WHATSAPP AS A LEARNING TOOL DURING COVID -19 PANDEMIC: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Keywords:
WhatsApp, online learning, covid-19 pandemicsAbstract
The purpose of the present study is to explore the advantages and disadvantages of WhatsApp (WA) as a learning tool during Covid19 pandemic. WA is a messaging application that can be installed on smartphones and has many useful features. Researchers are
interested in researching since many students and lecturers choose WA as an application for continuous learning while one knows that
many applications are actually intended for learning. The design of this research is a mix method (quantitative and qualitative). This
research involved 168 respondents as a sample. The instrument of this research was an open-ended questionnaire. To analyze the
questionnaire, the researchers used the data analysis based on Miles, Huberman, & Saldana (2014). Three steps were applied: data
condensation, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions. The study concludes that 73 percent of respondents believed that
WA has more advantages than disadvantages. The advantages include it is effective and easy to use; the features are helpful, save
internet quota, very light, easy to do communication, easy to observe the students. The disadvantages, however, is easy for the
students to cheat, old chats are easily piled up by the new chats, the upload size is limited, and member capacity in the group is limited.
These findings confirm that WA can be used as a learning tool with few limitations.
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