Volume 24, Number 4, November 2023

EN:

Most educators’ inability to provide learning contents that suit different learning styles has caused a lot of problems in terms of performance. Thus, to cater to students’ preferences in terms of access to learning contents, the distance learning regulatory body in Nigeria emphasized that course materials should be developed in mixed-media formats. This study was carried out to compare the effects of printed, video, and Moodle-based courseware on educational technology students’ achievement, retention, and satisfaction in a distance learning course. A quasi-experimental design was employed for the study involving 108 participants from three experimental groups. The learning content and instruments, subjected to validation and reliability tests, where values of 0.78 and 0.86 were obtained using the Pearson product moment correlation and Cronbach’s alpha for achievement and satisfaction inventory, respectively, were administered within a four-week period. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings indicated that the printed, video, and Moodle-based courseware formats improved students’ achievement with mean gain scores of 47.92, 40.89, and 43.03, respectively. A significant difference was observed in the achievement (F (2,104) = 8.67, p < 0.05), retention (F (2,104) = 29.406, p < 0.05), and satisfaction scores (F (2,104) = 5.662, p < 0.05) of the three groups. Open and distance learning administrators in Nigeria are recommended to produce and deploy printed, video, and Moodle-based formats of courseware to meet different students’ learning preferences.

EN:

Due notably to the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs), stakeholders in online education have amassed extensive databases on learners throughout the past decade. Administrators of online course platforms, for instance, possess a broad spectrum of information about their users. This information spans from users’ areas of interest to their learning habits, all of which is deduced from diverse analytics. Such circumstances have sparked intense discussions over the ethical implications and potential risks that databases present. In this article, we delve into an analysis of a survey distributed across three MOOCs with the intention to gain a deeper understanding of learners’ viewpoints on the use of their data. We first explore the perception of features and mechanisms of recommendation systems. Subsequently, we examine the issue of data transmission to third parties, particularly potential recruiters interested in applicants’ performance records on course platforms. Our findings reveal that younger generations demonstrate less resistance towards the exploitation of their data.

EN:

The integration of open educational resources (OER) in the educational curricula of universities and educational organizations has gained tremendous popularity. However, there is a gap in research on teachers’ attitudes toward OER in many developing countries. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study explored the use of OER by online and face-to-face teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Iran. A total of 62 teachers (31 online teachers and 31 face-to-face teachers) participated in the study. Survey and interview results indicated that there were significant differences between online and face-to-face teachers’ attitudes toward OER. Online teachers had a more positive attitude toward OER than face-to-face teachers. The perceived benefits of OER included developing the flexibility of curricula, encouraging personalized learning, and offering pedagogical options for teachers. There were several perceived OER-based challenges in the educational context of Iran as well. The challenges included teachers’ uncertainty about copyright issues, the low quality of OER, teachers’ low levels of digital literacy, teachers’ unawareness of the existence of OER, the lack of quality control over OER, the lack of credibility of OER content, and the lack of up-to-dateness of OER. There were also significant differences between participants’ perspectives on the types and frequency of using OER. More specifically, online teachers used OER for teaching practices more frequently than face-to-face teachers. Participants perceived that they needed various types of training for the appropriate use of OER. This study proposes several implications for renewing and improving teacher training/education programs and material development projects.

EN:

This paper focuses on the experiences of Indigenous learners at Athabasca University. Having access to online education provided a sense of normalcy for students during the global pandemic while many post-secondary institutions and Indigenous communities were closed. The purpose of the research was two-fold: a) to determine the dynamics of reaching Indigenous learners and measuring their adaptability in learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and b) to understand the effects of the pandemic on the mind, body, spirit, and social environment of Indigenous distance education learners and their families. This research included qualitative and quantitative methods, specifically, a survey, focus group, and individual interviews. We share the results of online research involving Indigenous students during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. We concluded that listening to Indigenous students supported their online education while giving them an outlet to express their experiences. This research identified Indigenous student adaptations towards their spirituality in specific ways inherent to their culture given the reactions to COVID-19, their responses, and reflections.

EN:

Grant programs that foster the use of open educational resources (OER) significantly reduce undergraduate student spending on textbooks per semester. The Zero-Cost Course Materials (ZCCM) grant program at the University of California, Merced (UC Merced), eliminated text costs and ensured access to course materials by replacing required commercial materials with OER and library licensed e-resources. The present study applies the COUP framework (cost, outcomes, usage, and perceptions) to evaluate the ZCCM program. The ZCCM program resulted in student cost savings and did not negatively impact student outcomes. Students in ZCCM courses demonstrated higher rates of course completion than students enrolled in previous sections. For the outcomes of final course grade, passing with a C− or better, and number of credit hours enrolled in, findings were comparable between the cohorts. Student usage and perception of course materials were gathered using a survey. Though students reported favorable views of zero-cost materials, they reported using them less frequently than commercial texts. This research contributes to a growing body of literature that confirms beneficial cost savings for students using zero-cost materials without jeopardizing students’ success.

EN:

Online higher education has been a success in part because it is less costly to students and governments than conventional education, so both students and governments receive higher returns on their investment than in conventional higher education. However, many online institutions appear to have considerably lower graduation rates than conventional education—the so-called online education deficit that reduces its advantage. This deficit can be reduced through online education institutions investing money in both their course design strategies and their student support, including teaching. This article focuses on student support and suggests that if support increases student retention, institutions will receive a financial return through increased income. It argues: if that increase in income can then be managed to be greater than the original investment, institutions will make a positive return on the investment—that is, a surplus. That surplus can then be reinvested in further student support and potentially increase student success still further. The article then determines what those returns on investment might be in various scenarios depending on institutional funding arrangements. These determinations produce a series of formulae in which actual financial figures can be substituted to calculate those returns.

EN:

Nursing has employed distance education for decades. In the 21st century, distance programs have often been delivered online. This became even more prevalent since the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the preponderance of online nursing courses, the delivery of courses virtually does not necessarily mean that these offerings are intentionally developed online education. We discuss a secondary analysis of data examining the formation of online nursing programs at Athabasca University. This historical inquiry used interpretive description of the pedagogy, both learning strategies and the theories that substantiate the strategies, using thematic analysis. Participants discussed their theoretical substantiation of online education. We posit that online nursing education involves a purposeful pedagogy including theoretical bases and would benefit from a strong sense of mission behind the course delivery. Findings from this study may apply to online programs, irrespective of profession or discipline.

EN:

The field of open education and research on the topic has notably expanded since the introduction of the term 20 years ago. Given these developments, a framework to structure research inquiry is necessary to ground and organize findings in open education. We propose the SCOPE framework for open education research: social justice, cost, outcomes, perceptions, and engagement. In this article, we explain how this framework emphasizes the need for social justice at the forefront of open education research. In addition, we incorporate existing theories in social justice, motivation, cognition, pedagogy, and engagement into each of the components to propose theoretical connections to future open education research. We suggest areas in which future research is needed. Finally, we conclude with suggestions as to how the SCOPE framework may be useful when connecting open education to open science and open scholarship as well as a call for considering intersectionality and critical methods in quantitative research (QuantCrit) in future inquiry.

EN:

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of integrating community of inquiry (COI) framework principles with flipped classroom pedagogy to enhance students’ perceived presence sense, self-regulated learning, and learning performance. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to examine whether integrating COI framework principles with flipped classrooms could enhance college students’ perceived presence sense, self-regulated learning, and learning performance. The participants were 64 third-year male college students in an online course at a teacher education university in Iran in 2021. The study employed the COI Survey, the online self-regulated learning questionnaire (OLSQ), and a teacher-made test to measure learning performance. The results indicated significant between-group differences in perceived presence sense, self-regulated learning, and learning performance (p < 0.001). Integrating COI framework principles with flipped classroom pedagogy was an effective approach to enhancing perceived presence sense, self-regulated learning, and learning performance among teacher education students.

EN:

One of the biggest challenges for online learning is upholding academic integrity in online assessments. In particular, institutions and faculties attach importance to exam security and academic dishonesty in the online learning process. The aim of this study was to compare the test-taking behaviors and academic achievements of students in proctored and unproctored online exam environments. The log records of students in proctored and unproctored online exam environments were compared using visualization and log analysis methods. The results showed that while a significant difference was found between time spent on the first question on the exam, total time spent on the exam, and the mean and median times spent on each question, there was no significant difference between the exam scores of students in proctored and unproctored groups. In other words, it has been observed that reliable exams can be conducted without the need for proctoring through an appropriate assessment design (e.g., using multiple low-stake formative exams instead of a single high-stake summative exam). The results will guide instructors in designing assessments for their online courses. It is also expected to help researchers in how exam logs can be analyzed and in extracting insights regarding students' exam-taking behaviors from the logs.

EN:

Ethical education practices require that all students have access to quality learning resources, necessary learning supports, diverse learning strategies, and deep learning opportunities. When it comes to learning strategies and opportunities, collaborative learning practices foster deep learning through socio-cultural interactions, asserting that individual learning is limited compared to what can be learned as a community. Education systems have an ethical obligation to ensure that what is advocated for in curricula can be achieved and will be supported. Although K–12 curricula are typically rooted in collaborative approaches, many asynchronous secondary online learning courses continue to be associated with individual learning approaches. This research used insights gleaned from 35 survey responses and 18 semi-structured interviews with secondary asynchronous distance learning teachers to analyze how collaborative learning is actualized and examine barriers to its implementation. Collaborative online learning opportunities were increasingly prevalent when communities outside of the school were leveraged for experiential learning and when students were paced as a cohort. The data indicated that an increase in collaborative learning was not likely to occur unless the learning ecosystem valued online learning as equitably as face-to-face learning in terms of investment in research-based pedagogy, student support, teacher support, and teaching and learning resources. Until such time, distance learning students will be disadvantaged concerning building collaborative competence that can lead to deeper learning opportunities.

EN:

This study focused on the development and validation of the Sense of Online Community Scale (SOCS), which includes 28 Likert-type scale items across six subscales: (a) program community, (b) program academic activities, (c) program social activities, (d) institutional academic activities, (e) institutional social activities, and (f) affiliation. The validation process included an implementation with 293 learners enrolled in online programs at a higher education institution in the eastern United States. The model was evaluated with and without outliers, and results show that the model aligned well with the SOCS. The means of all items except one exceeded 3.5 on a 5.0 scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Time in an online program was not a statistically significant predictor of the validation model, though most of our participants were in the first or second year of their degree programs. Findings demonstrate that the SOCS is a reliable and valid instrument that other researchers may use to investigate community in online environments on both the program and the institutional level.

EN:

Owing to the limitations of computer-mediated communication (CMC), distributed CSCL (Computer-supported collaborative learning) has not always been as effective as desired. Despite recognizing the significance of group composition, the exploration of the function of teammate familiarity in distributed educational settings is restricted. This study explored the influence of teammate familiarity and social presence in a distributed CSCL setting by conducting an online survey of 288 Korean university students with experience in distributed CSCL. The results indicate that teammate familiarity increased the social presence experienced by students among their peers. Social presence subsequently enhanced teamwork satisfaction and, ultimately, increased self-assessed knowledge gain. More importantly, the relationship between teammate familiarity and teamwork satisfaction was mediated by social presence. Social media platforms and class webpages were the most widely used channels for students to get to know their teammates. Our study provided insights for improving the effectiveness of distributed CSCL and a framework for investigating social presence in satisfaction building in various contexts, including online education.

EN:

In critical situations caused by crises such as a pandemic, emergency remote teaching (ERT) practices might not be effective because they depend mostly on on-the-spot decision-making. On the other hand, open and distance learning (ODL) has its own dynamics and is a well-planned system. In order to put quality ODL plans into practice in crisis situations, contingency plans, created before any crises, are required. Past crises ought to be examined in order to cope with future crises effectively. This study aims to identify weaknesses in ERT practices in higher education within the context of the learning component of ODL system by focusing on COVID-19 and using it as an example of a past crisis. Exploratory case study was the method used. The study group consisted of 14 faculty and 14 learners from 14 higher education institutions. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews and documents. The data were analyzed using descriptive and content analysis. Research findings revealed that ERT has many weaknesses in several themes within the context of the learning component of the ODL system; these include teaching method, course structuring, and e-learning materials, among others. In light of the findings, it can be concluded that many factors influence challenges in ERT. Accordingly, to be able to move from ERT to ODL in the next crisis, these weaknesses need to transform into solutions in advance.