Inequities in students’ experiences of transitioning to a blended learning environment

This blog is written by Dr Jill Dickinson, Anna Fletcher and Teri-Lisa Griffiths who work in the Departments of Law and Criminology and Student Experience, Teaching and Learning Team. The team are involved in a research project around staff and students’ transitions to the new blended teaching and learning environment within Higher Education. In this blog, they consider some of the issues around students keeping their cameras off during online teaching sessions, the potential rationale behind that, and the challenges it can present, and make a call for specific research to explore this ongoing debate in detail.

The UK’s higher education environment is characterised by well-documented concerns around students’ fees, mental health and wellbeing, and staff workloads. Uncertainties generated by the pandemic have compounded these issues as documented in the annual review by the Office for Students. Against this backdrop, our multi-disciplinary team of researchers are working on a research project to explore staff and students’ experiences of transitions to the new blended teaching and learning environment. Using creative, photovoice methods (Wang and Burris 1994), we recruited participants from a post-1992 university to take photographs of their current working spaces towards the beginning of the academic year and share them in either focus groups or interviews to stimulate discussions. We are looking to repeat this process in February to capture participants’ thoughts and feelings about the extent to which their working spaces may have changed over that time.

A key theme that has arisen from our initial analysis of the data reflects concerns that the Office for Students have identified about the inequities that students may face in accessing necessary technology and internet access (‘digital poverty’) and appropriate working spaces to enable them to fully engage with online learning activities. Our findings so far demonstrate common practice for students to have their cameras off during online seminars and lectures, causing frustration for staff and a sense of isolation for students. Students have reported that a norm for cameras to be turned off has emerged and there is a reluctance to be the only student with your camera on.

Students and educators alike have expressed how much more positive learning activities feel when students are seen to be engaged. Facial expressions can be indicative of a student’s level of understanding (Sathik & Jonathan, 2013) or alert a tutor to whether a student might be in distress. Furthermore, for encouraging peer support, maintaining eye contact and noticing non-verbal signs of distress are crucial elements of promoting compassion amongst student peers (Gilbert, 2016). However, it is important to acknowledge that there are alternative ways to engage online besides being physically visible. Educators can make use of chat functions, polls, and shared online collaborative spaces to gauge engagement and understanding. Although it is more difficult to have informal conversations after class, as we do in the physical classroom, online chat and breakout rooms can help a lecturer communicate with a student in need. Another argument for encouraging students to have their cameras on is to help prepare them for the world of work. Considering that universities have a responsibility to support their students in developing their employability skills, it is important for lecturers to convey that having your camera on, and a polite notification if your camera is not working, are the norm in a remote working environment.

Conversely, it is acknowledged by both students and staff that requiring students to have their cameras on can be very problematic. Existing fears about the capacity for the ‘Internet of Things’ to raise issues around privacy and security (Maple, 2017) have been compounded by well-documented reports of ‘Zoom-bombing’. Some may feel particularly vulnerable about allowing others to peer into their home because of their personal circumstances which could involve issues around, for example, poverty, estrangement, and fears of surveillance. Zoom Anxiety has also become a recognised phenomenon as some people feel more pressure to ‘perform socially’ in meetings that are held online. Given these potential responses, it is perhaps unsurprising that a report by the Office for National Statistics demonstrates that over half of students surveyed feel that they have experienced poorer mental health as a result of the pandemic. There have been fewer opportunities for student interaction and co-studying, and increased numbers of students reporting stress, anxiety, loneliness and depression (Elmer et al, 2020). Any requirement imposed by Higher Education Institutions to turn on their cameras could only exacerbate this, particularly given the suggestion that a ‘cameras on’ approach is not a panacea to noticing students in distress (Hara & Kling, 2001)

This is an ongoing debate which shows no signs of slowing, at least whilst a large part of university teaching has moved online due to Covid-19 restrictions. There are strong opinions on both sides of the debate, but there is little research that explores these issues in detail.

We are currently exploring opportunities for conducting a specific research project around the extent to which students use cameras to engage with online learning activities, with the aim of understanding why students do not use cameras to engage with online learning activities. It is clear that forcing students to switch their cameras on may not be the best approach. Instead, departments and their students could seek to explore together different ways within which learners can be supported to engage with their learning community and foster trust with their peers and their lecturers.

Dr Jill Dickinson, LLB (Hons) PGCE PGDip LLM SFHEA PhD RPA is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Solicitor (non-practising). Jill is a Fellow of the Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies and an Associate of the Centre for Regional, Economic and Social Research. Jill’s research encompasses aspects of place and space, and professional development. Through her role as Senior Fellow, Jill has judged the Advance HE Global Teaching Excellence Awards. (jill.dickinson@shu.ac.uk; Twitter: @jill_dickinson1)

Anna Fletcher, BSc is a Graduate Intern working within the Student Experience, Teaching and Learning directorate. She works closely with the Digital team and the Student communications team. Anna recently graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a 1st class degree in Psychology, where she developed research skills in data analysis and evaluation.

Teri-Lisa Griffiths, BA (Hons) QCG MA FHEA is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology. As a former careers adviser, her teaching is focused on the development of student employability and academic skills, working with external partners to provide relevant and high-quality experiences for students. Her research interests are centred on the student experience and professional development. (teri-lisa.griffiths@shu.ac.uk)

Photo Credit: Thibaut Devulder. Creative commons licence.