Analysing Students’ Reasons for Keeping Their Webcams on or off during Online Classes
02 Mar 2021-Sustainability (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)-Vol. 13, Iss: 6, pp 3203
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results obtained by applying an online questionnaire between December 2020 and January 2021 among the students pursuing an academic degree, recording 407 responses, highlighting the fact that more than half of the students participating in the study reported that they do not agree to keep their webcams on during online classes, the main reasons being anxiety/fear of being exposed/shame/shyness, desire to ensure privacy of the home/personal space, and chances that other people might walk into the background.
Abstract: Since, in some higher education institutions, it is not mandatory for students to turn their webcams on during online classes, teachers have complained that their students have adopted this behaviour once the educational activities moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering this, the present research aimed to identify the reasons behind students’ choice to hide their faces during online classes and find possible solutions to remedy the situation to enhance the educational process’s sustainability. Thus, this article presents the results obtained by applying an online questionnaire between December 2020 and January 2021 among the students pursuing an academic degree, recording 407 responses. The results highlighted the fact that more than half of the students participating in the study reported that they do not agree to keep their webcams on during online classes, the main reasons being anxiety/fear of being exposed/shame/shyness, desire to ensure privacy of the home/personal space, and chances that other people might walk into the background. The relevance of the research, besides the scarcity of studies on the topic, is also given by the fact that finding and understanding the reasons for this behaviour are, in fact, the first steps in undertaking regulatory interventions on it.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the beneficiaries of the educational process and aim to find out their perceptions of face-to-face and e-learning and their desire to return, or not, to the traditional form of education.
Abstract: Educational life worldwide has been shaken by the closure of schools due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The ripple effects have been felt in the way both teachers and students have adapted to the constraints imposed by the new online form of education. The present study focuses exclusively on the beneficiaries of the educational process and aims to find out their perceptions of face-to-face and e-learning and their desire to return, or not, to the traditional form of education. These perceptions are represented by 604 students of the Politehnica University of Timisoara, who were asked to respond anonymously to an 8-question questionnaire between December 2020 and February 2021. The results show the respondents’ levels of desire to return to school (especially of those who have only benefited from e-learning) and their degree of involvement during online classes. The results also specify the advantages and disadvantages of the two forms of education from a double perspective, namely that of first-year students (beneficiaries of e-learning exclusively), and of upper-year students (beneficiaries of both face-to-face and e-learning). The study points out key information about e-learning from the students’ perspectives, which should be considered to understand the ongoing changes of the educational process and to solve its specific problems, thus ensuring its sustainability.
117 citations
Cites background or result from "Analysing Students’ Reasons for Kee..."
...Another study also conducted with the students of the Politehnica University of Timisoara [11] presented the reasons why they do not want to turn on their cameras, namely anxiety, shyness, fear of exposure, and the privacy of the room in which they are....
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...This method was adopted due to the limitations of the face-to-face meetings imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and because, in the case of the present research, the online survey variant was considered appropriate, as almost all the students of the Politehnica University of Timisoara, that is, the surveyed population, had access to the Internet and a mobile phone to fill in the questionnaire....
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...It carries out sociological research on a sample of students from the Politehnica University of Timisoara, an institution that has been, since 1998, a department dedicated to distance learning based on Moodle, the so-called “Virtual Campus”....
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...It has mainly discussed only the perspectives of the students from the Politehnica University of Timisoara....
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...Another study also conducted with the students of the Politehnica University of Timisoara [11] presented...
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TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigated online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and explored the possibility that procrastinators have been impacted differently as compared to others, finding that the procrastinator is encountering a higher degree of challenges related to motivation as opposed to non-procrastinators.
27 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors tried to analyze the implication of one year of online education in the Romanian education system, by analyzing all the levels of education, primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education and even the early childhood system, but also one of the smallest Romanian universities.
Abstract: The study tried to analyze the implication of one year of online education in the Romanian education system. To achieve this goal, the authors of this study analyzed all the levels of education, primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education, and even the early childhood system, but also one of the smallest Romanian universities, considered representative for grade 1 universities representing 60% of the Romanian universities. The study is based on four online questionnaires for investigation, first with more than 2500 respondents from the primary and secondary Romanian education system, and the other three applied to more than 800 students and professors from the University of Petroșani. The investigation took place during 29 January 2021 and 11 February 2021. The authors had investigated the main feature of a standard online or a classical e-learning solution, such as the meeting solution or the video conference software, the collaborative work, such as homework or projects, and the testing method or the quizzes from both perspectives of the students and of the professors. The study results could influence the expected future hybrid educational system because these results were not covered in the previous literature but proved to be necessary for relevant knowledge strategies to be implemented in the new pandemic and also in the future context.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors focus on identifying the students' preferred aspects of online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely learning, teaching, assessment and interaction with peers and teachers, in order to improve face-to-face education by contextually adapting it to their needs.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has left a mark on education as it had been known before. Beyond his, attention needs to be paid to the transition back to face-to-face learning and its implications. Within this context of change, the present research focuses on identifying the students’ preferred aspects of online education during the pandemic, namely learning, teaching, assessment, and interaction with peers and teachers, in order to improve face-to-face education by contextually adapting it to their needs. A survey was used on a representative sample of students from Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania, who were required to indicate their preferred form of education and the most beneficial one for their professional development. The results indicate the targeted students’ several preferences, such as teachers’ support with electronic educational resources, the use of online educational platforms to access resources and take tests, the easier and individualized communication with teachers, as well as peer connectivity in common projects. These findings identify practical suggestions that lead to a balance between face-to-face and digital education, probably under the form of blended learning, which could be considered by the main stakeholders in order to have a future sustainable education.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigated higher education students' (non)use of webcams and engagement in synchronous online courses and found that visual and verbal engagement were only slightly related to each other.
Abstract: Abstract Given that video conferencing serves as a crucial means for remote teaching, the current study investigated higher education students’ (non)use of webcams and engagement in synchronous online courses. Three phases were studied: (1) A state of engagement; (2) antecedents that influence it; and (3) consequences of engagement. The cross-sectional online survey encompassed 3,610 students. Results indicated that visual and verbal engagement were only slightly related to each other. Structural equation modelling revealed different direct and indirect influences on either visual or verbal engagement in synchronous online higher education courses. Due to the novelty of the research scope, results of this study provide a foundation for further investigation.
12 citations
References
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01 Apr 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of Peking University's online education is presented to summarize current online teaching experiences for university instructors who might conduct online education in similar circumstances, concluding with five high impact principles for online education: (a) high relevance between online instructional design and student learning, effective delivery on online instructional information, adequate support provided by faculty and teaching assistants to students; (b) high-quality participation to improve the breadth and depth of student's learning, and (e) contingency plan to deal with unexpected incidents of online education platforms.
Abstract: Starting from the spring of 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 caused Chinese universities to close the campuses and forced them to initiate online teaching. This paper focuses on a case of Peking University's online education. Six specific instructional strategies are presented to summarize current online teaching experiences for university instructors who might conduct online education in similar circumstances. The study concludes with five high-impact principles for online education: (a) high relevance between online instructional design and student learning, (b) effective delivery on online instructional information, (c) adequate support provided by faculty and teaching assistants to students; (d) high-quality participation to improve the breadth and depth of student's learning, and (e) contingency plan to deal with unexpected incidents of online education platforms.
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01 Jan 2020
TL;DR: In this article, a study of online teaching learning modes adopted by the Mizoram University for the teaching-learning process and subsequent semester examinations is presented, where the authors employ both quantitative and qualitative approach to study the perceptions of teachers and students on online teachinglearning modes and also highlighted the implementation process of online learning modes.
Abstract: The whole educational system from elementary to tertiary level has been collapsed during the lockdown period of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) not only in India but across the globe. This study is a portrayal of online teaching-learning modes adopted by the Mizoram University for the teaching-learning process and subsequent semester examinations. It looks forward to an intellectually enriched opportunity for further future academic decision-making during any adversity. The intended purpose of this paper seeks to address the required essentialities of online teaching-learning in education amid the COVID-19 pandemic and how can existing resources of educational institutions effectively transform formal education into online education with the help of virtual classes and other pivotal online tools in this continually shifting educational landscape. The paper employs both quantitative and qualitative approach to study the perceptions of teachers and students on online teaching-learning modes and also highlighted the implementation process of online teaching-learning modes. The value of this paper is to draw a holistic picture of ongoing online teaching-learning activities during the lockdown period including establishing the linkage between change management process and online teaching-learning process in education system amid the COVID-19 outbreak so as to overcome the persisting academic disturbance and consequently ensure the resumption of educational activities and discourses as a normal course of procedure in the education system.
1,002 citations
Abstract: At the end of the day, the lesson learnt was so simple... With online and offline connections, the world is a global village (McLuhan, 1962) and a butterfly flapping its wings in Asia can cause a hurricane all around the world (Lorenz, 1972). Currently, it seems that the global education system is in the middle of this hurricane. These times, where we are all witnessing developments warily, are certainly interesting and strange, but the hope is that lessons will have been learned once things hopefully return to normal. Though there were early warnings to be prepared (White, Ramirez, Smith, & Plonowski, 2010) and already ongoing interruptions to education (Briggs, 2018; GCPEA, 2018), this is the first crisis to occur on the global scale in the digital knowledge age, and there will be socio-cultural, economic, and political consequences in the wake of this crisis. In other words, the educational landscape will feel the rush of air from the butterfly’s flapping wings to the full extent.
607 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an online survey based on a semi-structured questionnaire was conducted to identify the way in which Romanian universities managed to provide knowledge during the Coronavirus pandemic when, in a very short time, universities had to adapt the educational process for exclusively online teaching and learning.
Abstract: The research focuses on identifying the way in which Romanian universities managed to provide knowledge during the Coronavirus pandemic, when, in a very short time, universities had to adapt the educational process for exclusively online teaching and learning. In this regard, we analyzed students’ perception regarding online learning, their capacity to assimilate information, and the use of E-learning platforms. An online survey based on a semi-structured questionnaire was conducted. Data was collected from 762 students from two of the largest Romanian universities. The results of the research revealed that higher education institutions in Romania were not prepared for exclusively online learning. Thus, the advantages of online learning identified in other studies seem to diminish in value, while disadvantages become more prominent. The hierarchy of problems that arise in online learning changes in the context of the crisis caused by the pandemic. Technical issues are the most important, followed by teachers’ lack of technical skills and their teaching style improperly adapted to the online environment. However, the last place was assigned by students to the lack of interaction with teachers or poor communication with them. Based on these findings, research implications for universities and researchers are discussed.
556 citations
TL;DR: The School Barometer, a fast survey that was conducted in Germany, Austria and Switzerland during the early weeks of the school lockdown to assess and evaluate the current school situation caused by COVID-19, is presented and discussed.
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268 citations