So I was watching some videos on YouTube about mobile learning and someone on one of the videos mentioned Whatsapp and its popularity in Spain partly due to its ability to text for free worldwide. So, I downloaded the app to my Samsung Note 2 and let it sit there for a week or so. Later that following week I mentioned the app to one of my students and she mentioned that she uses it all the time; even more so than the dominant FB Messenger. I asked her to explain to me how it worked and was kind of disgruntled at first to learn that I had to actually share my personal phone number with my students in order to engage with them. As of up until then, messenger platforms like Google + or FB only required an email address only. Considering I teach adults and was really curious about this platform, I shared my phone number with my student and she did everything else for me. She set up a chat group and gave it a name and cover photo. Within seconds, she sent a text with a photo, and then with a video, and then a voice recording within our group. Considering she had everyone else in the classes phone number, she invited all my other students to the group and within five minutes of a casual conversation with a student, I had (a student) created a class group and had my first experience with Whatsapp!
The cool part about Whatsapp is that it is a great substitute for an online classroom blog! What a great concept! A platform that is so similar to a blog that is attached to a student's phone, not computer. Students don't think of it as blogging, they think of it as texting (which it really is).
I post student assignments, homework, photos of class notes, YouTube videos on ESL, important dates, and last minute information making learning more spontaneous and personal, thus more engaging. No wait, no password, no apps to open just to participate.
Best,
#mr.ford
A student using Whatsapp to practice ESL.
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