Making Instant Messaging Groups an Effective and Safe Space for Learning

Making Instant Messaging (IM) Groups an Effective and Safe Space for Learning According to the interviews which were conducted by Bohnik and Dechin in (2014) with 12 teachers, they concluded that teachers who use the instant messaging application to communicate with their students may face some of the following technical, educational and educational positives and negatives: Advantages - Learning any time anywhere - Deeper acquaintance with students - Sense of belonging to the group - Accessibility to learning materials - Teacher availability - Possibility to correct mistakes immediately - Contact with graduates Disadvantages - Limited access by some students - Overexposure to students' personal life - Message flooding - Group maintenance - Expectation for high availability of teachers - Use of incorrect language - Time-consuming Ways to Use Instant Messaging in Your Teaching: -Sharing educational content for your students to view before the class -Encouraging your students to contribute with content they find helpful and interesting -Sharing classwork with the students who missed classes for them to catch up before returning -Answering questions students may have while doing their independent studies at home -Forming student pairs and groups for a buddy system and group projects -Making announcements like school trips and changes in school regulations -Keeping in touch with your graduate students Teacher Lead Instant Messaging Groups: -Make sure that your school guidelines allow you to use IM groups for student communication -Consider if relying on smartphones for communication could alienate any of your students -Ask consent from the parents of your students before setting up a group -Set up another immediate communication channel for the students who will not be included in the WhatsApp group -Consider arranging smaller IM groups consisting of students with different characteristics such as pace of learning -Design your IM group as an extension of your classroom culture -Set and share group rules and regulations in the WhatsApp group 2 -Pin the group guidelines message and refer to it when needed -Discuss issues that may arise proactively before they occur -Explain your grading criteria, the rubric, if a task you give will be graded -Get accustomed with the subtle meaning changes between the emojis Example Rules to Make Instant Messaging Groups a Safe Space: -Replying during certain times of the day such as 7 AM-9 PMM -Only sharing content that could be beneficial to peers -Not sharing content shared in the group with others -Citing the sources while sharing information -Giving constructive criticism when needed -Acknowledging the contributions of others -Apologizing when being wrong and sharing inappropriate things -Not sharing images without the consent of the people in it -Being careful about sharing life details and contact information of others -Not pestering others for a reply -Paying attention to grammar rules while writing