Page 11 - Jurnal Kurikulum BPK 2018

A Case Study in An Educational Institution About A Change Innovation

Initiative

Lim Peng Geok
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Kota Bharu
lpg2008@gmail.com

Abstract

The change innovation initiative in this paper refers to the usage of the WhatsApp application
technology. It is specifically the utilization of the WhatsApp group method for the teaching and
learning of the subject Language Description to the TESL foundation students and History to the
other degree students in an institute of teacher education in the East coast of Malaysia. The
intention of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the change, the critical factors for the
sustainability of the initiative and whether the change initiative was sustainable. The planning
and implementation was first forwarded. Change management and Cognitive Constructivism
Theory, both of which are related to the research were then reviewed by the researcher. Relevant
data was collected based on participative observations, document analysis of the change initiative
and the five interviews conducted. All the five interviews were then transcribed and the transcripts
were analyzed in an iterative manner to extract emergent themes. The result was four themes,
namely: fast, effective and reliable communication, convenience, the forging of good rapport
between lecturers and the students and assisting in the teaching and learning process. The
findings were then discussed in relation to the effectiveness and sustainability of this change
initiative. The paper will then end with some conclusion about the findings.

Keywords: change innovation initiative, WhatsApp use, teaching and learning, cognitive
constructivism theory, sustainability.

INTRODUCTION

“Changes call for innovation, and innovation leads to progress”- Li Keqiang. The “in”
thing in the world today is innovation, as innovation is seen as an essential ingredient to survive,
and thrive for any organization. Having an innovation initiative implemented at minimal charge
with better results leads to progress. In this case study, the change innovation initiative refers to
the setting up of a WhatsApp group administered by lecturers and or students for communication
and learning.
In this internet era, mobile communications services called mobile instant messaging
(MIM) applications have really gained considerable momentum. Applications like WhatsApp,
Viber, Line and WeChat allow mobile users to send real-time text messages to individuals or
groups of friends without any charge. One of the most interesting MIM applications in the market
today is WhatsApp (Church & Oliveira, 2013).
WhatsApp is a multi-platform instant messaging application for smartphones set up by Jan
Koum, a Russian immigrant and his mentor, Brian Acton. WhatsApp operates a clean, lightning
fast communications service that enables users to send and receive location information, images,
video, audio and text messages in real-time to individual friends and groups of pals for free.

1