Comparison of University Students’ Perceptions of Interaction in English Classes on Two Online Platforms: Gather.town vs. Zoom

Abstract

This study is purported to compare university students’ perceptions of interaction in English classes on two synchronous online platforms: Gather.town, the metaverse vs. Zoom, non-metaverse. Moore’s three types of interaction in online education are utilized: learner-learner, learner-teacher, and learner-content. A total of 22 college students at an English pedagogy class participate in the survey; later, four individual students are interviewed. Non-parametric repeated-measures analysis utilized to see differences between the two platforms reveals the following findings. Firstly, students’ interaction on the metaverse between learners and learners and between learners and the teacher is significantly greater than its counterpart, not for learner-to-content interaction. Secondly, avatar use on the map-based classroom on the metaverse provides students with both multiple ways for interaction and an optimized environment for small group activity. In contrast, student-initiated interaction on Zoom is limited. Thirdly, the metaverse platform has easy ways of communication with the teacher. Finally, for learner-to-content interaction, difficulty in accessing and sharing class files on the metaverse causes inconveniences. Pedagogical implications are discussed for language teachers aspiring to adopt the metaverse for their future classes.