Digital loafing and communication circumstances in online courses

The purpose of this study is to gather information about digital loafing, which is one of the most important factors influencing the effectiveness of student-teacher communication, and the circumstances that might cause this behavior in online courses. Single and correlational models of the general survey models were used in this study. The survey was created by adapting two surveys by McCoy (2020, 2021). With the questions added to the first draft by the researcher, the survey took its final form of 30 questions. The data collected from 183 students were construed in the context of the Student Involvement Theory. For the analysis of the data, t-test, correlation, cross tab and frequency analysis were used. The results indicate that students commonly perform digital loafing during online courses and believe that it harms their focus. Boredom was the prominent reason for digital loafing. Students most commonly attended online courses from their computers and performed digital loafing through their smartphones. Most of them were opposed to making the usage of communication media mandatory. There wasn't a significant difference between females and males regarding the frequency of digital loafing. Distraction and digital loafing levels showed a medium-level positive correlation. Also, attending courses in a laying position is linked to digital loafing.