There Is Another Room on the Other Side of the Screen: Learning via Zoom in a Hybrid Context

Abstract

The tradition of physical presence in higher education has existed for years. Hybrid learning designs have emerged in recent years as a complement to the traditional way of teaching. This has created flexibility in education independent of time and place. The increasing number of students underscores an ambition to obtain high-quality education. Hence, it becomes critical understand how distance students residing in other countries perceive online-teaching in a synchronous hybrid-form, interconnected with traditional classroom teaching. The purpose is thus to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors affecting the experience of learning and engagement through Zoom. The data consists of 22 hours’ observation of Zoom lectures, supplemented by interviews with two distance students, to enable an in-depth understanding of the Zoom teaching model. The theoretical approach used is Community of Inquiry. The results highlight key conditions for the learning experience in the studied course and show that participation through Zoom in a hybrid classroom affects social and cognitive presence. This limits the interaction between physical classrooms and Zoom rooms and causes limited access to ongoing classroom activities, which slows down the learning process.