Influences on User Engagement in Online Professional Learning: A Narrative Synthesis and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 003465432199791
Author(s):  
Jane Lee ◽  
Taren Sanders ◽  
Devan Antczak ◽  
Rhiannon Parker ◽  
Michael Noetel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Narrative Synthesis

The internet has become the chosen medium for professional learning. Completing professional learning can improve work performance; however, many individuals who begin online courses do not complete them. It is not well understood which influences keep individuals engaged in online professional learning. We address these issues with a systematic review. Our review of 51 studies and 9,583 participants includes a narrative synthesis and a meta-analysis that examined influences on user engagement in online professional learning. We found that course design and employers’ provision of time to complete learning are key for engaging learners. Other important influences were learners’ reasons for learning (e.g., intrinsic value and perceived usefulness), access to learning support, and opportunities for interaction during the learning experience.

Preparing Part-Time Instructors for Success in Online Course Development and Teaching

2019 ◽  
pp. 250-297
Author(s):  
Dan Piedra
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Course Development ◽  
Education Theory ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Online Course Development

Part-time instructors are at the heart of each continuing education operation throughout the world. They bring a wealth of industry experience which adds real-life undertones to classes. However, many lack foundational training in areas of instructional strategies and adult education theory, learning management systems (LMS) and their use in online courses, and course design and development. This chapter will provide an overview of how McMaster University's Centre for Continuing Education has addressed all three of the above areas with a view towards better equipping their part-time instructors in providing a better-quality learning experience. Central to the above is the use of online training and a thorough and highly structured approach to online course development.

Preparing Part-Time Instructors for Success in Online Course Development and Teaching

2021 ◽  
pp. 554-598
Author(s):  
Dan Piedra
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Course Development ◽  
Education Theory ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Online Course Development

Part-time instructors are at the heart of each continuing education operation throughout the world. They bring a wealth of industry experience which adds real-life undertones to classes. However, many lack foundational training in areas of instructional strategies and adult education theory, learning management systems (LMS) and their use in online courses, and course design and development. This chapter will provide an overview of how McMaster University's Centre for Continuing Education has addressed all three of the above areas with a view towards better equipping their part-time instructors in providing a better-quality learning experience. Central to the above is the use of online training and a thorough and highly structured approach to online course development.

Establishing the Link Between Usability and Student Satisfaction in Adaptive Online Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 1976-1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Stokes ◽  
Douglas J. Gillan ◽  
Jeffery P. Braden
Keyword(s):  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Usability Metrics ◽  
Work Done

Online courses present a new element to learners in college courses. Interfaces (web pages) take the place of an instructor as the primary information delivery system. In other words, a student’s learning experience is now tied to the quality of a course’s human- computer interaction. One emerging method of online course delivery is an adaptive course that tailors to individual students needs, abilities, or preferences. There has been much work done on the algorithms that allow the course to adapt to individual students, but there seems to be a lack of research into the usability of these interfaces and how their quality affects student performance and satisfaction. This paper presents some of the data that was collected in a larger, grant-supported project and establishes relationships between usability metrics (ease of use and perceived usefulness) and student satisfaction and outcome measures in adaptive-online courses.

Designing Online Courses as a Team

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73
Author(s):  
M'hammed Abdous
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Collective Intelligence ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Institutional Experience

Unlike the traditional “lone ranger” method for online course design—a method that hinges on individual faculty efforts, expertise, and knowledge—a team-based approach (TBA) harnesses the collective intelligence of several experts to design effective online learning experiences. Using learning design (LD) as a conceptual framework, this article describes the experience of a public institution in using a team-based approach to produce a large number of online courses for degree programs. After establishing the relevance of a team-based approach, the author discusses the premises that underpin the model, in terms of process, faculty relationship, and quality assurance. Building on these premises, a cyclical backward design process is described which is intended to (1) clarify course-learning outcomes and align course content, (2) determine acceptable evidence of students' learning, and (3) plan the learning experience. The article is concluded with a few insights and lessons learned from the institutional experience.

A Teacher Educator's Meaning-Making From a Hybrid “Online Teaching Fellows” Professional Learning Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 422-455
Author(s):  
Christi Edge
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Teaching Fellows ◽  
Theory Of Reading

This chapter describes a two-part, hybrid “Online Teaching Fellows” faculty development initiative and the tensions and transformations one faculty participant experienced. Case study and self-study research methodologies were utilized to systematically document and explore, from an insider's perspective, the lived experience of professional learning related to the design and delivery of online courses. This chapter identifies and describes tensions and transformations that contributed to professional learning and concludes with a discussion of how literacy practices in the design of frameworks for teaching and for learning may contribute to understanding how instructors read and make meaning from experiences in the context of professional learning. Implications extend Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reading and writing to multimodal online teaching and learning contexts.

A Teacher Educator's Meaning-Making From a Hybrid “Online Teaching Fellows” Professional Learning Experience

2019 ◽  
pp. 76-109
Author(s):  
Christi Edge
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Teaching Fellows ◽  
Theory Of Reading

This chapter describes a two-part, hybrid “Online Teaching Fellows” faculty development initiative and the tensions and transformations one faculty participant experienced. Case study and self-study research methodologies were utilized to systematically document and explore, from an insider's perspective, the lived experience of professional learning related to the design and delivery of online courses. This chapter identifies and describes tensions and transformations that contributed to professional learning and concludes with a discussion of how literacy practices in the design of frameworks for teaching and for learning may contribute to understanding how instructors read and make meaning from experiences in the context of professional learning. Implications extend Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reading and writing to multimodal online teaching and learning contexts.

Designing Online Courses as a Team

2021 ◽  
pp. 119-132
Author(s):  
M'hammed Abdous
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Collective Intelligence ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Institution ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Backward Design ◽  
Institutional Experience

Unlike the traditional “lone ranger” method for online course design—a method that hinges on individual faculty efforts, expertise, and knowledge—a team-based approach (TBA) harnesses the collective intelligence of several experts to design effective online learning experiences. Using learning design (LD) as a conceptual framework, this article describes the experience of a public institution in using a team-based approach to produce a large number of online courses for degree programs. After establishing the relevance of a team-based approach, the author discusses the premises that underpin the model, in terms of process, faculty relationship, and quality assurance. Building on these premises, a cyclical backward design process is described which is intended to (1) clarify course-learning outcomes and align course content, (2) determine acceptable evidence of students' learning, and (3) plan the learning experience. The article is concluded with a few insights and lessons learned from the institutional experience.

scholarly journals Shedding Light on Students’ Technology Preferences: Implications for Academic Development

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-87
Author(s):  
Negin Mirriahi ◽  
◽  
Dennis Alonzo ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Academic Development ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Lecture Recordings ◽  
Blended Course

This study built on previous research in 2010 to determine changes to students’ current use of and expectations for future integration of technologies in their learning experience. The findings reveal a continued trend of conservative technology use amongst students but with a growing demand for more integration of technologies for assessment and administrative purposes, podcasts or lecture recordings in flexible and blended course designs. While academic practice has been slow to change, this study reveals a continued need for academic development to focus on strategies that enhance technology adoption amongst academic staff. Students’ preferences from this and the earlier study suggest that they would like more use of technologies, especially mobile technologies for efficient and convenient access to content, communication and assessment that can not only inform academic development and course design for fully online and blended learning courses, but also for the growing number of massive open and online courses (MOOCs) in the education landscape.

Student and Instructors Perceptions of Helpful Feedback for Asynchronous Online Learning

2018 ◽  
pp. 177-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Shedd Conrad ◽  
Nada Dabbagh
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Feedback Type ◽  
Technical Ability ◽  
Instructor Feedback ◽  
Asynchronous Environments

Research into online courses suggests that instructor feedback is effective for student learning when the feedback is personalized, specific, and timely. However, even with the technical ability to receive feedback any time at any location through varied devices, students still report dissatisfaction with instructor feedback. This chapter describes a mixed-methods study examining instructor and student perceptions of feedback in asynchronous environments. The study's results showed that students find personal and corrective feedback most helpful while instructors identified corrective and Socratic feedback as most helpful. Students characterized helpful feedback to be personalized, specific, and timely. Students also reported that grades were a form of feedback measuring stages of understanding but also an incentive for them to revise their work in order to achieve higher grades. The chapter includes strategies instructors can use for integrating each feedback type into their course design along with digital communication methods that enhance the student learning experience.

Student Anticipations and Reactions to Hybrid Format Education

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Ginsberg
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Traditional Learning ◽  
Online Platform ◽  
Hybrid Format

Abstract This qualitative study examined student perceptions regarding a hybrid classroom format in which part of their learning took place in a traditional classroom and part of their learning occurred in an online platform. Pre-course and post-course anonymous essays suggest that students may be open to learning in this context; however, they have specific concerns as well. Students raised issues regarding faculty communication patterns, learning styles, and the value of clear connections between online and traditional learning experiences. Student concerns and feedback need to be addressed through the course design and by the instructor in order for them to have a positive learning experience in a hybrid format course.

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