ABSTRACT

The introduction of digital learning systems in higher education all over the world has transformed the scope of teaching and learning significantly. The current study examined the relationships between historically prominent teacher communicative behaviors – clarity and immediacy – and student communication satisfaction in technology-mediated learning in Russia. We analyzed the information technology elements and visual cues contributing to teacher clarity and immediacy in technology-mediated communication and, consequently, leading to student communication satisfaction. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 43 students who studied in Microsoft Teams classrooms between October 2020 and February 2021. The interview questions included asking for an opinion on student communication satisfaction as well as teacher clarity and immediacy. The respondents also described the IT elements and visual cues which they considered the most effective in online education. A qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data collected through the interviews. The results showed that the level of student communication satisfaction varied significantly depending on the level of perceived teacher clarity and immediacy. A slight preference for more immediacy in technology-mediated communication was demonstrated by respondents. Furthermore, it was found that such IT elements and visual cues as presentations, screen sharing, web-based media, and documents uploaded onto a web platform intensified teacher clarity, whereas communication in online classes with web cameras on made the educational process more immediate. The combination of visual cues was especially appreciated. Learning implications for the connections between teacher clarity and immediacy and student communication satisfaction are discussed.

摘要

世界各地高等教育中数字学习系统的引入极大地改变了教学和学习的范围。当前的研究调查了俄罗斯历史上著名的教师交流行为——清晰和直接——与学生交流满意度之间的关系。我们分析了有助于教师在以技术为中介的交流中清晰和即时的信息技术元素和视觉线索，从而提高学生的交流满意度。我们对 2020 年 10 月至 2021 年 2 月期间在 Microsoft Teams 教室学习的 43 名学生进行了半结构化面试。面试问题包括就学生沟通满意度以及教师的清晰度和即时性征求意见。受访者还描述了他们认为在在线教育中最有效的 IT 元素和视觉提示。使用定性内容分析来分析通过访谈收集的数据。结果表明，学生沟通满意度的水平因感知教师的清晰性和即时性水平而异。受访者表现出对以技术为中介的交流更直接的偏好。此外，还发现诸如演示、屏幕共享、基于网络的媒体和上传到网络平台的文档等 IT 元素和视觉提示增强了教师的清晰度，而在网络课程中使用网络摄像头进行交流使教育过程更加直接。视觉提示的组合尤其受到赞赏。