research to survey opinion of instructors on the key factors supporting their effective use in higher education. The results showed undergraduates' interest in using supporting program for online knowledge sharing system. The feature of online technology that their want to use were technology to a communication, technology to create knowledge and technology for knowledge sharing. The result revealed that the basic elements related to online knowledge sharing consists of participants, learning activities, online technology platforms. The factors to supporting of online knowledge sharing consists of preparing the students, motivational factors, individual participation, the support from the instructors and learning environment

The determinants of effective computer mediated communication between lecturers and students at a tertiary education institution.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is the transmission of data communication between individuals using two or more electronic devices. CMC provides digital platforms for one-on-one communication, conferencing and collaboration that is instantaneous. However, in the literature, there’s a lack of research that focuses on the interaction between lecturers and students through CMC in South Africa. Hence, there is a need for this study to understand the factors that influence an effective interaction between lecturers and students through CMC, and propose adequate strategies to foster such kind of interaction. In this study, an effective CMC interaction is defined as the behavioural intention to use CMC between a lecturer and a student that is perceived as prompt, professional and supportive by both the students and lecturers. The afore-mentioned constructs have been used to develop a conceptual model that guided the current study to investigate the determinants of the behavioural intention to use CMC between lecturers and students at a tertiary education institution, from the student’s perspective. The study made use of quantitative methods as its fundamental research approach. The study’s sample consisted of 276 students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. These students were surveyed using a closed-ended online questionnaire. From a research nomenclature perspective, the study’s theoretical constructs were identified as immediacy, professionalism and support which constitute the independent variables while intention to adopt/adoption of CMC has been labelled as the study’s dependent variable. The study’s main outcome revealed that the majority of students acknowledge the importance of immediacy, support, and professionalism in the facilitation of an effective CMC-based relationship. Empirically, the study confirmed a moderate, positive correlation between the constructs and students’ intention to adopt CMC as a conduit to achieving excellence in their studies. Evaluation derived from a structured equation modelling derivative of the original conceptual model revealed that the construct of support had more of a mediating influence on students’ intention to adopt a CMC-based learning approach. A concomitant outcome from the study was that a majority of the students preferred using CMC with academic staff than face-to-face communication, with a preference for technological platforms that support CMC based learning rather than general social media networking platforms. At the time that the study was conducted, the institution from which empirical data was collected had transformed to a remote/online learning approach that was necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a consequence, many of the study’s respondents had a natural preference for the video conferencing tool that was currently employed at the institution

STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE UTILIZATION OF YOUTUBE IN LEARNING ENGLISH

As a mean of communication, English has become the most important language. Due to its importance, the mastery of this language should be taken into account. Integrat-ing digital media platforms into teaching and learning activities is one of the alterna-tive ways to support students’ success in learning English. YouTube is a digital media platform that provides various educational contents for learning English. This research investigated the students’ attitude toward the utilization of YouTube in learning Eng-lish. It employed a quantitative approach in terms of surveys design. In this research, 150 students of Musi Charitas Catholic University were involved as participants. The data were collected through administering questionnaire and analyzed by using de-scriptive statistics of spss. The results showed 102 (68%) of the students have positive attitudes towards the utilization of YouTube in learning English. The students believe that using YouTube can help them to improve their English language skills because it provides a lot of English learning content which is similar with the English material. It is also supports students learning activities because it is effective to use. Therefore, the students also feel comfortable to learn English by using YouTube because YouTube can be accessed anytime and anywhere. This research hopefully will be useful for the teachers, the students, and future researchers in supporting the improvement of new insights and knowledge related to the research. Keywords: Attitude, YouTube, language, learning activity, communication

School use of learning platforms and associated technologies

Study of benefits and effective use of learning platforms in schools based on 12 case studie

Social media enabled collaborative learning environments: a design science research approach

Collaborative technologies such as Group Decision Support Systems were proclaimed to be able to impact the learning environments of educational institutions twenty years ago, where the Information Systems discipline was interested in determining whether they were capable of transforming the traditional methods of teaching. It was understood that these technologies were effective at transforming learning environments from a traditional approach to a collaborative one, where the learner is part of the learning process, but little has actually changed in this time. However, new generations of these collaborative technologies often emerge, and the platforms of social media are one such technology. In a similar fashion to previous collaborative technologies, social media have been proclaimed as impacting the learning environments of educational institutions through better communication and collaboration, in new and exciting ways. However, a problem that has been identified is there is a lack of understanding on whether the platforms that are enabled by social media are effective at enabling collaborative learning. This study helps improve this understanding. A design science research (DSR) approach was adopted to build an evaluation framework to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of social media enabled collaborative learning environments (SMECLEs). The evaluation framework was developed during a five year DSR study, over six design cycles. These incorporated insights from existing literature on DSR, social media, and collaborative learning, using 272 journal and conference articles. Further, data was gathered from six SMECLEs, which consisted of 857 tweets, 1439 blog posts, and 3376 blog comments. The resulting framework was then used to evaluate the six SMECLEs, where a number of trends were identified, which suggests that the tool is effective for its intended purpose. Thus, the primary contribution of this study, to both practice and the knowledge base, is the evaluation framework for social media enabled collaborative learning environments (SMECLEs)

The use of learning management platforms in school context - a national study

This report results from a national study carried out under the Project “Educational application of learning management platforms”, supported and funded by the Computers, Networks, and Internet in Schools department of the Portuguese Ministry of Education- General Directorate for Innovation and Educational Development. This report has been developed by the ICT Competence Centre of the Faculty of Sciences- University of Lisbon, during the school year 2007/2008

Patterns of information consumption and social media use among nursing members of Sigma Europe Region. A study by Sigma Europe Region Communications Committee [abstract]

Background and aim: Social media use in nursing education has gained popularity over recent years, facilitating networking opportunities to support the development of professional groups, share ideas, explore nursing practice and foster recommendations for improvement. Knowing the most effective ways to engage with nurses through social media to promote networking is essential. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the patterns of information consumption and the use of social media by European members for networking, cooperation and learning purposes. Study design and participants: This descriptive-cross sectional study disseminated an online survey to all nurses who are members of Chapters in the European Region of Sigma Theta Tau organization. Additionally, non-Sigma members were invited to participate. The questionnaire consisted of the following sections: a) socio-demographic and professional characteristics, b) social media use, c) patterns of learning and d) patterns of networking using social networks. Qualitative information was also collected using two open-ended questions. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained for this research. Contributions: This study will contribute to the existing knowledge of social media use by nurses and the most effective platforms for communication. The findings will be presented and may provide a better understanding of nurses' learning and collaboration patterns through social networks in Europe. The results of this study may also be used to support policy development regarding the management of information and communication between the nurses in Sigma Europe and across all Sigma Regions

Harnessing Technology School survey 2008: report 1: analysis

This report summarises the main findings from the Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2008, a national survey of ICT in primary, secondary and special schools. The research was carried out in 2007-08. This annual, representative survey was intended to assess the `state of the nation' in terms of the uptake and impact of educational technologies in maintained schools across England