Assessing and Comparing Interaction Dynamics, Student Learning, and Satisfaction within Web-based Online Learning Programs (original) (raw)
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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.
2009
This study shows the importance of interaction to student learning within Web-based online learning programs. The population of this study was students enrolled in multiple academic disciplines at a private university in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. A Web-based research instrument was designed to assess students' characteristics, their perceptions of learning, satisfaction, student-to-student interactions and student-to-instructor interactions. Regression analyses were employed to analyze the relationship of interaction variables with student learning and satisfaction. Student-instructor interaction and student-student interaction were found to be significant contributors of student learning and satisfaction.
Perceptions of Interactions in Online Courses
2009
This study examined the use of synchronous video chat, Elluminate Live™ in online graduate courses. Four types of instructor interaction with students in online courses were compared. The methods included interaction with the instructor only asynchronously, instructor asynchronously plus a reader, instructor asynchronously plus synchronously through Elluminate Live™, and Instructor asynchronously, reader, and Elluminate Live™. One hundred fifty-one graduate students who took online courses in Educational Administration during the spring of 2009 were invited to participate in a twenty-one item online survey developed by the researchers regarding interaction in online courses. Graduate students in online courses in this study perceive the learner-tocontent interaction, learner-to-learner interaction, learner-to-instructor interaction in the courses they take positively. When examining learner-to-content interaction this study found that females perceive the interaction significantly more favorably than their male colleagues. Interaction with the instructor was the one area in this study that received a lower level of agreement compared to responses to other survey items. Graduate students in online courses perceive the use of Elluminate Live more positively than that of a reader and the instructor synchronously.
A Study of Students' Perceived Learning in a Web-based Online Environment
1999
The purpose of this study was to find what factors were associated with students' perceptions of learning in online courses. Survey data were collected from students enrolled in 78 courses offered through the SUNY (State University of New York) Learning Network in the fall of 1997. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were employed. The dependent variable was students' perceived learning that was correlated with the following 11 independent variables: instructor-student interaction; instructor-student communication; instructor evaluation; instructor responses; student-student interaction; student-student communication; online discussion; written assignments; learning style; prior computer competency; and time spent on a course. Results indicate that the amount of student-instructor interaction and the online discussion activity played an important role in predicting students' perceived learning. The implication of this finding is that it is not only important to create an interactive environment for learning, but it is also important to design discussion activities that can trigger rich and meaningful online discourse. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Student Interaction: Observations of adult distance education and Traditional on-campus education
2002
This paper provides readers with an observation of an adult distance education programme, which took place in Malaysia. These observations are presented in terms of: study mode, course design, and interaction between three distinct student groups, and their teachers. Other factors that influence adult distance learning melded with traditional classroom settings were also observed. These factors included the demographics of distance learning students, type and nature of student-to-student and teacher-to-student interaction, students ’ employment, prior employment, and the subject studied. Our observation suggest that appropriate distance education design, coupled with hybrid opportunities for interaction among students engaged in distance and traditional on-campus modalities, optimise the learning experience of students engaged in both types of learning. Our observations also indicate that factors such as Web-based course design, students’ previous technical competencies and employme...
This study examines the influence of instructional design and management style on student achievement and satisfaction in a web-based distance learning environment. From the literature review, two major instructional design and management styles in web-based distance education were conceptualized as structure and interpersonal interaction. To investigate the differences on learning output variables, two web-based instructional programs were developed as college level courses. One course was developed and implemented mainly with a resource-based highly structured self-learning mode with little interpersonal interaction, and the other course was developed and conducted mainly with interpersonal interaction without well-structured materials. Sixty seven and fifty six juniors were enrolled in each course at a cyber university for one semester. Questionnaires, achievement scores, satisfaction levels, and interview data were collected and analyzed. Findings indicated that self-learning with well-structured materials was not inferior to highly interactive instruction without well-structured materials in receptive learning achievement. This implicates that wellstructured material can possibly replace a teacher's one to one interaction in receptive learning as early distance educators expected. However, students in the interactive course without well-structured materials, rather than in the well-structured course with little interaction, showed higher achievement in critical thinking learning. In terms of satisfaction, students in the structured course were more satisfied with structure, and students in the interactive course were more satisfied with interpersonal interaction. Implications of these findings and recommendations for further study are suggested.
Enhancing Classroom Interaction in Distance Education Utilizing the World Wide Web
1997
This study evaluated strategies to encourage interaction in a distance education setting, specifically a Ball State University (Indiana) distance graduate-level course in Elementary School Curriculum which utilized the World Wide Web and a "Class Page." Participants were primarily elementary school teachers (47 graduate students) who completed survey instruments concerning their participation on the "Class Page," interactions with both the instructor and other students, and utilization of Web resources. An initial survey regarding students' computer literacy skills and usage patterns was followed by seven additional surveys throughout the semester which focused on "Class Page" usage and interaction patterns. Among the findings were: student views regarding the value of getting to know fellow classmates shifted from 0 percent (Week 2) to 88 percent (Week 15); students judging they were able to freely express their views went from 11 percent (Week 2) ...
2008 First International Conference on the Applications of Digital Information and Web Technologies (ICADIWT), 2008
This study shows the importance of interaction to student learning within Web-based online learning programs. The population of this study was students enrolled in multiple academic disciplines at a private university in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. A Web-based research instrument was designed to assess students' characteristics, their perceptions of learning, satisfaction, student-to-student interactions and student-to-instructor interactions. Regression analyses were employed to analyze the relationship of interaction variables with student learning and satisfaction. Student-instructor interaction and student-student interaction were found to be significant contributors of student learning and satisfaction.