Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Costa Rican educational system has adapted classes to a virtual model; fur- thermore, evidence has supported the existence of technological, digital, and educational gaps among students. The aim of the present study is to identify sociodemographic, psychosocial, technological, and digital characteristics associated with the adolescents’ satisfaction with virtual classes during the pandemic. Using a cross-sectional design, an online questionnaire was filled out by 14- to 18-year-old adolescents (n = 128, 63.3% girls, Mage = 16.2, SDage = 0.593) from public and private high schools. Results showed that only perceived support, self-efficacy, and socioeconomic status (SES) were significantly (positively) correlated with satisfaction with virtual classes. Also, it was found that a model that accounts for satisfaction in terms of perceived support and self-efficacy is better than one that includes SES as another explanatory variable. These results show some insights for making virtual learning a more satisfying experience for adolescents.

Keywords: Virtual classes; COVID-19; Pandemic; Satisfaction; Perceived support; Self-efficacy