Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Research in Teaching and Education
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Utilisation of Mobile Telephony and Social Media to enhance Educational Continuity to Internally Displaced Students in the Anglophone Conflict in Cameroon between 2019 and 2023
Abue Ako Scott Eke
ABSTRACT:
This paper investigates how internally displaced university students from the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon are using mobile phone/social media to continue their education in the war-torn zones in spite of disruption in academic activities. As a result of the conflict, about 8,000 students have been displaced. These Internally Displaced Students (IDS), with the help of their lecturers resolved to use WhatsApp, Messenger, and YouTube to continue their education. Once connected to social media, lecturers and students gain access to academic resources and share without endangering their lives. Notes, test questions, and results are sent through social media group chats. The paper draws strength from four theoretical perspectives on mobile technology and learning; Technological Mediation, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. Through purposeful sampling techniques, we got 250 IDS and 20 university lecturers from the affected universities and localities. Questions and interviews were conducted and analyzed using SPSS. The results show a 75% coverage of academic programs and a 95% graduation success rate for internally displaced students at end-of-year examinations. The conclusion is that mobile telephony and social media are efficient and effective tools for continuing education for IDS in times of conflicts/war.
keywords: Mobile Telephony, Social Media, Conflicts, Internally Displaced Students, Continuing Education, Anglophone Conflict, Cameroon