Student Satisfaction and Preferences Related to Virtual Streaming Facilities During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Introduction

In recent times, two major “turning points” have changed the world of work dramatically, Education 4.0 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Education 4.0 has created exponential possibilities and opportunities for the knowledge economy, while the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on global events, from governance to socialisation. These two “turning points” have changed and challenged global events radically, while also bringing about an exponential shift in the boundaries of the knowledge economy. As historical events, the pandemic and Education 4.0 have changed how we live and work in our environment, with COVID-19 having a profound impact on the knowledge economy. Governments, corporates, households and higher education institutions (HEIs) have been and are being confronted with major challenges in overcoming the pandemic, while the search for a possible cure for the virus continues.

Currently, the higher education sector, worldwide, is dealing with the huge impact that COVID-19 has had on teaching and learning, with universities having been forced to shift their teaching towards e-learning and/or blended learning modes. Globally, institutions of higher learning have ventured into online videoconferencing as part of teaching and learning. Many hours of conventional teaching and learning at contact or residential and distance education universities have been lost and this has taken a serious toll on academic performance and also, possibly, on throughput rates. To make up for lost time, universities have started to employ online videoconferencing platforms, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom, and lecturers have been persuaded to adopt the use of videoconferencing to support their students in different learning spaces.

Laurillard (1993) coined the term “videoconferencing” to describe an online streaming facility intended to create access for students and lecturers in otherwise inaccessible spaces. Moreover, Wiesemes and Wang (2010) define video conferencing as a synchronous model of interactive transfer between groups and people, which could be by voice, video or data. Video-conferences can also be recorded for later use by either lecturers or students. Adding to this discourse, Cochrane (1996) concurs with Laurillard (1993) that this streaming medium provides access to many learning sites. In the context of this study, the researchers associate videoconferencing with using an online internet connection to stream a conference between lecturers and students and, by using the technology, they are also able to transmit audio and visual presentations. In this scenario, the video-conferences can also be recorded for later use by either the lecturers or students.

Therefore, this paper explores how students used virtual streaming technology and consider their views related to video conferencing during COVID-19 lockdown. Based on the aim of this paper, we came up with the following specific objectives:

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  To determine students’ experience in relation to the switch to the videoconferencing facility, as an online teaching and learning tool, during the COVID-19 lockdown.

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  To investigate students’ preferences and views of the virtual streaming tools used during the COVID-19 lockdown.

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  To determine the effect of Teams and Zoom as virtual streaming tools (VSTs) on students’ gender, satisfaction, preferences and benefits in this course during the COVID-19 lockdown.

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  To explore the challenges experienced by students in using videoconferencing virtual streaming during the COVID-19 lockdown.