Zoomed Out but Still Engaged: Videoconferencing Fatigue Among Filipino Senior High School Students
Article information
Dacillo, M. J. F., Dizon, J. K. M., Ong, E. J. T., Pingol, A. M. L., & Cleofas, J. V. (2022). Videoconferencing fatigue and online student engagement among Filipino senior high school students: A mixed methods study. Frontiers in Education, 7, 973049. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.973049What this study is about
During the COVID-19 pandemic, school moved online almost overnight. For many students, learning meant spending long hours in front of a screen, attending classes through Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or similar platforms. These tools allowed education to continue, but they also created a new problem: videoconferencing fatigue.This study asks: How tired are Filipino senior high school students from videoconferencing, and how does that fatigue relate to their engagement in online classes?
The study focused on senior high school students from a private university in Manila during the period when classes were still fully online. This context matters because the Philippines had one of the longest periods of pandemic-related distance learning. Videoconferencing was not just an optional tool. For many students, it became the daily classroom.
Why this matters
Online learning is often discussed in terms of access: internet speed, gadgets, learning platforms, and digital skills. These are important. But this study reminds us that online learning also has a body.
Students do not only “log in.” They sit. They stare. They listen through headphones. They manage eye strain, tiredness, boredom, stress, poor connection, and the pressure to remain present while physically isolated.
So the issue is not simply whether videoconferencing works. The deeper question is: What does it cost students physically, mentally, emotionally, and academically to keep learning this way?
What the researchers did
The study used a convergent triangulation mixed methods design. This means the researchers collected quantitative and qualitative data at the same time, then compared both strands to understand the issue more deeply. The design is shown in Figure 1 on page 3, where quantitative and qualitative findings are brought together to examine videoconferencing fatigue and online student engagement.
The participants were 215 senior high school students from grades 11 and 12. All respondents completed the quantitative survey, while 153 students answered the open-ended qualitative question.
The quantitative part measured:
- Videoconferencing fatigue, using the Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale; and
- Online student engagement, using the Online Student Engagement Scale.
The qualitative part asked one open-ended question: “How does videoconferencing affect your engagement in school?” Students’ written responses were then analyzed to identify themes.
What the study found
1) Students were spending a lot of time in videoconferences
According to Table 1 on page 5, students attended videoconferences for an average of 5.47 days per week and about 7.20 hours per day.
That is a major finding by itself. For many students, videoconferencing was not a short meeting. It was a full school routine.
2) Videoconferencing fatigue was moderate to high
Students reported:
- High general fatigue
- High motivational fatigue
- Moderate visual fatigue
- Moderate social fatigue
- Moderate emotional fatigue
In everyday terms, students were not only “a little tired.” They were physically drained, mentally exhausted, less motivated, socially depleted, and emotionally strained.
3) Students described different forms of fatigue
The qualitative findings in Table 2 on page 6 show five ways students experienced videoconferencing fatigue.
First, general fatigue appeared as a broad sense of exhaustion. Students felt drained after long hours of online classes and needed more rest.
Second, visual fatigue appeared as eye pain, dizziness, loss of focus, and discomfort from staring at screens.
Third, social fatigue appeared as reduced energy for interaction. Some students felt less willing to talk to classmates after long online sessions and felt that online communication was less personal than face-to-face interaction.
Fourth, motivational fatigue appeared as reduced focus and weaker resilience. Students described repetitive routines: wake up, open the computer, attend class, leave the meeting, do requirements, repeat.
Fifth, emotional fatigue appeared as stress, anxiety, irritability, and moodiness.
4) Online student engagement was only moderate
Students reported moderate online student engagement, meaning they were still participating, but not at an ideal level. Engagement here includes academic skills, emotional involvement, participation, and performance in online classes.
This makes sense: students were trying to stay engaged, but they were doing so under tiring conditions.
5) The surprising finding: visual fatigue predicted higher engagement
The quantitative results in Tables 3 and 4 on pages 7–8 show that two factors predicted higher online student engagement:
- More videoconferencing days per week
- Higher visual fatigue
At first, this sounds strange. Why would students with more eye strain report higher engagement?
The study’s mixed methods design helps explain the paradox. Students were not more engaged because eye strain is good. Rather, students who were more engaged had to attend more videoconferences, spend more time looking at screens, and therefore endure more visual fatigue.
In plain language: students were paying for engagement with their eyes.
6) Students also said videoconferencing reduced energy and learning absorption
The qualitative data complicate the numbers. Students said videoconferencing often reduced their energy for academic tasks after class. They also felt that they absorbed lessons less effectively online than in face-to-face classes.
Many wanted physical interaction with teachers and classmates. They felt that online classes were more monotonous and less conducive to learning. Poor internet connection, power interruptions, and technical issues also made engagement harder.
7) But students still saw videoconferencing as necessary
The final qualitative theme is important: students recognized that videoconferencing was necessary during the pandemic. It was not perfect, but it was the closest available substitute for classroom interaction.
This is the emotional tension of the study: students were tired of videoconferencing, but they also needed it to continue learning.
Bottom line
This study shows that videoconferencing fatigue is real among Filipino senior high school students. It affects their energy, motivation, eye health, social interaction, emotions, and learning experience. But it also shows a more nuanced point: during pandemic online learning, students sometimes had no choice but to endure fatigue—especially visual fatigue—to remain engaged in school.
Policy/practice recommendations
- Do not make students sacrifice eye health for engagement
Schools should reduce unnecessary long videoconferencing sessions and monitor screen-related eye strain among students. - Use more non-videoconferencing strategies
Teachers can combine videoconferencing with asynchronous lectures, recorded videos, readings, discussion boards, collaborative documents, and chat-based activities. - Build longer breaks between online classes
Breaks should allow students to rest their eyes, move their bodies, eat, and recover before the next class. - Provide eye health promotion programs
Schools and health personnel can teach screen hygiene, the 20-20-20 rule, proper lighting, posture, blinking, and when to seek eye assessment. - Train teachers in low-fatigue online pedagogy
Faculty development should include strategies that reduce cognitive overload, screen overload, and passive listening. - Support gradual return to in-person learning when safe
The study suggests that videoconferencing should become one option among many—not a permanent daily necessity when in-person learning is feasible.
Glossary of key terms
- Videoconferencing fatigue — Exhaustion or strain caused by prolonged use of videoconferencing platforms for classes, meetings, or communication.
- Zoom fatigue — A popular term for videoconferencing fatigue, though the study uses the broader term because students may use many platforms.
- Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale / ZEF — A 15-item tool measuring five dimensions of videoconferencing fatigue: general, visual, social, motivational, and emotional fatigue.
- General fatigue — Feeling tired, mentally drained, or exhausted after videoconferencing.
- Visual fatigue — Eye strain, eye pain, dizziness, blurred focus, or visual discomfort linked to prolonged screen use.
- Social fatigue — Reduced desire or energy to interact with others after videoconferencing.
- Motivational fatigue — Lower drive to study, participate, or complete tasks after videoconferencing.
- Emotional fatigue — Irritability, stress, anxiety, moodiness, or emotional exhaustion connected to online meetings.
- Online student engagement / OSE — Students’ involvement in online learning, including skills, emotions, participation, and performance.
- Online Student Engagement Scale — A tool that measures student engagement in online learning contexts.
- Mixed methods study — A design that combines quantitative data, such as survey scores, with qualitative data, such as written narratives.
- Convergent triangulation design — A mixed methods design where quantitative and qualitative data are collected at the same time and integrated to compare or deepen findings.
- Asynchronous learning — Learning activities that do not require students and teachers to be online at the same time, such as recorded lectures or self-paced modules.
- Synchronous learning — Real-time learning, such as live online classes through Zoom or Google Meet.
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