LMS weds WhatsApp: bridging digital divide using MIMs

Recently, Mobile Instant Messaging Services (MIMs) such as WhatsApp have shown tremendous potential in enabling communication among diverse set of people. Such services have an even more critical role to play in developing regions. Due to the digital divide, a much higher prevalence of mobile-only internet connection has been reported, where millions of users leapfrogged to mobile-internet entirely skipping the desktop-based internet phase. In this paper, we report findings from a longitudinal field study conducted in a private higher education institution in India. The aim of the study was to explore the potential of an integrated blended learning setup which combines WhatsApp with a Learning Management System (LMS). The study was performed in a class of 20 final year engineering students over a period of three months. Our findings suggest that there is a systematic bias in the usage of WhatsApp vs. LMS based on several factors, including specifics of the learning activity, student behavior, and status of the course in the semester, and the time of the day. Synchronous and asynchronous interaction on WhatsApp are perceived to be engaging, support collaboration and aid learning by complementing LMS-based and face-to-face learning.