Learner-learner interactions in online classes during COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of social media in the higher education context

ABSTRACT

The current educational scenario is changing and inclining more towards digital technologies for teaching-learning. Interactions during the classrooms or virtual sessions are vital for students’ learning engagements. Learner-learner interactions and educator-learner interactions during online classes are to be promoted and sustained for a better teaching-learning experience. The use of social media in education is noted in previous research. This paper aims to explore the role of social media in learner-learner interactions and its impact on students’ learning engagement. A theoretical model is proposed in the study through a review of existing literature. The model testing is done with data of 344 respondents through a self-designed structured questionnaire. The respondents are selected from an urban city in western India. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling are applied for the hypotheses testing and regression analysis. The results indicate that the learner-learner interactions, as well as the educator-learner interactions, are imperative for student learning engagement in online teaching. Also, learner-learner interactions are positively affected by the students’ self-efficacy concerning the technology. The study also noted that the use of social media improves learner-learner interaction and student learning engagement in a technology-mediated learning environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Online teaching
• social media
• learning engagement
• learner-learner interactions
• educator-learner interactions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sonica Rautela

Sonica Rautela is a Assistant Professor at Symbiosis Centre for Mangement Studies and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree from Symbiosis International (Deemed University) Pune, Maharashtra, India. With Masters in Business Administration, she has more than ten years of teaching experience at postgraduate and undergraduate levels. For her, teaching is a passion rather than a profession. Her interest areas include social media, New Product Development and E-learning. She has also published research papers in reputed journals. Sonica Rautela is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: [email protected].

Sarika Sharma

Sarika Sharma is a Professor at the Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research, Symbiosis International (Deemed) University, Pune, India. She is a member, of the board of studies for the faculty of computer studies at the university. She has teaching and research experience of 20 years. She is the author of six books on data mining for CRM, project risk management, and information technology management. She has more than 50 research publications to her credit in international and national journals of repute and has presented her research work at various conferences. She is a research supervisor for Ph.D., and four of her students got the degree awarded. She is a life member of professional bodies like the Indian Science Congress.

Shreya Virani

Shreya Virani is Assistant Professor at Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Pune. She has 15 years of teaching experience. She has completed her Post Graduation in Management with Finance Specialization. She has been awarded a Ph.D. in Management from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune. She has a number of research papers to her credit. Her area of research is financial inclusion, General Management, Corporate finance, etc. She has successfully completed corporate research projects, assignments, and Minor research projects funded by Symbiosis International (Deemed) University in the capacity of Principal investigator. She is a research supervisor for Ph.D. students.