Use social media for effective teaching and learning

Some WhatsApp features

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  There are some great benefits of using a messaging platform like WhatsApp to support communication between class participants. Firstly it is immediate! It can be used to send alerts and messages quickly to class participants. They are more likely to see it than e-mail messages or messages sent from within a learning management system (LMS). Sending a text messages using WhatsApp is also free - that is one of the reasons why WhatsApp is so popular!

• wikiHow. (2020). How to Send Free Text Messages with WhatsApp. (CC BY-NC-SA). URL

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• GCF LearnFree. (nd). WhatsApp: text messaging URL

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  One of the useful features that WhatsApp offers is the facility to create a group. Some examples of how you could use this in your teaching environment is to:

  
  

  I'm sure that you could think of many others opportunities where you could use a group in WhatsApp. The advantage of creating a group is that, once you add all the relevant contacts into the group, you then just send one message and all the contacts in that group receive the message. All the contacts can reply accordingly.

  Have a look at the instructions on how to create a group:

  1. Open WhatsApp and go to 'Chats'
  2. At the top of the 'Chats' screen, select the 'New Group' button
  3. Add people to the group by selecting them or by typing their name into the search bar
  4. Type in a name for the group e.g. Class 10
  5. You can add a profile picture to the group should you wish to
  6. When you have typed in the details, click on 'Create'.

  
  

  Access the video below to see these steps in action.

• HowTech. (2021). How to create a group in WhatsApp Page

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• wikiHow. (2020). How to Create a Group in WhatsApp. (CC BY-NC-SA). URL

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  Another advantage of using WhatsApp is that you are able to make free voice calls - and this includes voice calls to international numbers!

• GCF LearnFree. (nd). WhatsApp: voice calls URL

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  It's always wise to understand both sides of the story and when it comes to social media, it is especially so!

   
  

  Also consider an additional 'con' - Mobile device space can quickly get to full capacity if media is not properly managed.

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  • Be respectful and courteous: always treat people with respect
  • Keep the topic relevant: do not discuss subjects that have nothing to do with why the group was created
    
  • Keep the group in mind: if you want to have a conversation with someone in particular, send them a message separately
  • Make sure not to interact too much on the group, this can be irritating to other group members.