Manuscript received January 6, 2023; revised March 8, 2023; accepted June 27, 2023.
Abstract—Mobile learning has generated high expectations
in education and is being embraced as a powerful tool to
enhance pedagogical interactions. This study aims to: (i)
analyze the level of usage and acceptance of WhatsApp as a tool
for online learning among teachers during the COVID-19
pandemic, based on age, gender, and employment status; (ii)
explain the benefits of online learning that contract teachers
have over those appointed in the use of WhatsApp; and (iii)
identify the role of teachers and the necessary preparation
required for effective use and management of WhatsApp in
online learning. This study utilizes a mixed-methods approach,
including a quantitative component consisting of an online
questionnaire. Our findings indicate that WhatsApp is widely
accepted and used among teachers for online learning, with
contract teachers exhibiting a greater need for training
compared to their appointed counterparts. In order to promote
digital literacy in managing hybrid environments, instructional
design models are necessary. The unidirectional nature of
teacher intervention through WhatsApp also highlights the
need to develop more collaborative and interactive teaching
strategies.
Index Terms—Social networking, perception, online teaching,
teachers, technological integration
The authors are with Universidad Nacional de San Agustin de Arequipa,
Peru.
*Correspondence: durdanivia@unsa.edu.pe (D.A.U.A.)
Cite: Jorge Joe Gutiérrez Chara, Fabian Hugo Rucano Paucar, Diego Antonio Urdanivia Alarcon*, and Fabiola Talavera–Mendoza, "Training Needs of Teachers in the Acceptance and Use of WhatsApp in Online Teaching," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 13, no. 11, pp. 1776-1783, 2023.
Copyright © 2023 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).