Building blocks of vocational higher education teachers' communication competences in e-learning and work experience: a qualitative study

Abstract

This study examined the identification of communication competencies in e-learning by higher education vocational teachers' with varying levels of teaching experience in higher vocational schools. While experience emerged as a significant building block of communication competencies from the literature review, the participants highlighted personal attitude over experience as the primary building block of communication competencies in e-learning. Our research was conducted in January 2022 using MS Teams, a tool also used by teachers in their online teaching and is accessible during class. Through focus groups, semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the findings indicate that novice teachers prioritise content over communication, while more experienced teachers with work experience highlighted the importance of effective communication. This study contributes to the understanding of communication competencies in e-learning with the aim of establishing a more humanised online environment and highlights the need for further research in this area.