ON or OFF!? How Arab Students Perceive Using Webcams in Online Learning

The perceptions of students towards turning on their webcams during online learning are conflicting, where some of them support the idea while others are against it. Particularly, limited insights exist in the literature about how Arab students perceive turning on their webcams while learning. To cover this gap, the current study uses mixed methods to investigate how Arab students might perceive turning on their webcams while learning. The quantitative data were gathered by a questionnaire distributed over a sample of 1268 Arab university students, while the qualitative data were collected through open questions. The findings reveal that female students are more reluctant than male students to turn on their webcams. The results also reveal that personal and socio-cultural factors affected the decision of Arab students for turning off their webcams while learning. The findings of this study can contribute to the literature by providing insights about why Arab students might not turn their webcams on while learning, hence having a more comprehensive understanding about the factors that might impact students’ behaviours (i.e., turning on or off their webcams).