An Exploration on Pedagogical and Social Benefits of Online Communication Platforms

Abstract

The technology-based communication method, regarded as online communication (OC), has different platforms for various communicative, pedagogical and social purposes. This study explores the pedagogical and social benefits of online communication platforms (OCP), Relying on observation and secondary data, systematic review and text content analysis are employed in making the expository exploration. The analysis shows that OCP are indeed of great pedagogical and social values to students and teachers in teaching-learning process, because they use them variously for pedagogical and social purposes. Teaching and learning, research, and various educational and social (interactional) activities are carried out more conveniently and fast using OCP, which make them very beneficial to students and teachers in varied contexts. The study concludes that OC and OCP are not only of communicative values but also of pedagogical and social values to all and sundry, as affirmed by different studies in the literature. Its major recommendation is that teachers, students, school administrators and government should take advantage of OCP and do away with the challenges while sustaining the benefits.