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Interact ion equivalency in self-

paced online learning

environments: An explorat ion of

learner preferences

Dissertat ion Defense

Jason F. Rhode

1/17/2008

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Jason F. Rhode• Ph.D. candidate,

Capella University

• Specializat ion: Inst ruct ional Design for Online Learning

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Int roduct ion

interact ion

self-paced learning

em erging comm unicat ion approaches

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Background

• Substance and funct ion of online interact ions varies

• Interact ion is essent ial for a quality learning experience

• Unanswered quest ions concerning learners’ interact ion preferences and degree in which interact ions are perceived to be equivalent

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Statem ent of the Problem

• Interact ion ident ified as a key elem ent to successful online learning program s

• Lit t le em pirical evidence current ly exists as to the value that learners place upon various types of interact ions in a self-paced learning environm ent

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Types of Interact ions

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Interact ion Equivalency Theorem

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Purpose of the Study

• Expand upon previous research advocat ing for purposeful design of interact ion

• Exam ine the com posit ion of the online learning experience of adult learners in self-paced learning environment

• Explore what forms of interact ion self-paced online learners value most as well as what im pact they perceive interact ion to have on their overall online learning experience

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Research Quest ions

1. What forms of interact ion do adult learners engage in m ost in self-paced online courses?

2. What forms of interact ion do adult learners value most in self-paced online courses?

• What forms of interact ion do online adult learners ident ify as equivalent in self-paced online courses?

• What impact do adult learners perceive interact ion to have on their self-paced online learning experience?

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Research Design

• Mixed m ethods approach• Sem i-st ructured in-depth

interviews conducted near the conclusion of the course

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Sam pling Design

• Part icipants– Online adult learners enrolled in a fully-online

professional development cert ificate program offered by Valley Forge Christ ian College

• Part icipant select ion– Convenience sample: all learners (n= 13) in

Sept . 2007 sect ion of “ Advanced Web Communicat ions” and Aug. 2007 sect ion (n= 1) invited to part icipate

– Total of 10 learners agreed to part icipate (n= 10)

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Part icipant Dem ographics

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Measures

• Sem i-st ructured, in-depth interviews conducted over the phone, each approx. 1 hr. in length

• Quest ions addressed 3 main types of interact ion and form al vs. inform al nature of such interact ions

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Data Collect ion Procedures

• Approval from Capella University IRB and VFCC Academ ic Affairs

• Inst rum ent and protocol was pilot tested

• Interviews conducted via phone and recorded, t ranscribed, and coded

• Interview t ranscripts sent to interviewees to confirm accuracy prior to coding

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Ethical Issues

• Learners had no obligat ion to part icipate

• Interview data stored securely using assigned id codes in place of part icipant nam es

• Pseudo nam es used in place of actual nam es

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Data Analysis Procedures

• Ident ified em ergent themes from the data that will serve as foundat ional schem a for further data organizat ion and analysis

• Frequency analysis of ordinal data

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Expected Findings

• It was expected that one or m ore types of interact ion will surface as being preferred for adult learners

• Learners may recognize certain interact ions as equivalent

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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 1

• What form s of interact ion to learners engage in m ost in self-paced online courses?

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Engagem ent in Interact ion

• Well-design content reported as one of the st rongest aspects of the course

• Pract ical applicat ion assignm ents am ong m ost beneficial

• Overwhelm ingly posit ive responses to course com m unity, CMUOnet

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Reported Involvem ent

• Most reported using course blog and social bookm arks

• Inst ructors blog was very helpful for m ost

• Part icipants didn’ t at tem pt to contact outside experts

• In-course discussion was lim ited

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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 2

• What form s of interact ion do adult learners value m ost in self-paced online courses?

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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 3

• What form s of interact ion do online adult learners ident ify as equivalent in self-paced online courses?

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Findings

• Blogging valued equally, and in some instances higher, than asynchronous discussion via the LMS

• Interact ions with inst ructor and content deem ed equivalent or nearly equivalent , with interact ions with other learners of less importance

• Part icipants hesitant to agree to any degradat ion of inst ructor or content interact ions but many agreed that learner interact ions could be replaced

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Analysis of Research Quest ion # 4

• What im pact do adult learners perceive interact ion to have on their self-paced online learning experience?

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Findings

• Email was the preferred mode of interact ion with inst ructor, blogging preferred for interact ion with others

• Feedback from inst ructor was reported as very important

• Course size vs. quality• Part icipants ident ified a correlat ion

between quality of interact ion and quality of learning experience

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Interact ion Mat rix: Core Elem ents

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Interact ion Mat rix: Form al

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Interact ion Matrix: Inform al

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Interact ion Matrix

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Conclusions

• Depending on the specific circumstance, not all form s of interact ion may be either equally valued by learners or effect ive

• Inform al interact ions were as im portant as formal interact ions in determ ining the quality of the online learning experience

• Blogging was shown to be equivalent to or even superior to inst ructor-directed asynchronous discussion via the discussion board in a LMS

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Further Study• Explore perspect ives of learners in varying

disciplines/inst itut ions/social-cultural backgrounds/online learning environm ents

• Differing learner populat ions• Unique aspects of em ergent asynchronous

com m unicat ions such as blogging, collaborat ive authorship, social bookm arking, and social networking

• To what extent can a social network system m eet the needs of designers, inst ructors, and learners and therefore be capable of replacing an LMS?

• What im pact does course size have on the self-paced online learning experience?