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Education & Educational Research
Online live-streamed teaching interaction refers to the synchronous interactive behaviors conducted among teachers and students, as well as between students themselves (and between teachers, students, and the interface) during the process of live broadcasting instruction.
- online live-streamed teaching
- classroom interaction
- technology acceptance model
- interactive functionalities
1. Introduction
From “Internet+” to the applications of Big Data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, online education is currently in the midst of an information technology wave. Online education, based on modern science and technology, has become one of the essential educational methods required for the development of a learning-oriented society [1]. Online education provides teaching to the public, promoting knowledge exchange among learners through abundant educational resources. It transcends temporal and spatial barriers, catering to synchronous and asynchronous learning needs, thereby effectively fostering universal education and lifelong learning [2]. From a sustainability perspective, online education presents an economically efficient educational solution to the limitations of traditional teaching methods. Compared to traditional classroom teaching, online education reduces the demand for physical infrastructure and instructional resources, thereby minimizing the consumption of forest resources and environmental pollution. This supports the efficient utilization and enhancement of resources while concurrently mitigating carbon emissions, ultimately fostering sustainable educational development and progress [3]. Online education comprises two formats: pre-recorded education and live-streamed teaching. Pre-recorded education involves the real-time recording of instructional visuals and audio using hardware devices; these are promptly transformed into standardized online formats for dissemination to students. This format exhibits a time lag between the teaching moment and the learning experience, ensuring the durability and prolonged accessibility of the educational content. Whilst pre-recorded education means that learners can enjoy a greater flexibility in choosing their study times, the temporal gap between instruction and learning, coupled with the absence of real-time engagement, may lead to a lack of interaction between educators and students. Consequently, this deficiency could result in diminished learner satisfaction [4]. Live-streamed teaching, on the other hand, effectively addresses these limitations. Live-streamed teaching is a novel “Internet+” online educational format conducted on internet platforms, employing real-time broadcasting for the interactive exchange of visual, textual, and auditory information between teachers and students. Its typical characteristics include bidirectional synchronous interaction, timeliness, personalization, and a sense of being present, enabling teaching and learning activities to occur simultaneously in different locations [5]. Especially after the attempts and explorations of various educational organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, live-streamed education has become a normalized teaching practice in online education. It is predicted that live-streamed education is likely to revolutionize the format of online education, with live courses potentially replacing traditional online courses such as MOOCs, private courses, and online open courses [6].
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams have become the mainstream platforms for online education [8]. As a result of this, a plethora of studies have emerged regarding the application of video conferencing systems in the realm of education. Mu’awanah et al. [9] conducted an analysis of Zoom’s interactive learning functionalities within the context of learning the English language, subsequently confirming the valuable role Zoom plays in the pedagogical process. Correia et al. [10] delved into the system functionalities of four extensively utilized video conferencing systems which are relevant to learning, elucidating how these platforms facilitated online education. Zou et al. [11] employed the E-learning usability heuristic approach to assess prominent video conferencing platforms such as Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom. They revealed that platforms with higher usability ratings consistently featured essential interactive functionalities, including video streaming and real-time communication. Considering the researchers’ geographical and cultural context, this study adopted Tencent Meeting as the subject of their investigation. Tencent Meeting is a real-time and efficient video conferencing tool, akin to Zoom, that is extensively used in the synchronous live-streamed education domain. Notably, it stands out as the most widely employed online education platform in China [12]. In comparison to other online education platforms such as CCtalk, Tencent Meeting distinguishes itself with user-friendly features and straightforward usability [13]. As a result, its selection as the research material for investigating live-streamed education offers a heightened representativeness.
2. Theoretical Basis
The technology acceptance model (TAM) is a widely applicable model that explains the acceptance and usage behaviors of various information technologies. It is one of the extensively used models in the field of information technology [23]. This model primarily focuses on individual psychological behavior, exploring users’ acceptance and adoption attitudes towards information technology. It particularly emphasizes learners’ or users’ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of information systems and how these perceptions influence their willingness to adopt or reject new information technologies. The current model has been well-applied in knowledge management systems, enterprise ERP systems, internet systems, and online shopping systems, becoming a significant analytical foundation in fields such as information systems, information management, and business administration [24,25].
In the digital context, the TAM can be used to explain the acceptance and usage behaviors of various information technologies. It is also widely applied in research on the quality of online learning platforms. For instance, Quadir and Zhou [13] employed the TAM to investigate how students’ perceptions of Tencent Meeting’s distinctive features influenced their perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the software, simultaneously analyzing the impact of these factors on learning performance. Alassafi [26] explored the impact of knowledge quality and technological adaptability on learners’ behavioral intentions using the TAM framework. Sukendro et al. [27], utilizing an extended TAM, applied structural equation modeling to analyze the external factors affecting online learning among Indonesian sport students, affirming that the usability and usefulness of learning products could enhance students’ engagement in online learning classes. In the context of online live-streamed teaching, students engage in interactive activities through the use of live broadcasting technologies. The TAM provides a comprehensive theoretical framework that can, to some extent, effectively elucidate the behavior of higher education students towards adopting live-streamed teaching.
3. Interactive Functionalities of the Platform and Online Teaching Interactions
In the process of online teaching, effective interaction between teachers and students, as well as among students, is a crucial means for reorganizing instructional behaviors and ensuring the quality of online education [29]. Well-functioning interactive features on a teaching platform become particularly crucial in this regard. Interactive functionalities are considered to be a necessary condition for facilitating cognitive interaction or, in certain circumstances, are deemed indispensable [30]. The interactive functionalities of online teaching platforms effectively facilitate meaningful communication and engaging interactions among students, as well as between students and instructors [5]. To assess the interactive functionalities of various platforms, we conducted a comparison between Tencent Meeting and internationally recognized online teaching tools such as Zoom. Zoom offers a diverse array of interactive features such as whiteboards, screen sharing, and online polling, facilitating more dynamic communication and collaboration between teachers and students. On the other hand, Tencent Meeting focuses more on the practicality of remote meetings and online education, offering stable audio and video communication tools suitable for large-scale online teaching. These platforms provide an array of interactive methods. For the sake of research typicality, we selected three fundamental interactive functionalities commonly found on live learning platforms and frequently employed in live classroom settings for examination, namely video-, audio-, and text-based interactions. Within the Tencent Meeting classroom environment, there exist three primary methods for teacher–student interaction. The first entails students inputting and transmitting content through a chat box, which is then displayed on the screen. The second involves teachers posing questions that students answer audibly or discuss with the teacher. Lastly, the third method entails students engaging in communication and collaboration through audio and video interactions. The practicality and user-friendliness of these interactive functionalities profoundly influence online teaching interaction behaviors. For instance, the real-time video functionality of the platform enables instructors to provide high-quality audio and video demonstrations, while also allowing students to view, engage, and connect with both teachers and peers. This, in turn, captures students’ attention and enhances their participation, effectively addressing a significant drawback associated with remote education, that being the lack of interaction and interpersonal contact between students and instructors [31,32]. Students’ understanding of these communication tool functionalities, their utilization, and related factors directly or indirectly impacts their perception of interactive behaviors. Interactive functionalities can facilitate interaction between students and instructors by providing a variety of communication tools. Effective interactive methods can stimulate student engagement and foster in-depth discussions, aiding learners in deepening their understanding of the study material. They also enable instructors to provide timely feedback and guidance, leading to improvements in teaching quality and learning outcomes [33,34]. As learners’ learning performance improves, their perceived usefulness also increases correspondingly. Furthermore, the quality of online learning interactions also significantly influences learners’ satisfaction with online courses [34]. An intuitively understandable interactive interface design and simple, clear navigation not only lower the learning barrier for learners, allowing them to focus on the study content itself, but also enable them to quickly locate needed functionalities and easily interact with other learners and instructors. From this, it can be inferred that the interactive functionalities of online live-streamed teaching platforms influence learners’ perceived usefulness and ease of use.
4. Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use Mediate the Relationship between the Platform’s Interactive Functionalities and Online Teaching Interactions
In online teaching interactions, perceived usefulness refers to the value that learners perceive in the interactive functionalities of the educational platform for their learning process and outcomes. Perceived ease of use refers to the convenience and simplicity that learners experience when using the interactive functionalities on the educational platform. In the TAM and its extended versions, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have consistently held a central position. Numerous researchers have empirically analyzed perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and found that they both have a positive effect on individuals’ attitudes towards the acceptance and adoption of information technology [35,36]. Researchers believe that the effective use of information systems is determined by factors such as individual behavioral intentions, usage attitudes, and user perceptions. The causal chain “cognition-response-attitude-intention-behavior” is employed to explain, diagnose, and predict users’ attitudes and behaviors when confronted with new information systems [35]. In this context, online interaction refers to the behavior of real-time communication, participation, and collaboration between two parties within the system. The group dynamics theory posits that individual behavior is a result of the interaction between the environment and internal psychological factors, and this process represents the mutual adaptation between learners and their environment [28]. For students attending online classes, their ability to persistently engage in live webinars and actively participate in various forms of online interactive communication depends on both individual factors and the resources provided by the platform. Learners’ initial learning involvement leads to different perceptions of the learning experience. Positive learning experiences and perceptions generally motivate them to increase their learning involvement and online interactions, while negative experiences and perceptions lead to reduced learning involvement and decreased online interactions. This continuous cycle ultimately reinforces learning behavior or gradually diminishes it.
According to the current research on live-streamed education, a well-designed, user-friendly interface can enhance learners’ operational efficiency, enabling them to focus on the content and objectives of communication, thus facilitating smoother engagement in interactive activities. When learners perceive online interactive system resources as clear, straightforward, and easy to use, they are more likely to exhibit a positive attitude towards engaging in online live-streamed education interactions and willingly invest time in participating in such activities. Interactive functionalities can provide effective support and immediate feedback to learners, aiding them in error correction, refining their learning strategies, and enhancing their learning outcomes. Consequently, this enhances learners’ perceived usefulness of these interactive functionalities and fosters their engagement in interactive behaviors. When students effectively benefit from online technology and perceive its usefulness, they are more inclined to engage in social and collaborative activities within the online learning environment, as well as participate in cognitive activities [37,38,39].
5. Students’ Personality Traits and Online Teaching Interactions
Personality refers to an individual’s enduring attitudes towards reality and the habitual behavioral patterns that correspond to them, developed throughout their life experiences [40]. Based on individuals’ activity tendencies, researchers commonly categorize people into two types: introverts and extraverts [41]. Extraverted individuals are generally characterized by emotional expressiveness, freedom, liveliness, and strong interpersonal skills. In the classroom, they tend to actively express their thoughts, enjoy group learning, and engage in cooperative problem-solving processes [42]. During online discussions, they often display more cognitive interactions, exhibit curiosity about their surroundings, and adapt easily to changing environments [40]. Students with such personality traits typically hold positive attitudes towards new technologies, products, or services. Introverted individuals are generally characterized by cautiousness, thoughtful deliberation, hesitancy in social interactions, and a preference for reflective thinking and information integration [42], These introverted learners tend to exhibit a cautious attitude towards new technologies, products, or services.
Recent studies have found that extraverted learners may possess a higher self-efficacy, which can positively influence their attitudes and behavioral intentions towards online learning [21,43,44]. Extraverted learners tend to have higher levels of internet and academic self-efficacy [45] and a stronger perceived confidence in participating in and engaging with online learning activities [46]. As a result, they exhibit a higher propensity for positive attitudes and engagement in online interactions.
6. The Mediating Role of Interaction Motivation between Students’ Personality Traits and Online Teaching Interactions
Motivation refers to the psychological inclination that initiates individual activities, sustains the activities already initiated, and guides these activities towards a specific goal. In online live teaching, interaction motivation refers to the driving force within college students that motivates their engagement in online educational interactions, which is primarily divided into two levels: active interaction motivation and passive interaction motivation, often demonstrated as a strong desire to ask questions, curiosity and interest in the learned knowledge, and a diligent and proactive learning attitude. College students’ interactions that they willingly initiate to acquire knowledge, skills, or pursue their interests belong to active interactions; in contrast, passive interactions are those engagements resulting from objective requirements, such as exams or compulsory instructions from teachers, where they have no alternative but to participate. Some studies have indicated that individuals with an extraverted personality exhibit a stronger communication willingness [47]. They are more inclined to actively participate in online live classes by unmuting themselves to interact with the teacher and answering questions, thus demonstrating a higher level of interactive motivation. Extraverted individuals typically seek energy and satisfaction through social interactions. When engaging in online live interactions, they are more inclined to establish connections with other viewers and hosts, actively participating in social exchanges. Their strong social desire prompts them to take on active roles during online live teaching, thereby increasing their interactions with teachers and fellow students. Recent research has also confirmed that an extraverted personality significantly influences learning motivation [48]. Compared to introverted individuals, students with an extraverted personality exhibit stronger interactive motivations and engage in interactions more frequently.
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/su151813529
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