WhatsApp Messenger as a Mediating Tool in Times of COVID-19 for Enhancing Student Engagement in e-Tutorials at a Rural South African University

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in myriad of predicaments in societies around the world. These predicaments include plummeting economies, access to technological resources, and access to quality teaching and learning in higher education institutions. This paper is couched in critical emancipatory research with emphasis on emancipation of rural students in the new normal that has emerged because of COVID -19 pandemic. Participatory Action Research was used as a research approach to collect data through WhatsApp Messenger where the discussions were centred on two questions which are; what are the experiences of students on the use of WhatsApp by tutors and how can learning using WhatsApp enhance students’ engagement? The findings of this study suggest that students were having difficulties with engaging in online tutorials. These challenges include inadequate access to technological devices, skills and competencies in using technological tools, network connectivity challenges, and low levels of engagement. The paper ends by arguing that there is need for the universities to invest in emancipating tutors, availing digital devices to rural students to enhance teaching and learning as well as reducing city and rural divide in South Africa.