Teacher Facilitated WhatsApp Community of Inquiry Effects on Student Participation and Perceived Learning in Informal Settlement Schools

Abstract Mobile instant messaging applications like WhatsApp are widely used by youth in resource-scarce environments, but rigorous evidence in informal settlement schools is limited. This study examined whether a teacher-facilitated, WhatsApp-adapted Community of Inquiry framework could improve out-of-school engagement and perceived learning in internally displaced persons’ settlement schools in Mogadishu, Somalia, where classes are overcrowded and formal support outside school is minimal. Using a quasi-experimental design, two schools were assigned to either an intervention group (WhatsApp Community of Inquiry plus regular instruction) or a control group (regular instruction only) for eight weeks in foundational arithmetic. Of 400 students recruited, 370 completed the study. The intervention met feasibility thresholds, including high response rates and task completion. Perceived learning outcomes were significantly higher in the intervention group. Response rate strongly predicted cognitive presence, whereas message frequency did not. Teacher workload exceeding four hours per week reduced effects. Overall feasibility was high, indicating that structured prompts, voice notes, visual cues, timely replies, and weekly summaries can adapt the Community of Inquiry framework to WhatsApp, offering a scalable, low-cost mechanism to narrow the out-of-school learning gap in Somali internally displaced persons’ settlements.