Assessment of the use of Synchronous Virtual Classroom in university students

Author(s):

Sixto Cubo Delgado(presenting / submitting)Rocío Yuste Tosina(presenting)Juan Arias Masa Laura Alonso Díaz Prudencia Gutiérrez Esteban Antonio Manuel Diogo dos Reis

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

16. ICT in Education and Training

Format:

Paper

Session Information

16 SES 10 A, Virtual Classrooms

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-12

15:30-17:00

Room:

DCONF - Conference Hall

Chair:

Karl Steffens

Contribution

The synchronous virtual classrooms (AVS) are teaching and learning spaces that use information technology and communication to share in real time video and audio, documents, chats, whiteboards, desktop application sharing, etc., to develop a formative experience. As occurs in the classroom teaching, make possible a direct visual contact in the classroom, but without a physical presence in the same space of teachers and students.

In the study presented here, integrate in a institutional research project called "Didactic-pedagogical, methodological and technological modeling implementation of virtual classrooms at Extremadura University", we describe the results of the evaluation of the implementation of AVS in a pilot sample at University of Extremadura. Developed a questionnaire to assess these new aspects of teaching and learning environments, specifically the methodological aspects of the teaching, the communication and the technology of AVS.

The theoretical and empirical foundation is related to studies of learning management platforms (Management System Platform), of Russell (2009), Winter et al. (2010), Shivetts (2011), Hung (2012); the studies about the Personal Learning Environments (PLE) of Johnson & Liber (2008) and Dabbagh & Kitsantas (2012); also the studies on interaction in virtual spaces of Alonso and Blázquez (2009).

Method

Methodologically the study was conducted from an empirical perspective, quantitative and descriptive. This methodological approach is justified by the guarantees offered in relation with the internal and external validity of the research. The sample is formed by 116 students associated with six degrees of three Faculties of the University of Extremadura. As data collection instrument used a questionnaire based on a Likert scale composed of four dimensions and 56 items. The scientific guarantees in the questionnaire are related to two procedures: 1. The content validity through the expert consultation. Two aspects of the questionnaire were evaluated: the structure and the content of each one of the dimensions. The whole procedure was developed with Google Drive technologies. 2. The reliability analysis through Cronbach's alpha.

Expected Outcomes

It aims to assess the opinion, satisfaction and technological and educational viability of synchronous virtual classrooms in higher education. Results will be presented to assess the four dimensions analyzed the questionnaire: - Demographic aspects. - Teachers and methodological aspects. - Aspects of communication. - Technical aspects. Analyzes to obtain descriptive and inferential results will be to determine the differences and relationships between different variables. For inferential analysis will be necessary controls to determine whether to apply parametric or non-parametric tests.

References

Alonso, L. y Blázquez, F. (2009a). Are the functions of teachers in e-learning and face-to-face learning environments really different? Educational Technology & Society, 12(4), 331-343. Blanchette, J. (2012). Participant Interaction in Asynchronous Learning Environments: Evaluating Interaction Analysis Methods. Linguistics and Education: An International Research Journal, 23(1), 77-87. Cubo, S., Gutiérrez, P., Alonso, L., Reis, A., Arias, J., Yuste, R. (2010). Methodologies and Technologies in the use of Virtual Classrooms in Higher Education. Comunicación presentada a ECER 2011, The European Conferece on Educational Research, Helsinki. Dabbagh, N. & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. Internet & Higher Education, 15(1), 3-8. Granda Candás, J. C. (2008). Caracterización, evaluación y optimización de sistemas multimedia interactivos en entornos de e-learning síncrono. Tesis doctoral. Universidad de Oviedo. Departamento de Informática. Hung, J. L. (2012). Trends of E-Learning Research from 2000 to 2008: Use of Text Mining and Bibliometrics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(1), 5-16. Lin, W.S. & Wang, C.H. (2012). Antecedences to Continued Intentions of Adopting E-Learning System in Blended Learning Instruction: A Contingency Framework Based on Models of Information System Success and Task-Technology Fit . Computers and Education, 58(1), 88-99. Sancho (2012). Technological affluence, educational precariousness: a look at the last 20 years. III European Conference on Information Technology in Education and Society: A Critical Insight, in Barcelona, Spain, in January 1-3, 2012 Winter, Jennie. Cotton, Debby. Gavin, Joan. Yorke, Jon D. (2010). Effective E-Learning? Multi-Tasking, Distractions and Boundary Management by Graduate Students in an Online Environment. Research in Learning Technology, 18(1), 71-83. Woodgate-Jones, A. (2012). The student teacher and the school community of practice: an exploration of the contribution of the legitimate peripheral participant. Educational Review, 64 (2),145-160.