Exploring New Ways of eTandem and Telecollaboration Through the WebRTC Protocol: Students’ Engagement and Perceptions

Alberto Andujar,Cristóbal Medina-López

doi:10.3991/ijet.v14i05.9612

Abstract

The present research investigates students’ degree of engagement and per-ceptions in a telecollaboration project which incorporates the use of the WebRTC (Web Real-time Communication) protocol and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communication to develop a virtual exchange in a second language envi-ronment. WebRTC is an open source technology that simplifies the tele-communication process thanks to its inherent characteristics such as P2P connectivity, no plugins installation, scalability and accessibility. The study involved 32 participants from two different universities who partici-pated in a teletandem exchange over a period of 4 months. Task design con-sisted of information exchange and information gap activities that were giv-en to students in order to foster the interaction. A mixed methods approach was used and students’ engagement was measured through the use of a log, a pre-existing knowledge survey and an engagement scale. An additional sur-vey analysing students’ perceptions was also given to students at the end of the project. Inferential statistics showed significant results in terms of emo-tional, behavioral and cognitive engagement. Furthermore, WebRTC earned a high acceptance among students participating in the virtual exchange and advantages and pitfalls of using this technology were observed throughout the project.

Highlights

The need for teachers to adopt the latest technological advances has become a constant in today’s education in order to keep pace with the latest gadgets and devices students use inside and out of the classroom environment
The results of the pre-existing knowledge survey are presented in Figures 2 and 3 in order to observe initial differences among the students participating in the telecollaboration project
These differences were observed as researchers in the field of technology-mediated learning pointed out a strong correlation between students’ pre-existing knowledge of the subject as well as their ability to use technology, and the amount of time participants spend on the virtual exchange [37]

Summary

Introduction

The need for teachers to adopt the latest technological advances has become a constant in today’s education in order to keep pace with the latest gadgets and devices students use inside and out of the classroom environment. The growing number of articles dealing with telecollaboration has been pointed out by experts in the field such as Dooly and O’Dowd [4] who stated that one of the main reasons for this growth was the escalation of accessible technology in the classroom In this vein, different platforms and software have been used to achieve telecollaboration through internet connectivity, from an early use of emails to achieve an asynchronous bilingual exchange with native speakers [5] to the use of Skype platform [6], [7] providing videoconferencing and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communication

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion