The Use of Mobile Instant Messaging for Teaching and Learning: A Case of Malaysian Academics

The recent pandemic has brought about much changes in higher education institutions (HEIs) and intensified the use of new and emerging technologies in teaching and learning. Malaysian academics were not spared from this unprecedented crisis, especially in migrating their pedagogical methods from traditional classroom to virtual settings. As one of the important agents of change in HEIs, academics have been pressured to use and navigate mobile technologies for teaching. The mobility that mobile technologies afford cultivates instant gravitation towards responding to messages immediately, which also impacts academics’ personal lives. This chapter presents the perspectives of five Malaysian academics’ sentiments on the use of mobile technology for teaching during and beyond office hours. The chapter will conclude by discussing about the political and cultural influences that HEIs and academics can focus on to improve the experience of integrating and adapting to the use of mobile instant messaging for teaching and learning.