Impact of reading messages on student learning and note‐taking during a video lecture

Background Many instructors transitioned their courses from face‐to‐face environments to computer‐mediated learning environments (CMLEs) following the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. However, little was known about how teleconferencing platforms and their corresponding functions affect student learning when the COVID‐19 pandemic began. Objectives The aim of this study was to provide more clarity on the conditions through which online teleconferencing platforms influence student achievement. More specifically, this study investigated how displaying lecture‐relevant and lecture‐irrelevant messages in a chat box during a video lecture delivered via the Zoom teleconferencing platform affected student learning and note taking. Methods Participants viewed the video lecture either with (relevant or irrelevant) or without messages appearing in the chat box of the Zoom window. Participants completed a learning test immediately following the lecture. Results and Conclusions No difference regarding student achievement was observed between the three groups. However, results revealed that students in the relevant‐lecture messages group reported a higher extraneous cognitive load than the other groups even if they reported positive attitudes about the messages appearing on the chat box. Students in the lecture‐relevant group also recorded more notes during the lecture compared to the two other groups, but this result did not reach significance. This study extends previous research that investigated how messaging influences learning in classroom settings. Findings suggest that allowing relevant discussions is not the best strategy to promote learning in CMLEs as this information seems to compete with the other relevant information being presented during the ongoing lecture. Lay Description What is already known about this topic In video lectures, the chat box has been identified as the function most often used to support students' learning. Responding to lecture‐relevant messages can enhance students' learning. However, it remains unknown how simply reading, but not responding to, lecture‐relevant and lecture‐irrelevant messages can affect learning and note taking. What this paper adds In previous studies, researchers examined how messaging affects learning in a classroom setting, but not within a computer‐mediated lecture environment. The present study extends previous research that investigated how messaging influences learning in classroom s