Students' perceptions of video-conferencing in the classrooms in higher education

Abstract

Videoconferencing technology is now considered as an advantageous way to connect with people anywhere in the world. Literature has indicated that it improves learning by meeting people that were previously inaccessible due to several problems such as time and financial constraints (Dogget, 2008; Jian-Xiang, 1998; Martin, 2005). Despite its benefits, its success depends on various factors like tutors, students, and their attitudes to educational technology. This study aims to find out students' perceptions of video-conferencing in higher education. Within the framework of this study, the second and third year students from English Language Teaching Department at Yildiz Technical University attended a videoconferencing class delivered by a native speaker of English related to their field for about thirty minutes. Adapted from Ashley's study (2010), pre-session and post-session surveys which included both short-answer and likert-scale type of questions were used. The results indicated that students tend to have a negative attitude towards both using video-conferencing in the class themselves and having videoconferencing in their classes at the university. The study is of vital importance as it can reveal how prospective English teachers will deal with technology in their own classes in the future. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.