Digital spaces of engagement: Perspectives on using zoom and virtual spaces in online classrooms

ABSTRACT

Understanding how to engage learners in a digital space is a growing issue facing many online instructors. Our interest in digital spaces as sites of engagement results from a pedagogical concern with how Zoom, a commonly used videoconferencing software program, fosters learners' engagement with their new digital tool, with the subject matter of the course, and with their instructor and peers. We assert that Zoom is not just a tool or place of learning but a social space regulating users' interaction that is imbued with their previous experiences, perceptions, and expectations. We examine how online engagement is co-constructed in university classrooms using Lefebvre's (The production of space. Blackwell, 1991) triad of "space" conceptual framework. Using examples from our teaching during the COVID-19 switch to the Zoom learning platform, we explain how different forms of engagement were realized in our English language and Linguistics courses. Our perspectives on using Zoom, with its affordances and challenges, may provide other educators with a practical insight into the various ways in which digital engagement can be facilitated. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.