E-learning commodity or community: Disciplinary differences between online courses

Differences in curriculum and teaching styles across disciplines in higher education courses are also evident in online courses. This study used two widely available sources of data, CMS tool usage logs and course evaluations, to analyze differences between online courses in disciplinary quadrants (hard-pure, hard-applied, soft-pure, soft-applied) at a large metropolitan university, over five years (2002 and 2007). For 2007, results revealed significant differences in tool usage between disciplines, particularly for assessment tools. Hard-pure courses used Tests and Pool tools more often than did soft-pure courses. The Document tool was used most extensively in applied courses. Data from course evaluations, for spring 2007 online courses, suggested that applied disciplines had a shorter learner–instructor transactional distance than did pure disciplines. Results suggest that over five years, e-learning in pure disciplines has become more commoditized, while e-learning in applied disciplines has become more diversified and more oriented to community practice.     

Exploration and confirmation of a reflective-thinking scale to measure transformative learning in online courses

Responding to the ubiquity of information and the corresponding need to filter and make sense of it, transformative learning is increasingly being used to frame learning experiences in higher education. While several instruments have been developed to measure transformative learning in educational settings, little work has been done towards an understanding of transformative learning measurement in online environments. This study was conducted over two phases, an initial exploration of a reflective thinking questionnaire with students in an online MBA program of a higher education institution in the mid-Atlantic region of U.S., followed by a confirmatory phase of a refined, three-factor instrument in the same context. This study demonstrated the improved fit and overall interpretability of the three-factor instrument. The measurement invariance of the factor structure has also been examined with a set of covariates.     

E-portfolios: an assessment tool for online courses

This article considers the various uses of e‐portfolios in an educational context and looks at the particular characteristics of the electronic version of portfolios. It then focuses on the application of the e‐portfolio as an assessment method. A case is made for the use of the e‐portfolio as an appropriate end of course assessment process where learning objects are the basis of the course design. Evaluation data from such a course is presented. This is a post‐graduate online course run by the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University. Conclusions are drawn from the evaluation about the appropriateness of e‐portfolios as an end of course assessment method.     

Using a wiki to facilitate an online professional learning community for induction and mentoring teachers

The purpose of this case study was to report on the use of a wiki as a tool for conducting online professional learning communities (OLCs) with 26 induction and mentor teachers. Data sources include teachers’ wiki postings and teacher interviews. Results indicate that: (a) Web 2.0 tools may be most effective in OLCs when the social features are utilized in addition to the features that enable task completion; (b) Using Web 2.0 tools restrictively, and without consideration of their affordances, may inhibit the success of OLCs; (c) Online learning communities for induction teachers may be most effective when supplemented with face-to-face discussion; and (d) A task-driven environment in OLCs can encourage professional dialogue and reflection, but may make induction teachers feel isolated and unsupported.     

网络课程中学习支持的研究与实践

网络课程中的学习支持包括两个方面一是内置式支持,二是外围支持.前者内置于学习材料中,为学习过程提供支持;后者是网络教育环境的一部分,从技术层面上提供对网络学习环境的支持.基于"计算机应用基础"网络课程,从学习支持的两个方面进行了设计与实践,取得了不错的教学效果.     

A triangular prism model: Using activity theory to examine online learning communities

This article illustrates how a triangular prism model (TPM) could help researchers examine challenging and successful factors to sustaining online learning communities (OLCs) for preservice and inservice teachers. The TPM was constructed on a review of the literature on activity theory. The TPM is a conceptual framework that guides empirical examination of OLCs’ ongoing development and their connections within a relevant context. This article highlights the application of this framework to two online learning communities (preservice and inservice teachers) and reviews the potential of a TPM as an analytical tool.     

Toward deep learning for adult students in online courses

Adult students have become the new majority in online distance education. Research in online distance education, however, is still predominantly based on the historical perspective of the traditional student profile. This study examines adult students' learning engagement in online courses and explores the impact of online course design models and the type of online discussion on adult students' self-perceived and observable learning performance. The study findings inform that age itself does not predict adult students' learning satisfaction and performance. Instead, an integrated course model promotes learning satisfaction, while a Content + Support course model reinforces knowledge–constructive online interactions. The study findings also indicate disadvantages of close-ended discussion tasks in supporting students' online learning success.     

Mind the gap: Enabling online faculty and instructional designers in mapping new models for quality online courses

Distance education has provided the foundation for new generations of learning, including courses delivered through various web-based educational technologies, also referred to as online learning. Many post-secondary institutions face the challenge of creating processes and systems to support instructors who are required to design, deliver, and frequently update online courses. Effective online course design prioritizes a student-centered pedagogical approach through active learning and meaning-making using modern technologies. This requires a wide spectrum of experience, technological skills, and pedagogical knowledge that is difficult to achieve. On one hand of the spectrum, are instructors with experience in online course delivery, learning technologies, and knowledge of online learning pedagogies. On the other hand of the spectrum, are instructors with insufficient experience, technological skills and awareness of online pedagogies. This disparity in instructors’ experiences, skills and knowledge results at times in a gap in ability. By providing a flexible and interactive model of support to instructors, instructional designers can shorten this gap in theoretical knowledge and practical skills. This paper explores the skill gap that some instructors face in the online learning domain and presents selected approaches to support instructors when transitioning to online courses based on the authors’ professional experiences. This paper considers two models of course design support from two unique higher educational institutions in the United States and in Canada, using different learning management systems. The results show that while these models have different contexts, they offer significant insights about common goals, flexible content, and learner-centered course design.     

Expanding interaction in online courses: integrating critical humanizing pedagogy for learner success

Millions of college students in the U.S. are enrolled in online courses, with the global pandemic resulting in a “pivot to online” for educational and health reasons. African-American college students continue to face barriers to academic success, and this response to Kuo and Belland (in Educ Technol Res Dev 64(4):661–680, 2016) investigates how the concept of “learner interaction” supports success. Finally, this response includes examples from online courses informed by “critical humanizing pedagogy,” in which social interaction is a key driver of learning.

     

Community-embedded learning experiences: putting the pedagogy of service-learning to work in online courses

This paper considers the applicability and adaptability of service-learning pedagogy to online and distance education teaching environments. More specifically, it looks at the community-embedded learning model (CEL), which asks distance students to conduct service projects in their local communities, as manifested in a project undertaken by online graduate students in the library science programme at Appalachian State University, a mid-sized university in the United States of America. For this assignment, students, who are located throughout the state of North Carolina and surrounding areas, performed service work in libraries located within their own communities and neighbourhoods, coming together to discuss their experiences in regular synchronous course meetings conducted online. In addition to describing this project, this paper will offer analysis of student reflections, describing what students perceived as challenging, important and rewarding about the experience. Through this study, the researchers highlight the potential value of community-embedded learning experiences for classes conducted in online environments.     

Knowledge building community: Keys for using online forums

Conclusion “The need for learning in a knowledge-based society is more important than ever, including traditional classroom teaching, online learning, and/or blended learning” (Levitch & Milheim, 2003). Accordingly, learning in a technology-supported collaborative knowledge building community is more desirable than ever. Whether in distance or blended learning, online forums can provide either an exclusive discussion or a supplement to in-class discussion. Through thoughtful planning and careful implementation, online forums can be used in “creative ways to help students internalize knowledge and share ideas in enjoyable and exchange environments” (Raleigh, 2000). Successful employment of online forums can foster knowledge building community in which desired student qualities are cultivated.     

A framework to design open educational resources-integrated online courses for undergraduate learning: A design-based research approach

Open Educational Resources (OER) integrated online courses provide a rich and a flexible learning environment to acquire knowledge and skills among undergraduates. A significant issue with OER-integrated online courses is the poorly addressed instructional design features. Instructionally rich online courses will have a greater impact on both teaching and learning. This study is aimed at exploring different support systems in relation to the undergraduate learning process through the design of OER-integrated online courses. It explored design features under four main Instructional Design (ID) aspects, being: Information Design, Instruction Design, Interface Design and Interaction Design. The study adopted a Design-Based Research approach through analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation of an intervention in multiple phases, using mixed methodologies. This resulted in a design framework with reusable design principles for OER-integrated online learning. The outcomes of this study will contribute to enhance OER-integrated course design and to develop undergraduate education.

     

A study of teaching presence and student sense of learning community in fully online and web-enhanced college courses

This paper focuses on two components of a model for online teaching and learning—“teaching presence” and “community”. It is suggested that previous research points to the critical role that community plays in academic success and persistence in higher education. Through a review of recent literature it is proposed that teaching presence–viewed as the core roles of the online instructor–is a promising mechanism for developing learning community in online environments. This investigation presents a multi-institutional study of 1067 students across 32 different colleges that further substantiates this claim. An instrument to assess instructor teaching presence (“The Teaching Presence Scale”) is presented and validated. Factor and regression analysis indicate a significant link between students' sense of learning community and effective instructional design and “directed facilitation” on the part of course instructors, and highlights interesting differences between online and classroom environments. Alternative hypotheses regarding student demographics associated with variables such as age (the “net generation” effect) and gender are also examined. Despite recent assertions that younger students are or soon will be too sophisticated to “feel at home” in largely text-based asynchronous learning environments, no significant effects were found by demographic differences examined. Recommendations for online course design, pedagogy, and future research are included.     

The effects of class size in online college courses: Experimental evidence

Class size is a first-order consideration in the study of education cost and effectiveness. Yet little is known about the effects of class size on student outcomes in online college classes, even though online courses have become commonplace in many institutions of higher education. We study a field experiment in which college students were quasi-randomly assigned to either regular sized classes or slightly larger classes. Regular classes had, on average, 31 students and treatment classes were, on average, ten percent larger. The experiment was conducted at DeVry University, one of the nation's largest for-profit postsecondary institutions, and included over 100,000 student course enrollments in nearly 4,000 classes across 111 different undergraduate and graduate courses. We examine class size effects on student success in the course and subsequent persistence in college. We find little evidence of effects on average or for a range of course types. Given the large sample, our estimates are precise, suggesting that small class size changes have little impact in online settings.     

Being in the users' shoes: Anticipating experience while designing online courses

While user‐centred design and user experience are given much attention in the e‐learning design field, no research has been found on how users are actually represented in the discussions during the design of online courses. In this paper we identify how and when end‐users' experience—be they students or tutors—emerges in designers' discussions during their meetings in well‐established open universities. More precisely, we observed 15 design meetings of two design teams during the development of specific online courses. Designers' discourse was analysed on the basis of six dimensions regarding relevant actors, contents and strategies (purposes) of user experience anticipation. Results show the emergence of a solution‐oriented anticipatory discourse in form of scenarios regarding how learners and tutors will react to the course and the proposed activities. Moreover, this discourse is related to an emergent type of users‐based expertise, translated as the capacity of some designers to empathise with the end‐users more than other designers do. The participation of designers with this type of expertise in e‐learning design teams emerges as relevant for the decisions related to the course activities, interface or overall experience. Further research is invited towards this direction. Further discussion on this article can be found in “Being in the users' shoes: Is there maybe another way?” (DOI: 10.1111/bjet.12104 ).