Exploring teachers’ views on emotion transfer in virtual classrooms during emergency remote teaching

Abstract

The present study explored emotion transfer-related views of teachers holding online classes in emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. We carried out the study with 630 teachers, the majority of whom were primary school teachers, serving at public and private K-12 schools. This was a descriptive survey study as it described the teachers’ views as they were. The data were collected using the “Emotional Presence in Online Learning Scale” (EPOLS) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings revealed that the majority of teachers used the EBA Virtual Classroom application in emergency remote teaching while a small number of them utilized other virtual classroom applications. In addition, the teachers reported using messaging applications effectively, but it was not the case for social media. The private school teachers found virtual classroom applications efficient in transferring (conveying and receiving) emotions compared to public school teachers. The scores on the EPOLS and receiving emotions subscale pointed out that the female teachers found virtual classroom applications more effective than their male counterparts. Moreover, it was found that the preschool teachers and classroom teachers found virtual classroom applications more effective in receiving emotions than the high school teachers and middle school teachers, respectively. Finally, those with undergraduate and postgraduate education recognized emotion transfer in virtual classrooms more efficient than the teachers with an associate degree.