Perceptions of undergraduate students about synchronous video conference-based English courses

The use of videoconferencing technology in higher education has grown substantially in recent years although there is limited information about how these courses are perceived by students. The purpose of this study was to find out the perceptions of undergraduate students with regard to video conference-based English courses. The participants of the study included eighty 3rd year students at two state universities in Turkey. The data were collected through a questionnaire about the perceptions of video conference-based English courses. The results indicated that participants supported the view that university-level English courses should not be taught through video conferencing. Although they agreed upon many advantages of video conferencing, a vast majority of participants thought that English courses should be conducted only in a traditional classroom setting and they did not think video conferencing will help students to learn English better. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.