Abstract
Help-seeking is an essential self-regulatory and metacognitive skill. In the online learning environment, much of the learning is self-directed and there are generally less opportunities to receive help in real time. The uses of email and discussion boards are the most common method of seeking help in these environments. The current study explored students’ perceptions of the use of live chat technology for online academic help-seeking within higher education, with a focus on comparing online and blended learners’ perspectives. Participants were 246 students who were studying psychology online (n = 91) or in blended learning (n = 155) environments. The live chat technology was well received by both groups, especially for its ability to provide instant, real-time, and convenient help. Live chat was particularly well received by online learners, who were more satisfied, felt more cared about by the teaching team, and would be more likely to recommend it to others than blended learners. Further, online learners reported that live chat gave them better access to staff, and felt that this feature was a good approximation for more traditional face-to-face conversations. As an online, synchronous, private help-seeking tool between student and teacher, these findings provide a strong endorsement for the use of live chat in higher education, particularly for online learners.
Highlights
Introduction and review of the literatureWith much of the learning in higher education occurring online, with stay at home restrictions of COVID-19 as an extreme example, there are reduced opportunities for traditional student-to-teacher and student-to-student interactions (Boling et al, 2012)
The current study aims to explore the use of live chat technology for online academic help-seeking within higher education, with a particular focus on different perceptions of online or blended learning students
The current study aimed to explore the use of live chat technology for online academic help-seeking within higher education subjects, with a particular interest in exploring any differences related to study mode as an online or blended learning student
Summary
Introduction and review of the literatureWith much of the learning in higher education occurring online, with stay at home restrictions of COVID-19 as an extreme example, there are reduced opportunities for traditional student-to-teacher and student-to-student interactions (Boling et al, 2012). Broadbent and Lodge Int J Educ Technol High Educ (2021) 18:17 email or use of online discussion boards (Kitsantas & Chow, 2007; Koc & Liu, 2016) These methods do not give online learners the opportunity for synchronous help-seeking. This raises the question of how to support learners with help-seeking behaviours in online learning environments equivalently to those in face-to-face classrooms This is a timely issue as the number of online students continues to rise annually (Allen & Seaman, 2014). The emergence of synchronous chat technology, such as live chat, which is designed as a virtual help-desk on online shopping websites, has the potential to allow private conversation between teacher and student in real-time This opens new possibilities to support academic help-seeking behaviour online
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