Teacher-Student Communication with ICT

Introduction

The use of information and communication technologies in higher education institutions has grown significantly in recent years. With the use of online communication networks and the widespread use of smartphones, communication practices have significantly evolved.

The general objective of this study is to contribute to our understanding of how communication technologies are currently used in higher education institutions, with special attention given to the comparison between the students' and teachers' respective perceptions on their use of these technologies in communication with each other. This paper focuses on a case study carried out in one of the largest Portuguese universities, the University of Aveiro, in 2018, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we present the context and the research questions of the study and offer a review of the relevant literature. An analysis model designed with specific indicators is presented in Section 2, systematizing the main dimensions of our research and analysis. Here, we describe the materials and methods carried out, with a particular focus on the questionnaire used to collect data. Section 3 contains a detailed analysis of the results of descriptive statistics, as well as the results of the inference tests. In Section 4, we discuss the results, including answers to the research questions. The final section of this paper presents our conclusions and suggestions for future research directions.

Context and Research Questions

The use of information and communication technologies in higher education institutions has grown significantly in recent years and continues to be recognized as a technological and educational trend. In particular, the extensive use of online communication networks and mobile devices has contributed to changing students' academic paths, thus creating new communication opportunities in the relationship between students and teachers. Traditionally, communication between students and teachers took place almost exclusively in the classroom or other physical spaces, such as teachers' offices. However, the nature of this relationship seems to be changing, becoming broader, more varied, and physically more distant.

Higher education institutions have shown a real concern in connecting and communicating with their audiences, and for that reason, they have sought to implement and make available adequate communication technology infrastructure. This effort is of great importance for students whose success in the digital age depends, partly, on the availability and use of communication technologies in carrying out of the various activities in which they are involved.

The innovation and development of technology in higher education must meet the needs of the rapidly changing world. Communication technologies have expanded significantly, altering students' learning processes; they are now using mobile devices to become more efficient in their daily tasks, and with information now more available and accessible, they have become more autonomous.

In "Teach Thought We Grow Teachers", Sabo discusses examples of teachers who have adopted technologies in their classes and how technology is helping students and teachers interact. For Sabo, technology is changing education and providing greater accessibility for teachers. One teacher pointed out that, currently, teachers are available 24 h a day to interact with their students, unlike in the past, when communication occurred by scheduling meetings in the office or through improvised debates at the end of classes. This teacher stated that "a student can now send a text, email, or social media message via Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr at any time".

The use of technology as a means of communication between students and teachers has now become common. However, there are some considerations that both parties need to take into account for their interaction to be efficient and effective. In particular, communication through email, social media, blog posts, or podcasts will only be successful if both students and teachers agree to use these platforms and are available to respond to the communication interactions to which they are involved.

Al-Adwan and Smedley indicate that the rapid change in the world highlights the impact of technology on all aspects of learning. Higher education institutions in developed countries recognize that these advances can offer enriching opportunities to integrate technological innovation in the learning environment. Although many universities worldwide have incorporated internet-based learning systems, successful implementation requires an understanding of the end-user acceptance system. In fact, learning to use technology has become a popular approach in higher education due to technological innovation and the continued growth of internet technologies.

It is equally important to bear in mind that teachers need to keep up with the development and the evolution that has taken place in society over time, especially in education. Their monitoring and adherence to the use of new communication technologies can lead to more effective and efficient communication with their students. It is therefore vital to understand what communication technologies are available to be used in the context of higher education institutions, how students and teachers use them to communicate with each other, and what their expectations are concerning the result of this use. In this context, the research questions of this study are as follows:

Research question 1: For what purposes and functions do students and teachers use communication technologies to communicate with each other?

Research question 2: What are the expectations of students and teachers when using communication technologies to communicate with each other?

Literature Review

The published literature on the use of information and communication technologies in the context of higher education institutions is quite extensive; some studies that refer to different aspects of this use are highlighted below. Some of these studies are about information and communication technologies and are not specifically focused on communication technologies.

In a study on the integration of information and communication technologies in the teaching process, Gebremedhin and Fenta investigated teachers' use of software, training tools and materials, preferences for professional development and information support. Factors that encouraged teachers' use of technology, the perception of self-efficacy and the impediments of teachers during the use of technology in the teaching and learning process were also considered. Seventy-two teachers were questioned, and the authors concluded that most were unable to use the hardware in the teaching–learning process due to the scarcity of resources. Regarding perceptions of the use of information and communication technologies, they concluded that teachers have a strong and positive perception of the use of information and communication technologies in the teaching–learning process, with a significant relationship between the perception of teachers and the integration of information and communication technologies in the learning context, as well as the factors that encouraged the use of information and communication technologies. Finally, the relationship between the perception that the use of information and communication technologies increases the quality of the courses they taught and productivity due to the use of information and communication technologies was also classified as significant, concluding, then, that the productivity of teachers is a function of the integration of information and communication technologies in the course they teach.

According to King et al., motivation is at the heart of learning, and few studies have been carried out from the perspective of teachers with good knowledge of information and communication technologies. In King's study, a total of 114 teachers that students considered to be excellent users of information and communication technologies in an educational context were interviewed. In addition, 337 university students were interviewed about their preferences, suggestions, and their opinions about teachers in relation to information and communication technologies. The main results showed that the majority approved of the use of information and communication technologies by teachers in an educational context, presenting some suggestions. When comparing the two perspectives, it was noticed that students preferred to use their own technology in the classroom, but that many teachers did not allow it; only the most exemplary teachers did.

Another study focused on the use that students and teachers make of different communication technologies, concluding that almost all teachers used a virtual institutional learning environment, having also used other communication technologies in their curricular units, with lower levels of use. Students also proved to be regular users of communication technologies in their curricular units. The authors also highlighted advantages, identified by the students, of the use of communication technologies, namely permanent access to information and educational resources; improvement in their learning; saving time; and improving the performance of its teachers. Regarding the perception of the use of communication technologies outside the context of curricular units, the authors mentioned that the most used mobile devices were mobile phones without internet access and android smartphones. Regarding social networks, the results indicated that more than 70% of students used social networks every day and 7% did not use them, while 29% of teachers used them every day and 23% never used them.

E-learning environments have also been the subject of several studies. In one of these studies, the authors highlighted problems regarding this type of environment, with a special focus on the perspective of teachers and the quality of learning outcomes. In this study, an e-learning system was evaluated by 3636 users from two higher education institutions in Croatia. The students revealed that most teachers did not provide the expected level of information skills related to the needs of the course content and that their motivation depended on the teacher's motivation and contribution to the e-learning class. The observations showed that more than 2/3 of the teachers did not update the material given in class and showed no interest in knowing whether the students are interested in the e-learning process.

Other studies also identified problems with e-learning platforms, such as the lack of direct interactivity between teachers and students and among students themselves. Based on this, a virtual classroom model structure via the Internet was proposed. The proposed model linked the advantages of the offline approach, such as a whiteboard, with the advantages of online systems. The model was based on four technologies, namely the flash media server architecture; the real-time messaging protocol; the connection of users; and shared objects. The results showed that students were able to communicate as if they were in a real classroom. Participants shared streaming audio, video, and other messages and interacted and navigated the learning environment using streaming media. The researchers concluded that their virtual classroom proposal was a pleasant place for the academic community to come together, generating a more complete and attractive e-learning system.

The use of social networks in educational contexts has also been studied. One investigation studied the effectiveness of using a Facebook group to increase faculty knowledge about student participation in a forum for sharing issues related to the content of a technology course. All participants already had previous experience in participating in similar groups, performing tasks such as organizing, communicating in events and classes, among others. Although the students who participated received a rating, most had a very low level of responses to the questions and few students commented. Prospects for using Facebook for academic purposes were weak but indicated significant changes in the perception that the functions of this social network are an invasion of privacy and, despite understanding the context, student participation was low.

In another study, Facebook groups were used in a university, and the reasons for the selection of this type of group were presented. Facebook groups were evaluated by the authors during the years 2012 to 2014 in 12 courses at a university in Israel. The data showed that the use of groups for academic purposes was positively evaluated by students. From the teachers' perspective, communication with students was quick and simple, and the fact that there were email notifications allowed communication with students without having to resort to Facebook. In conclusion, the authors reported that the students' experience was positive.

Some studies explored other factors such as usage expectations, satisfaction, or perceived usefulness. These are some of the factors on which some theoretical models used in some studies are based, namely the Technology Acceptance Model, (often referred as TAM) and the Expectation Confirmation Model (often referred as ECM). For example, considering that students' success in e-learning programs depends on how they accept and integrate technology into their learning activities, Moreno et al. developed a study in which 251 students participated. A framework was designed to exemplify the students' intentions regarding the effective use of e-learning platforms, that is, their intention to fully exploit the system's functionalities in facilitating processes. The observed results demonstrated that students' perceptions of usefulness and ease of use positively influenced their intention to effectively use e-learning systems. These effects were in line with their attitudes towards the Learning Management System (often referred to as the LMS). The perceived usefulness and ease of use of the system were influenced by the cognitive absorption and self-efficacy of students, as well as by the system's interactivity and facilitating conditions.

In another study, the relationships between factors that presuppose the actual online use of university students of a mobile learning management system were observed through a structural model. In total, 222 students from a Korean university participated in the study, and data were collected to investigate integrated relationships between ease of use, perceived usefulness, confirmation of expectations, satisfaction, intention to continue using, and actual use of the mobile learning management system. The results show that the perceived ease of use predicted the perceived usefulness, but the confirmation of the expectations was not related to the perceived usefulness. Perceived usefulness and confirmation of expectations predicted satisfaction. Perceived usefulness and satisfaction predicted intent to continue, but perceived ease of use was not related to intent to continue use. The continuation intention predicted the actual use of the mobile learning management system.

Kurkovsky and Syta carried out an investigation involving university students on perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and expectations of privacy and trust in relation to electronic communications, such as email, web browsing, the use of social networks, and other online activities. The authors considered characteristics of electronic communications, such as: being a facilitator of communication; the perceived impact on privacy; effects of institutional policies regarding monitoring; and possible loss of privacy and trust. The results showed that, in addition to awareness of institutional policies, students expected their electronic communications within the university to be private.

For Bozanta, the use of social media was shown to be present in many areas of a student's daily life and, therefore, it can be an efficient tool to support communication with other students and with teachers. Thus, in this study, the effects of social networks on collaborative learning were examined with the help of a theoretical model, based on a literature review. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from students at a Turkish university. The results indicated that perceived ease of use is a predictor of perceived usefulness and both have an impact on students' use of social media for educational purposes. The use of social media enhances interaction between students, student interaction with the faculty, and student engagement.

Model of Analysis

To systematize the literature review and prepare the creation of an appropriate instrument for data collection, an analysis model was created (Table 1), whose indicators helped to elaborate the answers to the research questions mentioned previously.

Table 1. Model of analysis.

This analysis model was structured in two concepts. The first concept referred to the agents of the studied context, namely students and teachers, which are the two dimensions of this concept. For students, the indicators of sex, age, cycle of studies, and department were considered, and for the teachers, the indicators of sex, age, scientific area, and department were considered.

The second concept referred to communication technology, and three dimensions were considered. The first dimension was characterization, which corresponded to the need to know which communication technologies are used by agents, students, and teachers, categorizing the communication technologies. The results of these indicators contributed to the elaboration of the answer to research question 1.

The second dimension related to use acceptance and was based on the technology acceptance model. This model was developed to study the relationship between five items, as well as some external variables, aiming to understand the acceptance and behavior of users in the use of technologies. In our model analysis, five items were the indicators of this dimension: usefulness, which refers to the perception that someone has that the use of technology improves one's performance; ease of use, which refers to the perception of the effort that someone has to exert using technology; attitude, which refers to the combination of increased performance and the reward that can result from the use of technology; intention of future use, which relates to the intention that someone has to continue to use technology they already use; and actual system usage, which refers to the frequency with which someone uses certain technology.

The third dimension referred to use expectation, and it was based on the confirmation of expectations model, which has been used to examine users' intentions to continue using technology, as well as their satisfaction when using it. Four indicators were selected for this dimension: usefulness and intention of future use, which are two indicators similar to those already mentioned in the second dimension; confirmation, which refers to the relation between the actual use of communication technology and the expectation a user has regarding that use; and satisfaction, which refers to the degree of satisfaction that a user has using communication technologies.

The results of the use acceptance and use expectation dimension indicators support the answer to research question 2.