Online Learning Courses Research Articles

Adults’ readiness for online learning in the Czech Republic and Latvia (digital competence as a result of ICT education policy and information society development strategy)

The study examined adults’ readiness for online learning in the Czech Republic and in Latvia. This paper describes and compares the research results in the Czech Republic and Latvia. The outcomes of the study show that there is no statistically significant difference in adults’ readiness to study online between both countries. Statistically significant differences were found in the Czech Republic – adults in the age group 18-29 had higher results in the “Readiness to study online”, while adults in the age group 50-58 had the lowest result. Also statistically significant differences were found in relation to previous activities – people, who had enrolled and completed online learning courses previously, had significant higher rate of “Readiness to study online”. This was observed both in Latvia and the Czech Republic. Collecting data from online readiness survey tool before the course would give useful information to the faculty to plan specific activities for specific groups of learners, to customize their learning path during the progress of the course.

Systematic literature review on self-regulated learning in massive open online courses

Despite arguments about the importance of self-regulated learning (SRL) in massive open online courses (MOOCs) (Terras & Ramsay, 2015), understanding of the topic is limited. This study offers a systematic review of empirical research on SRL in MOOCs. It revealed that the body of literature on SRL in MOOCs has grown from 2014 to 2016. The content analysis findings show that SRL was a factor positively influencing learning in MOOCs. SRL strategies were identified, including motivational regulation strategies, specifically self-efficacy, task value, and goal setting. Particular cognitive regulation strategies were not identified, and goal setting was found as a metacognitive regulation strategy. Regarding behavioural and contextual regulation strategies, help seeking, time management, and effort regulation were identified. In addition, several MOOC designs and SRL interventions that consider unique characteristics of MOOCs were proposed to promote SRL. Implications of these findings and future research are discussed.

AN EXAMINATION OF SENSE OF CLASSROOM COMMUNITY AND LEARNING AMONG AFRICAN AMERICAN AND CAUCASIAN GRADUATE STUDENTS

Higher education administrators and faculty members seek ways in which to advance student learning in online courses, and student affairs professionals seek ways to promote a sense of belonging and connectedness of students to their schools. The present study examined how a set of three classroom community variables were related to a set of two student learning variables in a predominantly White sample of 108 online African American and Caucasian graduate students. Using canonical correlation, the two subscales of the Classroom Community Scale and the mean number of messages posted each week to the online course’s group discussion boards were found to be related significantly to perceived learning and total points earned in the course along a single dimension. Moreover, African American students scored significantly lower across all five variables than their Caucasian peers, suggesting that the achievement gap that exists in many traditional educational programs also exists in graduate ALN programs and that this gap extends to sense of community.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR DEVELOPING EVALUATIONS OF ONLINE COURSES

Exploration of how to assure effective teaching and learning online is extremely important and timely as many institutions seek to maximize the educational benefits from this constantly developing technology. This study categorizes principles gathered from an extensive review of the literature focusing on current best practices for effective teaching and learning in online courses. It compares the presence of those principles in items gleaned from a review of assessment instruments currently in use by thirteen Georgia institutions and several national online courses. Results, which were used to inform the revision of the University System of Georgia eCore course evaluation instrument, provide a rubric for assessing and informing other instruments used to evaluate online course instruction.

EXAMINING SOCIAL PRESENCE IN ONLINE COURSES IN RELATION TO STUDENTS' PERCEIVED LEARNING AND SATISFACTION

Research has demonstrated that social presence not only affects outcomes but also student, and possibly instructor, satisfaction with a course. Teacher immediacy behaviors and the presence of others are especially important issues for those involved in delivering online education. This study explored the role of social presence in online learning environments and its relationship to students’ perceptions of learning and satisfaction with the instructor. The participants for this study were students who completed Empire State College’s (ESC) online learning courses in the spring of 2000 and completed the end of semester course survey (n=97). A correlational design was utilized. This study found that students with high overall perceptions of social presence also scored high in terms of perceived learning and perceived satisfaction with the instructor. Students’ perceptions of social presence overall, moreover, contributed significantly to the predictor equation for students’ perceived learning overall. Gender accounted for some of the variability of students’ overall perception of social presence, while age and number of college credits earned did not account for any of the variability.

MEETING THE NEEDS OF NONTRADITIONAL RESPONDERS THROUGH SUCCESSFUL ONLINE COURSES IN BIOTERRORISM RESPONSE

The Monroe County (NY) Health Alert Network (MCHAN) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) recently completed their second year of a Centers for Disease Control grant-funded project that offers a series of instructor-led asynchronous online learning courses. The courses are designed to enhance the workforce competencies of local and state health department staff and other nontraditional responders in planning for and responding to bioterrorism and other health emergencies. The project meets an important need for critical skills and knowledge training in this field and demonstrates how partnerships of higher education, government, and industry can deliver such training online. Contrary to the results of many e-learning initiatives, the vast majority (84%) of students involved in the program successfully completed the courses they started. Student and instructor evaluation surveys show high degrees of satisfaction and success; they also provide useful information on how to improve the courses. A critical element in the success of the courses was the employment of a program coordinator to manage course creation, instructor training, marketing, and registration. If one considers project costs relative tocompletion rates, this project has been highly cost effective despite the added cost of paying instructors. Overall, project results indicate that the asynchronous instructor-led online course model can be implemented successfully in many corporate and government e-learning initiatives.

PEDAGOGY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE LEARNING FOR ONLINE INSTRUCTORS

The last six years have seen an increasing interest in the use of online technologies for delivering training in the UK, as employers recognize that these technologies can offer a more economic and flexible training package that can be tailored to the priorities of a company and its employees. This article explores the development of the Certificate in Online Learning course, a course developed by an academic organization, The Sheffield College, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Personnel andDevelopment. The article considers the way in which the strengths and experience of the partners have been brought together to build a new and robust course, based on sound pedagogical principles, that addresses the needs of corporate trainers in the development and delivery of online training. In addition, the article examines the role of the Open College Network, the accrediting body for the course, in ensuring its continued development.

Use of Asynchronous Discussion Forum (ADF) and CompendiumLD (CLD) as a Learning Strategy in a Distance Learning Online Course- A Reflective Narrative

The paper reflects on my personal learning experiences as a postgraduate online distance learner on the use of two contemporary ICT tools, i.e., Asynchronous Discussion Forum (ADF) and CompendiumLD (CLD). The paper opens with an overview on the use of ADF and CLD. I then reflected on my personal learning experiences on the subject matter through personal narrative method. Finally, I have suggested, how tutors can utilize these technologies to maximize learners' participation in online learning environment. ADF has nurtured critical thinking, questioning, writing and problem-solving skills. It has further optimized my online participation. Whereas, CLD has equipped me with the skills to design creative learning interventions. Both the digital tools have increased my collaboration with peers and resources. Not only did I gain skills, but also shared learning with others. Integration of these tools has potentials to augment formal and non-formal learning experiences in online environment.

Cultural Consideration in Online Learning Environment: A Case Discussion of HBMSU Learners, Dubai UAE

Universities have been challenged by their environments’ changes from having the traditional classes environments to the online environment. Nowadays, students’ growing up with the culture of the devices and technologies. Therefore, while having online classes rapidly spread among high-education, the students engaged those classes to have diverse behaviors according to their education and ethnic backgrounds. Because of this, the challenges face the education faculty and the environment designers are to be taking those differences into consideration and develop the educational offers accordingly. As students’ perceptions and opinions to their satisfaction level toward the online learning courses have taken the attention of the educational researchers. This paper reviews the previous research which is focusing on the cultures’ questions within the online learning. However, none of them have been concentrated on specific variables to be studied. This study addresses the previous research gaps.The aim of the study to help the students of HBMSU university finding answers and solutions for their worries. Specifically, Focusing on the influence of diversified cultures on the students’ engagement within the online classes. In order to search for the best effective ways to get the desired outcomes considering the students’ differences. Having such study that investigates the students’ needs and assesses their factors will give our university the chance to enhance their level of the provided services. Online universities always showing themselves as the best to fit the whole world students. But what is the reality that there are a lot of students are suffering. So, Does the traditional classes’ problems that resulted of the cultures variances transferred to the online classes too?The study conducted by developing a web-based survey that reaches a number of students from different majors that existing in our HBMSU University. Perceived their satisfaction level based on multiple factors, and test to which extent their cultures factors have an effect on that. Keywords : Educational & Ethnic Background, Enhance Online-learning, Student’s satisfaction. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-9-13 Publication date :March 31 st 2019

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: ANALYZING STUDENT SUCCESS

RIT Online Learning courses have an overall course completion rate of 94%. For lower-division courses, the rate is 92%, undergraduate 93%, and graduate 96%. In this case study. we will share additional measurements we have used to monitor student success and describe strategies we have used to promote online discussion as a key component of effective online courses. We will share results from a large survey of our online students that shows the most interactive courses receive the most positive responses from students. The demographics of our online students have shifted to where almost half our online students are campus-based now. We believe our historical emphasis on interaction in our online courses is serving these new online students equally well, which suggests an important opportunity exists to expand online discussion to more campus-based courses.

What future(s) for distance education universities? Towards an open network-based approach

La necesidad de aumentar la escalabilidad, la interoperabilidad, y la flexibilidad de la oferta educativa está impulsando la expansión del aprendizaje digital y abierto en la educación superior. A medida que este movimiento se expande por todo el mundo, las universidades de educación a distancia entran en una crisis. El aprendizaje potenciado por la tecnología está ahora diseminado por todas las instituciones y la mayoría también ha adoptado prácticas educativas abiertas cómo consecuencia del gran impacto de los MOOC. En este nuevo contexto de rápido crecimiento, caótico e inestable, detener expertise basada en la investigación, una infraestructura dedicada y personal especialmente capacitado podrá ya no ser considerado cómo necesario para que las instituciones puedan ofertar educación a distancia o en línea. Además, van surgiendo nuevos proveedores no institucionales de educación superior no formal, ofertando cursos y programas de aprendizaje abierto en línea o semi-presencial. Lejos de los días en que las universidades de educación a distancia quedaban solas en el sistema educativo con la misión única de proporcionar un tipo innovador de educación para todos, ellas ahora compiten abiertamente con las demás. En un momento de contención del gasto público en educación, surgió en los últimos años un debate sobre la sostenibilidad de estas instituciones, especialmente en Europa. En este trabajo analizamos los nuevos retos y oportunidades sociales, económicas y tecnológicas a los que se enfrentan las universidades de educación a distancia, y discutimos la reinterpretación de su misión. También exploramos los modelos organizacionales existentes y proponemos uno nuevo basado en un enfoque de red abierta.

Digital Content Consumption Trends in the Website of Singapore's National Information Literacy Programme

The objective of this article is to utilise web statistics to analyse the consumption patterns of digital content - such as blog articles, videos, online learning courses, infographics and cheat sheets - found on the official website of Singapore's National Information Literacy Programme, with a view of informing forward planning. The secondary objective would be to gauge the effectiveness of the SURE Facebook page in marketing the content of the SURE portal.

Assessing ESL Learners’ Online Learning Self-Efficacy in Thailand: Are They Ready?

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether ESL students in Thailand felt comfortable and confident using online course management tools as indicated by the levels of their online learning self-efficacy. Background: While online learning has become commonplace in most US based universities, some international educational institutions are just now dealing with the enormous task of introducing online learning to their academic communities and working with both faculty and students for successful implementations. In Thailand, there is a national initiative to harness the power of online learning together with other technological innovations to facilitate an increase in learning outcomes and provide additional access to education for students within public educational institutions. Methodology: Online learning self-efficacy data was collected from 856 newly admitted English as a second language (ESL) students at a large public university in Thailand. Participants were provided an email link to an online survey either via a direct email solicitation or a web link posted by their course instructors. The survey consisted of 8 demographic items and 29 self-efficacy items on a 4-point Likert-type scale. Contribution: This paper adds to the body of research on self-efficacy in online learning context by examining the levels of online learning self-efficacy of ESL students in Thailand, where online learning is still not as prevalent as in the United States and many other regions. Findings: Significant correlations were found between online learning self-efficacy levels and demographic characteristics including self-report computer skills, comfort level using the internet, self-reported English proficiency scores, and prior online learning experience. ESL learners participating in this study were found to have high levels of online learning self-efficacy, which indicated a readiness for engagement in online learning courses. Recommendations for Practitioners: As indicated by the results of the study, ESL students who were better at using computers and more comfortable surfing the internet were found to be more confident that they would do well in online learning environments. Therefore, it is recommended that sufficient training should be provided to support this transition by helping students, especially those with lower computer skills and comfort levels using the internet, get started and supporting them along the way. Also, at the very first stage of transitioning into online learning, the institution may first start with partially online courses into which a mixture of both online and face-to-face elements is incorporated. This will allow students to gradually adjust themselves into the new instructional delivery system and technologies that come with it. Once students are well-adjusted and familiar with the new learning environment, and assessment of the effectiveness of the partial integration has been conducted, the institution can consider offering courses that are entirely online. Recommendation for Researchers: Faculty and institution readiness for the adoption of online learning should also be taken into consideration in future work. To address the identified limitations, we recommend that inclusion of participants from across content domain would provide a more representative and generalizable result. Impact on Society: Incorporation of online learning as a standard instructional strategy will improve access to the educational system within Thailand. Assessing student readiness for this non-traditional way of learning may facilitate institutions’ ability to better plan how to effectively incorporate online learning into its curricula. Future Research: This student focused study was a follow-up to a faculty focused study attempting to indicate the level of readiness for this institution to broadly adopt online learning. Future research could be conducted at the organization/institution perspective using appropriate frameworks to address the last element of readiness for online learning adoption that considers the three facets of student, faculty, and institution. After the completion of this phase of affective/attitudinal research and the implementation of online learning within this institution, we recommend moving on to the measure effectiveness of the new instructional methodology.

Foreign language MOOCs design: challenges to provide meaningful learning

This paper aims at presenting theoretical discussions and guidelines to support the development of a MOOC (Massive Online Learning Courses) related to academic literacies in the teaching and learning of Brazilian Portuguese as a foreign language. Firstly, some reflections about Language MOOCs as an emergent field are presented. After that, some discussions concerning the conceptualization of Language MOOCs design are carried out, followed by considerations regarding appropriate pedagogies for this kind of courses. Finally, the main challenges for the development of LMOOCs nowadays are approached.

Simulating Experiential Learning in Professional Online Courses

Few studies have explored how to simulate the experiential learning of professional knowledge domains in online graduate courses. This paper addresses how to provide the type of deep, socially situated learning that is achieved in professional practice by employing peer and vicarious learning in discussion forums. We start by describing what we have learned about scaffolding peer learning environments from prior studies. We distinguish vicarious learning, which exposes and sensitizes students to situated knowledge based on observation of peer discussions, from peer interactions which engage students actively in co-constructing knowledge about professional practice. Then we present findings from a 10-week graduate course in Information Systems Project Management. Our findings present evidence for vicarious learning from observing peer interactions, and of interactive peer learning that not only demonstrates the co-construction of knowledge across learners but also uncovers a collaborative process based on a sense of community identity. We end with a substantive theory of social cognition in community learning based on our findings. The intention is to provide a framework for the evaluation of collaborative knowledge construction, so that courses may support deep, experiential learning in graduate online professional education.

Progress and new directions for teaching and learning in MOOCs

This paper presents a narrative review of the literature related to the landscape of learning and teaching in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Past reviews of the MOOC literature have primarily focused on identifying trends and categorising MOOC studies. Syntheses of recent empirical contributions on learning and teaching in MOOCs are scarce. This review evaluated 102 academic studies published between 2014 and 2016 on the learning and teaching aspects of MOOCs. These studies were analysed using Biggs’ 3P Model of Teaching and Learning as an organising framework. The analysis examines four key learning and teaching factors: learner factors, teaching context, learner engagement, and learning outcomes. Five important findings emerged from this analysis: (1) evidence-based research on non-mainstream consumers of MOOCs is scarce; (2) the role of learner factors is oversimplified in evidence-based MOOC research; (3) there is no attempt to reconcile different approaches to measuring learner engagement with MOOCs; (4) measures of learning outcomes lack sophistication and are often based on single variables; and (5) the relationships between many of the key learning and teaching factors have not been clarified. It is argued that continuing to study learning and teaching factors in isolation without considering how they interact with each other does not move the research field forward.

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.

Gamification design for tutor education in an online course

This paper analyzes the use of gamification for tutor education, based on multidimensional competency development. It examines the possibilities and limitations of the structural and content gamification approach so as to promote student engagement for an online course and to simulate authentic problem situations faced by tutors in real-life situations. By the use of a formative research, called design based research (DBR), a naturalistic case post factum was analyzed, in order to contribute to the improvement of the original design proposed for the course. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in a pilot class of 54 enrolled students. The results indicate that the combination of the two types of gamification, based on different theoretical foundations, can contribute to increase student engagement in online learning courses and to provide opportunities to transpose into practice what was theoretically discussed in the course curriculum.

Understanding how university student perceptions of resources affect technology acceptance in online learning courses

The purpose of this empirical research was to use the perceived resources and technology acceptance model (PRATAM; Ku, 2009) to observe and measure students’ beliefs on using the WebCT online learning system (OLS) in two WebCT courses offered at a large university in the south-eastern United States. PRATAM was replicated from previous research to address the factors of perceived resources (R), perceived usefulness (U), perceived ease of use (EOU), attitude towards using, behavioural intention to use (BI), and actual system use (USE). The results show that the constructs of PRATAM explained the data well in both surveys conducted. This study makes a contribution to the literature on PRATAM by identifying and understanding the factors that influence students’ behaviours in response to the OLS. Moreover, it provides insights for administrators and instructional designers for improving students’ persistence and retention in online learning courses.

Learning analytics to support self-regulated learning in asynchronous online courses: A case study at a women's university in South Korea

With the recognition of the importance of self-regulated learning (SRL) in asynchronous online courses, recent research has explored how SRL strategies impact student learning in these learning environments. However, little has been done to examine different patterns of students with different SRL profiles over time, which precludes providing optimal on-going instructional support for individual students. To address the gap in research, we applied learning analytics to analyze log data from 284 undergraduate students enrolled in an asynchronous online statistics course. Specifically, we identified student SRL profiles, and examined the actual student SRL learning patterns.The k-medoids clustering identified three self-regulated learning profiles: self-regulation, partial self-regulation, and non-self-regulation. Self-regulated students showed more study regularity and help-seeking, than did the other two groups of students. The partially self-regulated students showed high study regularity but inactive help-seeking, while the non-self-regulated students exhibited less study regularity and less frequent help-seeking than the other two groups; their self-reported time management scores were significantly lower. The analysis of each week's log variables using the random forest algorithm revealed that self-regulated students studied course content early before exams and sought help during the general exam period, whereas non-self-regulated students studied the course content during the general exam period. Based on our findings, we provide instructional strategies that can be used to support student SRL. We also discuss implications of this study for advanced learning analytics research, and the design of effective asynchronous online courses.