Behaviors of EFL Students on Cyber Classes: Passive presence in Google Classroom; survey of causes and attitudes

Abstract

Cyber classes provide space for teachers and students to extend and consolidate classroom interactions, engage in meaningful discussions and share ideas, information, and relevant materials. The potential merits of cyber classes are obviously bound to the amount of time and effort invested therein by the involved parties, i.e. teachers and students. The current study aims at investigating the causes of limited participation of EFL students in Google Classroom as the recently adapted cyber class platform at Misurata University, as well as exploring the EFL students’ attitudes toward Google Classroom. 58 EFL students at the department of English in Misurata University responded to a questionnaire probing their displayed behaviors on cyber classes. Even though the results showed that most EFL students had positive attitudes toward using Google Classroom, they tend to be passive users of cyber classes due to technological concerns, language proficiency to some extent, and failure to perceive tangible outcomes.