

However, some limitations about empirical education research on this issue remain poorly reported.īased on this, many studies indicate that social media, such as WhatsApp, can be used in education. Thus, the integration of WhatsApp in educational courses allows its users a variety of resources, and therefore teachers and students are encouraged to use the apps in education due to its positive qualities and resources that increase understanding. WhatsApp is the social media app most popular among dental students due to its facility of keeping in touch with friends or family. These apps in medical and dental education have proven to increase student participation, improve the feedback process, and improve communication between student and tutor. Regarding this issue, emerging technologies, including social media apps such as WhatsApp, are becoming more frequent in higher education, and this is also a reality for health sciences. Furthermore, its use has increased significantly since its launch in 2009, with more than 2 billion users nowadays. Among social networking apps for smartphones, WhatsApp has become the most accepted and conveniently used. Moreover, there is a rapid growth of these platforms, and the complexities are decreasing every day, resulting in more user-friendly apps. In this sense, social media, which are interactive platforms that allow the creation and exchange of content generated by users, are an alternative. Consequently, the teacher needs to make technologies a pedagogical work methodology. Then, technologies have been gaining space each day in the educational field due to their several advantages, besides the ease of access and acceptance of the new generation. In this process, these tools assume a relevant role, as they provide students with conditions to expand access to information, acquisition, and sharing of knowledge, promoting their autonomy, collaboration, participation, and interaction with the various learning spaces. To this aim, technologies emerge as unavoidable tools for managing and supporting teaching and learning processes. Therefore, it is essential to work on students’ interpretative autonomy to contribute to the formation of professionals capable of acting efficiently in the situations that arise in their daily work activities.

Moreover, teachers who use the traditional format limit their teaching methodologies to expository classes, annulling the possibilities of working on student autonomy to become the protagonists of the teaching–learning process. In this sense, the dialogue between teacher-student, which is the basis of the learning process, becomes impaired. This teaching model is based mainly on the transmission of knowledge from teachers to students. Although it has undergone numerous changes in recent years, traditional education still has several characteristics that do not match contemporary standards.
