The Role and Potential of Interaction in E-Learning (original) (raw)

INTERACTION IN ONLINE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS A Review of the Literature

This article reviews research related to the construct of interaction in the educational technology and distance education literature. The review is limited to higher education and includes theories and empirical research that inform the construct of online interactions. Conceptual and operational definitions of interaction are categorized from three frameworks emerging from the review: interaction as an instructional exchange, interaction as computer-mediated communication, and interaction as a social/psychological connection. Gaps in the research are identified and similarities that inform practice in designing and teaching in online learning environments are presented to provide linkages from research to practice.

Educational interaction in distance learning

PsychNology J., 2003

The basic definition of distance learning (DL) considers that the teacher and the students are separate in the spatial dimension and that this distance is filled by using technological resources. Recent technological developments, allowing an increasing level of interaction between users, have implicated a deep change in the educational system. Aim of these studies was to analyze the implementation of interaction in a DL system with one-way video and two-way audio channels and to investigate the effect of interaction on psychological variables. Final results suggest that the possibility of interaction in distance learning arouses a greater degree of attention, interest, participation, concentration, satisfaction and perceived efficacy. The distance modality with interaction takes his place at the intermediate level between the traditional face to face lesson and video-recorded lesson or distance learning without interaction. The possibility of interaction during the lesson is a basi...

MODES OF INTERACTION IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

Other empirical evidence also suggests increased interaction results in increased student course satisfaction and learning outcomes (Irani, 1998; Zhang & Fulford, 1994; Zirkin & Sumler, 1995).

Interaction in distance‐learning courses

Journal of the American Society for …, 2006

The article provides an in-depth analysis of previous literature that led to the understanding of the four interactive components of "e" learning and how we can utilize these components to maximize the positive and minimize the negative results of "e" learning. The four interactive dimensions of "e" learning are the following three originally described in Moore's editorial (1989): (1) interaction with the content, (2) interaction with the instructor, (3) interaction with the students, and an additional new fourth dimension, interaction with the system, which considered all of the new computer technology since his article. In our viewpoint we will highlight the impact that this fourth technological interactive dimension has on the results of "e" learning. The question then is not "to 'e' or not to 'e'," since "e" learning is already an essential factor of our contemporary learning environment. The question is how to "e", based on the understanding of the four interactive components of "e" learning, and the understanding that these four types of interactions are different from the ones we are accustomed to in the traditional learning environment.

Interaction in Distance Education

Supporting Multiculturalism in Open and Distance Learning Spaces, 2018

Education is a product of the objects and actors in the process of interaction. Interaction is, therefore, an important factor that affects the quality and sustainability of education. For this reason, this section will focus on interaction and its theories and approaches which are a popular and versatile concept in distance education. In the first part of the chapter, the concept of interaction will be discussed with different dimensions and components. Interaction in the following section will be examined within the framework of Moore's Theory of Transactional Distance, Anderson's Interaction Equivalency Theorem, and Gorsky and Caspi's Theory of Instructional Dialogue. At the end of the chapter, the nature of the interaction in distance learning will be discussed in the context of the studies on instructional dialogue and the cross-cultural comparisons will be addressed to the issue of the role of interaction in distance settings.

INTERACTIVITY IN THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

MA ODE Studies, 1998

This report discusses interactivity in Distance Education Learning Environments in an attempt to describe and analyse the function of interactions between the learner and the elements which constitute such an environment. Interactivity is examined in this context as an activity performed by the learner/s in response and in relation to their learning environment, and does not refer to "the delivery system interactions, which are the property of media". [Wagner, 1994] The work in this project has been based on the learning transactions that took place within the OU-H802 [Appx.1] postgraduate distance course in its first year of delivery, as well as on personal experiential observations and literature readings accumulated in the three years of learning at a distance at postgraduate level and from praxis in the fields of Special Education and Educational Technology.

The impact of computer-mediated interaction on distance learning

British Journal of Educational Technology, 2007

Distance-learning courses were classified with regard to their use of computermediated interaction and the degree to which such interaction was integrated into the curriculum and the assessment regime. This produced four groups of courses varying according to their use of interaction and integration. The impact of interaction and integration was investigated in terms of their effects on students' performance, their perceptions of academic quality and their approaches to studying. In all three respects, variations within the groups of courses proved to be more important than variations between the groups. Interpretation of these results suggests that the adoption of interactive environments within computer-mediated learning may not be enough in itself to lead to positive learning outcomes. We found no evidence for this assumption in terms of students' completion rates, pass rates, grades, perceptions of the quality of their courses or approaches to studying. Large variations in the measured indicators were found between courses, and these appeared to be largely independent of the effects of interaction and integration. Courses may differ markedly with regard to how they make use of computer-mediated interaction and how this is integrated into the curriculum and the assessment regime. A case study approach is suggested as being more likely to identify the impact of specific designs based on computer-mediated interaction and to bring together the diverse student responses arising from the use of such interaction in their studies.

Virtual Interactions in Distance Learning

Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in Virtual Worlds and Environments, 2012

Virtual interactions play an important role in distance electronic learning. This chapter suggests an evaluation tool of virtual interactions in electronic forums and reports two case studies carried out using this tool. The first case study involves two issues: examining the differences, regarding feedback types, between high and low participating preservice teachers in an electronic forum, and examining correlations between the different characteristics of the electronic forum exchanges. The second case study involves examining the strategies of a successful distance learning instructor in interacting with students. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to analyze the collected data. It was found that the two groups of preservice teachers were different regarding their use of some types of feedback and similar regarding the use of other types. Significant correlations were found between some characteristics of the forum exchanges. The successful instructor used different interaction strategies that depended on the educational situation described by the participants.

Interaction in Post-Secondary Web-Based Learning.

Educational Technology, 1999

Distance education in the industrialized nations has seen dramatic changes in delivery technologies over the past few decades. Computer-mediated communication and the World Wide Web allow significantly faster interaction between student and faculty and among students during teaching and learning compared with the correspondence or mass communication models of distance education. Questions like the following are under increasing scrutiny: What does "interaction" mean in the context of teaching and learning? Why is interaction perceived as so important in post-secondary education? How can technology be used to promote the types of interaction that facilitate learning at a distance? The answer is often "It depends"-based on the motivation, individual capabilities, and learning style of the student, the subject matter, and a dozen or more other factors that affect the type and level of interaction needed for learning. This article will discuss the more salient dimensions of interaction in the context of Web-based instruction and hopefully provide a useful framework for thinking about interaction in a Web-based learning environment.