Research Area: Learning Community
To make online education work effectively for students, there must be ample interaction in a variety of formats, particularly between students and instructors, students and the course content, and — if appropriate to the course — students and their classmates. A new, collaborative study on online education programs reinforces the need for interaction in order to achieve student satisfaction in “fully online learning settings,” but it also suggests (perhaps surprisingly) that interaction among learners is not a predictor of satisfied … Continue reading
It’s often difficult to know which interactive tools help foster or improve student learning and which are merely flashy, distracting gadgets. But the folks at Getting Smart put together a list of 50 of the most useful tech tools that serve as educational aids in the online classroom. Some of them, such as Twitter, YouTube and Google Docs, are extremely well known and frequently utilized, whereas others are more obscure despite the fact that they offer plenty of value to … Continue reading
The timeless debate of quantity vs. quality has cropped up in the realm of online education, this time with regard to online discussion forums. And it appears that less is more. Piazza, a social Q&A web service, analyzed over 18 months the behavioral trends of students in 3,600 online courses at more than 500 institutions, and the fledgling company shared the results of its analysis with The Chronicle of Higher Education this week. Out of the study comes evidence that … Continue reading
[A message from Dave King, associate provost of Oregon State University Outreach and Engagement; and Lisa L. Templeton, executive director of Oregon State University Extended Campus] No doubt you’ve seen several stories lately in the news about what some people are calling MOOCs – Massive Open Online Classes – with 160,000 or so students in online open courseware classes. (See below.) The increased profile of these classes and the new enterprises involved in their development raise questions about what it … Continue reading
[Summary from: Merlot's Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, December 2011] Numerous studies have compared student outcomes in online classes and traditional classes, but with mixed results. This paper adds to the existing body of evidence through an examination of students in personal finance courses. Primary results indicate that the delivery method made little difference in student performance. Secondary results identify pre-course GPAs, and to a lesser extent ACT scores, as predictors of student success in personal finance. Ary, Eddie … Continue reading
[Summary from: Online Learning Update, 2011] As online college courses have become increasingly prevalent, the general public and college presidents offer different assessments of their educational value. Just three in 10 American adults (29 percent) say a course taken online provides an equal educational value to one taken in a classroom. By contrast, fully half of college presidents (51 percent) say online courses provide the same value. These findings are from a pair of Pew Research Center surveys conducted in … Continue reading
[Summary from: The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 2011] Along with the amount of time spent learning (or time-on-task), the quality of learning time has a real influence on learning performance. Quality of time in online learning depends on students’ time availability and their willingness to devote quality cognitive time to learning activities. However, the quantity and quality of the time spent by adult e-learners on learning activities can be reduced by professional, family, and social … Continue reading
[Summary from: Merlot's Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 2011] The purpose of this study was to examine correlates of both online classroom community and student engagement in online learning, as well as to compare community and engagement across disciplines in higher education. Participants (n=1,410) in online courses across five colleges and in both graduate and undergraduate courses were asked to complete an online survey. The survey consisted of 23 items measuring community and engagement as well as an additional … Continue reading
[Summary from: EURODL, 2011] This article examines distance education (DE) in the context to which is most frequently applied, i.e., higher education, and from the perspective of some of its most important actors, i.e., teachers. This study, of a qualitative nature, was conducted at a public university in Brazil. Data were collected by means of unstructured interviews, observations, and a questionnaire with close- and open-ended questions. Since DE is a relatively novel educational modality in Brazilian public higher education, this … Continue reading
[Summary from: JOLT, 2009] What are the relationships between community and student success in online learning? This paper reports on a study conducted on undergraduate students enrolled in online courses at an accredited university on the U.S. east coast. Results of the study indicate a strong correlation between learner interaction and engagement, sense of community, and success in online learning. Sadera, W.A., Robertson, J., Song, L. & Midon, M. N. (2009). Role of Community in Online Learning Success, MERLOT Journal … Continue reading