Virtual Guest Speakers in Fashion Courses: Student Experiences and Expectations

Abstract

<p class="p1" style="margin-bottom: 0px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This research investigated college students’ views on the practice of bringing industry guest speakers into the fashion classroom through a virtual medium. Its goal is to offer guidance to others seeking to use guest speakers in their classes. Students in the researchers’ apparel courses were assigned a qualitative online survey to better understand their opinions on this practice; resulting data were analyzed with the grounded theory method. Overall, 130 students had prior experiences with virtual guest speakers. While respondents clearly preferred face-to-face guest speaker visits, it was not by as wide a margin as was anticipated. Students were less disturbed with technical concerns after the onset of COVID-19 and were enthusiastic about the chat feature found in videoconferencing platforms. However, respondents found difficulty in remaining focused during a virtual visit; they also missed the ease of making a more personal connection, which they equated with an in-person visit.