Teachers’ perceptions of out-of-class communication, teacher-student relationship, and classroom environment
Keywords
Out-of-class communication . Teacher-student relationship . Classroom environment . Instant messaging . Online social networks
Publication details
| Year: | 2018 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10639-018-9782-7 |
| Issued: | 2018 |
| Language: | English |
| Volume: | 24 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Start Page: | 385 |
| End Page: | 406 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Elhay A.; Hershkovitz A. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | Education and Information Technologies |
| Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
| Topics: | Social mediation |
| Sample: | Participants were middle- and high-school teachers (grades 7–12) of from across Israel. Overall, participants were 24–65 years old (M = 42.3, SD = 10.2, N = 153), with 1–37 years of experience in teaching, i.e., seniority (M = 14.1, SD = 9.9, N = 154). 43 male participants (28%) and 112 females (72%), a male-female proportion which is similar to that in the overall Israel teacher population. |
Abstract
Communication between students and teachers is usually extended beyond the classroom’s time and space. This communication referred to as out-of-class communication (OCC), may impact students’ academic, social, and emotional development. Today, OCC is facilitated via social media and instant messaging services, which may affect its nature. This quantitative study (N = 155) aims to analyze the impact of WhatsApp™- based OCC between middle- and high-school teachers and their students on two variables that are key to learning and teaching: Teacher-student relationship and classroom environment. The data was collected through teachers’ self-reported questionnaires. Overall, we find that despite manifested somewhat differently from traditional OCC, teachers’ use of WhatsApp for OCC is also associated with better relationship with students and with better classroom environment.
Outcome
The study revealed that eachers perform out-of-class communication with students primarily via digital platforms, including emails, text messages, school administrative systems, and to a low extent through online social networks (Abd Elhay & Hershkovitz, 2018). On the other hand, teachers who implement WhatsApp-based OCC, do it quite often, and mostly via whole-class groups and private messages.