Teaching Online Courses Research Articles

Does checking-in help? Understanding L2 learners’ autonomous check-in behavior in an English-language MOOC through learning analytics

AbstractConcerns over the quality of teaching in massive open online courses devoted to language learning (LMOOCs) have prompted extensive research on learning behavior in such courses. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of autonomous learning check-ins – that is, individuals sharing their own learning records and/or other information about their learning-related experience – a novel behavior that has not been studied in previous LMOOC research. Using learning analytics, we found that just 6.2% (n = 699) of a sample of 11,293 learners autonomously engaged in check-in behavior, and that the content of these learners’ check-ins varied considerably according to their contexts and the language skills they were seeking to acquire. We further found (1) a positive association between check-in behavior and LMOOC completion; (2) that students who chose to check in earned relatively low grades on unit quizzes, especially in their early stage of learning, but outperformed the non-check-in group significantly in final exam scores; and (3) that those who checked in engaged with a significantly wider array of in-LMOOC learning components than those who did not, and thus accessed a wider system of language-learning experiences. Taken together, these results confirm that check-in behavior can aid the process of learning in an LMOOC and further highlight this behavior’s wider potential to aid self-directed autonomous online learning.

A comparison of the level of the ESP language learners' performance and engagement in a synchronous online course and the face-to-face course

Evidence is steadily mounting on the prominence of online and technology-enabled learning in higher education. The present study intended to investigate whether virtual, interactive, real-time, instructor-led (VIRI) online learning has the potential to yield comparable student performance and engagement results to that of a traditional face-to-face (F2F) course. This is of great significance since the study delves into the possibilities of synchronous online learning in environments where resources are scarce and provide valuable insights into how technology can contribute to improving medical education and accessibility to educational resources in Iran and other comparable educational contexts. The participants were 18–30-year-old male (n = 16) and female (n = 24) students of nursing (n = 20) and operating room (n = 20) who enrolled in synchronous online and face-to-face courses as the requisite for the fulfilment of a bachelor's degree. T-tests and descriptive statistics were the study employed T-tests and descriptive statistics to assess variations in both student performance and engagement results. The results revealed that a synchronous course conducted through VIRI classroom technology yields equivalent student performance outcomes to a traditional face-to-face (F2F) learning environment. The findings further showed that while the students did not appear to differ in terms of the levels of expected interest in the course and paying attention in class for the F2F and VIRI courses, they perceived themselves as displaying a different behaviour in the two courses in terms of attending class, participating in class, academic workload and instructor interactions. In fact, the post-semester findings showed that despite the students' earlier expectations, they displayed different behaviour on all six student engagement factors. The findings of this study could have direct implications for the creation, development, and delivery of synchronous online courses in higher education, including medical ones.

An intelligent recommendation strategy for integrated online courses in vocational education based on short-term preferences

With the swift advancement of online teaching in vocational education, an increasing number of web-based course materials are being made available to students, granting them the freedom to select resources that suit their personal needs. To optimize the effectiveness of artificial intelligence-enabled smart vocational education, this study presents a course recommendation model centered on learning behaviors and interests. The model utilizes short-term preferences reconstruction behavior contribution to identify fluctuations in learners' interests in real-time. A model for recommending courses is proposed based on short-term preferences and enhancements to learning behavior. Its purpose is to tackle the issue of generalization arising from sparsity and weak correlation in learning behavior. The outcomes demonstrated the model put forth in the study achieved higher Hit Rate (HR) and Normalized Discounted Cumulative Gain (NDCG) values in comparison experiments with multiple models. Hence, this suggested that creating a novel component of historical learning behavior, powered by dynamic interest factors, could resolve the issue of changing learning interests and enhance the efficacy of course recommendation models. Furthermore, the introduction of a correlation mapping network enables the forward mapping transformation from weak to strong learning behavior, thus improving and optimizing input for the agent strategy, reducing data sparsity, and enhancing the performance and generalization of the course recommendation model.

Analysis of interactive impact and student behavior of teaching online courses based on gamified learning

The potential of gamified learning as an emerging force for educational change has been widely recognized, to address the design deficiencies in the automatic recognition methods in traditional gamified learning models and the low accuracy of learning behavior recognition. Based on the improved gamified learning model, this paper jointly proposes an optimal design and recognition model of learning mode based on a deformable convolutional type network. Based on the gamified machine learning theory and interactive feedback theory, it comprehensively analyzes the procedural improvement of the gamified interactive intelligence model to provide a theoretical and practical basis for carrying out the analysis of the interactive impact and student behavior of teaching online courses based on gamified learning. The research results show that: (1) with the increase of the number of gamified learning samples, the value of iterative loss function decreases, the accuracy of recognition improves, and gradually converges and tends to be stable when the number of training times is 500; the 800 training samples setting can fully meet the network training requirements. (2) The deformable convolutional neural learning network constructed with the proposed joint algorithm reduces the network error during the training process and introduces the radical change function to improve the data processing capability. This improved gamified learning model is not only superior in recognition accuracy but also shows great advantages in recognition time.

Digitising diabetes education for a safer Ramadan: Design, delivery, and evaluation of massive open online courses in Ramadan-focused diabetes education

AimsRamadan-focused diabetes education is critical to facilitate safer Ramadan fasting amongst Muslim people living with diabetes. We present the design, delivery, and evaluation of two parallel massive open online courses (MOOCs) in Ramadan-focused diabetes education for people with diabetes and HCPs. MethodsTwo Ramadan-focused diabetes education MOOCs were developed and delivered for Ramadan 2023: one for HCPs in English, and another for people with diabetes in English, Arabic and Malay. A user-centred iterative design process was adopted, informed by user feedback from a 2022 pilot MOOC. Evaluation comprised a mixed-methods evaluation of pre- and post-course user surveys. ResultsThe platform was utilised by people with diabetes and their family, friends and healthcare professionals. Overall, a total of 1531 users registered for the platform from 50 countries, 809 started a course with a 48% subsequent completion rate among course starters. Qualitative analysis showed users found the course a user-friendly and authoritative information source. In the HCP MOOC, users reported improved post-MOOC Ramadan awareness, associated diabetes knowledge and ability to assess and advise patients in relation to their diabetes during Ramadan (p<0.01). ConclusionsWe demonstrate the potential of MOOCs to deliver culturally tailored, high-quality, scalable, multilingual Ramadan-focused diabetes education to HCPs and people with diabetes.

Meeting the challenges of continuing education online courses: Can we promote self‐regulated learning strategies with adaptive support?

AbstractOnline courses are particularly attractive in continuing education because they offer a high degree of autonomy and flexibility, although this requires learners to take greater responsibility for self‐regulating their learning. That can be challenging for adult learners as they need to handle other obligations in addition to learning. Thus, self‐regulated learning (SRL) support might be needed. In the present study, we aimed to investigate how the specific SRL challenges that adult learners face in online courses can be supported adaptively. Main challenges for adult learners consist in managing learning resources (e.g., time, attention, learning environment). To address these challenges, we developed an adaptive support intervention comprising several features. To assess the effects of the adaptive support on the self‐reported SRL strategy application of adult learners, we analysed data from five iterations of a continuing education online course comparing iterations with adaptive support (with a total of N = 36 participants) to iterations without (with a total of N = 35 participants). Results indicate that the adaptive support significantly improved environmental structuring but did not significantly affect other SRL strategies. Further analyses revealed that learners who did not use the support deteriorated in managing their learning time and in setting specific learning goals during the course. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Adult learners are likely to face various challenges in self‐regulated online learning, including managing conflicting responsibilities and maintaining focus. Adult learners' successful application of SRL strategies can be challenging, underlining the need for support. Adaptive support interventions have demonstrated positive effects in various educational contexts, indicating potential effectiveness for adult online learners as well. What this paper adds The study provides insights into the positive effects and potential pitfalls of designing an adaptive support intervention to improve adult learners' self‐reported use of the SRL strategies of effort, attention, time management, environmental structuring, and goal setting. Implications for practice and/or policy The findings suggest that providing adaptive support, namely a structured course overview and adaptive recommendations of learning time and relevant content, can positively influence adult learners' environmental structuring. Our findings also highlight the challenge of achieving optimal support design, as evidenced by low support use. This finding highlights the need to explore additional methods to motivate adult learners to use the support provided while carefully respecting their autonomy.

Instructor Leadership in Online Learning: Predictive Relationships Between Servant Leadership and the Community of Inquiry Framework

Instructor leadership is widely recognized as essential for facilitating meaningful online learning in higher education. While previous studies have applied organizational leadership theories to the study of instructor leadership, fewer studies have investigated online instructor leadership. This predictive correlational study detailed the associations between the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and servant leadership (SL) theory and employed multiple regression analyses to investigate the predictive relationships of seven SL dimensions on the three CoI presences. Survey data were gathered from 148 graduate students enrolled in online courses in education, communication, and engineering master’s degree programs using the CoI Survey (Arbaugh et al., 2008) and the SL-28 (Liden at al., 2008). The findings revealed a positive and highly significant correlation between the instruments. The predictive model as a whole explained 66% of the variance in students’ perceptions of a CoI. Three SL predictor variables demonstrated the most influence: helping subordinates grow and succeed, conceptual skills, and creating value for the community. Additional analyses at the CoI subscale level revealed that the SL variables accounted for 73% of the variance in teaching presence, 55% of the variance in cognitive presence, and 31% of the variance in social presence. Implications and limitations are discussed and recommendations are proposed to implement online instructor SL.

The becoming of online students’ learning landscapes: The art of balancing studies, work, and private life

How do online students manage to balance studies, jobs, and private life – and yet succeed with their studies? Online studies typically attract students in jobs who seek to formalize their competence. Based on qualitative research design, this article sheds light on the academic learning of online students who attend a full-time program. Our focus narrows down to the inaugural class of online students enrolled in a Business and Administration bachelor's program. Specifically, our inquiry delves into the dynamic relationship between the academic progression of these students and their spatial and temporal activities. The article suggests that understanding this polycontextuality by using the metaphor of learning landscapes can help practitioners and students reflect on what influences their academic learning, which can help online students develop self-management skills. Self-management skills are essential in online education, and to help students develop such skills, educators must be aware of the individual learning landscapes of online students when designing online courses. In addition, our findings provide knowledge on how to on-board students in perennial online educational courses.

Leveraging massive open online courses to foster reflective practice in blended university courses

ABSTRACT Opportunities and concerns regarding the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in higher education have evolved along with them. A concern is how their use could support the higher-order learning appropriate for higher education. Grounded in the conversational framework, this case study explored how reflective practice could be fostered in a MOOC-based blended learning course and how students perceived it. Through document and content analyses conducted on curricular documents and student self-reports, findings showed that the blended course design, the design of the MOOC itself, and the affordance of the FutureLearn platform encouraged reflection. The students perceived articles, videos, and discussions within the MOOC as highly stimulating for reflective activities and positive learning experiences. This study builds on previous research on how MOOCs, given their asynchronous, self-paced format, can be effective in fostering reflection among students.

Methodology of teaching future computer science teachers to create and use open educational resources

Relevance. At the moment, getting an education is not limited to attending higher educational institutions, the development of the Internet and the emergence of an increasing number of open and accessible online educational courses opens up new learning opportunities.Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to substantiate the need to format the education system of future computer science teachers based on the creation and use of open educational resources in their learning process.Methodology. The methodological basis of the study is based on the use of such research methods as analysis, synthesis, and actualisation applied in the framework of a pedagogical experiment.Results. The result of the study is the assessment of the degree of development of Internet technologies and educational resources aimed at ensuring the accessibility of education. The world experience of forming an optimal model of education, which is aimed at training future computer science teachers to create and use OER, has been considered. The results demonstrate that for the effective use of open educational resources, it is necessary to ensure their safety. It is also determined that not all open educational resources meet the required level of quality of the information and educational materials provided by them. It is indicated that modern society is at the stage that demonstrates a high level of trust and loyalty to various educational Internet materials and resources, which necessitates their comprehensive study.Conclusions. A clear understanding of the requirements of modern society for the process of obtaining education indicates the ways to adapt the educational environment. The significance of the results is expressed in the development of the methodology of the teaching process of modern computer science teachers based on the creation, implementation, and use of open educational resources.

Students' digital technology attitude, literacy and self-efficacy and their effect on online learning engagement

This study utilised students' online engagement, digital technology attitude, digital literacy, and self-efficacy theories to develop and test a model connecting these factors within a regional university in Australia. A field survey collected data from 110 first-year students. AMOS 28 was employed for measurement and structural model path analysis. The study initially examined the impact of students' attitudes and digital literacy on their self-efficacy. Subsequently, the effects of self-efficacy on five dimensions of online engagement were assessed: social, collaborative, cognitive, behavioural, and emotional. The findings indicated that positive student attitudes and digital literacy significantly contributed to self-efficacy, which, in turn, positively affected the engagement dimensions. This suggests that when designing and facilitating online, blended, or technology-enhanced courses in higher education, educators should pay attention to various elements of engagement. The study highlights the importance of considering students' attitudes and digital literacy in fostering self-efficacy and enhancing online learning engagements. Further research and implications for future studies are also recommended.

Blended teaching mode based on small private online course and case-based learning in analgesia and sedation education in China: a comparison with an offline mode

BackgroundStandardized training for pain, agitation-sedation, and delirium (PAD) management is urgently needed for Chinese intensivists’ continuing education. Since 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Analgesia and Sedation Education and Research (CASER) group has used an online blended teaching mode based on a small private online course (SPOC) and case-based learning (CBL). This study evaluated whether an online blended teaching mode has similar effects on PAD management training when an offline mode cannot be used.Materials and methodsSince 2020, the CASER group has provided offline training and online SPOC&CBL training three times each, targeting intensivists and ICU nurses in China. All participants were divided into an offline group and SPOC&CBL group. A final examination was offered in each training session to assess the students' mastery of professional knowledge. Teachers’ and students’ perceptions regarding the online SPOC&CBL mode were evaluated through questionnaires.ResultsOf all participants (n = 117), 106 completed all examinations and questionnaires. Most participants were aged 31–40 years (53, 50.0%), had an academic degree (60, 56.6%), and worked in a tertiary hospital (100, 94.34%). We assessed the learning effect on participants from two aspects: theory and clinical practice. There was no significant difference between the SPOC&CBL and offline groups in terms of theoretical, case analysis, and total scores (p > 0.05). In terms of the participants’ perceptions regarding the SPOC&CBL mode, 91.5% considered the online mode to be a useful and accessible alternative to improve knowledge and skills. A total of 95.7% of the participants believed that they could interact well with group members, and 87.2% believed that they had a good degree of participation. Of these participants, 76.6% believed that they had received valuable learning resources. All instructors believed that the SPOC&CBL mode was more flexible than the offline mode in terms of teaching time and location, and they were all willing to carry out training with the SPOC&CBL mode.ConclusionCompared to the offline mode, the SPOC&CBL mode can also enhance participants’ knowledge and skills and meets their expectations. Therefore, an online mode can be considered a potential method in PAD management education in China.

Evaluation of teaching effect of online education courses based on random forest

At present, online education platforms are very popular. However, these platforms also have some drawbacks, including that they cannot be completely based on the needs of students, many students ignore the needs of students in order to adapt to the platform, do not adopt a more personalized learning style, and do not fully realize the individualized teaching. There are many factors at play, such as shifts in learning and teaching patterns, online platforms, hardware limitations of the network, and more. However, whether this model can finally satisfy teachers and students, and how the teaching effect is, has become a problem of concern. We propose a random forest-based method to evaluate college online courses. This method not only focuses on a single influencing factor, but also takes into account the special needs of students and teachers, and formulates different evaluation criteria, so that the system has not only universal applicability. The experimental results show that this method can improve the proficiency and level of teachers' online teaching, and can effectively combine several courses taught by students to form a personalized teaching method.

Does a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Assessing student evaluation of teaching ratings pre- and during the COVID-19 lockdown: an Australian study

The sudden sweep of the COVID-19 pandemic that led to significant lockdowns, and only gradual re-openings of societal interactions, forced the higher education sector to make significant changes in teaching and learning practices. Australian universities were no exception to this process. The adoption of almost universal online teaching in the face of lockdowns was one of the main changes executed by these universities. During this transition, instructors and students faced a plethora of challenges, with the former needing to master the necessary technological tools in a short period of time, especially with respect to creating and teaching online courses, while the latter had to deal with the socio-economic impacts of being unable to interact with their milieu in an orthodox fashion. This study examines students’ opinions about the effectiveness of their learning experiences prior to and during the pandemic period, within an Australian context. Utilising a pooled OLS methodology, we estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student evaluation of teaching for a number of courses taught at an Australian university. We find statistically higher evaluation of teachers in the area of organisation, focus and inspiration during the pandemic period (where online teaching predominated) compared to the pre-pandemic period. This bifurcation is accentuated in favour of instructors from English-speaking backgrounds (ESBs) and for those teaching postgraduate courses.

Analysis of Artificial Intelligence Technology and Its Application in Improving the Effectiveness of Physical Education Teaching

To promote the construction of public physical education online courses in colleges and universities and the evaluation of the effectiveness of course teaching, this article combines 3D reconstruction techniques in computer vision to construct a set of human body shape reconstruction models and apply them to physical training exercises and teaching effectiveness assessment tasks. Specifically, first, the joint point location information of the human body in the input image is extracted using the human skeleton analysis algorithm, and modeling the foreground and background pose information of the target region using the Pix2Pix image transformation algorithm; second, multi-scale features such as nodal location features, foreground and background features, high-resolution detail features, and low-resolution global features are fused and the extracted multi-scale features are also decoded with the help of pixel-aligned implicit functions to generate a 3D model of the human body representing the human form.

Ways to Obtain the Consent of the Subject of Personal Data for Their Processing in the Process of Organizing Educational Online Courses

The authors, using an example from their teaching practice, consider a special case of obtaining and processing the consent of the subject of personal data to the processing of personal data. The relationship between an educational organization and students of online advanced training courses is taken as an example. The authors show the problems they faced as organizers of educational activities and share their experience in solving these problems. They come to the conclusion that consent to the processing of personal data can be obtained using such electronic means of communication and datatransmission as e-mail, the Yandex Forms service and similar services. The use of these electronic means of communication allows you to quickly and economically solve some organizational issues that arise in educational practice.

Digitisation of English language education: Instagram and TikTok online educational blogs and courses vs. traditional academic education. How to increase student motivation?

Digitisation of English language education: Instagram and TikTok online educational blogs and courses vs. traditional academic education. How to increase student motivation?

A REVIEW OF PRACTICAL TEACHING METHODS AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS FOR ENHANCED FINANCIAL LITERACY IN NIGERIA

This review examines how well practical teaching approaches can improve financial literacy in Nigeria, a nation with a diverse population, uneven economic conditions, and varying educational attainment. We look at five real-world teaching strategies: classroom-based programs, mobile applications, peer education initiatives, online courses and digital platforms, and workshops on financial literacy. Every technique is evaluated based on how well it works and how it influences the development of better financial behaviors and knowledge. Workshops on financial literacy have been shown to improve participants' understanding of money matters, alter their behavior, and give them the confidence to manage their finances. Digital platforms and online courses provide self-paced learning and accessibility, reaching a wide range of learners and encouraging continuous skill development. Integrated into the formal education system, classroom-based programs provide structured and comprehensive financial education, setting the stage for lifelong financial competence. Mobile applications engage users, promoting self-directed learning and positive behavioural change, while peer education programs leverage community trust and cultural sensitivity to disseminate financial knowledge. Challenges and limitations include issues of accessibility, cultural sensitivity, resource limitations, engagement and retention, quality control, literacy levels, socio-economic disparities, limited infrastructure, and resistance to change. We recommend tailored approaches, infrastructure development, coordination and collaboration, long-term evaluation, an inclusive approach, digital literacy initiatives, quality assurance, community engagement, and public-private partnerships to address these challenges. Nigeria can advance and develop by working toward a more economically empowered and financially literate population by aggressively addressing these constraints and implementing these suggestions. Financial literacy is essential for achieving stability and economic empowerment in Nigeria and its heterogeneous populace.&#x0D; Keywords: Financial Literacy, Practical Teaching Methods, Financial Education, Nigeria, Effectiveness, Impact, Challenges, Cultural Sensitivity, Accessible Learning, Empowerment.

Experience of using online educational courses in teaching students of technical universities

This article is devoted to the problem of rethinking the use of online educational courses (OEC) in teaching students of technical universities in social, humanitarian and a number of specialized disciplines. The positive and negative aspects of the introduction of online educational courses into the modern educational process are considered. The article offers three formats of online educational courses: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), Shared Online Educational Courses (SOEC), and University Online Educational Courses (UOEC), which could successfully improve the existing system of teaching students, both in Russia and in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Online educational courses (OEC) in this article are considered in a broad context and include the concepts of «electronic educational resources», «distance learning» and «online learning» in general. The authors also highlighted the positions approved by federal legislation regarding the introduction of online educational courses (OEC) in the environment of the university, offered their vision of the implementation of these documents. The authors made the following conclusions: on the one hand the use of online educational courses is a prerequisite for the successful existence of any educational organization in modern reality, on the other hand OECs (MOOCs, SEOCs, UOECs) implemented within the framework of the model of replacing part of full-time courses with exclusively distance format are not suitable for all students. The vast majority of students are still ready to study online educational courses under teachers’ supervision with the use of blended learning.

AI based approach to trailer generation for online educational courses

AI based approach to trailer generation for online educational courses