Interaction In Distance Education Research Articles

Investigation of distance education students' opinions on distance education, their expectations on student-student interaction in distance education and their perceptions regarding the community feeling

Distance education offers opportunities for widespread and continuous learning, granting access to information without limitations of time or location. Despite its numerous advantages, the absence of social interaction stands out as a primary obstacle in online learning, as these interactions can play a pivotal role in mitigating students' feelings of isolation and disconnection. Current trends in higher education seek to support students not only in meeting their academic requirements but also in addressing their emotional and mental well-being. This study aims to investigate the perspectives of associate degree students engaged in distance education on various aspects of this mode of learning, their expectations regarding interaction with fellow students, and their perceptions of the community feeling. To conduct this study, a cross-sectional survey method was utilized, involving 102 associate degree students enrolled in distance education programs. The findings of this study suggest that students express a reasonable level of satisfaction with distance education. Students enrolled in distance education courses express a desire to engage with their peers while pursuing online courses. While students may experience some sense of community in the realm of distance education, this sense may not reach a fully satisfactory level. Both the sense of community in distance education and student-student interaction in online courses have a significant and positive impact on students' overall perceptions of distance education.

Interaction in Distance Education: Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Studies

Interaction in distance education processes; It has a very important place in the learner's academic performance, attitude and motivation, participation in the lesson and the acquisition of instructional goals and behaviors. According to the data obtained as a result of the analysis in this study, in which the interaction in synchronous and asynchronous distance education processes was investigated by qualitative meta-synthesis method; In the synchronous and asynchronous distance education processes, themes emerged about the purposes for which interactions are established, which features and functions can increase interactions in distance education, and which factors negatively affect this process while the interactions are established. According to these themes, which also constitute the aims of the research, interactions in distance education processes are established for cognitive, affective and collaborative purposes. Cognitively oriented interactions; ask questions-answer, asking for and expressing opinions, feedback, making explanations, sharing knowledge and experience, participating in discussions, suggesting solutions, directing, while affectively focused; encouragement and support, sharing personal information, cooperation and emotional support, collaborative interactions; It is established for the purpose of determining group qualifications (members and work area), coordination among group members, distribution of tasks within the group (expertise), group work processes. The categories on how to increase interactions were examined as learner-teacher, learner-learner, learner-content and multiple interaction. Teaching strategies that encourage peer consultation for learning, course contents with detailed and explanatory demonstrations, the learner's sense of belonging and commitment to the group, reducing social and psychological distance with a quick reply to the e-mail sent by the learner, the learner's questions and There is in-depth and explanatory feedback on the students' comments, and asynchronous student-teacher interaction using alternative web resources. Among the factors that negatively affect the interaction process are; during the process, there are negative experiences, slow connection or disconnection, conflict between learners, insufficient online course time to interact due to the intensity of the content, the dominant student being at the forefront when the teacher cannot manage the interaction process, and pedagogical inadequacy that negatively affects the cooperation between learners.

Easily applicable social virtual reality and social presence in online higher education during the covid-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Social virtual reality (social VR) platforms gained popularity among users over the last few years. They provide users with a sense of social presence, potentially stimulating social interaction in distance education. Insights on how VR enhances the social aspects of learning are scarce, however, and past examinations often focused on the effects of short usage times of self-developed VR learning applications. To analyze the potential of a simple-to-apply off-the-shelf social VR environment in distance education, in this qualitative study, a sample of 35 master's students employed the AltspaceVR platform for university seminars and group work over a six-week while campus access was restricted due to the covid-19 pandemic, and 23 of them were interviewed to examine their perception of the technology. The results show that social VR facilitated feelings of social presence, a more natural and spontaneous way of communicating with peers and teachers, and an increased sense of community in the classroom, compared to the alternative of videoconferencing. Participants reported high acceptance of the technology for teaching and learning tasks, particularly for interactive activities (e.g., workgroups) in small groups, but also identified limitations related to aspects such as image resolution, lack of note-taking tools, or the feeling of dizziness and fatigue after prolonged use. These results highlight the potential advantages of social VR for stimulating the social dimensions of online education, as well as the remaining challenges that need to be addressed to enable its use in higher education.

DISTANCE EDUCATION IN TURKIYE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: WHAT DO STAKEHOLDERS THINK?

This research attempted to assess the status of distance education implemented in Turkiye during the COVID-19 pandemic based on stakeholders’ (students, parents, pre-service teachers, teachers, and academics) opinions and was completed in the phenomenological study framework. With this aim, stakeholders’ views within the study’s purview were collected during April 2021 with an online semi-structured interview form with pandemic precautions. The data were examined with content analysis using the MAXQDA 2020 qualitative data analysis program. The interview questions principally focused on four themes, namely readiness for distance learning, benefits, adequacy, and continuation. It can be deduced from stakeholder’s opinions that though Turkiye was unprepared for distance education, the adaptation eventuated in a short time. There were differences in educational organizations’ readiness levels, and the views on infrastructure’s inadequacy explained this situation. They found distance education to be positive from psychological, situational, educational, and economic aspects. They deemed it indispensable for education to continue and for the use of technology in education. However, the lack of interaction in distance education, digital impossibilities, and other factors were the negative aspects. The stakeholders participating in this research emphasized that rather than being adequate, distance education was inadequate due to interaction- and infrastructure-related issues. Though there were negative opinions about the continuation of distance education in the transition to formal education after the COVID-19 pandemic precautions ended, findings revealed that it may continue simultaneously with formal education and may provide compensatory or supportive education. Additionally, further research is needed regarding the generalizability and educational outcomes of distance education implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digitalization of Education in the Context of Solving Psychological and Pedagogical Problems of Education and Training

The article discusses some current problems of socialization, education and upbringing of children, taking into account the factor of digitalization of education. The author analyzes the psychological and pedagogical aspects of the development and socialization of students in the context of the dominance of “virtual reality”, as well as issues of digital transformation of education. Contradictory assessments of digitalization in a comparative aspect, positive and negative aspects of its impact on education and training are considered. The purpose of the article is to analyze current psychological and pedagogical problems in the difficult conditions of rapidly developing digitalization of education, to identify the features of information and communication processes, taking into account the need to solve the problems of education and training. Methodology and methods of research. The research methodology is based on a comparative analysis of Russian and foreign scientific approaches to the study of digitalization in the context of its impact on education and psychological and pedagogical processes related to socialization, upbringing, training and personal development. A socio-cultural methodological approach is used to study the impact of digitalization on education. Research results, discussion. A comparative analysis of domestic and foreign sources to identify the problems of education, upbringing and personal development in the context of digitalization of education has shown the most significant areas of development that determine the current psychological and pedagogical areas of activity. There are two main areas of personal development in modern educational conditions: information sphere and communication sphere. The information sphere is conditioned by digital socialization on the Internet and digital transformation of education. The communicative sphere focuses on communication, which forms new characteristics and qualities of interaction between subjects of education, taking into account its inevitable digitalization. The specifics of the transformation of communication in the conditions of digitalization are determined. The peculiarities of the transformation of interaction in distance education reflect the general changes associated with the reduction/simplification of communication: the transfer of new forms of communication from social networks to real communication practice. The changing information and communication aspect of modern education, which determines the development of new approaches, methods, forms and means of teaching, determines the specifics of interpersonal interaction, taking into account the transformation of verbal culture that has already taken place under the influence of the Internet and virtual socialization of children and youth, is one of the most important objects of research in psychological and pedagogical practice. Conclusion. The prospects of the obtained analytical data are related to solving the problem of effective psychological and pedagogical communication in distance learning. For teachers and psychologists working in the conditions of digitalization of education, it is necessary to take into account the socio-psychological and linguistic effect of reduction/simplification of communication, which affects the semantic aspects of information transmission and the development of meanings in teaching.

Experiences of Distance Education Students with Their Study Modules: The Case of University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Ghana

Design of distance education course materials is the single most important aspect of any distance education program. In recent times, many have questioned the experiences of the learners in the use of their course modules. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to find out the experiences of the distance education students in their use of the course modules (learner-content interaction), to see how it has been engaging, effective and efficient in their distance learning journey. Five graduates of the UEW distance education programme were chosen at random for this study and the in-depth interview guide was used to gather data. The four major themes that emerged from the phenomenological reduction process of the learners’ experiences with the distance education course modules were the user experience; module content; interactivity of the modules; and assessments. The findings of the study were that respondents had positive experiences in user experiences, module content, and interactivity of the modules. They however had not so good experiences with the assessment practices of their program. The findings only confirm the importance of learner-content interactions in distance education, it also adds to the limited literature on learner-content interaction in distance education in the developing countries like Ghana.

Interaction in Distance Education and Online Learning: Using Evidence and Theory to Improve Practice

Interaction in Distance Education and Online Learning: Using Evidence and Theory to Improve Practice

Measuring Students' Interaction in Distance Learning Through the Electronic Platform and its Impact on their Motivation to Learn During Covid-19 Crisis

This study aimed at measuring students' interaction in distance education through the electronic platform among intermediate school students, by identifying the level of students' interaction in distance education and differences between them, as well as its impact on their motivation to learn. To achieve the aim of the study, two scales were designed for this purpose and were applied to a sample consisting of (268) individuals. The results showed that the level of students' interaction through the e-learning platform was at a high level. The results also showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores of males and females in the scale of students' interaction through the e-learning platform. There was no statistically significant difference between them in their motivation for distance learning via the online platform. There were also no statistically significant differences related to the grade variable in the level of interaction through the electronic platform and in the motivation to learn, while there was a positive statistically significant effect of interaction through the electronic platform on students' motivation to learn.

Facilitation interaction in distance education of pedagogical universities

The article is devoted to one of the current problems in pedagogy – the implementation of facilitation interaction in distance education of pedagogical universities. The analysis of the literature showed that Ukrainian professional educational organizations in more than 50% of cases use the educational platform Moodle, which allows to implement individual learning direction of students, create a single user interface for all participants in the learning process, while actively using forums, glossaries, automatic interactive testing, etc., focused on the implementation of optimal facilitation interaction of the subjects of the educational process, taking into account the specifics of the pedagogical university. In the article the essence of the concept of «facilitation interaction» is defined as subject-subject interaction, within which pedagogical support and initiation of various forms of activity of students of pedagogical universities at all stages of the educational process, within which personal formation and development every future teacher as a subject of educational and professional activity. Based on the analysis of scientific papers and taking into account the specifics of the organization of distance education at the Pedagogical University, the main tasks in the implementation of facilitation interaction at a distance are: technical understanding and experience of using online tools by the teacher-facilitator; anticipate and possibly adjust online tools to really make it easier for participants to work interactively and engagingly (during skype / zoom / meet communication). In the course of the research it was proved that the facilitator must master the skills – to create the effect of inclusion and presence here and now, regardless of time zones, cultural differences, sometimes – language, to ensure facilitation interaction in distance education.

Technology to enhance in-class discussions and student participation at a multi-campus program

Background and purposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of a novel approach to using technology in a class taught from a satellite campus via synchronous video teleconferencing and its impact on student participation. Educational activity and settingA wiki platform was blended with an audience response system and implemented during a one-hour class period. Students provided answers to open-ended discussion questions on the audience-response wiki page. The instructor read responses aloud as they were added, and provided explanation and immediate feedback on each response. FindingsThere were 136 second year student pharmacists enrolled in the class, and 41 (30.15%) students contributed to the audience response wiki during the in-class discussion. The combined four discussion questions had a total of 86 responses, which indicates that some students participated more than once. There are five accepted types of student interaction in distance education, and the audience-response wiki addressed each of them. Additionally, it addressed many barriers to in-class discussion for students on a distance campus including microphone anxiety and fear of interrupting a peer on another campus. Beyond enhanced student participation, it allowed the instructor to provide immediate feedback on a higher volume of student responses. SummaryAudience response wiki tools are free, easy to use, and allow students across multiple campuses to overcome barriers associated in-class discussion.

MOOC-based educational program and interaction in distance education: long life mode of teaching

ABSTRACT Modern educational technologies might be perceived as practical and sufficient equipment for presenting educational tasks that simulate authentic language use. Through a defined procedure, learning activities can be delivered in the course of technology-based apparatus to change, manipulate, and control learners’ educational environments. Today’s teachers’ challenge has transformed from the best teaching method to the best teaching apparatus. One of the foremost kinds of these potentials is Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It has received special attention in the recent years derived from Open Educational Resource (OER) movement. To investigate the effectiveness of such programs, this mixed methods and explanatory sequential design study evaluated a MOOC-based educational program in Baqer al-Olum University, Iran. Thirty-eight tertiary learners have participated in the study. Among them 20 learners participated in the MOOC-based educational program and 18 learners participated in a conventional English language class. Pretest/posttest and interview were employed to reach comprehensive data. The findings indicated that MOOC-based educational programs provide remarkable opportunities for language learners. Along with such opportunities, these new technology-based educational apparatuses provide challenges for stakeholders, policy makers, teachers, and learners that might constraint learners’ development in the course of their actions. Discussions and implementations are discussed.

Learner-content interaction in distance education: The weakest link in interaction research

Interaction is a recurrent theme in the literature on distance education. Much of the research along these lines is dedicated to reciprocal interpersonal interaction, that is, learner–learner and learner–instructor interaction. But there is far less research interest in learner–content interaction despite its fundamental and critical role in ensuring the effectiveness of the distance learning experience and education more generally. This article reflects on the interrelationship and interplay between learner–content, learner–instructor and learner–learner interactions by drawing on the three-types-of-interaction framework, equivalency theorem and other interaction research literature. It concludes by calling for more effort to be made to understand how distance learners study course materials or content, arguing that distance learning course materials may not be able to cater for distance learners and achieve their intended learning outcomes unless their design and production are informed by empirical research on learner–content interaction.

Network Interaction in Distance Education: Analysis of Russian Experience

In this report the results of analysis of the experience of networking Russian educational institutions, their willingness and ability to networking with national and international partners and offer a promising model of development of networking universities are presented. The experience of the association “Siberian open university” in organization of network interaction is defined as the most effective. The model of the network distributed structure of professional skill improvement of the scientific and pedagogical personnel created on basis of leading higher schools of Russia is described. E-learning and distance technologies are considered as the factors promoting development of network interaction.

Face-to-face and distance teaching and learning in higher education: Lessons from the preparation of professional musicians

Abstract In this article, it is suggested that academic programmes in higher education can benefit from focusing on procedural (or practical and phenomenal) and propositional (or theoretical and abstract) knowledge. The preparation of professional musicians is particularly relevant to this issue because musicians’ focus is often on procedural knowledge gained through making music. Accordingly, two approaches to preparing professional musicians are contrasted – face-to-face and distance education – and these illustrate how the transmission and acquisition of procedural knowledge works. The first, face-to-face teaching and learning, is thought about figuratively in terms of an artist who apprentices pupils or disciples and leads them to become exponents of particular musical practices. The second, distance teaching and learning in music as practiced worldwide, is informed particularly by metaphors of the web, factory and boutique that invoke, respectively, notions of connectivity, production and consumption in music education. The role of technology in mediating the process of teacher and student interaction in distance education is explored. Implications of the analysis for distance teaching and learning in higher education are sketched, with particular reference to the practical case of a hypothetical music school.

Introduction to the special issue on interaction in distance education

Introduction to the special issue on interaction in distance education

Interaction in distance education and online learning: using evidence and theory to improve practice

In a recent meta-analysis of distance and online learning, Bernard et al. (2009) quantitatively verified the importance of three types of interaction: among students, between the instructor and students, and between students and course content. In this paper we explore these findings further, discuss methodological issues in research and suggest how these results may foster instructional improvement. We highlight several evidence-based approaches that may be useful in the next generation of distance and online learning. These include principles and applications stemming from the theories of self-regulation and multimedia learning, research-based motivational principles and collaborative learning principles. We also discuss the pedagogical challenges inherent in distance and online learning that need to be considered in instructional design and software development.

Exploring the use of MXit: a cell‐phone social network to facilitate learning in distance education

The aim of this paper is to investigate the pedagogical suitability of using cell phones to enhance learning through social interaction in distance education. Social interaction was used as a conceptual framework to explore the potential for using ‘MXit’ – a cell‐phone instant messaging system – to support and enhance learning for distance education students. In exploring how MXit could be used to facilitate social interaction, a pilot study was conducted with University of South Africa’s students to determine how communities of learning are established. The findings suggest that MXit has the potential to be used to support collaborative learning amongst distance learners. Using MXit is even more appropriate in this context because, in most black South African cultures, collaborative learning is a strong factor determining values and social interaction.

Promoting key interactions in a distance medicinal chemistry course

Objective To describe and document how key interactions in distance education are promoted in a medicinal chemistry course sequence. Design Factors cited in the literature to affect learner-content, learner-instructor, learner-learner and learner-interface interaction in a distance-based course were identified. Our asynchronous (distance education) infrastructure was built to promote interaction. Course design, content design, course activities and course delivery were organized/planned to promote the four interactions. Student performance on course examinations and the national licensure examination was assessed. Course and instructor evaluation tools were developed to assess student perceptions. Assessment Distance-students' perceptions of learning and overall course and licensure examination performance was consistent and comparable with campus students. Attrition rate for the distance students was low. Distance students indicated that they felt connected to their classmates and the course instructors, and that they were able to build a learning community. Further, the majority of the distance students indicated that technology was not an impediment to their learning. Conclusion Strategies to promote interactions in a distance-based course are important to enhance distance student learning and performance.

Promoting Interaction in Distance Education

The Center for Collaborative Technologies at the University of Washington is dedicated to creating software tools that encourage interaction in the classroom. These include Classroom Presenter, a Tablet PC-based presentation and interaction system, and ConferenceXP, a video conferencing application for distributed courses, co-developed with Microsoft Research. In this article, we describe the use of Classroom Presenter in a pair of international distance learning courses. The two classes used different technologies: one was a synchronous class that used internet-based video conferencing and the other was an asynchronous class that used Tutored Video

The Relationship between Teacher Immediacy Behaviours and Distant Learners' Social Presence Perceptions in Videoconferencing Applications.

Videoconferencing systems combine face-to-face and mediated interactions in distance education. We extend the use of a Social Presence measure to on-site (face-to-face) learners and distant learners. Comparison between physically present and distant located learners did not indicate significant differences in social presence. Also results indicate that the predicted social presence score for distance instruction is slightly lower than for the on-site instruction for high nonverbal behavior while the reverse is true of low non verbal behaviors. Predicted social presence for face to face instruction is quite higher than for the distance instruction for the high verbal behaviors while the reverse is true of low verbal behaviors. It means that students‘ social presence is predicted to be higher in the face to face setting comparing to the videoconferencing course in both models. Additionally, when both nonverbal and verbal behaviors increase, the predicted social presence is facilitated, controlling for the grouping variable. In other words, instructors‘ nonverbal and verbal communication skills enhance learners‘ social presence in either environment.