Student engagement in using mobile instant messaging for education

Abstract

In recent years, mobile-supported quasi-synchronous communication such as mobile instant messaging (MIM) has become the most popular means for young people to communicate, surpassing voice calls, emails, face-to-face communication, and even popular social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. MIM, such as WhatsApp, Line and WeChat, typically comes with a myriad of features, including mobility, quasi-synchronicity, and multi-modality, which educators may leverage to increase student engagement. Yet to date, MIM remains the least explored technology in education. Researchers and educators do not really know to what extent MIM can facilitate student engagement compared to other technologies. Understanding which tool can better promote student engagement can help an instructor select the right tool to deepen students’ learning experience. To address this gap, this research investigated the effects of using MIM on student engagement in higher education with two empirical studies. Taking a self-determination theory perspective, this research examined student engagement from three dimensions: behavioral engagement, emotional engagement and cognitive engagement. Study 1 was an exploratory case study that examined how students were engaged in WeChat-facilitated educational activities, and how they evaluated their experience of using MIM in a formal course. Participants were 27 postgraduate students, and 13 students were interviewed. Analysis of students’ interactive records and interview data revealed that students were engaged in the MIM-supported multimodal conversations, for both social and academic purposes. Students positively evaluated the role of MIM in helping them develop interpersonal relationships. For learning purposes, students mainly used MIM for transmission and helpline activities. Challenges included the distraction of notification, the information overload and disorganization, the pressure to respond, and the superficiality of social conversation. Study 2 examined whether students were more engaged in out-of-class discussion facilitated by MIM or by an online forum. A quasi-experimental study was conducted, which included two classes taking the same course with the same instructor and activities. Twenty-six students from the experimental group (EG) adopted MIM for pre-class and post-class discussion, while 29 students from the control group (CG) used Moodle forum for the same tasks. This study found that MIM students were more behaviorally engaged, with more messages, greater number of words, and higher rates of participation, task completion, and interaction. No statistically significant differences were found in students’ affective evaluation toward course interaction and satisfaction. However, EG students thought MIM was helpful in their interpersonal relationship development, while CG students perceived little impact of using Moodle forum on their affective engagement. Cognitively, the EG group demonstrated higher frequencies of cognitive engagement at all four levels: operation, wayfinding, sense-making, and innovation. To determine the contributing factors to the above results, specific features of MIM were analyzed through the lens of self-determination theory. This study offers a new theoretical contribution by proposing two models that illustrate how various MIM features may promote (as well as impede) the three psychological needs of learners (i.e., sense of autonomy, relatedness, and competency). Suggestions for practices and further research concerning MIM are proposed.