... These systems share common features, such as allowing learners to watch live, web-based videos hosted by the instructor or interacting with instructor and peers through text chat, audio, and video. A number of studies have examined the use of synchronous technologies in online education (i.e., supplementing face-to-face classrooms, delivering fully online courses, or providing online tutoring), and the results have been mostly positive: synchronous communication technologies help create strong learning communities, improve immediacy and intimacy as perceived by distant learners, and contribute to higher learning achievement (Alnabelsi, Al-Hussaini, & Owens, 2015;Chappell, Arnold, Nunnery, & Grant, 2015;Cornelius, 2014;Hrastinski, Stenbom, Benjaminsson, & Jansson, 2019;Kear, Chetwynd, Williams, & Donelan, 2012;Martin & Parker, 2014;Nagy & Bernschütz, 2016). The learning environments covered in these studies, however, are all comprised of small classes. ...