Learning from Home: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Live Streaming Based Remote Education Experience in Chinese Colleges during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Title of the Paper

Learning from Home: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Live Streaming Based Remote Education Experience in Chinese Colleges during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Bibliographic Information

• Subject Area: Online education, human-computer interaction, live-streaming teaching
• Keywords: LS learning, online live streaming, remote education, COVID-19, human-computer interaction, Chinese higher education, synchronous learning model, instructional design, student engagement, teacher-student interaction

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges: The COVID-19 global pandemic has fundamentally transformed traditional education models, shifting them to purely online remote learning. Optimizing live-streaming-based remote education experiences to enhance learning outcomes has become a critical issue.
• Significance: Live-streaming learning (LS learning) was widely adopted during the pandemic and may become a core component of future hybrid education models. Understanding and optimizing LS learning not only benefits current remote teaching but also provides guidance for the design of future educational tools.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • Characteristics of LS learning include real-time interaction, intangible physical distance, and its design as a formal, long-term learning process.
  • The research aims to uncover the experiences and key challenges of LS learning and explore how more effective designs can support educational goals.

Solution

• Proposed Methods or Solutions:
  • Conducting a mixed-methods analysis (semi-structured interviews and large-scale surveys) to study the educational experiences of live-streaming learning in Chinese colleges during the pandemic.
  • Research focuses include: individual learning experiences, teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction, and community perception.
• Innovative Aspects:
  • Use of a comprehensive approach: combining qualitative interviews and quantitative data analysis to provide holistic insights into user experiences.
  • In-depth exploration of how interaction forms in LS learning influence educational practices.
• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:
  1. Interviews: Conducting in-depth interviews with 30 students and 7 teachers to explore specific teaching and learning experiences in live-streaming learning.
  2. Surveys: Surveys involving 6,291 students and 1,160 teachers to compare the differences between traditional classroom learning and live-streaming learning.
  3. Data Analysis: Focusing on how interaction forms in live-streaming learning (e.g., audio, video, text boxes, bullet comments, quizzes, and polls) shape learning experiences.

Research Findings

• Specific Results:
  • Students achieved certain learning objectives through live-streaming education during the pandemic.
  • Live-streaming learning introduced new interaction forms (e.g., bullet comments and text boxes), enhancing teacher-student relationships, though it also weakened student-student interaction and community perception.
• Advantages:
  • Compared to traditional learning, live-streaming education offers instant feedback and diverse interaction forms, increasing interest and engagement in online learning.
  • Certain course types (e.g., large-scale lecture courses) demonstrated higher efficiency and quality in live-streaming teaching.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Students reported decreased attention and learning efficiency.
  • In small-scale classes, online interaction helped reduce psychological distance between teachers and students.
  • Community perception (especially at the school level) diminished due to the lack of face-to-face communication and extracurricular activities.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • Live-streaming learning struggles to support practical courses and laboratory classes; technological functionalities need further improvement.
  • Future research could explore the integration of emerging technologies like virtual reality (VR) to create more immersive online learning environments.
  • Investigating LS learning experiences and performance in non-Chinese cultural contexts is necessary.

Practical Applications and Design Recommendations

• Implementation Suggestions for Different Courses:
  • Large-scale Lecture Courses: Primarily use teacher audio, video, and screen sharing, supplemented by bullet comments and quiz features.
  • Small-scale Lecture Courses: Two-way audio interaction can enhance teacher-student communication.
  • Interactive Courses: Strengthen student group discussion functionalities and support full video and audio chats.
  • Practical Courses: Improve support for video quality and real-time feedback.
  • Laboratory Courses: Mailing experimental materials or utilizing remote operation technologies is crucial.
• Design Recommendations:
  • Platforms should support diverse interaction forms and balance the use of anonymity and real-name systems.
  • Add focus mode to prioritize important information (e.g., teacher audio and video).
  • Provide hierarchical role systems to support task allocation for teachers and collaborators.

Insights for Future Hybrid Education

• LS learning demonstrated effective remote education possibilities during the pandemic, offering inspiration for future hybrid education that combines online and offline learning. For example, retaining interaction forms like bullet comments, text boxes, and quizzes can enhance learning engagement.

Conclusion

The study summarizes how live-streaming learning supported student education during COVID-19 and proposes design principles and future directions for educational tool development. This has significant value for current online teaching and the construction of future hybrid education, while highlighting the main shortcomings of LS learning and areas for improvement in future research.