University Students’ Use and Perceptions of Telegram to Promote Effective Educational Interactions: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Student interaction is a pivotal element in any educational environment. Accordingly, employing technologies to increase these educational interactions has attracted both instructors’ and students’ attention. This qualitative paper investigated the means of employing Telegram, a social network site (SNS), to increase students’ educational interactions and explore their perceptions of using it as an interactional medium in a university course. A thematic analysis was applied to assess data collected from the posts of 77 university students in three Telegram groups created for this course and the students’ reflection papers required at the end of the course. This study’s findings identified several instructional activities that can be employed on Telegram to enhance students’ interactions, as well as presented how students interact with their instructor and each other on Telegram. The findings also highlighted the students’ perceptions of Telegram as a technology to enhance their course interactions, including the advantages and disadvantages of using Telegram in this course. Implications of this study can allow university instructors and policymakers to reconsider their teaching methods and even encourage using Telegram or similar SNSs to aid students’ learning.