Abstract:

During the COVID-19 lockdown period, distance synchronous learning has become an essential option which replaced traditional face-to-face university education. Online teaching is made possible due to the wide variety of different online platforms and web-based methods. Knowledge of possibilities, advantages and disadvantages of these platforms can help better organize the learning process. The aim of this study is to assess the implementation of an English course previously taught in the classroom into an online format based on video conferencing software. The study presents the comparative analysis of some video-conferencing platforms: Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Discord, Skype, Connect, Google Meet, VooV in terms of their functionality, accessibility and convenience as reported on their official websites. Next, we comment on the results of a survey conducted in one of Russian Universities among teachers and students. Both teachers and students showed a noticeable preference for two/three platforms over the others. The key features which played a vital role in positive platform ranking are different for teachers and students. The teachers being conference managers and organizers appreciated free account, break-out rooms, link sharing opportunities while the students emphasized sound settings, chat rooms, link access. We might warn that the ultimate access to the platform from a computer rather than a mobile device considerably enhanced the platform functionality. Otherwise, the survey results might be different.

Keywords:

English as a Foreign Language, Online, Distance Learning, Video-conferencing.