Perceptions of students and instructors toward the role of CommEasy in tackling communication and interaction barriers in distance-learning classrooms

The educational field has been greatly affected by the current revolution in ICT, especially the advancements made in the use of handheld devices such as smartphones with touch screen capabilities, which have become extremely popular among university students worldwide. Universities and educators have realised that using such devices in education can help to bridge the gap between the way students live and the way they learn as well as enrich the learning experience and tackle the problems students face. This trend has led to developing numerous educational mobile systems to support the teaching-learning process and to tackle the problems that students and instructors face. Hesitation, shyness and crowded classrooms are barriers that can discourage students from participating. This paper presents the perceptions of instructors and students of the interactive communication system CommEasy. This system was developed mainly to tackle a number of communication barriers that female students face in distance-learning classrooms and provide them with a convenient way to pose questions to instructors using their own handheld devices. Results of the evaluation show that students and instructors have a very positive attitude toward the role of CommEasy in supporting communication and participation and removing the barriers they face.