Showing papers in "American Journal of Distance Education in 2002"
TL;DR: In this paper, three dimensions of social presence-social context, online communication, and interactivity-emerged as important elements in establishing a sense of community among online learners, and the privacy factor was also an important element in the level of comfort for students online.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to study social presence in the online learning environment. Dimensions of social presence were examined using quantitative and qualitative methods. Three dimensions of social presence-social context, online communication, and interactivity-emerged as important elements in establishing a sense of community among online learners. The privacy factor was also an important element in the level of comfort for students online. An increase in the level of online interaction occurs with an improved level of social presence. This can be fostered by considering characteristics of the learners, by selecting the appropriate computer-mediated communication medium, and by applying appropriate instructional elements to course design.
1,027 citations
TL;DR: The meta-analysis described here indicates a slight student preference for a traditional educational format over a distance education format, and little difference in satisfaction levels, which support those of researchers arguing that distance education does not diminish the level of student satisfaction when compared to traditional face-to-face methods of instruction.
Abstract: Meta-analysis provides a method of quantitatively summarizing and comparing empirical literature to reduce Type I and Type II error. The meta-analysis described here indicates a slight student preference for a traditional educational format over a distance education format (average r = .031, after the deletion of outliers), and little difference in satisfaction levels. A comparison of distance education methods that include direct interactive links with those that do not include interactive links demonstrates no difference in satisfaction levels. However, student satisfaction levels diminish as additional information is added to the available channel of instruction (e.g., written to audio to video). The findings support those of researchers arguing that distance education does not diminish the level of student satisfaction when compared to traditional face-to-face methods of instruction.
564 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared two sections of the same course-one section was online and asynchronous; the other was face-to-face-by examining gender, age, learning preferences and styles, media familiarity, effectiveness of tasks, course effectiveness, test grades, and final grades.
Abstract: In this study the investigator compared two sections of the same course-one section was online and asynchronous; the other was face-to-face-by examining gender, age, learning preferences and styles, media familiarity, effectiveness of tasks, course effectiveness, test grades, and final grades. The two sections were taught by the same instructor and used the same instructional materials. The results revealed no significant differences in test scores, assignments, participation grades, and final grades, although the online group's averages were slightly higher. Ninety-six percent of the online students found the course to be either as effective or more effective to their learning than their typical face-to-face course. There were no significant differences between learning preferences and styles and grades in either group. The study showed that equivalent learning activities can be equally effective for online and face-to-face learners.
472 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss research findings of an evaluation of Web-based courses in which the researcher controlled for student input information-using Alexander Astin's (1993) Input-Environment-Outcome assessment model.
Abstract: In this article, the authors discuss research findings of an evaluation of Web-based courses in which the researcher controlled for student input information-using Alexander Astin's (1993) Input-Environment-Outcome assessment model. Controlling for student characteristics decreased bias and minimized the chance of incorrectly attributing outcomes to the virtual environment. The results of this study support the view that students' satisfaction was influenced by the online environment and was not due to student characteristics.
327 citations
TL;DR: The results of this study suggest that students can learn equally well in either delivery format, regardless of learning style, provided the course is developed around adult learning theory and sound instructional design guidelines.
Abstract: (2002). The Influence of Learning Style Preferences on Student Success in Online Versus Face-to-Face Environments. American Journal of Distance Education: Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 227-243.
288 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study was conducted to increase the understanding of learners' perceptions about how the first "class" in an online course should be and to further understand how learners' experiences in the first class contribute to their sense of well-being and engagement in online courses.
Abstract: This study was conducted to increase our understanding of learners' perceptions about how the first "class" in an online course should be and to further understand how learners' experiences in the first class contribute to their sense of well-being and engagement in online courses. The study revealed that learners' sense of engagement with courses is more dependent on their connection with the learning materials than with instructors or colleagues, that learners are most comfortable with a generous amount of time to prepare in advance for courses, and that the role of instructors at the beginning of courses is very much a functional one. Instructors are judged on the clarity and completeness with which their course details are presented.
233 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the relation between persistence, life events, external commitments, and resiliency in undergraduate distance education and found that four RAS skills and five RAS subskills were significantly correlated with persistence.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between persistence, life events, external commitments, and resiliency in undergraduate distance education. Scores from the Resiliency Attitudes Scale (RAS), the Life Events Inventory, and one questionnaire relating to external commitments were used to form the independent variables. The study revealed that four RAS skills and five RAS subskills were significantly correlated with persistence. No significant correlation was found for life events or gender. Of the six external commitments included in the discriminant analysis, only work commitments were significantly correlated (p = .0247) with persistence. This study correctly classified 66% of the students as either persisters or nonpersisters.
161 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted an interview with twelve university instructors to examine Berge's four roles of the use of technologies as an interview guide, and Moore's theory of transactional distance was used to interpret the data.
Abstract: This study was conducted to extend our understanding of the impacts on instruction when asynchronous text-based Internet communication technology is integrated into distance courses. The researchers interviewed twelve university instructors to examine Berge's (1995) four roles of the use of technologies as an interview guide. Moore's (1972) theory of transactional distance was used to interpret the data. The results revealed that as university instructors in distance education programs gain experience, they find it is possible to translate many face-to-face instructional strategies to the online classroom and learn the technical aspects necessary for effective use of asynchronous text-based Internet communication tools. However, most instructors continue to experience a tension between structure, dialogue, and autonomy.
103 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the use of linguistic qualifiers and intensifiers in a computer conference transcript and found a tendency for women to use more of the forms thought likely to sustain dialogue (qualifiers, conditional and parenthetic statements, and personal pronouns), whereas men's postings generally contained fewer qualifiers and more intensifiers.
Abstract: Previous research in text-based computer conferencing has reported that analysis of transcripts of online discussions can reveal how participants network socially, exchange information, and attempt to construct knowledge. Some have detected gender differences in online discussions, which may affect the interpersonal dynamics within the group. This study investigated a possible gender-related communications difference (the use of linguistic qualifiers and intensifiers) in a computer conference transcript. The study differed from some previous work in using the sentence as the unit of analysis and in employing a newly developed tool for coding, the Transcript Analysis Tool. Results suggested a tendency for women to use more of the forms thought likely to sustain dialogue (qualifiers, conditional and parenthetic statements, and personal pronouns), whereas men's postings generally contained fewer qualifiers and more intensifiers. The differences were seen as generally supporting previous findings and also as ...
78 citations
TL;DR: A review to see what was said in the research literature about learners using computer-mediated communication (CMC) in distance learning settings found the main ideas to be supported by references to empirical studies.
Abstract: (2002). Editorial, What Does Research Say About the Learners Using Computer-Mediated Communication in Distance Learning? American Journal of Distance Education: Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 61-64.
76 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that students who attend class off campus and who work full time generally have a more positive attitude toward distance education when compared with others, and that distance-site students are also more likely to be motivated and willing to take another distance education class compared with their on-site peers.
Abstract: In this study we show that students who attend class off campus and who work full time generally have a more positive attitude toward distance education when compared with others. Distance-site students are also more likely to be motivated and willing to take another distance education class compared with their on-site peers. Off-site students were much more likely than on-site students to feel the grading process was not a fair one. This work supports that of others in finding female students are in a majority in this learning environment (as are female faculty).
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors surveyed the technical staff responsible for facilitating the production of Web-based course materials in the nine academic components of the University of Texas (U.T.) System, focusing on their perceptions of faculty, student, and administrative/institutional preparation and support of web-based instruction.
Abstract: This study surveyed the technical staff responsible for facilitating the production of Web-based course materials in the nine academic components of the University of Texas (U.T.) System, focusing on their perceptions of faculty, student, and administrative/institutional preparation and support of Web-based instruction. Analysis of the results revealed that the majority of technical staff are satisfied with Web-based instruction. Several suggestions were offered for improving the quality of Web-based instruction in the U.T. System, including computer safeguard measures to deal with issues of academic dishonesty, more in-depth training for faculty, better student orientation, and precourse measures to screen out students who are underprepared for Web-based courses.
TL;DR: Changes in health care and educational technology instigated the use of interactive online instruction in this preprofessional training program and significant improvement in self-efficacy with the World Wide Web occurred irrespective of the treatment.
Abstract: Changes in health care and educational technology instigated the use of interactive online instruction in this preprofessional training program. Cooperative learning strategies, which require the interns to interact with each other, were incorporated into the online instruction to initiate learner/instructor and learner/learner interaction. Seventy-five dietetic interns from 3 universities were randomly assigned to groups with and without online instruction. Computer attitudes and use of the technology were examined. Demographic variables and previous computer experience did not influence the use of the online instruction. However, those who reported a preference of working with others used the online instruction more (p = .05). The amount of time reported using the online instruction had a positive effect on overall computer attitude and comfort using computers. Significant improvement in self-efficacy with the World Wide Web occurred irrespective of the treatment.
TL;DR: In this article, it is claimed that the skills of knowing how to access, glean, select, review, and integrate this content into personal knowledge are the essential foundation on which all else will be built.
Abstract: An often-repeated opinion, supported I believe by considerable empirical evidence, holds that in the knowledge-based economy, advantages accrue to people who are skillful in managing their continued learning. Workers are needed, it is said, who are self-sustaining, self-pacing learners who can construct their own knowledge, either alone or in learning teams, and who are able to link learning with real-world problem solving. It is also claimed, quite reasonably I feel, that the new Internet/Web-delivery technologies have a powerful potential to support such learner-workers by providing access to a nearly infinite range of information sources. However, it seems that before they can “make sense” of this vast store of information, people have to develop certain advanced metacognitive skills. The skills of knowing how to access, glean, select, review, and integrate this content into personal knowledge are the essential foundation on which all else will be built. A particularly important cluster of such metaskills (though a better term than “skill” is needed to describe this) makes up the ability to be an autonomous learner. The importance of developing the ability to guide one’s own learning, and when using external resources to do so under one’s own control, has long been discussed in distance education literature. Recent dissertations provide fresh insight into this as well as the other long-established view that the experience of actually being a distance learner helps develop and strengthen the metaskills of the autonomous learner (see, e.g., Anderson 1999; Ozen 2000). I find in my own everyday online teaching that students frequently report that one of the things they like about studying through this medium is the “feel” of self-management. One of my aims is, of course, that there will be a high transfer of this ability to manage learning to other potentially educational contexts. These may be formal contexts, or, perhaps more important, informal contexts in which it will be particularly desirable, indeed essential, that the student has the ability to organize his or her own learning program. Such contexts are likely to be work related. Given the importance of problem solving and teamwork, indeed team problem solving, we would like to think we could help develop such skills in our distance learning program and that they would be valuable for our students in the world of work. A recent dissertation study in which some such generalizable benefits of distance learning were reported was that of Sorg (2000). The study suggested that students found their distance learning helped improve not only
TL;DR: Pittman et al. as discussed by the authors conducted an interview with Von V. Pittman, discussing personal experience with distance education and the role of distance education in personal development, and concluded:
Abstract: (2002). Interview, Speaking Personally-With Von V. Pittman. American Journal of Distance Education: Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 115-123.