Promoting group self-facilitation in online video conferences

Abstract

A vast amount of educational content has become accessible online, however accessibility alone does not translate to learning. Most learners require social interaction and the support of peers. For example, discussions in small groups can help learners process new concepts. These small group discussions benefit greatly from a skilled facilitator, however, in online communities those may not always be available. In this thesis, I explore how new features in video-conferencing platforms could reduce the need for a skilled facilitator by helping groups self-facilitate. I developed a tool that tracks speaking time and represents it for the group using the opacity of user icons. I conducted a user-study with participants who engaged in video call discussions in small groups and found that the tool increased participants' attention to conversational balance, but their perception of this balance is more related to a sense of "being heard" rather than an objective measure of speaking time. This opens up interesting new avenues for further research.