Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the world and interrupted many aspects of human life, including the system of education. Due to this condition, distance learning or online learning became a necessity rather than an option for education in the COVID-19 pandemic epoch. In order to protect and save their lives, teachers and their students were forced to shift from in-person instruction (offline learning) to a fully online learning model.

Due to its many advantages, Google Classroom became one of the most popular applications for distance learning. It is a free application which was developed by Google in 2014 for academic purposes. Google Classroom is easy to use, it does not take much memory on a smartphone/computer and it encourages active and effective student-teacher interaction through a virtual online class. These are the reasons why it is one of the best applications for teaching and learning.

The aim of this study is to review the implementation of Google Classroom which was chosen as a distance learning tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examines the perception of EFL students towards the use of Google Classroom in the learning process. The respondents were the students of the Department for Preschool Teacher Education studies Bujanovac, Academy of Vocational Studies Southern Serbia. The data were collected through the special questionnaire which was designed for the purpose of the study, and both quantitative and qualitative research models were employed.

The findings of this study revealed that, generally, the participants had a positive perception of the use of Google Classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of the respondents agreed that Google Classroom was easy to use and effective in the learning process. The application was also time-saving because it enabled them to participate in the learning process anytime and anywhere. Furthermore, the participants stated that Google Classroom helped them to communicate much easier and it also developed their independent learning. On the other hand, this research showed several challenging issues faced by the participants in the learning process through Google Classroom: the lack of face-to-face interaction between students and teachers, the distractions at home and network problems. Finally, most of the participants concluded that they preferred blended courses to distance/online learning.

Keywords:

Google Classroom, distance learning, English language, students’ perception, COVID-19.