Abstract:

Technologies such as web conferencing (e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Adobe Connect), also called desktop conferencing, have been used for 10 to 15 years in higher distance education in many countries to bridge geographical distance. During and after the pandemic, there has been a surge in utilisation. The purpose of using web conferencing is often to provide an alternative to text-only communication between instructors and students and to enable synchronous multimodal “meetings” with visual and oral communication. In addition, it is a software-based technology (a browser plug-in) that provides greater spatial flexibility than video conferencing. The use of video conferencing requires expensive hardware, affordable only to higher education institutions, other organisations, and businesses. Therefore, video conferencing limits spatial flexibility.

Every time we implement technology in a teaching and learning situation, the situation will change, and affordances (possibilities and constraints) will emerge. However, even if web conferencing can, to a certain extent, replace on-campus teaching, there are essential differences that influence the teaching and learning situation. Conducting a literature review of affordances (possibilities and constraints) of the pedagogical use of web conferencing will provide knowledge and awareness that can be used to improve our use of this technology and, at times, reduce or even eliminate emerging constraints when using web conferencing in distance higher education.

To investigate:
How can we improve our use of web conferencing based on research on affordances (possibilities and constraints)?

Through a literature review on web conferencing and using Gibson’s Theory of Affordances to analyse the results, we can acquire knowledge and awareness of its affordances to develop better methods for using web conferencing in teaching and learning in higher distance education.

The Scopus database is used to find studies on the affordances of web conferencing in distance higher education. The presentation of results focuses on affordances influencing the teaching and learning situation from the instructor and student perspectives, and possible solutions to reduce or eliminate constraints when using web conferencing in higher distance education.

Preliminary results indicate a variety of affordances to consider when using web conferencing for teaching in distance higher education, including interaction, social presence, instructors’ skills, turn-taking, eye contact, group size, the use of web cam, and so-called “Zoom fatigue”.

Keywords:

Technology, web conferencing, desktop conferencing, literature review, video, affordances, distance higher education.