by Richard van Iwaarden.
OK, I see where this is going ![smile]( "smile")
Look, you have me on your side concerning privacy. You really do. So I'm not going to defend any of that.
But there are two discussions here:
- Facebook/Whatsapp and privacy
- Using a messaging system for Moodle that is used by most students
If a student comes up to me and says: I don't want to use Whatsapp... then bless that student for his/her wisdom.
But now the actual reality: almost all our students have instagram, facebook, whatsapp. They already 'accepted' all the conditions for using it (I must point out that all our students are 18+ which is juridically adult here)
Then the question WHY we would use the most used messenger to reach our students. Students consider Email an old medium for communication.
- We've noticed that Email is not being read a lot. Some students read this once a week
- Not a lot of students install the Moodle app for various reasons, around 20% uses the app
- Whatsapp has made it to 99% of the phones of our students.
- More and more companies are using Whatsapp to support their customers
Now I need to say that we are not replacing anything. The Whatsapp-messsenger comes as a plugin (like Jabber is still in Moodle). In the notification screen EVERY teacher/student can decide for themselves what messages from Moodle will be send to their Whatsapp account. If they don't want to use it, fine... it's up to them.
We are just adding the option to our Moodle for those who want a Whatsapp message when they use for example the Schedular (appointments) or get a message when a teacher graded their assignment.
And trust me... Students WANT this. They don't want an Email that they read days after it was sent. They want instant messaging in the same messenger they check around 150 times a day...
https://www.inc.com/john-brandon/science-says-this-is-the-reason-millennials-check-their-phones-150-times-per-day.htmlSo we can have all kind of moral/privacy discussions about this. I say to you, no need. I'm on your side. I even hate mobile phones. I wish they were never invented.
But, probably like you, we also have Moodle student groups that give us feedback on how the system is working. This has given really good insights... like 'we want a night mode with dark colors because we are working in the dark behind our laptops'.
Try asking your students about the idea that they can get a message in their favorite phone message system (Whatsapp, Telegram, ...) for important school stuff like appointments, grades, deadlines, calendar events. Might be that we have exceptional students, but our students want this. Really bad. It's the number one request.
