Personality Characteristics and Students’ Engagement in a Forced Distance Learning

Since the beginning of the world COVID-19 pandemic, schools have faced the challenge of effectively engaging adolescents over distance learning platforms. The goal of the study was to examine the relationship between secondary school students’ online engagement in forced distance learning during the pandemic, personality characteristics, loneliness, and the experience of Zoom. The 235 adolescents completed an online survey, containing both closed-ended questions that were statistically analyzed and an open-ended question that was coded by three trained independent reviewers. The study took place during a lockdown due to a third wave of coronavirus in Israel and all the participants were students studying through Zoom. Findings show that higher agreeableness, openness to experience and consciousness, explain adolescents' higher engagement in online studies. Moreover, higher participation in Zoom and experiencing it more positively predict higher engagement. Findings also indicated that the more the adolescents were lonely, neurotic and extroverted, the less positive they experienced the distance learning. These findings can enable educators to better adjust their classes to the new learning environment and help adolescents gain tools to engage better both during a world crisis and peaceful times.