Online support service via mobile technology- a pilot study at a higher education institution in South Africa
Schreiber, B; Aartun, KAbstract:
This study describes the findings of a piiot study of an oniine support service via mobile technology using chat faciiities at a Higher Education institution in South Africa. The oniine support service, accessibie via ceii phone chat and computer chat faciiity, augmented a face-to-face counseiing service in a Student Affairs Department at a medium size university. The participants were 729 first year students who were part of a voiuntary seif-select peer support program, (34% male, 66% femaie). Data were gathered on the numbers and gender of students utilizing the online chat service, the range of presenting concerns and the type of responses provided by the counseior. Key findings indicate that this oniine support service presented a iower barrier to heip seeking behavior for maie students, compared to the totai gender distribution of the university and more specificaily, compared to the gender distribution of student who had utiiized the face-to-face counseiing during the same year. Issues presented to the online support service were simiiar to the presenting concerns listed at the face-to-face counseiing service of the university.
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| Document Title: | Online support service via mobile technology- a pilot study at a higher education institution in South Africa |
| Journal: | Journal of Psychology in Africa |
| Volume: | 21 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| No. of Pages: | 635-642 |
| Document Type: | Journal Article (Peer Reviewed) |
| Subject Area: | Teaching and Learning |
| Country: | South Africa |
| Keywords: | ICT (Information & Communication Technology), Information Age, Higher Education Institutions HEI s, Student Affairs, Student Development, Student Support services |
| File Size: | 5.99 MB |
| Date Added: | 28 August 2012 |