WhatsApp-Based Distance Education as an Alternative Learning Method in Cameroonian Universities: Benefits and Challenges

Abstract

This study, titled “WhatsApp-Based Distance Education as an Alternative Learning Method Cameroonian Universities: Benefits and Challenges,” was motivated by the fact that the outbreak of COVID-19 opened the eyes of Cameroonians to alternative modes of transmitting knowledge in case of an emergency and avoided the loss of an entire school year. Despite the urgent need to exploit social media platforms like WhatsApp, for learning, poor internet access and connectivity, frequent power outages, degraded gadgets, poor use of tools by university students and limited resources remain a cause for concern. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of WhatsApp-based distance education as an alternative learning method and its potential to enhance access to quality education in Cameroonian universities. It was conducted at the University of Yaounde and included respondents from the Faculties of Education, Arts and Letters, Biomedicine, and Sciences. The mixed research method which involves quantitative and qualitative approaches to research was employed. The data was collected with the use of questionnaires that had 64 items for students and a semi-structured interview guide for both and students. The population of studies was 1170. Participants were chosen using simple random sampling. Frequency distribution tables were used to describe the answers and grounded theory was used to draw conclusions on the answers. The results of the study showed that WhatsApp-based distance education is beneficial to teachers and learners. According to the results, it facilitated communication, collaboration, and access to information and learning materials, supported student engagement, participation, timely feedback, and sharing of educational resources. Furthermore, WhatsApp-based learners and lecturers faced different challenges including addiction, no alignment, inability to follow up, poor network connectivity, too many messages, long time lapse, inefficiency, poor state of devices, poor class control, time waste, power shortage, boredom, distraction, technical issues and many others. Based on these results, the researcher concluded that WhatsApp-based learning has an impact on distance education in universities in Cameroon. Thus, contributions of the study to science, knowledge, curriculum, and Competency-based education were presented in addition to its implication. Also, the researcher recommended that WhatsApp-based users be trained on how to use the gadget while the government subsidizes the available gadgets to enhance WhatsApp-based learning.