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Este conteúdo utiliza a Licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Open Access. This content is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type BY
Revista Brasileira de Educação do Campo
Brazilian Journal of Rural Education
ARTIGO/ARTICLE/ARTÍCULO
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e14210
Communication barriers in emergency remote education
Oleksandra Shevchenko1, Vadym Tkachenko2, Kateryna Tkachenko3, Yuliia Nenko4
1 Cherkasy Medical Academy. Department of Professional Medical and Pharmaceutical Disciplines. Khreshchatyk Str., 215,
Cherkasy, 18000, Ukraine. 2, 3 Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University. 4 Cherkasy Institute of Fire Safety named after
Chornobyl Heroes.
Author for correspondence: julia18016@ukr.net
ABSTRACT. Despite the abundance of methods, materials,
pedagogical philosophies, and a variety of teacher training
programs, many educators still do not have the skills and self-
efficacy to effectively navigate the new combinations of
distance, blended, and in-classroom learning. The review of
literature signals the disrupted nature of teacher-student
communication caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This is a
literature review focused on the findings of 206 published open-
access journal articles on teacher-student educational interaction
during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary goal of the
current research is to provide an initial indication of the
potential size and nature of the extant communication barriers in
emergency remote learning. Furthermore, authors attempt to
draw overall conclusions about the merits of existing
propositions or methods aimed at overcoming the existing
barriers. The complaints reported in the surveys include
technical, psychological, personal, emotional, and health issues,
lack of feedback, and poor student engagement. The latter
prompts us to search for good practices that solve the
aforementioned teacher-student interaction barriers or reduce the
scope of these barriers. The outcomes of this study can help
theorize about the many forms of barriers that exist in teacher-
student interactions in emergency remote learning.
Keywords: COVID-19, emergency remote teaching, pandemic
learning, educational interaction, teacher-student interaction.
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Barreras de comunicación en la educación a distancia de
emergencia
RESUMEN. A pesar de la abundancia de métodos, materiales y
filosofías pedagógicas, una variedad de programas de formación
de profesores, muchos educadores aún no tienen las habilidades
requeridas para navegar efectivamente en los nuevos espacios
educativos. Sin embargo, una revisión de la literatura señala la
naturaleza interrumpida de la comunicación entre docentes y
alumnus, causada por la pandemia del coronavirus (COVID-19).
Esta es una revisión de la literatura centrada en los hallazgos de
206 artículos publicados en revistas de acceso abierto sobre la
interacción educativa entre maestros y estudiantes durante la
pandemia de COVID-19. El objetivo principal de la
investigación actual es proporcionar una indicación inicial del
tamaño potencial y la naturaleza de las barreras de
comunicación existentes en el aprendizaje remoto de
emergencia. Además, los autores intentan sacar conclusiones
generales sobre los méritos de las proposiciones o métodos
existentes destinados a superar las barreras existentes. Las
quejas reportadas en las encuestas incluyen técnicas,
psicológico, personal, emocional, problemas de salud, falta de
retroalimentación, poca participación de los estudiantes. Este
último incita a buscar buenas prácticas que resuelvan las
barreras de interacción profesor-alumno señaladas o reduzcan el
alcance de estas barreras. Los hallazgos de este estudio pueden
ofrecer una contribución teórica para comprender los diferentes
tipos de barreras en las interacciones docente-alumno en el
aprendizaje remoto de emergencia.
Palabras clave: COVID-19, enseñanza remota de emergencia,
aprendizaje pandémico, interacción educativa, interacción
maestro-alumno.
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Barreiras de comunicação no ensino remoto emergencial
RESUMO. Apesar da abundância de métodos pedagógicos,
materiais e filosofias, e de uma variedade de programas de
formação de professores, muitos educadores ainda carecem de
habilidades e autoeficácia necessárias para navegar efetivamente
nas novas combinações educacionais de ensino a distância,
semipresencial e presencial. Uma revisão da literatura sinaliza a
natureza perturbada da comunicação professor-aluno. Este artigo
aborda uma revisão de literatura focada nas descobertas de 206
artigos publicados em periódicos de acesso aberto sobre a
interação educacional professor-aluno durante a pandemia. O
objetivo principal da pesquisa atual é fornecer uma indicação
inicial do tamanho potencial e da natureza das barreiras de
comunicação existentes no aprendizado remoto de emergência.
Além disso, os autores tentam tirar conclusões gerais sobre os
méritos das proposições ou métodos existentes destinados a
superar as barreiras existentes. As reclamações relatadas nas
pesquisas incluem barreiras técnicas, psicológicas, pessoais,
emocionais, problemas de saúde, falta de feedback, baixo
engajamento dos alunos. Este último leva à busca de boas
práticas que solucionem as barreiras de interação professor-
aluno delineadas, ou reduzir o alcance dessas barreiras. Os
achados deste estudo podem oferecer uma contribuição teórica
para a compreensão dos diferentes tipos de barreiras nas
interações professor-aluno no ensino a distância emergencial.
Palavras-chave: COVID-19, ensino remoto de emergência,
aprendizagem pandêmica, interação educacional, interação
professor-aluno.
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Introduction
At the end of 2019–beginning of 2020, the world faced an extreme situation – the
COVID-19 pandemic, which affected all categories of the population worldwide. It destroyed
the habitual lives of people, altered social interactions and limited basic human needs, like the
possibility of obtaining various incentives from the external environment, the possibility of
direct communication with significant people, and increased the flow of disturbing
information from the media. All these factors cause psychogenic reactions in the population
and social stress.
The recurring responses from queries and probes pertaining to these research questions
strongly suggest that the education sector is the most prone area for this dangerous disease. Its
impact is highly relevant to the university student population (Cao et al., 2020) and the entire
academic population (Casacchia et al., 2021). This new scenario tests the adaptability,
willingness to change, and flexibility of academia all over the world.
With the level of synchronicity now available to virtually anyone with access to a
telephone and a computer, one would expect that the technologies that revolutionized the
ways we communicate would also find their way into distance education programs. While
trying to manage an array of issues, such as personal health and basic needs, faculty and
students scrambled to find ways to connect and reconnect to the best of their abilities to
accomplish course delivery goals without compromising individual safety. Reports and
studies conducted globally show that when the pandemic hit the countries, higher education
institutions operated with no unified approach country-wise until the fall semester 2020–2021.
Given that the emergency remote teaching came as a surprise, educators had no choice but to
comply with the existing platforms, tools, and applications in completing their teaching
responsibilities. Various platforms (Google Class, Tencent Classroom, Courseware, Moodle,
Blackboard, Rain Classroom) and means of communication were implied; most frequently
live-streaming lectures and uploading materials to learning platforms or social media groups.
Students were exposed to a variety of formats, replacing on-site lectures, like, for instance,
synchronous video lectures, involving tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Tencent
Meeting and similar. The real-time video conferences were followed by asynchronous forms
such as sending presentations to students, video recording, and written communication using
forums and chats. Confusion and chaos caused by the lack of clear organization have been
reported.
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We reviewed open-access empirical studies (206 total) to assess the quality of teacher-
student interaction during the pandemic teaching-learning process. Academics’ and students’
experiences and perceptions of online distance learning have been studied qualitatively and
quantitatively before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the previous studies that
have been conducted mostly focus on problems related to hardware, software, and internet
connectivity, insufficient computer literacy of higher education students and staff, time, work
overload and technical support during the COVID-19 period. Studies on teacher-student
interaction issues within the unprecedented online distance education context, which was
imposed by the emerging nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, are not adequate in
number. Despite the abundance of new research, professional opinions, and suggestions,
communication barriers (deformations of the communication process) during emergency
remote education have not been explored in sufficient detail to become influential and
relevant for policy-makers. The latter prompted the researchers to conduct this study.
Our findings reveal contradictions between the high level of professional knowledge,
skills, and abilities of university teachers and the inability to transfer them to students, poor
ability to involve students in online educational activities, establish and maintain
psychological and pedagogical contact with them, and manage emotional states. Many
lecturers are technology illiterate, so they cannot combine specific knowledge about
technology with existing pedagogical content knowledge. Institutions turned out to be
unprepared for the rapid transition to virtual learning. Reports show that management of many
higher education institutions took actions to close the digital education gap, which included
providing resources and training. Obviously, it is important to consider whether and how
online education affects communication between students and teachers.
Purpose
The primary goal of the current research is to provide an initial indication of the
potential size and nature of the extant communication barriers in emergency remote learning.
Furthermore, authors attempt to draw overall conclusions about the merits of existing
propositions or methods aimed at overcoming the existing barriers.
Research Questions
1. What are the main problems in teacher-student educational interaction in an
online and/or blended learning environment?
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2. What are the good practices and strategies for overcoming barriers in teacher-
student educational interaction?
Methodology
A systematic literature review has been conducted in order to provide the first insights
into the rapidly emerging field of emergency remote education. This approach is congruent
with the aim of this study and provides an overview of the research that has been undertaken
during May 2020–January 2022. The data source was Open Access Journals. Publication type
search: journal articles.
436 items were screened on title and abstract by the authors, applying the search terms:
"COVID-19" or "pandemic" or "coronavirus" and "distance education" or "online education"
or "distance learning" or "pandemic education", and narrowing the search further to education
and science and humanities fields. As the author team is trilingual, studies that were written in
English or Ukrainian were targeted for potential inclusion, and studies that were found in
Russian during the search were also considered. Studies were included if they were empirical,
written in English, Ukrainian, or Russian, and explored teaching and learning in higher
education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The current study encompasses a review of 206 heterogeneous articles. Of these, 68
were conducted at the beginning of the pandemic, capturing the first reactions and thoughts.
42 studies captured the beginning of the 2020/2021 academic year, while the remaining did
not provide information about the data collection period. From the selected studies, the
authors synthesized and summarized data on communicative difficulties during emergency
remote learning, as well as practices and techniques that may be encountered in future online
education.
Findings
Concerns about communication barriers can be found in the literature regarding distance
education for as long as scholars have written about the field (Berge, 2013). This concern has
become more prominent due to the change from an in-person, classroom venue to online
communication.
According to the relevant literature, technological infrastructure and monetary issues are
not the singular factors that entangle adaptation of pandemic online learning procedures.
Apart from the technical challenges that have developed, the negative aspects of online
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education are mostly related to a lack of communication and cooperation, as well as a general
restriction of social contact in the academic context (Zagkos et al., 2022).
The distance education literature speaks of the degradation in interactions between
students and teachers and among students (compared to in-person classrooms) (Berge, 2013).
Communication, and more concretely, the absence of interaction between teaching staff and
students, seems to be one of the main problems.
In light of related research, it is obvious that communication barriers exist in any
communication process. They are greater in distance education due to physical distance
between members, insufficient technology skills, difficulties using media, a need for more
human interaction, time constraints and restrictions, and a lack of experience with distance
education. Furthermore, people’s personal, social, and economic needs are also affecting
communication. These problems make it hard to establish a distance education process and
develop effective communication between members. The findings of previous studies show
that most issues are shared across countries. However, the degree of these barriers differs
from institution to institution and from one country to another.
Professional and experienced teachers understand teacher-student interaction and
communication importance. Most studies prove that academicians find many disadvantages of
distance education with regard to the relationship with students. The survey on Italian
university teachers by Casacchia et al. (2021) found that 64.7% of teachers (sample of 97
teachers) complained about the “discomfort of speaking” in the void “through a camera,
without face-to-face contact with the students”.
An exhaustive review of literature regarding communication barriers to distance
education implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic summarizes technical,
personal, psychological, and emotional barriers, as well as lack of feedback, poor student
engagement, and health problems.
Technical barriers
The technical barrier associated with computer skills deficiency was the most frequently
reported barrier in the survey. The COVID-19 pandemic forced teachers and students into a
sudden transition to emergency online education without prior preparation or guidelines.
Teachers’ expertise in online learning varies (Manar Nabolsi et al., 2021); many still do not
have the necessary training and skills to take advantage of technological resources (Kilinc,
2021), and this lack of experience creates major barriers that inhibit synchronous interactions
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and learners’ engagement in emergency distance education. Some teachers claimed that
preparing and conducting online classes was tough due to a lack of IT expertise.
It has been reported that teachers fear that something technically may go wrong with
computer software and record their lectures instead of conducting synchronous live sessions
with their students, where they could interact with them. This led to students "being
bombarded with lectures... while sitting in front of a webcam" (Bozkurt & Sharma, 2020).
Students listen monotonously to the one-way traffic mode of communication since the
teacher’s main focus usually remains on the successful completion of the required number of
lectures (Kakepoto et al., 2021). Concordantly, a large cohort of students dropped out of the
education process, giving preference to two-way communication in synchronous discussions
and independent internet searching.
Many students could not continue their education online as they were not accustomed or
trained to using new educational applications. As some preliminary research shows, the
variety of methods used in the teaching process was problematic not only for the students but
for the teachers as well.
Online teaching relies heavily on infrastructure, and if infrastructure and training are
available, online education becomes more efficient. However, the infrastructure for online
teaching in most countries is either missing or insufficient. The latter impedes successful
implementation of the e-learning system in many countries (Kakepoto et al., 2021). One of
the most difficult issues teachers have is reaching out to students who do not have access to
the digital environment (Frohn, 2021).
The rapid closures of educational institutions have affected all the students. However,
students from rural backgrounds were negatively impacted on a larger scale as compared to
the urban areas (Bao, 2020). The pandemic has exposed and deepened pre-existing education
inequalities. Students from low and lower-middle-income countries were not able to purchase
the books, notebooks and other study materials. Moreover, many families were not able to
facilitate the online learning materials (efficient Android phone, computer, internet expenses
and separate space for each student) due to the lack of financial scarcity in the pandemic.
Students are also challenged with the storage capacity of their available digital devices.
According to the United Nations, nearly one-third of students around the world are unable to
participate in remote learning because they lack the necessary technology to connect from
home (UNESCO Institute for Statistic Data, 2020).
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Many teachers and students from rural areas were not able to use educational apps like
Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, etc. or attend live online classes.
There were other factors that disrupted the online teaching-learning process, like
electricity interruptions, sudden weather changes in mountainous areas, network failures, etc.
Technical problems are other issues, wherein the screen shared by faculties during online
sessions is not clearly visible on smartphones. Students report "Zoom glitches" (Gan & Sun,
2022), acoustic interference, distracting environments, or problems with video or audio that
are hindering engagement in online learning communication and making both students and
educators anxious. This has happened while taking exams or doing assignments.
Good practice. As teaching by means of modern educational technologies requires a
variety of digital teaching methods, tools, and skills that many educators are not familiar with,
educators need to be trained on how to use these new devices and how to integrate them into
their own implementations. Obviously, ongoing training and professional development for
teachers is obligatory, since instructors should improve their technological literacy. After the
first wave of COVID-19, higher education institutions or campuses have taken numerous
steps towards solving platform problems, improving internet connection, setting new online
exam procedures and standards, and offering training workshops. Many have started
providing training to use Moodle or other e-learning apps such as Google Classroom or G
Suite.
Good practices for educators include but are not limited to: attendance of workshops
and completion of self-taught training sessions; learning from scratch on platforms and
specific software for teaching in the related subject areas; improvement in PowerPoint lecture
presentations (e.g., animations, video file insertion, transformation into mp4 files). Though
perceived as punishment by many educators, ongoing and explicit professional
development (Williams et al., 2021) is crucial for teachers. Not paying attention to teachers
and their difficulties could influence the quality of their didactics and the learning and future
success of their students (Georgoulias et al., 2021).
It is highly recommended to provide better communication facilites to distance learners
through digital support by student support services (Anjum & Iqbal, 2020). Finally, building
teachers’ competencies and skills for all aspects of distance education, starting from the initial
education of teachers, is essential (Mićić et al., 2021).
Academicians currently report better opportunities for exchanges and conversation with
colleagues during the first semester of the academic year 2021-2022, and they value better
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collaboration with other faculty members (Casacchia et al., 2021). Educators reported
assisting their colleagues mostly with the practical aspects of conducting classes on the e-
platform.
Personal barrier
Negative dimensions are created by personal barriers, which hinder the effectiveness of
the communication process, and the productivity of all facilities and opportunities is,
therefore, decreased. Due to resistance to change and anxiety while engaged in remote
distance education, students and teachers suffer from various psychological problems.
Personal barriers are caused by the lack of flexibility in personal beliefs of an educator and/or
a student, inability to restructure perceptions, motives, and emotional responses in accordance
with the changing situation. Inertia, backwardness from the realities of life, are characteristic
of those experienced teachers who are not engaged in self-education, professional self-
improvement, and critical rethinking of their scientific and pedagogical achievements.
Many “technology stutterers” prefer the traditional way of teaching and do not agree to
change the usual patterns of educational interaction. Mikušková and Verešová (2020) draw
attention to the fact that more experienced teachers may perceive distance learning as
threatening, since they may lack the knowledge of tools and have fewer skills in the use of
modern technologies necessary for remote interaction between teachers and students.
Worthy of attention is that distance education is negatively perceived by elderly
academicians and is often regarded as an intrusion on the teachers’ privacy. Many educators
are highly stressed by the "contact at any time of the day, irrespective of private personal
time" students. As reported by Casacchia et al. (2021), the teacher’s closer and continuous
contact with the students outside the lesson time, which was unthinkable before the lockdown,
was a positive aspect of distance education for more than a third of the Italian teachers,
presumably appreciating the less formal relationship teacher-student created by the COVID-
19 climate, stimulating a "sense of team" to cope with a traumatic event affecting the whole
community.
Nonetheless, subsequently, the sense of responsibility toward teaching gradually
facilitated accepting the situation and managing anxiety, stress, confusion, frustration, and
helplessness toward this crisis, a sense of mental and physical insecurity to be able to fulfill
teaching duties and responsibilities, as reported by Casacchia et al. (2021) and Manar Nabolsi
et al. (2021).
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Psychological barriers
As regards psychological barriers, our study found that they constitute the most
apparent type of barrier. Although the situation differed for academia across the world,
studies looking at the impact of the pandemic equally reported that both educators and
students experienced insufferable psychological pressure that negatively impacted their
educational interaction. Depressive symptoms with different severity levels caused by
COVID-19 are reported in all the related literature (Akour et al., 2020; Casacchia et al., 2021;
Manar Nabolsi et al., 2021).
Wang et al. (2020) investigated the psychogenic reactions of the population during an
epidemic by analogy with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. In 53% of cases,
respondents report moderate or severe psychological impact from the pandemic. Most often,
pronounced symptoms of stress were observed in women and students.
Studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency distance teaching on
the psychological well-being of university teachers in Jordan, Akour et al. (2020) reported
various levels of psychological distress among approximately 70% of academic staff, who
were highly concerned about social isolation, the increased likelihood of cheating among
students during online examinations, the effort and time needed to prepare online
examinations and fair evaluation assignments, the intrusion of privacy, and reduced
interaction with students.
Students switching to online learning during COVID-19 experience a high level of
psychological stress (Ozüdoğru, 2021). Numerous restrictions prescribed by measures to
combat the pandemic, reducing daily mobility, inability to pursue hobbies, reduced sports,
denial of access to cultural institutions, ban on the public organization of musical events, as
well as an almost complete absence of gatherings, put students in a position of inability to
choose activities, ergo their mechanisms of coping with everyday life were compromised
(Antonovic, 2021). Apathy, despair, giving up, rejection, sadness, lack of faith in one's own
talents, nihilistic thinking, utter surrender, and an a priori acceptance of the situation as
hopeless were all symptoms of psychological stress.
Scholars all over the world have recognized the presence of a psychological barrier. A
descriptive study conducted by Chaitra et al. (2021) on first year students from various
medical colleges in Karnataka, India, investigating their feelings during the COVID shutdown
shows more than 50% of students’ daily activities are affected by stress; more than 75% of
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respondents are stressed thinking about their future due to the absence of practical and clinical
exposure. Many feel stressed and miss college and friends.
Other studies on the barriers to participating in distance learning also revealed concerns
about excessive stress and anxiety that are disrupting the ability to concentrate on educational
activities; both students and teachers become more vulnerable to depression. A suicide rate
increment has also been reported throughout the world (Cao et al., 2020).
Information and communication technologies also pose psychological issues for
educators and have an impact on their job performance, resulting in lower productivity and
even "technostress" (La Torre et al., 2019).
Good practices. According to the relevant literature, active coping behavior reduces
negative psychological symptoms (Main et al., 2011). Further analysis by Gan and Sun (2022)
revealed three coping behaviors, including improvising, building technical and social assets.
Present-day literature also gives prominence to the teachers’ most frequent coping
strategies: acceptance, advanced planning, re-framing, and being proactive about the
situation (Macintyre et al., 2020).
The survey data by Chaitra et al. (2021) has shown that to cope with the feelings of
stress, students try relaxation methods. Many have opted for exercise groups, spirituality and
music, have approached family members or friends for remedy. Some have opted for
counselling from psychiatrists. However, none of the surveyed students opted for college
counseling or college mentors for their stress related issues.
Furthermore, successful academic performance needs a positive outlook, dedication,
and motivation from all the stakeholders. When giving constructive feedback, the lecturer as a
supporter can find a way to promote affirmative messages to students. Students should be
informed about college counselors or mentors on a regular basis so that they can seek help
when needed.
In parallel, Mićić et al. (2021) put the spotlight on the change and dynamic shift in the
way teachers have positioned themselves across the COVID-19 pandemic time in Serbia:
from preoccupation with health, duties, workload, and coping issues at the onset of the
pandemic, to the new awareness of the learning-process-and-outcomes-related issues and a
clear focus on learning and outcomes, coupled with teaching-related coping strategies.
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Emotional barriers
Another significant communication challenge addressed in the distance education
literature involves emotional barriers evoked by the feeling of isolation felt by students. With
the prolonged closure of educational institutions, many students feel isolated. Academicians
raise the issue of peers’ interaction and discussions during virtual classes as being a
disadvantage in online distant education. Isolation of students from peer groups and lack of
instant eye-to-eye verbal and non-verbal communication affects learning and leads to the loss
of learning interest among the students.
From the studies, we can conclude that students worldwide experienced negative
emotions such as boredom, anxiety, frustration, anger, hopelessness, feelings of isolation and
alienation, disconnection, and shame, as well as mild to severe depressive symptoms.
Students’ preferences for face-to-face learning have been established in recent studies (Atwa
et al., 2021).
It is believed that educational institutions are responsible for compensating for
communication barriers in order to reduce student dropout rates and help students integrate
their academic and social experiences into their education (Berge, 2013). The surveys
(Whittle et al., 2020; Williams et al., 2021) highlight the social role of the teacher to support
the students and maintain a regular personal connection with them, as well as counsel stressed
or vulnerable students, since this is their first experience with distance learning. As
researchers stated, teachers had to change their ways of communicating with students in order
to advise and guide them, which was particularly observable in academic tutoring.
During the pandemic, teachers experience increased anxiety and helplessness in the
same way as people from other professional backgrounds (Mikušková & Verešová, 2020).
Faculty members in many universities were overwhelmed with providing emotional support
for their students to alleviate their fear of the pandemic and the abrupt shift to online distance
teaching. It was an essential step in alleviating students’ negative attitudes regarding online
learning, according to Manar Nabolsi et al. (2021).
This can be challenging and add a huge amount of uncompensated time and energy to
teachers’ workloads. Many instructors were frustrated by students’ unrealistic expectations of
their teachers’ capacity to solve their online educational problems. Nonetheless, it is
important and beneficial for teachers to create shared spaces for students so that their
emotional needs can be met along with their educational needs (Lynch, 2020). University
students consider the courses recorded to cause difficulties in interaction.
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Ozüdoğru (2021) stated that teachers in a state university in Turkey mainly reported
individual problems pertaining to students, such as being unable to establish communication
with friends and not feeling the classroom atmosphere.
Students who are limited to online learning have a better experience when they have
opportunities to interact with other students (Whittle et al., 2020). The use of digital media
allows a greater opportunity for contact outside of class hours (via e-mail or WhatsApp)
(Casacchia et al., 2021). Using technology to maintain social relationships has a substantial
impact on students’ mental well-being, making social networks an important source of
support during the pandemic.
Good practices. Instructors and course designers still need to focus attention on
designing an online/distance learning environment for student engagement, where all students
and instructors can share their opinions, ask questions, and generally create a sense of
belonging to a group (Berge, 2013).
Social interaction can be enhanced through arranging online school gaming clubs to
provide students with a means to socialize (Williams et al., 2021), to stimulate and involve the
students, even from a distance. Online group work can be used to facilitate learners in
establishing a community.
Lack of Feedback
The lack of feedback that affected the quality of interaction was an additional challenge
discussed in the literature (Atwa et al., 2021; Manar Nabolsi et al., 2021). Student-teacher
interaction plays an essential role in online learning and has been perceived by students as the
most important type of interaction to keep them engaged. At the point of the implementation
of distance education, students have reported that the processes of feedback, interaction, and
question-answer were incomplete in terms of addressing their emotional needs amid the
circumstances created due to the Coronavirus.
Important issues also include the lack of personal contact with teaching staff, which
cannot be fully recreated in the distance learning environment. Although the amount of
contact the student has with the instructor determines the success of an online learning
program, collaboration did not appear on the agenda of the emergency remote teaching in
spite of the affordability of online platforms, as reported by Bao (2020). Many students were
demotivated, not enthusiastic, uninterested in online learning, in doing assignments, and often
refused to turn on their cameras, switch on the microphones, give oral presentations, and
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answer questions only when prompted. Having more than 30 students in one session makes
eye contact impossible, as well as the teacher’s ability to track students’ presence. The
teachers felt as though they were talking to their laptops without obtaining any clues from
their students or following up to ensure that they understood (Manar Nabolsi et al., 2021).
Additionally, lack of feedback or contact with participants and not having face-to-face
contact with them creates difficulty in evaluating participants. Many students frequently
encountered problems related to the instructor, such as being unable to establish
communication with the instructor to get feedback related to the course or to report problems
until the time of synchronous courses came (Ozüdoğru, 2021).
Often, students reported feeling confused, anxious, or frustrated and wanting quicker
feedback from the teacher regarding course content, assignments, or management of the
online class (Berge, 2013). As Workneh and Lin (2021) aptly note, faculty and students
experienced a sense of loss of connection and the trust traditionally built through in-person
learning.
Good practices. As Anjum et al. (2020) point out in their study, it is recommended to
provide timely feedback to the distance learners, which enhances the teaching-learning
process. Many teachers report that they have learned the importance of providing feedback to
students in various ways. Nonetheless, most of the faculty members believe that responding to
questions by students is easier during face-to-face teaching. Direct feedback on examinations
and procedures can only be given face-to-face in front of the tutors (Atwa et al., 2021).
Therefore, purposefully fostering all the potential for cooperation (Mićić et al., 2021)
between all the stakeholders and within each academic group is highly desirable.
As one of the distinguishing features of progressive education, interactional and
collaborative communication should be considered when designing activities. Some relevant
studies to the focus of this study show that instructors have started to use online activities to
increase students’ engagement, such as integrating participation goals, using task-based,
project-based, and problem-solving tasks, debates, inviting specialized guest speakers, and
integrating apps such as Kahoot, Wakelet, Wordwall, Padlet, Quizlet, LearningApps,
Mentimenter, Nearpod, and ConnectYard. By participating in real-life-related tasks involving
cooperation among peers, students will benefit from this quality, contributing to their personal
development and teamwork in future careers (Bao, 2020).
Furthermore, having access to resources and services such as tutors, academic planners,
and technological assistance can help distant learners succeed.
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Student engagement
With the start of online classes, teachers worldwide saw an overall decrease in student
engagement during classes provided during the COVID-19 pandemic and a significant decline
in student learning motivation and interest. Remote education stimulated the weakening of the
affective bond between academicians and students. The difficulty of assessing students’
attention was a complaint among the teachers.
Our data analysis, in line with Zagkos et al. (2022), indicates the lack of feedback and
educational cooperation, and poor student engagement during online education, as well as the
general restriction of social contact in the academic context, as major communication barriers.
Many students have been lost from the educational system because of closures and lack of a
reliable way to communicate with educators. The transition from face-to-face teaching
methods to more indirect methods caused specific difficulties in distance education
implemented in the COVID-19 pandemic, such as poor students’ participation in education,
unwillingness to learn and/or attend classes, inability to learn online and limited
comprehension of the material, and low focus and concentration.
Bozkurt and Sharma (2020) imply that the hitherto focus on students’ engagement has
become an afterthought. Even when students adapt efficiently to online learning, and
participate actively in the new educational environments, research data shows a lack of
enthusiasm and a strongly negative emotional status (Agung et al., 2020). Students’ self-
management abilities were poorer in online classes than in traditional classes (Bao, 2020).
In Italy, merely a quarter of teachers perceived good student involvement, as reported
by Casacchia et al. (2021). The hardest challenge facing the educators in Jordan was their
students’ inability to engage in online learning as they were not prepared technically,
logistically, and mostly psychologically (Manar Nabolsi et al., 2021).
As a result of this feeling of disconnection, students displayed behaviors of losing
interest in the class, finding it hard to concentrate, feeling disengaged, and finally evaluating
themselves as less productive (Yang, 2021).
In the Italian sample, the most distressing psychological aspect was represented by the
burden of speaking "to the void" in front of a screen (Cassachia et al., 2021). Most of the
teachers complained about the difficulty of judging student engagement and understanding
because of the absence of direct "face-to-face" eye contact and calling on students while
screen sharing. Finally, student engagement even affects the teacher’s motivation to teach.
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The situation is similar in most countries: complaints about reduced interaction with
students during lessons, delays in graduation, a sudden rise in dropouts, and learning losses
were reported in the majority of studies. In particular, first year students were found to be at a
high risk of attrition during their freshman year.
Good practice. Studies have shown that to get students present and engaged, educators
make use of different platforms, combining learning formats (both synchronous and
asynchronous). We found that faculty members develop assignments to meet manifold
preferences and encourage student input, use different tools like virtual whiteboards, breakout
rooms, anonymous quizzes, arrows or markers, or alternative software, and provide individual
feedback to students. Additionally, they implement ungraded quizzes to gauge understanding
and increase engagement. The provision of more group interaction, alternative class formats
with segmented lectures, timed case-based discussion in breakout rooms, or multiple, smaller
class sessions may enhance the distance learner’s performance. Most faculty members agree
on the need to avoid fatigue by scheduling lectures prior to more interactive sessions.
In addition, according to Boon (2015), educators’ presence in an online learning and
teaching environment is important in engaging students. Despite the options offered that
educators may choose to have a smaller or zero presence online, Boon proposed several
facilitation strategies that can make students more motivated and interested in their learning:
synchronous online office hours to support student learning and knowledge development by
means of telephone consultations, online audio/video, Google Hangouts, etc.; provision of
recorded assignment explanations (by means of audio and video); provision of direct
(synchronous) instruction; regular interaction with students (individually or in groups; by
means of chat sessions, Google Hangouts, Google Meet, etc., setting up group work space);
creation of a positive learning environment to stimulate learning, showing respect for students
by appropriate conversational tone and word choice (Boon, 2015).
The sequential mixed-methods study by Abou Khalil et al. (2021) identified the
engagement strategies that higher education students, engaged in emergency online learning
in low-resource settings, perceive to be effective. They include screen sharing, summaries,
and class recordings; collaboration on projects and case studies; discussion of educational
content in groups; regular response to students’ emails, calls, and messages by the instructor;
allocating time for questions and answers during the online class; posting announcements, and
emailing reminders; sending explanatory videos to students; checking students’ understanding
after disconnection; calling students by name and their encouragement to participate; the
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implications of multimedia when explaining; online office hours; communication with
students through a unified platform; keeping cameras on, etc. Finally, instructors can
encourage student collaborations and personal student contacts for educational interactions.
These obviously require an active and large presence of educators online. However, it is
evident that, regardless of whether educators have a small or big presence online, students
need to know that they are not alone in virtual classrooms.
Health problems
There is a general concern about the negative health implications of a prolonged stay at
home, like physical inactivity and sedentary behavior, changes in eating habits, increased
alcohol consumption, mental health problems, reduced quality of sleep, etc.
Bertrand et al. (2021) discovered increased sedentary behavior and alcohol use, a loss in
physical activity, and a drop in the quality of the Canadian students' food when they
investigated how the rapid adjustments and limits influenced students' health behaviors and
habits.
The vast majority of students admit that with the introduction of emergency remote
learning, their nutrition has changed. Thus, most started consuming more food and violated
the established diet. Many students began to eat at night, which also had a negative impact on
their lifestyle and health. Ultimately, all of these aspects affected the increase in body weight.
Recent studies on the influence of increased time in front of a visual display terminal on
the ocular complaints of students during the pandemic report that online learning and screen
entertainment time were extended on average by 4 hours and 40 minutes, respectively. Data
collected by Sterczewska et al. (2022) from 368 students reveals that only 8% of students
admitted to having no ocular symptoms and 77% reported the exacerbation of previous ocular
complaints. Reported symptoms included pain or discomfort in the eyes, itchiness, dryness,
red eyes, feeling gritty particles under the eyelids, and blurred vision. During the COVID-19
pandemic, 41% of individuals reported that their visual acuity had deteriorated.
The highest rates of complaints were found with respect to nervousness, feeling of
irritation, sleep disturbances, headaches, dizziness, and backaches, as reported by
Antonovic (2021). Dry mouth, breathing and sleeping difficulties, quick heartbeat, minor
tremors, and an occasional feeling of fear are all psychosomatic manifestations. Also, due to
all these intensified manifestations, it was very difficult for the students to motivate, organize,
focus, plan, relax, and rest. The study of Webster University students shows that during the
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entire period of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students had a feeling of complete loss of
energy and were unable to launch into action and spent time alone, in silence, sleeping,
watching TV, playing games, as well as in anticipation of a quick end to the pandemic
(Antonovic, 2021).
Researchers mentioned the negative and harmful effects of misinformation overload and
"infodemic" on the mental health of individuals. Evidently, mental health problems among
students in higher academia caused by university closings, quarantine, and isolation are
undoubtedly aggravated. Suicidal ideation, deterioration of sleep quality, headaches during
the night or early in the morning, and depression disorder among university students are
declared by global studies and should be considered alarming since sleep problems are
associated with a worse quality of life, higher occurrence of hypertension, physical inactivity,
and increased demand for health services. Consequently, students reported feeling lazy and
less energized during the pandemic.
A study from the United Kingdom found a shift in sleep behavior between pre-COVID
(Fall 2019) and COVID (April–May 2020) data; participants reported staying up later but not
sleeping longer (Savage et al., 2020).
Both students and educators also mentioned a significant increase in difficulty
concentrating, remembering, or making decisions. Many other negative aspects were seen
during the pandemic, such as increased alcohol and marijuana consumption, a decrease in the
frequency of smoking and vaping, use of psychotropic medications, and a decline in the
physical activity of students (Savage et al., 2020).
Good practices. According to Sterczewska et al. (2022), students involved in e-learning
should monitor their time spent in front of electronic devices. Actions such as cutting down
the entertainment time, using eye drops, having breaks from studying to have distant vision,
consultation with an ophthalmologist, and using warm and cold compresses on the eyes are
recommended (Sterszewska et al., 2022).
The results of the current study complemented the findings of previous studies by
Ahammed et al. (2021), who strongly advocate planning and implementing programs aimed at
strengthening the mental health of university students during the pandemic. The scholars also
suggest establishing a psychological counseling unit in universities that would allow students
to get connected with professional psychiatrists through the internet or via cell phone for a
direct interview and mental health assessment. Following the pandemic of COVID-19, efforts
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were made to combat homestay-followed mental health problems; of such services,
psychological counseling through telephone hotlines was commonly provided.
Going to health or psychological counseling and learning other coping techniques might
help people develop healthier habits and reduce or prevent future ailments.
Conclusions
This study is significant in gaining insight into the experiences of teacher-student
interaction during remote, abrupt, and unprecedented distance learning implemented due to
the COVID-19 pandemic and adds support to the current research on the impacts of COVID-
19 on education.
As a conclusion from the above presented findings of the literature review, it has
become evident that diverse obstacles were raised in the academic environment by the
uncertain situation that the pandemic crisis created. The closure of university institutions,
changes in daily routine schedules, lack of face-to-face or reduced teacher-student educational
interaction disrupt the academic functioning of students and educators. Perpetuated
lockdowns, isolation, and social distance have affected the overall physical, social, mental,
and moral well-being of academicians and students.
Technical barriers (such as a lack of technical skills and facilities, financial constraints,
a distracting environment, an erroneous choice of specialized methods, and a lack of training
and assistance) are the most frequently mentioned concerns in all distance education
literature.
Psychological barriers manifested in stress and anxiety, personal barriers caused by
resistance to change and fear of technology, and emotional barriers promoting feelings of
isolation and boredom raise concerns that some students may be left behind in educational
interaction.
Sedentary behavior, alcohol use, ocular complaints, sleep difficulties, headaches,
backaches, mental health issues, and other health problems were discovered among higher
education institution teachers and students.
Existing evidence on students’ online learning experiences during the COVID-19
pandemic suggests attention to several other concerns, including problems with poor student
engagement and lack of feedback. Compared to the traditional classroom environment, online
learning during the COVID-19 pandemic promoted students’ reduced interaction, a rise in
dropouts, a delay in graduation, and reduced personal contact in all parts of the world.
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The findings from the present study fill a knowledge gap by providing good practices or
strategies that solve the outlined teacher-student interaction barriers or reduce the scope of
these barriers. Minimizing barriers in distance education is needed to create an effective
distance education system.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank all the brave defenders of Ukraine from the terrible Russian invaders
who made finalizing this article possible.
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Article Information
Received on April 02nd, 2022
Accepted on April 30th, 2022
Published on May, 31th, 2022
Author Contributions: The author were responsible for the designing, delineating, analyzing and interpreting the data,
production of the manuscript, critical revision of the content and approval of the final version published.
Conflict of Interest: None reported.
Article Peer Review
Double review.
Funding
No funding.
How to cite this article
APA
Shevchenko, O., Tkachenko, V., Tkachenko, K., & Nenko, Y. (2022). Communication barriers in emergency remote education.
Rev. Bras. Educ. Camp., 7, e14210. http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e14210
ABNT
SHEVCHENKO, O.; TKACHENKO, V.; TKACHENKO, K.; NENKO, Y. Communication barriers in emergency remote
education. Rev. Bras. Educ. Camp., Tocantinópolis, v. 7, e14210, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.20873/uft.rbec.e14210
