Experience of Continuous Education Students with Telegram Application as a Supportive Learning Environment: A Narrative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46328/ijemst.7958Keywords:
Continuous education, Telegram application, Narrative inquiry, Supportive learning environmentsAbstract
The integration of digital applications, particularly Telegram, represents a vital transformation in continuing education environments, offering high flexibility in accessing educational resources. Despite the rapid spread of digital applications, understanding how continuing education students interact with these applications remains challenging, particularly regarding their impact on the overall continuing education process and on students in particular. Consequently, this study aimed to explore the lived experience of continuing education students using Telegram to understand the deeper dimensions of their interaction with this key application in their informal learning. The study adopted a qualitative approach by employing the Narrative Inquiry method and applying it to a sample of eight participants. Semi-structured narrative interviews and focus groups were used. According to thematic analysis, the results revealed three central themes that establish the structure of students' experience using the Telegram application: enhancing academic performance, interaction and participation, and educational satisfaction. The narratives showed that Telegram contributed to transforming learning into a more satisfying experience and reinforced students' positive attitudes toward permanent learning technologies. The study recommends equipping lifelong learning teachers with instructional design skills using mobile digital applications. Moreover, it is important for researchers to expand their research in the future to examine other narratives of lifelong learning students related to other digital applications such as augmented reality and generative artificial intelligence.
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