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Investigating and Comparing Communication Media Used in Higher Education
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A variety of communication technologies are used in higher education classrooms, however, limited research has been conducted comparing the relative educational impact of these media. This paper explores four types of communication media: email, instant messaging, text messaging, and video chat. Comfort level, frequency of use, usefulness, reasons for using these media, and differences between peer-to-peer and peer-to-instructor interactions were examined. Over 90% of students were comfortable with email, instant messaging, and text messaging compared to a 50% comfort level using video chat. Email, instant messaging, and text messaging were used frequently and significantly more with peers compared to the instructor. Video chat was used infrequently with both peers and the instructor. Email was perceived as significantly more useful when used with the instructor vs. peers, while instant messaging was rated as significantly more useful when communicating with peers vs. the instructor. Text messaging was viewed as equally useful with peers and the instructor. Video chat was ranked as the least useful communication media with both peers and the instructor. Student comments described unique benefits and challenges for each type of communication medium.
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... However, in the past decade, live chat has become popular within university library services (see Matteson et al., 2011), and courses have adopted other, similar technology for support such as instant messaging and social media. Several studies have looked at instant messaging services within a higher education context such as chat rooms (Mtshali et al., 2015), Twitter (Hitchcock & Young, 2016;Luo et al., 2017), Facebook (Amador & Amador, 2017;Vivian, 2011), text messaging (Kay & Lauricella, 2015;Lauricella & Kay, 2013), video chat (Kay & Lauricella, 2015), and WhatsApp (Klein et al., 2018;Pimmer et al., 2018;Raiman et al., 2017;Robles et al., 2019;So, 2016). These studies found that instant messaging increases the number of student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions (Klein et al. 2018;Mtshali et al., 2015), enhances sense of connection (Klien et al. 2016;McInnerney & Roberts, 2004), provides high levels of student satisfaction (e.g. ...
... However, in the past decade, live chat has become popular within university library services (see Matteson et al., 2011), and courses have adopted other, similar technology for support such as instant messaging and social media. Several studies have looked at instant messaging services within a higher education context such as chat rooms (Mtshali et al., 2015), Twitter (Hitchcock & Young, 2016;Luo et al., 2017), Facebook (Amador & Amador, 2017;Vivian, 2011), text messaging (Kay & Lauricella, 2015;Lauricella & Kay, 2013), video chat (Kay & Lauricella, 2015), and WhatsApp (Klein et al., 2018;Pimmer et al., 2018;Raiman et al., 2017;Robles et al., 2019;So, 2016). These studies found that instant messaging increases the number of student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions (Klein et al. 2018;Mtshali et al., 2015), enhances sense of connection (Klien et al. 2016;McInnerney & Roberts, 2004), provides high levels of student satisfaction (e.g. ...
Help-seeking is an essential self-regulatory and metacognitive skill. In the online learning environment, much of the learning is self-directed and there are generally less opportunities to receive help in real time. The uses of email and discussion boards are the most common method of seeking help in these environments. The current study explored students’ perceptions of the use of live chat technology for online academic help-seeking within higher education, with a focus on comparing online and blended learners’ perspectives. Participants were 246 students who were studying psychology online (n = 91) or in blended learning (n = 155) environments. The live chat technology was well received by both groups, especially for its ability to provide instant, real-time, and convenient help. Live chat was particularly well received by online learners, who were more satisfied, felt more cared about by the teaching team, and would be more likely to recommend it to others than blended learners. Further, online learners reported that live chat gave them better access to staff, and felt that this feature was a good approximation for more traditional face-to-face conversations. As an online, synchronous, private help-seeking tool between student and teacher, these findings provide a strong endorsement for the use of live chat in higher education, particularly for online learners.
... Traditionally, conversational virtual agents (such as chatbots) were used for a wide range of purposes: intelligent tutoring, Q and A, acting as learning companions (Kerry et al., 2008). The adoption of chatbot technology within HE has been associated with several benefits including; improving student motivation (Fryer and Carpenter, 2006), improving student attention (Song et al., 2017), encouraging collaborative learning (Bii, 2013), promoting communication with peers (Kowalski et al., 2011), increasing student's sense Complimentary Copy of ease (Gulz, 2004), reminding students of class timetables and assessment deadlines (Larsson, 2019), providing support for students 24/7 (Gonda et al., 2018;Andriotis, 2017), facilitating interactivity and sociability (AbuShawar and Atwell, 2015), helping students to transition to their first year at university (Carayannopoulos, 2017), and creating learning communities (Lauricella and Kay, 2013). ...
The future of education is tied to the future of online learning. Yet, despite constantly increasing demand for online education, online settings still lag in terms of student satisfaction or feelings of connectedness. Face-to-face learning in universities tends to be conducted with a focus on the agency of the instructor with the goal of getting through content. In online settings the efficacy of this instructor agency may diminish given how virtual online spaces are constructed. Attempts to focus on the instructor online may be fraught with low engagement or passivity from students. In this chapter, we envision a more fluid, flipped approach to teaching and learning designed for online environments, with a stronger emphasis on student participation and agency and the co-creation of knowledge. Flipped learning as a pedagogical approach has grown in university settings in recent years, and may be apt for engagement in online, synchronous learning environments. We discuss what a flipped online learning environment might look like, sharing a practice example, and use social constructivism and a dialogic approach to education to theorise the use of a flipped approach in university learning.
... On the other hand, some students resented when SMS or IM were used to communicate with faculty because they considered their mobile phones a personal technology and disliked faculty entering into their personal space (Lauricella and Kay, 2013). Students also noted the frustration and limitation of not being able to reach the professor if he was not online and that sometimes they simply did not want to appear visible to their instructor (Kay and Lauricella, 2015). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how chatbots can be used to address two key struggles that students face in first year – a sense of being disconnected from the instructor, and information overload. The authors propose that chatbots can be a useful tool for helping students navigate the volumes of information that confront them as they begin attending university, while at the same time feeling somewhat personally connected with the instructor. This is achieved without increasing instructor time commitment, and perhaps reducing it in large classes. The paper reveals the results of applying this tool in a large first year class and proposes improvements for future iterations.
Design/methodology/approach
A tool was designed and implemented and tested against research insights.
Findings
Chatbots are an effective means to reduce student transition challenges.
Research limitations/implications
Technology which feels social and personal as well as functioning on a tool that students use will make the student feel more connected to the course and the instructor.
Practical implications
Tools aiding transition should be easy to use and allow customizable information access.
Originality/value
Chatbots are an unexplored tool. They have the benefit of addressing information overload as well as making the student feel socially connected without increasing instructor workload.
... Tatiana said that the use of video was applied in focusing various events, gossiping, finishing homework, connecting with others, playing games, and making communication to several people (multi-connection) although it was also used for fun and sexual activity [3]. Video chat can be used for communicating simultaneously in video and audio mode and used for accessing internet via computer networks, mobile tablet or mobile gadget[4]. Video chat is a new technology bridging the human social interaction through media interaction screen. Video chat has lively interaction feature though only has two dimensions, and offers social interaction though face to face interaction is confined by the screen [5]. ...
The internet users and internet speed has increased significantly in Indonesia. Based on Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association data, the growth of internet users has increased by 34.9% in 2014 (88,1 million) and the internet speeds up to 100 MBps via fiber optics were provided by the multiple telecommunications service providers. These improvements stimulate the eLearning providers to optimize its features, especially in user interaction. Video chat and video streaming are the alternatives to accommodate the needs of the interaction between educator and students in the eLearning. Video chat could be used as two-way communication between educator and students, but video streaming is used to broadcast the video footage from educators to students. This paper will analyze the comparison between video chat and video streaming utilization in the eLearning. The benefits and difficulties both in the technical aspects and students' perspectives will be discussed in this paper. As the result, the eLearning providers could adapt the technology based on the ability of their institution.
... Tatiana said that the use of video was applied in focusing various events, gossiping, finishing homework, connecting with others, playing games, and making communication to several people (multi-connection) although it was also used for fun and sexual activity [3]. Video chat can be used for communicating simultaneously in video and audio mode and used for accessing internet via computer networks, mobile tablet or mobile gadget [4]. ...
The internet users and internet speed has increased significantly in Indonesia. Based on Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association data, the growth of internet users has increased by 34.9% in 2014 (88,1 million) and the internet speeds up to 100 MBps via fiber optics were provided by the multiple telecommunications service providers. These improvements stimulate the eLearning providers to optimize its features, especially in user interaction. Video chat and video streaming are the alternatives to accommodate the needs of the interaction between educator and students in the eLearning. Video chat could be used as two-way communication between educator and students, but video streaming is used to broadcast the video footage from educators to students. This paper will analyze the comparison between video chat and video streaming utilization in the eLearning. The benefits and difficulties both in the technical aspects and students' perspectives will be discussed in this paper. As the result, the eLearning providers could adapt the technology based on the ability of their institution.
For the 2014 student techology use study, ECAR collaborated with 213 institutions to collect responses from 75,306 undergraduate students about their technology experiences.
Key Findings
Selected findings are below. See the report for a comprehensive list.
Technology is embedded into students’ lives, and students are generally inclined to use and to have favorable attitudes toward technology. However, technology has only a moderate influence on students’ active involvement in particular courses or as a connector with other students and faculty.
Students’ academic use of technology is widespread but not deep. They are particularly interested in expanding the use of a few specific technologies.
Many students use mobile devices for academic purposes. Their in-class use is more likely when instructors encourage such use; however, both faculty and students are concerned about their potential for distraction.
More students than ever have experienced a digital learning environment. The majority say they learn best with a blend of online and face-to-face work.
Most students support institutional use of their data to advise them on academic progress in courses and programs. Many of the analytic functions students seek already exist in contemporary LMSs.
Generation is often used to explain and rationalize the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education. However, a comprehensive review of the research and popular literature on the topic and an empirical study at one postsecondary institution in Canada suggest there are no meaningful generational differences in how learners say they use ICTs or their perceived behavioural characteristics. The study also concluded that the post-secondary students at the institution in question use a limited set of ICTs and their use is driven by three key issues: familiarity, cost, and immediacy. The findings are based on focus group interviews with 69 students and survey responses from a random sample of 438 second year students in 14 different programs in five schools in the institution. The results of this investigation add to a growing body of research that questions the popular view that generation can be used to explain the use of ICTs in higher education.
The spread of mobile communication, most obtrusively as cell phones but increasingly in other wireless devices, is affecting people's lives and relationships to a previously unthought-of extent. Mobile phones, which are fast becoming ubiquitous, affect either directly or indirectly every aspect of our personal and professional lives. They have transformed social practices and changed the way we do business, yet surprisingly little serious academic work has been done on them. This 2002 book, with contributions from the foremost researchers in the field, studies the impact of the mobile phone on contemporary society from a social scientific perspective. Providing a comprehensive overview of mobile phones and social interaction, it comprises an introduction covering the key issues, a series of unique national studies and a final section examining specific issues.
This article explores patterns of student discourse on an electronic mailing list in an undergraduate teacher education instructional technology course. All postings from distant, studio, and lab sections were placed in one of 18 categories derived from the postings’ content and then discussed in terms of distribution among the three groups. The postings are examined in terms of levels of cognitive engagement and the patterns among the levels, groups, and categories. Finally, the postings are discussed in terms of William Perry’s (1970) Model of Intellectual and Ethical Development. The article concludes with suggestions for ways instructors might use electronic mailing lists and discussion boards more effectively.
Four hundred five college students completed a questionnaire that assessed patterns of Internet use. Results describe college students, with rare exception, as Internet users. The vast majority of college students frequently communicate online and access websites. While an Internet game experience is typical, relatively few college students are heavy online gamers. Overwhelmingly (i.e., 77.8%), college students conceptualized the Internet as a convenience, although 17.8% considered the Internet a source of amusement. Approximately 5% of college students reported negative perceptions of the Internet (frustrating or a waste of time). Principal component analysis revealed three patterns of online behaviour; integrated-Internet-use, games-only use, and dating-only use. Implications for online instructional practice are presented.
Résumé : Quatre cent cinq étudiants du niveau collégial ont répondu à un questionnaire mesurant leurs tendances de l’utilisation d’Internet. Les résultats présentent ces étudiants comme des usagers d’Internet, à quelques exceptions près. La grande majorité de ces étudiants utilisent fréquemment les outils de communication en ligne et naviguent sur Internet. Alors qu’une expérience de jeu en ligne s’avère commune, peu d’étudiants du collège s’avèrent être des joueurs en ligne excessifs. Essentiellement (c.à-d. 77,8 %), ces étudiants perçoivent Internet comme une commodité, même si 17,8 % d’entre eux le considère comme une source d’amusement. Environ 5 % ont indiqué des perceptions négatives d’Internet (frustrations ou pertes de temps). L’analyse en composantes principales a révélé 3 tendances de comportements en ligne, l’utilisation intégrée d’Internet, l’utilisation seule de jeux et l’utilisation à des fins de rencontre seulement. On présente des conséquences pour la pratique de l’enseignement en ligne.
The authors examine the use of technology to support students in their learning of practical accounting software applications while taking a traditional on-campus class. Specifically, they look at how Jing and Skype are used to facilitate successful completion of a series of simulations using Netsuite (NetSuite, Inc., San Mateo, CA) accounting software. The authors find that students using the technology support tools experienced higher levels of perceived satisfaction than those who did not, while earning equivalent grades. They conclude that virtual instructor support is equally as effective as in-person support, allowing both the instructor and student more flexibility in how their time is spent.