Abstract / Description of output
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced universities to adopt a hybrid approach consisting of a combination of in-person and online teaching. This relies heavily on online teaching solutions, such a virtual classroom software tools (VCSTs). A VCST is a piece of software which allows students and teachers to communicate synchronously using features such as audio, video, text chat, interactive whiteboard, and application sharing, thus making it possible to organise traditional classroom activities online. Some popular VCSTs in Higher Education (HE) are Blackboard Collaborate, MS Teams and Zoom.
While VCSTs may seem promising, their sheer number, variability of features and designs may not always result in the wanted educational outcomes. This can make it difficult for educators to choose the best tool for theirs and their students' needs.
This project aimed to classify VCSTs according to educational benefits in HE and their desirable features from the literature, and propose guidelines for their design. Its steps were the following:
1) Reviewing the literature on definitions of VCSTs, their possible educational benefits and desirable features for HE. This resulted in eligibility and evaluation criteria for VCSTs.
2) Conducting the systematic review, which involved: a) identifying all VCSTs meeting the eligibility criteria; b) assessing them using the evaluation criteria; c) concluding on the best overall VCSTs, and the best for different features.
4) Making recommendations for the best VCSTs.
The highest scoring VCSTs were MS Teams (1st place), Adobe Connect and Blackboard Collaborate. They were each remarkable in different features: Teams in scheduling meetings, Adobe Connect in capture/record/playback and Blackboard Collaborate in subtitling. eduTinker obtained most feature top scores, but fell very short in other features (e.g. teams, whiteboard).
We will describe our project and share our findings on the best VCSTs and how they can be further enhanced.
While VCSTs may seem promising, their sheer number, variability of features and designs may not always result in the wanted educational outcomes. This can make it difficult for educators to choose the best tool for theirs and their students' needs.
This project aimed to classify VCSTs according to educational benefits in HE and their desirable features from the literature, and propose guidelines for their design. Its steps were the following:
1) Reviewing the literature on definitions of VCSTs, their possible educational benefits and desirable features for HE. This resulted in eligibility and evaluation criteria for VCSTs.
2) Conducting the systematic review, which involved: a) identifying all VCSTs meeting the eligibility criteria; b) assessing them using the evaluation criteria; c) concluding on the best overall VCSTs, and the best for different features.
4) Making recommendations for the best VCSTs.
The highest scoring VCSTs were MS Teams (1st place), Adobe Connect and Blackboard Collaborate. They were each remarkable in different features: Teams in scheduling meetings, Adobe Connect in capture/record/playback and Blackboard Collaborate in subtitling. eduTinker obtained most feature top scores, but fell very short in other features (e.g. teams, whiteboard).
We will describe our project and share our findings on the best VCSTs and how they can be further enhanced.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 14 Jun 2022 |
| Event | University of Edinburgh Learning and Teaching Conference: LTC 2022 - University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Duration: 15 Jun 2022 → 16 Jun 2022 |
Conference
| Conference | University of Edinburgh Learning and Teaching Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Edinburgh |
| Period | 15/06/22 → 16/06/22 |