ABSTRACT

Background: Smart mobile phone usage has become gradually regular amidst students of the University. A great concern is how to equalize the benefits of social media usage and how to avoid its damaging consequences so that the advantage associated with it can be maximized in teaching and learning.

Aims To find out the perception, attitudes, and practices of WhatsApp usage (social media) in the teaching and learning activities of University students at University, KSA.

Settings and Design: It is a cross-sectional descriptive study; the study setting is Northern Borders University, Arar, KSA.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was done among the university students to study the perception, attitudes, and practices of WhatsApp usage (social media) in teaching and learning. Data collection was done by administering the pre-validated self-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 22.0.

Results: Our study revealed that the most of the students stated that they think that they may have both good and bad experiences and that they think that they will be benefited from teaching and learning through WhatsApp.

Conclusion: Our results concluded that WhatsApp continues to be the most appreciated social media among university students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The findings of this study may be used to give recommendations to the authorities and medical educationists to incorporate usage of social media like WhatsApp as a learning tool in students teaching and learning activities.

Keywords: E-learning, smart mobile phone, Social media, Teaching and learning, WhatsApp usage, University students