Online Learning Research Research Articles

RESEARCH ON ONLINE LEARNING

The second session of the Sloan-C Summer Workshop focused on research and how it might help us meet this challenge. In particular, presenters in this session were charged with addressing what the research to date can tell us about student, faculty and institutional change, what directions for future research seem most promising, and what we really need to do to move research on online learning to more rigorous and more informative levels.The papers they wrote are collected in this section. They include: a critical review of what the research literature can tell us about blended learning relative to each of Sloan-C’s five pillars of quality in online learning; two papers on one of the more promising lines of research in online learning, research involving the Community of Inquiry framework; an intriguing look at what very large data sets and innovative methodologies can tell us about our students and their reactions to blended course offerings; and an equally provocative thought piece on research on online learning in general which asks us to reconsider how we frame that enterprise, arguing that research on online education might generate more meaningful outcomes. The papers are both informative and thought-provoking, and although they may generate more questions than they answer, they clearly suggest directions for future research that could move ourunderstanding of online education forward in interesting and important ways.

Thirty years of research on online learning

SummaryThis paper presents a personal account of developments in research on online learning over the past 30 years. Research on how to design online instruction represents an example of applying the science of learning to education. It contributes to the science of learning (as exemplified by developments in cognitive load theory, the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, and incorporating metacognitive, motivational, and affective aspects of learning), the science of instruction (as exemplified by the continuing development of research‐based principles of instructional design), and the science of assessment (as exemplified by supplementing self‐report surveys and retention tests with multilevel transfer tests, log file data during learning, and cognitive neuroscience measures of cognitive processing during learning). Some recurring themes are that learning is caused by instructional methods rather than instructional media, so research should focus on features that are uniquely afforded by digital learning environments; instructional practice should be grounded in rigorous and systematic research, including value‐added experiments aimed at pinpointing the active ingredients in online instruction; research in online learning should identify boundary conditions under which instructional techniques are most effective; and research in online learning should test and contribute to learning theory.

Examining communities of inquiry in Massive Open Online Courses: The role of study strategies

This paper examines the discrete learning strategies employed within a massive open online course and their relationship to the student learning experience. The theoretical framework centered on the Community of Inquiry model of online education, which outlines the three critical dimensions (presences) of student learning experience: teaching, social, and cognitive presence. The Community of Inquiry survey instrument, administered as the part of the post-course survey, was used to measure student perceived levels of the three presences. Cluster analysis revealed three different groups of students with unique study strategies: limited users, selective users, and broad users. The strategies adopted significantly differed in student use of available tools and resources, final course grade, as well as the perceived levels of cognitive presence. The results also indicate there were significant differences regarding student commitment to learning, motivations and goals for enrolling in a MOOC, as well as goal orientation, approaches to learning, and the use of different study strategies. Implications for research and practice of online learning are further discussed.

A study into the usability and security implications of text and image based challenge questions in the context of online examination

Online examinations are an integral component of online learning environments and research studies have identified academic dishonesty as a critical threat to the credibility of such examinations. Academic dishonesty exists in many forms. Collusion is seen as a major security threat, wherein a student invites a third party for help or to impersonate him or her in an online examination. This work aims to investigate the authentication of students using text-based and image-based challenge questions. The study reported in this paper involved 70 online participants from nine countries completing a five week online course and simulating an abuse case scenario. The results of a usability analysis suggested that i) image-based questions are more usable than text-based questions (p < 0.01) and ii) using a more flexible data entry method increased the usability of text-based questions (p < 0.01). An impersonation abuse scenario was simulated to test the influence of sharing with different database sizes. The findings revealed that iii) an increase in the number of questions shared for impersonation increased the success of an impersonation attack and the results showed a significant linear trend (p < 0.01). However, the number of correct answers decreased when the attacker had to memorize and answer the questions in an invigilated online examination or their response to questions was timed. The study also revealed that iv) an increase in the size of challenge question database decreased the success of an impersonation attack (p < 0.01).

Public Internet Data Mining Methods in Instructional Design, Educational Technology, and Online Learning Research

We describe the benefits and challenges of engaging in public data mining methods and situate our discussion in the context of studies that we have conducted. Practical, methodological, and scholarly benefits include the ability to access large amounts of data, randomize data, conduct both quantitative and qualitative analyses, connect educational issues with broader issues of concern, identify subgroups/subpopulations of interest, and avoid many biases. Technical, methodological, professional, and ethical issues that arise by engaging in public data mining methods include the need for multifaceted expertise and rigor, focused research questions and determining meaning, and performative and contextual considerations of public data. As the scientific complexity facing research in instructional design, educational technology, and online learning is expanding, it is necessary to better prepare students and scholars in our field to engage with emerging research methodologies.

The influence of prior knowledge on experiment design guidance in a science inquiry context

ABSTRACTDesigning and conducting sound and informative experiments is an important aspect of inquiry learning. Students, however, often design experiments that do not allow them to reach conclusions. Considering the difficulties students experience with the process of designing experiments, additional guidance in the form of an Experiment Design Tool (EDT) was developed, together with reflection questions. In this study, 147 pre-university students worked in an online inquiry learning environment on buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle. Students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions, each of which contained a different version of the EDT. Since students’ prior knowledge has been found to influence the amount and type of guidance they need, the versions of the tool differed with respect to the level of guidance provided. A pre- and post-test were administered to assess students’ conceptual knowledge. No overall differences between conditions were found. In a subsequent analysis, students were classified as either low, low-intermediate-, high-intermediate, or high prior knowledge students. For Archimedes’ principle we found that low-intermediate prior knowledge students gained significantly more conceptual knowledge than low prior knowledge students in the fully guided condition. It is hypothesised that students need at least some prior knowledge in order to fully benefit from the guidance offered.

Online and Hybrid Learning

Online and hybrid learning research in business and management education has grown in the 21st century. This curated collection of articles highlights some emerging themes, including online/virtual teamwork and learning outcomes, importance of instructor and student interactions, research methods in this area, and future research direction. Ongoing works by early pioneers in the business and management education online and hybrid learning area, such as Ben J. Arbaugh, have helped draw interest into this research area. This set of articles should further grow that interest.

On the Nth presence for the Community of Inquiry framework

The purpose of the present study was to provide a comprehensive and descriptive review of the earlier research done on the refinement of the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000, 2001, 2010) that has greatly influenced both research and practice in online education so far. To this end, the current review included peer-reviewed journal articles only by handling them both individually and determining their common theoretical and methodological aspects. The results revealed that previous research produced very significant insights into the revision of the framework by producing four new presence types and seven presence dimensions. However, there were some theoretical, methodological and empirical gaps that need to be addressed in the future. Specifically speaking, these gaps ranged from addressing certain educational contexts to focusing on statistical significance only in some of earlier research. Accordingly, all the findings led to the conclusion that addressing the existing gaps in further research would enrich our understanding of the Community of Inquiry framework thereby adding to the contributions of previous revision studies done on it and positively impacting online learning research and practice.

At-Risk High School Students Recovering Course Credits Online: What We Know and Need to Know

ABSTRACTThe majority of American high school students enrolling in online education are doing so in credit recovery courses. These are online courses specifically for students who previously failed a face-to-face version of the course. Despite the popularity of credit recovery courses, the literature on online learning largely ignores credit recovery courses and students. Assuming credit recovery students are similar to other online learners can be misleading. In this article, the existing literature on credit recovery is reviewed in 3 specific areas: the proliferation of credit recovery courses, the student experience in credit recovery courses, and outcomes and impacts of credit recovery. Suggestions are given for how to advance the credit recovery literature in future research of online learning.

A Critical Review of the Use of Wenger's Community of Practice (CoP) Theoretical Framework in Online and Blended Learning Research, 2000-2014

After presenting a brief overview of the key elements that underpin Etienne Wenger’s communities of practice (CoP) theoretical framework, one of the most widely cited and influential conceptions of social learning, this paper reviews extant empirical work grounded in this framework to investigate online/blended learning in higher education and in professional development. The review is based on integrative research approaches, using quantitative and qualitative analysis, and includes CoP oriented research articles published between 2000 and 2014. Findings are presented under three questions: Which research studies within the online/blended learning literature made central use of the CoP framework? Among those studies identified, which ones established strong linkages between the CoP framework and their findings? Within this last group of identified studies, what do the patterns in their use of the CoP framework suggest as opportunities for future research in online teaching and learning?

Investigating the Drivers of Student Interaction and Engagement in Online Courses: A Study of State-of-the-art

Online learning has become a widespread method for providing learning at different levels of education. It has facilitated the learning in many ways and made it more flexible and available by providing learners with more opportunities to learn information, further access to different learning resources, and collaboration rather than face-to-face learning. In spite of these benefits and rapid growth of online education, success and persistence in such courses is one the important aspects of online learning research and it relies on different factors. Therefore investigating the reasons of students' dropout of an online education course or program and its contributing factors is essential in this area. One of the most barriers in online learning system is lack of interactions. In learning, interaction between students themselves, with the course content, and course instructors is important for conveying information, enhancing teaching quality, give directions, and many more functions. The aim of this research is to review the literature to propose a clearer picture of studies have been conducted regarding online interaction and factors that impact it in online education systems.

Sandcastle competitions

This commentary discusses reasons that lead scholars to feel entitled to make judgements in areas where they have little or no expertise. Three current reports about the future of online learning are considered, issued by the Global Learning Council, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Gates Foundation. Two of these publications contain contradictions and confusion that may simply be due to lack of awareness of distance education (DE) and online learning research. The third report gives good evidence but has been criticized for being too academic. The conflicting standards and criteria evident in such writings may be due to institutional pressures to promote policies and principles despite lack of supportive evidence, and to weaknesses in the DE literature itself. As major institutional policies about online learning are likely to be based on the recommendations of such reports, it is important for DE specialists to challenge them where appropriate.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Best Papers Presented at the OLC 21st International Conference on Online Learning and Innovate 2016

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) traces its roots to the Alfred P. Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) that emerged in the 1990s when a cadre of early adapters of online learning began to coalesce into a professional community. Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this community embarked on a number of activities designed to promote quality in the design and implementation of online and blended learning applications. In 1995, a one-day meeting of grantees of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Anytime, Anyplace Learning Program met in Philadelphia to discuss their work and share their experiences. Ninety individuals attended this first event. This meeting grew into an annual event for the next five years. In 2001, it was decided that the event be expanded into a full conference with paper submissions and reviews, workshops, and exhibit areas. The University of Central Florida agreed to host the conference in Orlando in November. That was a fateful decision as the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 followed by the anthrax scare in Florida in October of that year severely limited the number of people willing to fly to Orlando to attend the conference. Still, three hundred and sixty participants attended to share and discuss research, effective practices, student services, and administrative support for online learning. Since 2001, the conference has grown and has evolved into the premiere event for presenting current ideas, research, and best practices in online learning. &#x0D; &#x0D; In 2015, the Online Learning Consortium celebrated the 21st anniversary of the International Conference on Online Learning. The theme of the conference, Shaping the Future of Online Learning, focused on the latest developments in online and blended learning. Almost 3,000 individuals attended this conference either in person or virtually. Six hundred and sixty-eight proposals were submitted for presentation. &#x0D; &#x0D; In April, 2016, the Online Learning Consortium initiated a new conference, OLC Innovate: Innovations in Blended and Online Learning. Almost 2,000 individuals attended this conference and 506 individuals submitted presentation proposals. Of the 1,172 proposals submitted for both conferences, the nine articles selected for this special edition represent the best presentations as determined by the conference track chairs and editorial staff of the Online Learning Journal.

Co-designing reform-based online inquiry learning environments as a situated approach to teachers’ professional development

This study examined the contribution of a co-design approach to science teachers’ situated professional development, and explored its effect on student learning and motivation. Study participants were three science teachers who were members of a co-design team; one of the teachers enacted the designed learning environment with her 11th grade, non-science major students. Data were collected from 31 design meetings over two years, teacher interviews, and from pre-post student learning and motivation assessments. Findings indicated that the co-design approach addressed teachers’ reform-based professional development needs, had greater impact on the enacting teacher, and met the enacting students’ learning and motivation needs. The findings talk to the potential of co-design as a successful approach for teachers’ reform-based, situated professional development.

10-Second Demos: Boiling Asynchronous Online Instruction Down to the Essentials with GIF Graphics

ABSTRACTConnecting with text-weary students can be a challenge in the online instructional environment. Librarians have often developed screencast videos and integrated screenshots into online learning objects to teach students basic research skills. An alternative technology, graphical interchange format (GIF), may prove to be an excellent blend of the two media. GIF technology allows librarians to reach visual learners by producing continuously looping animated images. Librarians at two academic libraries recently incorporated GIFs into online learning modules and research guides to experiment with the technology and its accessibility. This article will explore GIF technology's place in the current landscape of online library research instruction. The authors will provide their recommended best practices for incorporating GIFs as online learning objects with a spotlight on accessibility. The authors will expound upon their discoveries in working with the technology and describe the advantages and challenges of using such a technology to demonstrate research skills.

Analytics Research and Case Studies in Online Learning

Introduction

Revising the Community of Inquiry Framework for the Analysis of One-To-One Online Learning Relationships

&lt;p class="3"&gt;In online learning research, the theoretical community of inquiry framework has been used extensively to analyze processes of inquiry among learners and instructors within a community. This paper examines a special case of community of inquiry consisting of only one learner and one instructor. Together they en­gage in an online coaching discourse to form a relationship of inquiry. Within these relationships, coachees pass through processes of practical inquiry process while a coach supports the process. In this study, a framework and coding scheme were developed for use in a transcript coding procedure including 3,109 messages from an online coaching case in math for K–12 students. It is found that the elements of cognitive, teaching, and social presence, as well as the newly proposed emotional presence, which outlines a community of inquiry, comprise an effective structure for the analysis of one-to-one online coaching environments. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that a relationship of inquiry framework has the potential to support development of one-to-one online learning.&lt;/p&gt;

Book Review: Online, Blended, and Distance Education: Building Successful Programs in Schools

Editors Tom Clark and Michael Barbour assemble an array of research and case studies from some of today’s leading scholars in digital learning in this user-friendly compilation. With over 30 years of experience in online learning research between them, Clark and Barbour’s wisdom is evident in their choices of contributors and themes. The book provides a greatly needed overview of research in online teaching and learning, which also shows that there is ample opportunity for investigation and innovation. Chapters on instructional design, technology infrastructure, and equitable access provide useful summaries for program planning, while the variety of case studies will no doubt trigger expanded investigation and future study.

Blurred Lines: A Study of Engagement in Online Learning

The understanding of the educational environment is vital for the success of the learners and the course — especially in an online setting. Numerous interconnected elements exist which influence the experience of a learner. By analyzing and deconstructing seven specific terms (common words associated in the online (e - ) learning research corpus (meaningfulness, motivation, emotion, behavior, cognition, commitment, and engagement), the researcher hopes to show the multifaceted, multidimensional relationship between a person and his or her online andragogic environment. Thirty - three participants volunteered to take part in this research project. Each participant was asked to define th e aforementioned seven words using only those seven words. The findings of the study shed new light on the interconnectedness of these variables. By understanding the interconnectedness of these terms, online educators, theorists, and students are in a bet ter position to be successful in their endeavors.

MOOCs as a massive research laboratory: opportunities and challenges

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer many opportunities for research into several topics related to pedagogical methods and student incentives. In the context of over 20 years of online learning research, we discuss lessons to be learned from observational comparisons and experiments on randomly chosen groups of students. We target two MOOCs for our study. We investigate dropout rates and how students who decide to drop out differ from those who continue courses. We discuss class forums and video lectures and how these interactions correlate with achievement. We explore the strong correlation between procrastination and achievement and implications for MOOC design. We examine the role of certifications offered by MOOCs and how different options can affect outcomes. We also examine the potential of linking data across courses. We discuss survey data in the context of these MOOCs. These research opportunities offer big data challenges, which are addressed with parallel computing techniques.