A Study of Students’ Perceptions Toward the Use of ICT Tools and Collaboration Activities to Increase Interactions During COVID-19

This study has been conducted to investigate what students thought about their experiences trying to interact more frequently during the fall semester of 2020. It took place in a general English classroom at a private Korean university during the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed to gain insight into students’ perceptions of whether using a learning management system and other Information and Communication Technology tools, taking part in asynchronous discussion board activities, and completing voluntary activities would increase the number of interactions despite taking an emergency online class. A total of 28 first-year students from 6 different sections of a freshmen-level general English course voluntarily participated by filling out a survey at the end of the semester. For data analysis, descriptive statistics were initially analyzed to provide basic numerical data. Then, qualitative analysis was used to find common themes. Finally, student quotes were used to add greater meaning to the findings. The main finding was that the number of interactions between learners and the content, their instructors, and their peers increased due to the use of the learning management system and Information and Communication Technology tools. More detailed findings and implications for future uses are discussed.