Community in Online Learning: Do Students think it is Necessary?
PROCEEDINGS
Judy Lambert, The University of Toledo, United States
E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education, in Montréal, Quebec, Canada ISBN 978-1-880094-98-3 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), San Diego, CA
Abstract
While current research tends to show that interaction and community lead to more positive learning outcomes, could it be that today’s students, as busy as they are, would prefer and perform just as well in distance learning environments where these features are not present? Using demographic data and the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, the author conducted a mixed method research study to examine student perceptions of community in an online graduate-level distance learning course. Results show that while social interaction is important for community, it is not necessarily needed in the form of collaborative assignments. It also seems that the structure and design of the course and nature of assignments, not the involvement of the instructor, were largely responsible for the sense of community that existed.
Citation
Lambert, J. (2012). Community in Online Learning: Do Students think it is Necessary?. In T. Bastiaens & G. Marks (Eds.), Proceedings of E-Learn 2012--World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 1 (pp. 241-246). Montréal, Quebec, Canada: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 28, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/41593/.
© 2012 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
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