以面對面、Moodle、Office 365進行課後活動對英文學習動機、學習成效及同儕互動之影響

Impact of Face-to-Face Interactions and Digital Learning Platforms on Learning Motivation, Learning Achievements and Peer Interaction in After-School Activities

本研究目的在比較以面對面、Moodle、Office 365進行課後活動，對學生英文的學習動機、學習成效與同儕互動之影響。以課後活動形式為自變項，分成面對面組、Moodle組、Office 365組，分別以三種不同方式進行英文課程之課後活動，如課後分組討論、課後作業等，並探討其在不同層面之差異。本研究採量化為主、質化為輔的分析方式，以六班143位國中三年級學生為研究對象進行實驗，每種課後活動形式各兩個班級參與。研究結果顯示：一、不同課後活動形式對學習動機無顯著差異；二、面對面組之學習成效顯著優於Office 365組；三、Office365組之同儕互動有高於面對面組之傾向；四、針對討論歷程分析發現，透過Moodle、Office365之學習平台進行討論，會出現特定組員直接貼出解答、各組員直接任務分工等未進行小組討論之情況發生；五、對Moodle組而言，各組員之發言比例與學習成效、同儕互動為正相關；對Office 365組而言，各組員之發言比例與學習成效、學習動機為正相關。

With modern technological advancements, the rise of digital learning has helped teachers and students in many ways; for example, learning is becoming increasingly learner centric. In recent years, learning has been compromised because of school suspensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital learning has helped to reduce the negative impacts on students’ learning, and most students have shown a positive attitude toward digital learning. A learning management system provides a platform for learners to learn and interact with teachers or peers without time and space constraints. Moodle is one of the most popular and widely-used learning management systems. It is open source, offers different functional modules, and is available free of charge. However, according to recent literature, Moodle has several disadvantages. First, the topics discussed by students in the Moodle platform are not focused enough and not easy to be discussed in depth. Second, the interaction is not immediate because of a lack of instant notifications. Third, the interface is not user friendly and is thus difficult to operate. These drawbacks can hinder students’ learning. Office 365 is another digital system that assists students’ learning. Various functions of Office 365, such as Teams’s real-time notifications and OneNote’s recording function, complement Moodle. This study investigated the effects of after-school activities conducted through different media on students’ motivation, learning achievement, and peer interaction.

In present study, after-school activities were conducted face-to-face or via two learning platforms, Moodle and Office 365; the learning platform was considered the independent variables. In total, 143 middle school students were recruited as participants for an after-school activity and distributed into the face-to-face, Moodle, or Office 365 group. The quantitative data of three scales concerning with learning motivation, learning achievement and peer interaction were collected to represent their learning performance. Qualitative data were collected through textual analysis based on student responses to open-ended questions. The quantitative and qualitative data were then statistically analyzed with SPSS Statistics 23.

The results of the quantitative analysis revealed the following results: (1) No significant difference was observed in learning motivation among the different groups. The reasons for the result may be that students were not familiar with learning management systems, the interface and function of the learning systems were complex, or student motivation to learn English was low. (2) The learning achievement of the face-to-face group was significantly higher than that of the Office 365 group. Office 365 has many functions, but it also increases the cognitive load on students. Additionally, middle school students in Taiwan are inexperienced with using learning management systems because of the lack of opportunities to do so. Furthermore, the focus of this research was not the formal school curriculum but after-school activities; therefore, gauging learning effectiveness was challenging. Finally, students are more familiar with face-to-face discussions, and this comfort increases the effectiveness of this mode of learning. (3) Students in the Office 365 group had a higher tendency to interact with peers than those in the face-to-face group. Interacting through Office 365 (as it provides voice and text input for discussions) removes the stress of public speaking, such as that experienced in face-to-face classes, thus increasing participation. However, the peer interaction in the Office 365 group was not significantly higher than that in the Moodle group because the students using Office 365 mainly used text input, which decreased the efficiency of their discussion. (4) Some groups of students using the learning management system (no matter Moodle group or Office 365 group) posted the answers to assignments in the chat room even before much group discussion, or they divided the work among themselves, and not discussing the assignment at all. The students seemed to be unfamiliar with the way in which group discussions are conducted through digital learning platforms. This inexperience was reflected in their lack of teamwork. (5) The ratio of discussions students posted on the Moodle platform (Moodle group) was positively correlated with their learning achievement and interaction with peers. The ratio of discussions students posted on the Office 365 platform (Office 365 group) was positively correlated with their learning achievement and learning motivation.

The results have several implications. First, teachers should consider the most appropriate form of discussion for middle school students when planning group discussion activities during and after lessons. Second, although middle school students are better at learning through face-to-face discussion, the demand for distance learning and the use of digital platforms are increasing. Teachers should encourage the use of digital platforms by planning more exercises to implement through these platforms, thus improving students’ learning performance as well as their efficiency in using these platforms. Third, the students in the Office 365 group had a higher tendency to interact with peers than did those in the face-to-face group. Thus, teacher may use Office 365 initially to make students willing to use digital platforms and for them to get familiar with its usage. Once students are comfortable using the platform, teachers can shift the focus to enhancing the effectiveness of learning. Fourth, when students are engaged in group discussions in after-school activities, only a limited number of students may participate, or students may directly provide answers without discussing them with their peers. Providing students with instructions and training on conducting group discussions may help them make more effective use of learning management systems. Finally, regarding the design of learning management systems, the registration and login procedures should be simplified, and the platform interface and operating functions should be more effectively integrated to make them user friendly. Doing so may enable novices to start and consistently use these systems more easily and reduce the time required by users to familiarize themselves with such systems.