Harnessing WhatsApp group communication for university teaching and learning during Covid-19 in Zimbabwe: Successes, challenges and prospects

Abstract

The emergence of theCovid-19 global pandemic has thrown the education system into disarray in Zimbabwe and beyond as national lockdowns have been instituted in order to curb its spread. Face-to-face teaching was abandoned and institutions of higher learning were forced to adopt online options for teaching and learning purposes. The current study sought to establish the successes, challenges and prospects of using the WhatsApp platform for learning. The study adopted a case study research design. An open ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from fifteen final year university undergraduate students majoring in English Language and Literature and five lecturers in the school of education at a selected state university in Zimbabwe.A thematic approach was used to analyse the collected data.The study established that to a larger extent, the use of the WhatsApp group feature had facilitated teaching and learning during the national lockdown. Lecturers highlighted that they conducted lectures, sent notes, assignment questions and due dates to students on the class WhatsApp group. Students used the WhatsApp group feature to share reading material and engage in meaningful group discussions. The major challenge with using WhatsApp for teaching and learning was on the cost of WhatsApp bundles which were very expensive .Lecturers and students also indicated that there were some few students who flouted the purpose of the WhatsApp groups established for academic purposes by posting irrelevant material and jokes. The study recommends that universities provide the much-needed data bundles for learning to continue online despite the national lockdown. Lecturers and students in universities and colleges are encouraged to embrace WhatsApp group communication as it can facilitate the sharing of books and journal articles published online. Ground rules should also be respected to improve and formalise online learning