An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education
An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education

Summary/Abstract: Positive effects of cooperative and collaborative learning have been investigated by a large number of studies. When using cooperative learning in blended or online learning the use of online forums is a popular means to organize the cooperation between learners in order to assist the learning process besides the lessons in presence.In the last years the introduction of instant messengers like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and such were becoming more popular and enjoy the reputation to be easier to use as they run on mobile phones and are always at hand. It can be expected that students behave differently depending on the device and communication tool that they use. Consequently, this would have an impact on the learning outcomes. Recent researchers claim a negative impact of the use of mobile phones on the students’ grade point average (GPA). Within this article cooperative online assignments were used as instruments to compare the use of an instant messenger compared to communication using traditional online forums. The results show a significant impact on the length of contributions within the cooperative tasks and a significant impact on the working times of the learners. The GPA of learners was not significantly influenced.

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