The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant challenges in many areas of our lives. Education, too, has confronted challenges as modes of education have had to adapt to the context. This has meant a shift towards online learning. In response to the pandemic, Korean Ministry of Education (MOE) has decided to implement online classes at elementary and secondary levels as well as college levels. All parties involved in education at high school level, notably students and teachers, had never experienced changes of this scale in the mode of education. Implementing online classes has been a process of trial and error, and the participants have learned valuable lessons from the unprecedented challenges. Thus, it is expected that some meaningful insights into online education can be collated by investigating both parties' perceptions based on their experiences. In particular, by comparing the perceptions of students and teachers, we aim to gain a better understanding of current online English education, benefiting online classes that may continue in the future.
The research questions were the following: First, what are the similarities and differences in the perceptions of students and teachers on online English classes? Second, are there any significant differences in students' and teachers' suggestions for online English classes?
The questionnaires were constructed around survey questions based on the 5-point Likert scale as well as multiple-choice, open-ended questions. Students and teachers of 'D' Girls' High School located in Daejeon, South Korea responded to the questionnaire based on their experience with an online mode of English learning and teaching between April 2020 and the end of the school year. The school implemented the public learning management system (LMS), EBS Online Class, where teachers post either the materials from EBS or the class videos they create themselves. At the end of the school year, survey responses from 513 high school students and 10 teachers were collected online. The data from Likert scale items were analyzed with SPSS statistics for mean, standard deviation, t-test, and p-value; responses from open-ended questions were classified by keywords. The results are as follows:
Overall, there were no significant differences in students' and teachers' perceptions in relation to the subcategories of online English classes, with the exception of one item. The two groups differed in perception on the item related to the degree of interaction online. The mean score of teachers' responses for this item was comparatively lower than that of students. It is presumed that teachers might have felt disconnected when recording class videos because they were not able to check the students' reactions and understanding. In terms of the effectiveness of online English classes for sub-language skills, students recognized its effectiveness in listening skills, while teachers favored grammar with a slightly higher mean score. Both groups recognized the effectiveness of online English classes for receptive skills rather than productive skills.
An average level of satisfaction with online English classes was observed in both groups. However, students showed low mean scores for their perceived improvement and confidence in English. It is presumed that there were insufficient opportunities to interact in class, given that interaction is a key factor influencing class satisfaction.
In relation to the content of the online courses, many students and teachers preferred teacher-created class videos rather than the EBS materials. When asked for their preferred mode of online class, both students and teachers indicated the asynchronous mode using teacher-created class content. However, each group has a different perception of the teacher-created videos, with students mentioning the burden of studying English due to the length and intensity of the class videos, while teachers said they were able to cover more contents online and they considered this effective.
Finally, both groups highlighted the necessity for encouraging interaction among class participants. Students and teachers affirmed that LMS should support users to communicate effectively.
These results have led to some educational insights and suggestions. First, the interaction among class participants should be encouraged either by implementing synchronous classes or through alternative techniques. Second, teacher-created content should be used as a priority, as they were considered more effective by teachers and were shown to be preferred by learners. In addition, learners' feedback should be reflected when making class videos. Third, the technical and educational environment for successful online education needs to be improved, including LMS. Finally, teachers need more ample opportunities to improve their competency in online teaching.
While these results are stimulating for this case setting, there are some limitations to generalizing this research to all high school online English education. It should be noted that this research targeted only female students, and the size of the teacher respondent group was insufficient. Additionally, this research was based solely on the asynchronous mode of online education with class video content, so it was unable to address other varieties of online learning. Furthermore, it was difficult to have access to the detailed differences in the teachers' and students' perceptions via Likert-scale items and a few open-ended questions. Employing an in-depth interview might be suggested for future research.
In conclusion, despite some limitations on the research, it was worth reflecting on the unprecedented online learning and teaching experience at the high school level in 2020 to obtain some insights and theoretical implications for future reference. Hopefully, teachers will benefit from the insights provided by this research in designing more successful online classes.