Interactive Videoconferencing for collaborative learning at a distance in the school of 21st century: A case study in elementary schools in Greece

The aim of this paper is to present the design, implementation and evaluation of the methodology which focuses on the pedagogical utilization of Interactive Videoconferencing (IVC) in the contemporary elementary school.     

Collaboration factors,teamwork satisfaction,and student attitudes toward online collaborative learning

This study examined online courses with collaborative learning components from 197 graduate students across three consecutive academic years. A student attitude survey containing 20 items and a student teamwork satisfaction scale containing 10 items on a 5-point Likert-type scale with three open-ended questions regarding their online collaborating experiences were collected during the final week of each semester. Results revealed that the three extracted online collaboration factors (Team Dynamics, Team Acquaintance, and Instructor Support) from the student attitude survey had moderate to high degrees of correlation with teamwork satisfaction. Results also revealed that the three collaboration factors accounted for 53% of the variance in online teamwork satisfaction. In addition, results from both surveys and open-ended questions revealed students favored working collaboratively in an online environment.     

Learner readiness for online learning: Scale development and student perceptions

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a multidimensional instrument for college students’ readiness for online learning. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, the Online Learning Readiness Scale (OLRS) was validated in five dimensions: self-directed learning, motivation for learning, computer/Internet self-efficacy, learner control, and online communication self-efficacy. Research data gathered from 1051 college students in five online courses in Taiwan revealed that students’ levels of readiness were high in computer/Internet self-efficacy, motivation for learning, and online communication self-efficacy and were low in learner control and self-directed learning. This study found that gender made no statistical differences in the five OLRS dimensions, but that higher grade (junior and senior) students exhibited significantly greater readiness in the dimensions of self-directed learning, online communication self-efficacy, motivation for learning, and learner control than did lower grade (freshman and sophomore) students.     

The effects of organizational learning environment factors on e-learning acceptance

Workplace learning is an important means of employees’ continuous learning and professional development. E-learning is being recognized as an important supportive practice for learning at work. Current research on the success factors of e-learning in the workplace has emphasized on employees’ characteristics, technological attributes, and training design elements, with little attention to workplace contextual effects. The study aims to investigate the impacts of organizational learning environment factors, including managerial support, job support, and organizational support, on employees’ motivation to use a workplace e-learning system. A model was proposed based on the expectancy theory of training motivation and the social influences and facilitating conditions in technology acceptance models. The model was tested on sample data collected from mainland China using Structural Equation Modeling and Moderated Structural Equation Modeling. The results suggested that employees’ perceived managerial support and job support had a significant impact on their perceived usefulness of the e-learning system for individual learning, and that perceived organizational support had a significant influence on the perceived usefulness of the e-learning system for social learning. Perceived usefulness for individual learning was found to completely mediate the environmental influences on individuals’ motivation to use the system, while perceived usefulness for social learning made partial mediation in the effects of the environmental factors on intention to use. In addition, perceived job support was found to have moderating effects on the relationship between employees’ perceived usefulness of the e-learning system and their intention to use the system. Consistent with previous findings, employees’ perceptions about the usefulness of the e-learning system have significant effects on their intention to use the system in the work setting.     

Web conferencing for synchronous online tutorials: Perspectives of tutors using a new medium

This paper reports on a pilot investigation into web conferencing in a distance learning module. It focuses on the perceptions and experiences of the tutors, all of whom were new to the web conferencing environment, but were experienced in online teaching. A number of web conferencing tutorials were studied through the collection of various datasets, mostly qualitative. The data were analysed by a team of researchers, informed by key literature in this area.The main findings from the pilot indicated that tutors experienced challenges in creating social presence and in managing cognitive load when dealing with multiple tasks online. There were also technical obstacles to improvisation in response to students’ emerging needs. The findings of the pilot informed the training and support provided when web tutorials were subsequently rolled out to all tutorial groups (approximately 140) in the module. Overall, experiences from the web tutorials indicate that tutors and students reacted positively to the opportunities web conferencing provides for interactive learning and teaching.     

From participation to dropout: Quantitative participation patterns in online university courses

The academic e-learning practice has to deal with various participation patterns and types of online learners with different support needs. The online instructors are challenged to recognize these and react accordingly. Among the participation patterns, special attention is requested by dropouts, which can perturbate online collaboration. Therefore we are in search of a method of early identification of participation patterns and prediction of dropouts. To do this, we use a quantitative view of participation that takes into account only observable variables. On this background we identify in a field study the participation indicators that are relevant for the course completion, i.e. produce significant differences between the completion and dropout sub-groups. Further we identify through cluster analysis four participation patterns with different support needs. One of them is the dropout cluster that could be predicted with an accuracy of nearly 80%. As a practical consequence, this study recommends a simple, easy-to-implement prediction method for dropouts, which can improve online teaching. As a theoretical consequence, we underline the role of the course didactics for the definition of participation, and call for refining previous attrition models.     

Prompting authentic blogging practice in an online graduate course

Blogging is characterized by an individual exploration of ideas of personal interest through frequent online posts, documenting ideas as they emerge over time. Community emerges as bloggers read and link across blogs, based on shared interests. Blogs have gained acceptance in higher education for a variety of instructional activities, among which, reflective journal writing is popular. In this study, we examine a project in which blogs were implemented within an online graduate course in order to create opportunities for students to reflect on their academic, professional and personal interests, with the goal of establishing consistent blogging that exhibits the timely, frequent and interest-driven practices of blogging practices outside educational contexts. Students enrolled in an online graduate course maintained individual blogs in which they were prompted to write about their interests and experiences as graduate students. Through an analysis of the patterns of prompt use and blog content, as well as data from a post-course survey and an online discussion, we explore how to support student engagement with blogging practice within an educational setting. Findings suggest that frequency of writing, topic resonance with the students own interests, and the timeliness of entries were key factors in scaffolding writing that aligns with blogging practice. By focusing on writing as characterized by authentic blogging practice, this study contributes to an understanding of how to harness the unique communicative elements of the blog in post-secondary settings.     

Using online assessments to stimulate learning strategies and achievement of learning goals

The main goals of this research are: (i) to explore the influence that announcement of certain type of online assessment has on students' learning strategies and (ii) to explore the influence of stimulated learning strategies on achievement levels that students exhibit during assessments. Research has been conducted by testing and surveying 351 students from higher education institutions. Results indicate that students' learning strategies can be influenced in a relatively short period of time by announcing various types of online assessments and that steering to more desirable deep learning strategies has positive impact on both formal and perceived levels of success in achieving the desired learning goals. These findings can be used to create a novel adaptive online assessment system that incorporates the elements of adaptivity within a series of assessments and uses post-assessment feedback to steer students’ learning strategies.     

Research in online learning environments: Priorities and methodologies

Due to increasing demand for education and training in the information age, online learning and teaching is becoming a necessity in our future. However, lack of research goals to understand impact of online learning environments on students is a problem in research on online learning environments. We identified four main research goals to pursue in online learning environments based on their impact on learner achievement, engagement, and retention (opposite of attrition). Those goals are (a) enhancing learner engagement & collaboration, (b) promoting effective facilitation, (c) developing assessment techniques, and (d) designing faculty development programs. Current promising work in those areas is presented. Four methods that are common in the instructional technology literature are recommended to pursue those goals. Formative research and developmental research are relevant for all four. Although appropriate for any of the goals, experimental research is a better fit for goals b and c, and activity theory is useful for goals a and b.     

Students' perceptions of instructors' roles in blended and online learning environments: A comparative study

This study develops an instrument—the Online Instructor Role and Behavior Scale (OIRBS)—and uses it to examine students' perceptions of instructors' roles in blended and online learning environments. A total sample of 750 university students participated in this study. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, the OIRBS was validated in five constructs: course designer and organizer (CDO), discussion facilitator (DF), social supporter (SS), technology facilitator (TF), and assessment designer (AD). The results show that the five factor structures remained invariant across the blended learning and online learning. Both students in blended learning environments and students in online learning environments exhibited the greatest weight in the CDO dimension, followed by the TF and DF dimensions. In addition, students in the online learning environments scored higher in the DF dimension than did those in the blended learning environments.     

Effects of matching teaching strategy to thinking style on learner’s quality of reflection in an online learning environment

Reflection plays an important role in improving learning performance. This study, therefore, attempted to explore whether learners’ reflection levels can be improved if teaching strategies are adapted to fit with learners’ thinking styles in an online learning environment. Three teaching strategies, namely constructive, guiding, and inductive, were designed to match with three thinking styles, namely legislative, executive, and judicial respectively. An online reflection learning system was subsequently developed to reflect this scenario. An experiment was then conducted where the learners were classified into fit or non-fit group in order to analyze whether there was a good fit between the teaching strategies designed by the teacher and the thinking styles of learners. A total of 223 graduate and undergraduate students participated in the experiment. The results revealed that the reflection levels of the fit group had outperformed the non-fit group.     

Linking employees’ e-learning system use to their overall job outcomes: An empirical study based on the IS success model

e-Learning systems are increasingly being adopted by modern enterprises, because of their cost-down effect. However, the extant literature provides little insight into their beneficial consequences. It is expected that a transfer of acquired knowledge, skills and/or work attitudes to jobs will occur through e-learning systems use. This makes e-learning systems a useful tool for improving job outcomes, although this is not well documented. The IS success model, which captures both the human and technological elements of information systems, provides a theoretical basis for linking system use to system task. The current study then examines the relation between e-learning systems use and overall job outcomes based on the model. The data collected from one hundred and ninety-three e-learning system users were analyzed with partial least square (PLS). The results indicate that e-learning systems are perceived as useful and satisfying by employees, and employees’ e-learning systems use is significantly associated with overall job outcomes. In practice, these results provide a basis for establishing a link between an organization’s investment in e-learning and human capital management. They also lend empirical support to the IS success model.     

Acceptance of competency-based workplace e-learning systems: Effects of individual and peer learning support

Current endeavors to integrate competency-based learning approaches with e-learning systems designed for delivery of training to adult learners in the workplace are growing. However, academic efforts in examining learners’ perceptions of, and reactions toward, this technology-delivered pedagogical innovation are limited. Drawing together perspectives from the literature on training and instructional design and technology acceptance, this research proposed a conceptual model to examine the influences of perceived individual and social learning support on employees’ acceptance of competency-based e-learning systems. Structural equation modeling and multi-group structural equation modeling techniques were applied to sample data collected from work settings in Mainland China. The results show the positive effects of perceived individual learning support and perceived support for promoting a norm of cooperation on employees’ intention to use the competency-based e-learning system. It was also found that perceived support for enhancing social ties had a negative effect on employees’ behavioral intention. The gender, age, prior experience, and work experience differences in the main effects were also investigated. Besides, qualitative data collected via semi-structured in-depth interview provide complementary evidence to the findings.     

Online collaborative learning activities: The perspectives of African American female students

This exploratory study examined the perspectives of African American female students toward online collaborative learning. The participants were nine African American female graduate students in an online multimedia instructional design course in the southeastern United States. A qualitative study was conducted, with data obtained from open-ended interviews, along with relevant posts on chat rooms and online bulletin boards in relation to an assessable collaborative online assignment. Data revealed that the perspectives of African American women toward online collaborative learning could be categorized into four themes, including (a) preference to work in a racially mixed group, (b) preference to be a leader in the group, (c) learning-oriented reasons (rather than social or peer oriented reasons) for online collaborative learning, and (d) timid attitude toward online discussions.     

Applying the Practical Inquiry Model to investigate the quality of students’ online discourse in an information ethics course based on Bloom’s teaching goal and Bird’s 3C model

The goal of this study is to better understand how the study participants’ cognitive discourse is displayed in their learning transaction in an asynchronous, text-based conferencing environment based on Garrison’s Practical Inquiry Model (2001). The authors designed an online information ethics course based on Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives and Bird’s 3C model (Content–Construction–Consolidation). The content analyzed included the participants’ message posts, the quality of the dialogue and the scaffolding strategies for mentoring used by group leaders and teachers.     

Learning in serious virtual worlds: Evaluation of learning effectiveness and appeal to students in the E-Junior project

The objective of this study is to present and to evaluate the E-Junior application: a serious virtual world (SVW) for teaching children natural science and ecology. E-Junior was designed according to pedagogical theories and curricular objectives to help children learn about the Mediterranean Sea and its environmental issues while playing. In this study, we present data about the E-Junior evaluation. A class in a serious virtual world (virtual group) was compared with a traditional type of class (traditional group) that contained identical learning objectives and contents but lacked a gaming aspect. Data collection consisted of quantitative and qualitative measures on a sample of 48 children. With regards to learning effectiveness, the results showed that the serious virtual world does not present statistically significant differences with the traditional type of class. However, students from the virtual group reported enjoying the class more, being more engaged, and having greater intentions to participate than students from the traditional group. The plausible explanation for this can be found in the qualitative data. The implications of these results and improvement proposals are also discussed in this work.     

MOOC study group: Facilitation strategies,influential factors,and student perceived gains

“Join a Meetup Group” (face-to-face study group) has been propagated by Coursera to build rapport and provide mutual support among MOOC learners; however, studies remain scant regarding its effectiveness and sustainability. This interpretive case study documents our facilitation process, key influential factors, as well as student perceived gains in a six-week MOOC study group. Data sources include discussion recordings, end-of-course interviews, goal setting sheets, weekly reflection journals, and researchers' observation notes. Results showed that, cognitively, participants broadened their perspective of thinking, raised cultural awareness, and shared many learning strategies. Affectively, they established a strong sense of community and gained motivation for learning. Participants also increased action tendencies toward trying out Coursera functions, new courses, and learning strategies, and they became more cognizant of the benefits and procedures of the MOOC study group. Our findings suggest that, with proper design and facilitation, face-to-face study group would be a practicable and effective approach to leverage MOOC students' motivation, engagement, and deeper learning. Implications are discussed in terms of potential gains, challenges, key influential factors, as well as future design and implementation of MOOC study groups.     

Blended learning in higher education: Institutional adoption and implementation

Relatively little of the current research on blended learning (BL) addresses institutional adoption issues. Additional research is needed to guide institutions of higher education in strategically adopting and implementing blended learning on campus. The authors conducted a prior study in which they proposed a framework for institutional BL adoption (Graham, Woodfield, & Harrison, 2012), identifying three stages: (1) awareness/exploration, (2) adoption/early implementation, and (3) mature implementation/growth. The framework also identified key strategy, structure, and support issues universities may address at each stage. The current study applies this adoption framework to 11 U. S. institutions participating in a Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) grant and attempting to transition from an awareness/exploration of BL to the adoption/early implementation phase. The study also compares U.S. institutional strategy, structure, and support approaches to BL adoption and identifies patterns and distinctions.     

The relationship between class size and online activity patterns in asynchronous computer conferencing environments

This study analyzes the relationship between class size and student online activity patterns in a series of 28 graduate level computer conferencing courses. Quantitative analyses of note production, average note size, note opening and note reading percentages found a significant positive correlation between class size and mean number of notes generated. Significant negative correlations were found between class size and average note size and between class size and percent of notes opened. Analyses of average reading speeds among large classes and small classes revealed that students in large classes were more likely to scan lengthy notes (i.e., notes that contain more than 350 words). Possible explanations for these results are discussed.