Exploring students’ use of the social networking
site WhatsApp to foster connectedness in the online
learning experience
Stone, Suzanne and Logan, AnnaORCID: 0000-0002-1477-4803
(2018)
Exploring students’ use of the social networking
site WhatsApp to foster connectedness in the online
learning experience.
Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning Ireland, 3
(1).
pp. 42-55.
ISSN 2009-972X
In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the use of social networking tools in
higher education teaching and learning. Drawing on data from a larger study focusing on
student engagement in the online virtual classroom, this paper is based on research conducted
with three separate cohorts of students from the Masters in Special Educational Needs
(MSEN) at St. Patrick’s College now the Institute of Education, Dublin City University
(DCU). Emerging from the first two phases of the research was the use of the WhatsApp
social media tool by students as an informal learning space and a means of building
connectedness. We explored this finding in more detail in phases three and four by inviting
respondents to comment specifically on their use of social media throughout the programme.
It emerged that the use of WhatsApp was widespread, offering students an opportunity to
forge a sense of connection and the basis for developing a learning community. This paper
will present findings around the use of WhatsApp with reference to literature in three areas
connected to the online learning experience: online learning as a second class learning
experience, fostering connectedness within online learning contexts and social media and
learning