Todays' digital natives: an exploratory study on students' engagement and satisfaction towards virtual classes amid COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to study the perception of school students towards online classes via virtual meeting applications and to unravel the teachers' preparedness and students' preparedness for running synchronous online classes and its impact on student's engagement and their satisfaction during the period of lockdown due to COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of focused group discussions with teachers and students of top 10 private CBSE affiliated schools (National capital Region, Delhi, India), survey instrument was constructed. Further, 489 valid responses were finally analysed through partial least square (PLS) method and structural model was tested.FindingsAll the six independent variables such as teachers' structured approach, teachers' technical readiness, teachers' self-efficacy, students' technical readiness, students' autonomy and students' self-efficacy influenced students' engagement and satisfaction towards synchronous online classes significantly. The result of the structural model also reveals that students' engagement is a significant predictor of students' satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper outlines the scope for future research in ascertaining more critical success factors other than satisfaction and engagement. Scope of this research suggests inclusion of not only schools but framework is also important for college and university level educational bodies. Data collection was confined to students only whereas viewpoint of teachers and parents may also be included.Originality/valueThis study devised a collaborative form of learning where both the parties learnt while making continuous interactions and also co-created value in terms of new skills. Provision of autonomy given to students can't be overlooked as an important indicator for his/her preparedness. As a result, students feel motivated to get engaged in the whole process which makes them satisfied and will be able to identify the learning outcomes equal to or greater than in physical classroom settings.

Factors Influencing Adolescent Efl Learners’ Engagement in Online Classes: Insights From Learners’ Perspectives

“…Also, among the four sub-factors housed under this category, the quality of internet connection and accessibility to technical devices was considered to be the most influential determinant. These findings are in alignment with the previously reviewed studies (e.g., Khlaif et al, 2021;Maini et al, 2021;Werang & Leba, 2022). These studies consistently stated that learners' lack of access to personal computers, smartphones, and the Internet hindered them from actively participating and engaging in online classes.…”

“…A volume of previously conducted studies has brought into light a collection of factors that might influence engagement in online classes. Among these, key factors include teachers' and learners' characteristics (Gedera et al, 2015;Deka, 2021;Maini et al, 2021), course design and content (Sari, 2020;Deka;Esra & Sevilen, 2021), learning environment and technology infrastructure (Lazareva, 2017;Carroll et al, 2021;Khlaif et al, 2021).…”

“…The second section investigating factors influencing learners' engagement in synchronous online classes comprises five clusters with 25 items (items 21-45), presented in Table 2. These clusters were adapted from key studies reviewed in the literature including Carroll et al (2021), Deka (2021), Esra and Sevilen (2021), Khlaif et al (2021), Maini et al (2021), Kurt et al (2022), andWerang andLeba (2022). The individual factor items corresponding to prior studies are also illustrated in the table below.…”

Variables Influencing Professors’ Adaptation to Digital Learning Environments during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The digital competence of university professors has been shown to be key to generating sound learning and adequate academic performance in students [ 75 , 76 ]. Therefore, it is interesting to use instruments that assess the self-perception of this digital competence, such as, for example, the one used in this study, in order to analyze the influence of pandemic stress on the self-concept of professors’ digital competence [ 77 ].…”

Remote Learning in Higher Education: Evidence from Poland

“…In the group in question, it is also important to point out technical problems [ 52 ] that prevent active participation in activities. As a result of a significant reduction in social interaction [ 53 ], students may have a sense of isolation, which is further influenced by a change in the typical classroom environment [ 54 ]. Deprivation of contact with peers thus results in a loss of social ties.…”