Exploring Students' Experiences in Using Digital Collaborative Whiteboards for Reading Activities

Abstract

The use of Digital Collaborative Whiteboards (DCWs) has become increasingly important in the context of English language learning for collaborative reading activities. Nevertheless, there has been a lack of studies on how students perceive these platforms in higher education. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to examine the experiences of students, their benefits, and obstacles in using Digital Collaborative Whiteboards to help with reading activities. For the study, a qualitative research design was applied by implementing the Basic Interpretive Study which included 15 undergraduate students studying English Education and having some experience in using Digital Collaborative Whiteboards for reading activities. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with the help of students' collaborative learning results and were analyzed with qualitative data analysis. The results show that students had experience with the use of Digital Collaborative Whiteboards in terms of participation, interaction, and the sense of presence. In addition, the participants found that these platforms helped them better understand and engage in the process of collaboration and interaction in reading activities. However, there were some challenges such as technical problems, difficulties in comprehending platform features, and distraction caused by the abundance of information on collaborative boards.