Introversion-extraversion and online course satisfaction

PurposeThe 2020 Coronavirus pandemic forced universities to hastily transition to eLearning on a mass scale, necessitating the identification of populations who are more challenged by the transition. This study aims to identify how students’ level of introversion/extraversion and digital literacy come to play in their satisfaction with the eLearning environment.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis examined 272 Israeli students who moved from a face-to-face learning environment to a Zoom learning environment between March–July 2020, following the outbreak of the pandemic. All the participants completed two rounds of surveys, and 62 of the 272 participants were then interviewed, and their social network was mapped using a sociogram.FindingsFindings indicated that, in accordance with the “poor get richer” hypothesis, introverts expressed more satisfaction from the transition to the video-conferencing Zoom platform than extraverts. In addition, for highly introverted people, high digital literacy was significantly associated with increased course satisfaction, whereas for highly extraverted people, a high number of social ties with peers from the course was associated with course satisfaction.Originality/valueAs expected, the study’s findings shows that there is no “one size fits all” approach for online learning. Learners with different personalities can benefit from learning environments that foster greater satisfaction with the learning experience. Online platforms can, and should, be designed in a way that offers this needed personalization, and this study provides initial principles that can inform such personalization.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-01-2023-0028