Use of WhatsApp in academic activities of Tourism Administration students in Peru during Covid-19

Abstract

The whole world and Peru are experiencing a critical situation as a result of an unknown disease called Covid-19. Faced with this situation, the use of WhatsApp has played a leading role in the field of education, driving a remarkable development in academic activities among students and teachers. In this research we reviewed a diverse number of articles from the last 5 years. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of the use of WhatsApp on academic activities during the Covid-19 pandemic in students of Tourism Administration, Amazonas-Peru-2021. The research was quantitative, descriptive, with a non-experimental design, considering a sample of 120 university students. A questionnaire with 22 dichotomous questions was applied. 82.5% of the students said that the use of WhatsApp influenced academic support, 70.8% to make queries and absolve doubts, and 70% in collaborative work, 61.7% in communication between teachers and students, and 60% in participation, while 56.7% to present academic papers. With regard to the tools used, 47.5% of the students used email, 46.7% WhatsApp, 5.8% Facebook. In relation to the type of information shared through WhatsApp, 59% indicated academic information, 24% photographs, 10% thoughts-feelings and emotions. 80.8% of respondents believed that the use of WhatsApp influenced learning-teaching; 60% in academic performance. Regarding the reason for use, 44.2% of the students said they were in contact with their peers and friends, while 28.3% to communicate between peers and teachers, 16.7% to exchange information, 7.5% to perform tasks, and finally 3.3% indicated for entertainment. As for the frequency of use of WhatsApp, 26.7% used more hours, 24.2% used 3 hours a day, 17.5% used an hour a day. It was evidenced that the use of WhatsApp influenced the academic activities during the Covid-19 pandemic of the students of the Professional School of Administration in Tourism, Amazonas-Peru-2021.