Distance Education Environment Research Articles

Developing a Model for a Distance Learning Environment to Confront Crises and Disasters

The current era is characterized by many accelerating events that directly affect education, most of which have a negative impact. Natural disasters, epidemics, wars, and other events are among these events. In recent years, the world has witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made it clear beyond doubt that institutions' educational systems were not prepared with alternative educational systems to confront such disasters, and thus, education was greatly affected, the effects of which are still present today. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare for such events by designing and developing electronic learning environments through which learning can be transferred safely and effectively. Such environments are comprehensive and self-sufficient to transfer learning in its three aspects: cognitive, skill, and psychological aspects of the learner. Considering this, the current research was interested in designing a model for an e-learning environment for distance learning that provides everything the learners may need. It includes scientific and health knowledge, mental and physical exercise, and educational platforms for interaction. This is considering a survey study of students at Ain Shams University, one of the largest universities in Egypt, in several faculties to determine the extent of the shortcomings in the electronic platforms used during and after the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of one of the most dangerous disasters that the world has witnessed in contemporary times, which directly affected education in all educational institutions. The results revealed a clear need for improvement in these platforms regarding general design, communication tools, strategies, educational activities, and feedback. Hence, there is an inevitable need to develop a model for an e-learning environment for distance education that can be used effectively to transfer learning, especially in crises, disasters, and epidemics.

Investigation of Digital Competence Levels of Online Learners

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the digital competence levels of online learners in terms of different variables. Design/Methodology/Approach: A total of 303 students participated in the study conducted with the cross-sectional screening model of the quantitative research method. The data were collected online via the "University Students Digital Competencies Scale". Findings: Students' digital competence levels show a significant difference according to the variables of gender, age, technology usage competence and duration of using technological devices. It was concluded that students with high technology use competence also have high problem-solving ability in virtual environments. It was determined that as the duration of students' use of technological devices increased, their level of content development in digital environments also increased. Highlights: Considering the finding that as the average daily usage time of students' technological devices increases, students' digital competence levels also increase, it is recommended to prepare more activities to increase the average daily usage time of students' technological devices in distance education environments, to organize synchronous meetings and asynchronous forum activities, and to develop educational policies to take into account the time students spend in the distance education environment and their completion rates in measurement and evaluation processes.

Critical factors affecting student satisfaction in a distance learning environment

Abstract Student satisfaction plays a crucial role in assessing the effectiveness of distance education programmes. This is very important for the instructional design in higher education institutes and for educational decision-making and policy. The main purpose of the present study was to examine some key processes that affect learning in a distance education environment and how these influence student satisfaction. The study was conducted in the Hellenic Open University (HOU) through quantitative research involving students from three postgraduate programmes. The main variables examined were internet self-efficacy, student–student and student–tutor interaction, self-regulated learning skills of students and the satisfaction that they receive from participating in distance-learning courses. The results indicated that relatively high levels of these variables were observed, with the exemption of student–student interaction. The correlation coefficients amongst variables were all positive and statistically significant, but were small to moderate. Regarding the effect of demographic parameters, learner–tutor interaction is influenced by the number of modules completed by students, and satisfaction varies significantly between unemployed students and those who are full-time employees. Finally, a logistic regression model was developed with satisfaction as the dependent variable. Self-regulated learning and student–tutor interaction were identified as the main predictors of student satisfaction.

THE DETERMINATION OF THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY LEVELS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ONLINE DISTANCE EDUCATION ENVIRONMENTS IN TERMS OF DIFFERENT VARIABLES

Online education has been implemented in Turkiye as well as in many countries of the world in recent years and is becoming more widespread day by day. Being able to take place anytime and anywhere, eliminating the limitations of time and space, and providing lifelong learning can be described as the most basic factors in the spread of online education. In addition, due to the rapid increase in the number of learners who have to take online education due to the Covid-19 global epidemic, which has affected the whole world recently, it has become an important issue for learners to acquire knowledge and skills in online distance learning environments. Also, it is necessary to determine the level of developing a sense of community in order to ensure the learners' self-expression in the relevant environments, their active participation and the continuity of the learning action. In this study, it was aimed to determine the level of sense of community of learners studying at Turkish-German University in the 2021-2022 academic year in online distance education environments in terms of different variables like gender, level of education, and their ability to use computer programs and applications.The research was carried out in the cross-sectional scanning model. The obtained data are analyzed with the help of SPSS package program. The findings are evaluated at the 95% confidence interval and at the 5% significance level. Sub-factor averages, factor correlations are examined and diagnostic statistics related to the study group are included. In addition, t-test is used for variables with two sublevels and one-way Anova is used for variables with more than two sublevels. If there is a difference in the Anova test, Post-Hoc tests are used to determine the pairwise differences. As a result, in order to make education more efficient in online learning environments, it is concluded that in order to strengthen the sense of community, learners can be given tasks that they can discuss and negotiate, learners can be made to work in groups in related environments, etc. In adddition, considering the stress, anxiety and uncertainty that learners and educators face with the global epidemic, it is thought that social presence should take priority for learning to take place. It is recommended that the study be developed by applying it to larger regions and samples.

AN ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURE GRADUATE COURSE CONDUCTED THROUGH DISTANCE EDUCATION AND ITS IMPACTS ON STUDENT LEARNING PROCESS

A multidisciplinary atelier course conducted through distance education in Kocaeli University Faculty of Architecture Graduate Program in 2020/21 Fall Semester is analyzed in this article concerning the impacts of the alternative and versatile methods followed during the course process on student learning achievement. The aim is to reveal the new pedagogical visions and contributions that the methods of this course can provide to student learning and instructor intervention in architecture graduate education. During the course, the stages of determining the workshop groups, discussing the activities with the groups, and developing suggestions, conducting discussions in the distance education environment on the students' study subjects and activity plans, and delivering the final report based on the activity week process and the products obtained were carried out. The required data, including the evidence of actual learning achievement in this course, is derived from a catechetical survey with 12 students who took the course, while the final statements and inferences of the study are based on the achievements and critics of these students about the course. The results obtained from this survey are reciprocally evaluated with the learning achievement targets that are placed in the course syllabus at the beginning of the semester with concrete numerical values to observe the level of achievement of these learning targets. The learning achievements that students gained most apart from the determined learning achievement targets of the course are the development of presentation abilities of students, the provision of exchange of ideas with students from different departments and with the lecturers apart from their thesis advisors, and the possibility of following the processes of different work items. The findings of this study express that the program and the methods of this course can be instructive for implementing new approaches in post-pandemic distance and face-to-face education of architecture in graduate programs.

Prospective Teachers' Views on Gamified Online Assessment Tools

Gamification, which refers to the integration of game mechanics, dynamics and components into non-game contexts, has attracted significant attention in education in recent years. When the literature is examined, it is possible to find many applications that can gamify content. This study aims to explore students' perspectives on gamification in education with a special focus on the widely known Kahoot application. Within the scope of this research, it aims to explore students' views on the application of Kahoot-based gamification techniques in formal and distance education courses. The study was conducted with a mixed research method in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used together. Quantitative data were analyzed using statistical measures such as arithmetic mean, standard deviation and independent sample t-test. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed through interviews. In the fall semester of 2021-2022, 278 pre-service teachers enrolled in the education programs of a state university in Turkey participated in the study. While 162 students participated in the study with distance education method, 116 students participated with formal education method. A 19-item opinion questionnaire on gamification using Kahoot and a form consisting of open-ended questions were used to collect data. The participants regularly participated in Kahoot gamification activities at the end of classes for 8 weeks. According to the results, the participants were generally satisfied with the gamification applications with Kahoot. They found these applications both fun and instructive. Students generally agreed that Kahoot is a useful application. However, it was concluded that some participants experienced internet connection problems, internet quota problems, insufficient response time and fear of being left behind in the ranking. According to these results, it is recommended to use Kahoot application and gamification activities in classrooms. In order to reduce the problem of lack of interaction in distance education environments, it is recommended to include Kahoot-like applications in distance education.

BİLİŞİM TEKNOLOJİLERİ ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN GENEL ÖZYETERLİKLERİ İLE UZAKTAN EĞİTİMDE KODLAMA ETKİNLİKLERİNDEKİ ÖZYETERLİK ALGILARININ ANALİZİ

Distance education has long known as an important method. But after the Covid-19 pandemic, its importance has become more than ever. For this reason, the level of teachers' self-efficacy perceptions during distance education has become an issue that needs to be investigated. The aim of the study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between Information Technology teachers' perceptions of general self-efficacy and self-efficacy in coding activities in distance education environments.
 
 In addition, the other aims are to determine the difference between the general self-efficacy perceptions of the teachers participating in the research and the self-efficacy perceptions in coding activities in distance education according to their gender, age, seniority, the type of school they work and the number of courses they take related to programming.

Analysing students' self‐assessment practice in a distance education environment: Student behaviour, accuracy, and task‐related characteristics

AbstractBackgroundSelf‐assessment serves to improve learning through timely feedback on one's solution and iterative refinement as a way to improve one's competence. However, the complexity of the self‐assessment process is widely recognized, as well as that students can benefit from it only if their assessment is accurate enough.ObjectivesIn order to gain more insight into the self‐assessment process we analysed students' behaviour, accuracy, and question‐related characteristics that influence the capability of self‐assessment in two studies.MethodsThe initial study examined 131 undergraduate students using voluntary self‐assessment questions in an online course in a B.Sc. Computer Science program while a year later a replication study with the same research settings was applied to a different cohort of 264 undergraduate students with minor modifications to the question design, in the light of the original findings.Results and ConclusionsResults from both studies show that similar patterns could be observed for usage and of accuracy and score distribution for almost all questions. Item difficulty and comprehensiveness of the sample solution were identified as features of self‐assessment questions affecting student's self‐assessment capability. The replication study showed that task design can be modified to affect students' accuracy. Recommendations to make self‐assessment tasks effective and efficient for learning are provided.

Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Experiences of an Expert-Guided Online Education Project

There exist different approaches and models in teacher training. Among them, the constructivist approach is widely preferred in many countries. The constructivist approach is commonly embraced for its role in helping educators nurture students who actively investigate, inquire, and exhibit curiosity about the world. In recent years, incidents such as pandemic and natural disasters seriously affect normal life and have led to educational environments becoming online. Thus, the need to adapt constructivist learning approaches to online environments emerged. In line with this need, an online education project was organized to enable pre-service science teachers to gain knowledge, experience and awareness about how constructivist learning approaches can be integrated into distance education environments. This research aimed to reveal the experiences of pre-service science teachers (PSST) regarding the online education project. The research adopted the phenomenology design. Data were collected from 19 PSSTs through semi-structured focus group interviews. The PSSTs’ experiences fell in the following six themes: the perceptions of the teaching profession, the use of constructivist approach in distance education, lesson planning competencies in distance education, technological/pedagogical competencies, (Limited) contribution to subject knowledge and professional and academic career goals. The research findings offer valuable insight regarding the advantages of education project focused on enhancing the lesson planning skills of pre-service science teachers in line with the constructivist approach within distance learning settings. Based on the results, suggestions were made that could shed light on similar educational projects for teachers and teacher candidates from other fields.

예비교원의 원격교육역량 향상을 위한 교원양성대학의 교과목 개선 사례 연구

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for emergency distance education in the classroom and heightened the demand for remote teaching competencies in pre-service teachers. However, systematic training for pre-service teachers is still lacking. This study aimed to explore and analyze comprehensive course improvements for enhancing remote teaching competencies of prospective teachers. We examined ten courses offered in 2022 at S University's College of Education in Seoul. Through interviews with professors, course improvement needs were identified and suggestions were derived based on the course syllabi. The study resulted in five directions for course improvement: 1) introduction of future-oriented teaching methods, 2) assignment of content creation for online learning, 3) provision of special lectures by in-service teachers, 4) establishment of distance education environments, and 5) implementation of edtech workshops. After applying these measures to the ten courses, all showed significant improvements in remote teaching competencies. Additionally, the author conducted in-depth interviews with course instructors to gather their perceptions of the course improvement process. The resulting qualitative analysis is presented here. This research presents suggestions for curricular and extracurricular interventions to enhance remote teaching competencies in teacher training colleges by proposing strategies for curriculum improvement. As a result, significant discussions and implications for course design and operation have been derived.

Securely Compressed Extensive Text Messages: The Interactive Mobile Learning for Distance Education in the COVID – 19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a massive impact on the higher education system in the present globe. Universities had to close abruptly due to keeping up social distancing to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in the world community. As a result, the existing face-to-face education style is rapidly shifting to distance education environment through the mobile technology. Here, an extensive text messages, one of the most popular applications, make a significant contribution on higher education. However, in this scenario, the single text message is not sufficient in various academic activities such as sending short lecture summaries, feedbacks, assessment timetables, useful web links, detailed news, notices, and examination results to achieve educational prospects to obtain better results in distance education. Moreover, standard SMSs do not provide message confidentiality when sending sensitive data, such as examination results. Here, we propose a novel technique for extensive text message compression to create an interactive mobile learning environment for distance education in the present pandemic situation. This proposed secure mechanism provides message confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity with cryptographic protection. Initially, the teacher inserts academic-related information as an extensive text message. The extensive text message is then compressed and secured with the initialization vector and the secret key in the proposed mechanism. Finally, the securely compressed single text message transmits to students who will decompress it into its original form on their mobile devices. The result shows that students' extrinsic motivation in their distance learning environment effectively and efficiently in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research trends in meaningful learning in distance education environments: A review of articles published in Q1 to Q3 indexed journal from 2012 to 2022

This study aims to investigate the idea that there is a functional and efficient mechanism for meaningful learning. This study is a literature review with various references to data sources. This study's essential focus is on the difficulties and possibilities of meaningful distant learning. An amount of 21 publications had released between 2012 and 2022. Use the SEforRA.com search engine to find information for research. Thematic Analysis to examine the results and show the findings. The research findings shed light on several topics related to meaningful learning, including perceptions, challenges for teachers and students on distance meaningful education, and learning practices. The findings also explain how meaningful learning is in distance learning. The Results show that meaningful learning activities incorporated into distance learning activities enable teachers and students will gain authentic and meaningful experiences that will benefit their education, such as adding teachers' insights for their future teaching practices. The outcomes of this exploratory study have several consequences for anyone involved in remote education, including administrators, teachers, instructional designers, and policymakers, who want to ensure that students have meaningful educational experiences.

Anxiety scale for distance education: development and validation

ABSTRACT As individuals are likely to feel anxious in case of obscurities in distance education environments, it seems necessary to develop a data collection tool for anxiety in such environments. In this study, a scale was developed to reveal the anxiety levels of university students in distance education. Quantitative research method was used in the study. The study group consisted of 935 students in the first sample for exploratory factor analysis and 418 students in the second sample for confirmatory factor analysis including those who previously experienced distance education. After the validity and reliability were ensured in the study, the final version of the anxiety scale for distance education (ASDE) consisted of a total of 17 items and three dimensions. These dimensions were listed as readiness for the profession anxiety, social anxiety and privacy concern. Furthermore, to establish the concurrent validity, the Online Privacy Concern Scale and Anxiety subscale of Brief Symptom İnventory are administered to 219 and 197 students in the third and fourth samples as a criterion scale. The results of the analysis show that the ASDE is a reliable and valid measurement tool in determining the anxiety levels of university students in distance education.

Distance Teacher Training in Periods of Emergency (COVID-19 Pandemic)

The closing of schools at the beginning of spring 2020 in Greece highlighted the need for school distance education to make up for lost teaching time and to maintain learners’ contact with the educational process and other members of the school community. However, the teachers needed support in this urgent situation since they did not have previous experience with school distance education. The Laboratory for Advanced Teaching Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Distance Education (E-Learning Lab) of the University of Crete attempted to contribute with its own means to the support of these teachers. Within this framework, fast-paced, distance seminars were designed and implemented to support teachers on pedagogical issues of distance education. A total of 20 distance training seminars were conducted from 19 March to 29 April 2020, in which more than 40 000 teachers of primary and secondary education in Greece participated. The overall presentation and assessment of the training actions showed not only the enormous interest of the teaching community but also the need for such training actions. The paper proposes that particular emphasis should be placed on the principles and the methodology of school distance education, synchronous and asynchronous learning environments, and the design of lesson plans based on pedagogical approaches compatible with distance learning.

The Effects of Instant Messages on Distance Education Students’ Perception of Transactional Distance

In this study, effects of instant messages that are sent on a regular basis to the distant education students on how they perceive transactional distance were investigated. These text messages are designed to have either an informative or a remindful nature. Participants were undergraduate students that were randomly assigned to four groups (N=99). Participants in this study who attended distance education classes online regularly received instant messages. The impact of these text messages on students' perceptions of transactional distance was assessed using Perceived Transactional Distance Scale in Distance Education Environments (Horzum, 2011). Dialogue, Structure Flexibility, Content Organization, Control, and Learner Autonomy were the five subscales that made up the survey. The instant messages were intended to have little to no effect on the dynamics and content of the class. The students received all of the texts over WhatsApp. The hypothesis which those students receive instant messages periodically will have lower score of perception of transactional distance was largely supported.

The Purposes and Justifications for Preferences of Web 2.0 Tools Used by Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers in Their Teaching Practices in Distance Education Environment

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mandatory changes were required in the field of education, as in many other fields. One of these fields is a teacher training programme, which includes teaching practice. It has become of great importance that pre-service science teachers, who frequently include experiments in their teaching practices in face-to-face education, will carry out this process in online education. This process, experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prompted pre-service science teachers to find something that could replace the wet labs. One of the solutions in this situation is for them to choose and use appropriate Web 2.0 tools in their online lab teaching practices. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the Web 2.0 tools used by pre-service chemistry teachers in their online teaching practices in a distance education environment, the purposes of using these tools, and their justifications for preferences to use these tools. This study was conducted with 15 pre-service chemistry teachers. Data were collected via observations, a form filled out by the participants, and semi-structured interviews in this study. According to the results of this study, it was determined that the participants used 17 Web 2.0 tools during their online teaching practices. The findings highlighted that the most used Web 2.0 tools were Perculus+ chat, Google docs, and Quizizz. Moreover, it was determined that the participants used these tools for 21 different purposes such as drawing students’ attention, getting hypotheses, and designing experiments. The results also indicated that the participants emphasised the ease of the Web 2.0 tool as a justification for the preference for almost all of the Web 2.0 tools they use, regardless of their purposes for using these tools. It is thought that the results can be used to show how to make online or face-to-face teaching practices in teacher training programmes by using Web 2.0 tools more effective in the future.

챗봇 빌더를 활용한 한국어교육용 챗봇 설계 연구

This study aimed to create a chatbot for Korean language education using a chatbot builder and to suggest a chatbot utilization method for teaching and learning Korean. To this end, we developed a conversational artificial intelligence chatbot using Dialogflow—a chatbot builder provided by Google—and demonstrated how teachers can use the builders to create chatbots for Korean language education. The chatbots were developed by dividing them into for pattern practice, textbook dialogue practice, speech practice, and game activities, according to the purpose of use; furthermore, the utilization method of each chatbot was summarized. These discussions will contribute to establishing chatbots as useful educational aids in the current situation, with the increased development of artificial intelligence technology and the need for a distance education environment. Additionally, chatbot production and utilization through chatbot builders are expected to enable instructors to easily construct chatbots that account for the classroom environment and learners’ characteristics. This in turn enables customized learning for individual learners; further, this is expected to play a positive role in learners’ motivation and attitudes.

Primary Schoolteachers’ Opinions about Gifted Education Programmes in Distance Education

There is a need for scientific information obtained in scientific research environments related to the delivery of curriculum development training for gifted children by primary school teachers in distance education environments. This study aims to evaluate primary schoolteachers’ views on gifted education programmes that can be given through distance education. The research was carried out with 26 classroom teachers teaching in two different public schools in the spring term of the 2021–2022 academic year. The research was carried out according to the qualitative research model. A semi-structured interview form was created, consisting of interview questions about the quality and opinions of classroom teachers regarding education programmes that can be given through distance education. The validity and reliability analysis of the interview form was carried out within the framework of the opinions of field experts. Although the majority of teachers have gifted students, they need a gifted education programme, with the opinion that this training should be given in the hybrid model. When the gifted education programme for teachers is provided in the hybrid model, it is more effective than other models.

Antecedents of classroom teachers' intention to use distance education environments: A structural equation modeling approach

Antecedents of classroom teachers' intention to use distance education environments: A structural equation modeling approach

Covid-19 Salgın Sürecinde Uzaktan Eğitim Ortamlarının Kullanımına İlişkin Yükseköğretim Öğrencilerinin Tutumları

The aim of this research is to examine the attitudes of students studying in undergraduate departments of universities towards the use of distance education environments due to the COVID-19 epidemic detected in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province of the People's Republic of China. The method of the research; mixed method. The population of the research consists of 152 undergraduate students. Data collection tools of the research; the first vehicle; "Attitude scale regarding the use of distance education environments in the pandemic process" is the second tool in the research; it consists of a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. Analysis of data; the data were analyzed in two ways. Firstly, ward technique, one of the hierarchical clustering analysis methods, was used and square Euclidean distance was chosen as a distance measure. Differences in attitudes towards the use of distance education environments according to ward's cluster analysis technique; it is classified into three clusters: Effectiveness and Satisfaction, Motivation and Dissatisfaction. After the classification, a random semi-structured interview form was applied to two students in each cluster formed. As a result; it has been concluded that students have positive and negative opinions about distance education activities.