scholarly journals Emotional presence, learning, and the online learning environment

Author(s):  
Marti Cleveland-Innes ◽  
Prisca Campbell

<p>In spite of evidence that more and more students are engaging in online learning experiences, details about the transition for teachers and students to a new learning environment are still unconfirmed. While new technologies are often expected to make work easier, they also involve the development of new competencies. This change may, in itself, elicit an emotional response, and, more importantly, emotion may impact the experience of online learning. Knowledge about the impact of emotion on learning broadly is available, but not about emotion and online learning. This study presents evidence of emotions present in online environments, and empirical data which suggests emotional presence may exist as a fundamental element in an online community of inquiry. <br /><br /></p><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /><input id="jsProxy" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setTimeout('jsCall()',500);}" type="hidden" />

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Spitzer ◽  
Korbinian Moeller ◽  
Sebastian Musslick

A growing number of studies seek to evaluate the impact of school closures during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While most studies reported severe learning losses in students, some studies found positive effects of school closures on academic performance. However, it is still unclear which factors contribute to the differential effects observed in these studies. In this article, we examine the impact of assignment strategies for problem sets on the academic performance of students (n 24,000 from classes 4-10 who calculated 560,000 problem sets) in an online learning environment for mathematics, during the first and second period of pandemic-related school closures in Germany. We observed that, if teachers repeatedly assigned single problem sets (i.e., a small chunk of on average eight mathematical problems) to their class, students’ performance increased significantly during both periods of school closures compared to the same periods in the previous year (without school closures). In contrast, our analyses also indicated that, if teachers assigned bundles of problem sets (i.e., large chunks) or when students self-selected problem sets, students’ performance did not increase significantly. Moreover, students’ performance was generally higher when single problem sets were assigned, compared to the other two assignment types. We conclude that teachers’ way of using the online learning environment in general, and their strategy of assigning problem sets in particular can have a positive effect on students’ performance in mathematics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Atef Mohammad Abuhmaid

Project-based learning is gaining increasing popularity supported by research studies regarding its effectiveness for teaching and learning. In addition, the widespread of digital technologies and sudden disruptions to traditional in-person teaching have accelerated the adoption of online learning. The current study examined students' perceptions of the impact of online learning environment on project-based teaching method. Most universities worldwide have considered online learning encouraging their faculty to use online learning tools, and Hashemite University in Jordan is no exeption. 154 students studying Computers in Education course were selected during the first semester of the academic year 2019/2020 and were devided into two groups. The experimental group consisted of 75 students who studied the course online and 79 students in the control group who studied the course in a face-to-face mode. For the purpose of gathering data, a questionnaire was developed which consisted of 17 items and students' answers were on a four-point Likert scale: 4= strongly agree, 3= agree, 2= disagree, and 1= strongly disagree. Means, standard deviations, and One-Way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The results of the study showed positive attitudes among students (both online and in-class) toward project-based learning. In addition, the results showed that in-class students had a stronger views of project based-learning than online learning students.


2020 ◽  
pp. 004723952096523
Author(s):  
Buket Özüm Bülbül ◽  
Mustafa Güler

This article aims to examine the impact of an online learning environment enriched with computer activities on geometry achievement and geometric habits of mind (GHoM). The study includes reflections from an online application of a one-term computer-aided mathematics teaching course in which the participants were preservice teachers (PTs) enrolled in a faculty of education. A test was used to measure all participating PTs’ learning outcome and determine their GHoM. In addition, clinical interviews were administered before and after the intervention to examine the opinions of the PTs regarding the online learning environment. The results revealed that the design provided for positive development in terms of both geometry achievement and GHoM. However, the impact was found to be very limited for some components of GHoM. The article presents a discussion of the effective aspects of the intervention.


Author(s):  
Narelle Lemon

New ways of utilizing technology in the online space are challenging different ways teachers and students can interact with each other and learning content. Social media is one such technology that is a flexible and powerful tool in higher education; however, as yet, it is still under-researched. Twitter challenges notions of public global dialogue, continuous discussions in the online space beyond the four walls of a physical classroom, and the role of peer-to-peer interactions. This chapter discusses a project that aimed to address the need to understand more deeply what happens pedagogically in the classroom when integrating Twitter into learning activities. The case shared is of one undergraduate second-year class located in Teacher Education. The change over time with students' ability to professionally engage with Twitter demonstrated a shift in being able to confidently participate and critically think about this social media as a valuable online learning environment.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shironica Karunanayaka

Online course delivery is rapidly growing among educational institutions all over the world, especially in Open and Distance Learning institutions. The frequent criticisms on distance education for having only limited interactions between teachers and students as opposed to traditional face to face teaching can be significantly minimized with the increased use of online methods, due to its unique instructional capabilities. Online learning provides ample opportunities for students learning at a distance to constantly interact with their teachers as well as peers, sharing experiences and working collaboratively. The creation of a sense of social presence is essential to establish a collaborative online learning environment, as it is a most important factor that helps people actively collaborate, thus increasing a sense of belonging to the learning community. The Faculty of Education of the Open University of Sri Lanka offered the online course, "Teacher Educator as an Educational Technologist" in December 2007, using the learning management system Moodle. The course was designed using a collaborative learning model, allowing adequate opportunities for the distant learners to actively engage in their learning process, engaging in a number of learning and assessment tasks with the support of learning resources and instructor guidance, while collaborating and sharing experiences among each other, mainly through discussion forums. Using the case study approach, an investigation was carried out to find out the specific strategies and techniques adopted by designers, instructors and students in enhancing community building among the participants in the online learning environment. It further explored the impact of community building on the distant learners, who were also novices to online learning. This paper discusses the development process in the building of an online learning community and emphasizes on the roles of designers, teachers, and learners.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-126
Author(s):  
Karen Sanderson Cole ◽  
Danielle Watson

Peer evaluation, as a learning strategy, is commonly used among educators in an attempt to promote higher performance goals and improved teaching and learning outcomes through the sharing of complementary proficiencies for a familiar intent. It is commonly viewed as a technique for raising the bar' through exposing educators to alternative perspectives. Within the online learning environment, there is a high degree of isolation among educators involved in the delivery of the same course. Although individuals interact in established teacher forums about administrative issues, a forum is not provided where interaction about teaching content, delivery and conceptualization of critical concepts can be explored and discussed. As such, the provision of a forum for collaboration among peers involved in different aspects of course delivery within the online learning environment is believed to address the issue of isolated instruction while also providing support and evaluation as to the effectiveness of teaching strategies employed. The aim of the research is to investigate the impact of an established peer partnership between 14 colleagues working in pairs geared towards assessing feedback and discussions on lesson planning, execution and assessment processes. It seeks to ascertain its usefulness as a strategy to be incorporated into the teaching of English for Academic Purposes within an online learning environment. The study seeks to provide actionable direction for peer evaluation and collaboration, as a teaching and learning tool, through the mapping, assessing and evaluation of the processes involved.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Chang

This study explored the impact of reflection on learning in an online learning environment. Twenty-five students from four online courses participated in this research project. Reflection was purposefully designed and embedded in various assignments. Data were mainly collected from interviews and students’ different types of reflections. The inductive content analysis method was employed to analyze data. Five themes were generalized in terms of how reflection impacts learning: Increasing the depth of knowledge, identifying the areas which are missing or deficient, personalizing and contextualizing knowledge, providing comparative references in learning, and helping learners build structural connections in knowledge and social connections among learners. This study provides foundational ideas for designing reflective activities to promote students’ learning in an online learning environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Michael Flores Oducado

Background: The global disruption of the COVID-19 outbreak in education has resulted in a new normal in how education is delivered. Traditional face-to-face nursing education has suddenly transitioned into a remote and online learning environment to help mitigate virus transmission. Students’ anticipations and how set they are in this new learning platform should be investigated. Objective: This study determined the expectations of and readiness for online learning of sophomore nursing students in one nursing school in a developing country. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional research design. The Student Expectations of Online Learning Survey (SEOLS) and Online Learning Readiness Scale (OLRS) were the instruments used to gather data administered online. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistical tests were used in the data analysis. Results: Nursing students had high proficiency with technology but more than one-fourth had an unstable Internet connection. Nursing students generally had high expectations of and readiness for online learning. Although high, expectations about social interactions in the online learning environment obtained the lowest mean score among the five subscales of the SEOLS. Readiness for online learning significantly differed based on family income status and Internet stability. Bivariate analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between students’ expectations and readiness for online learning. Conclusions: Students’ expectations may play a role in students’ readiness for online learning. This study suggests that while students appear ready to take on online learning, the different students’ circumstances along with the challenges associated with online learning such as limited internet connectivity must be properly addressed. It may be necessary for nursing schools to meet students’ expectations in the new learning environment to fully maximize learning and facilitate success and learner readiness in the new normal in nursing education.


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