Student Access to Online Interaction Technologies: The Impact on Grade Delta Variance and Student Satisfaction

Online learning has significantly changed the educational landscape in recent years, offering advantages to both schools as well as students. Despite the fact that some faculty members are not supportive of online learning, researchers have demonstrated that the quality of online learning to be as effective as classroom learning. It has been stated by researchers that there is a need to use metrics to assess the value achieved through the use of online learning. This study measured the impact that student access to interactive technologies (discussion boards, e-mail, chats, videoconferencing, etc.) played in an online course. By restricting these technologies would they have an impact on grade delta variance and the student’s perceived satisfaction? The results of this study seem to indicate that in an online course student access to a variety of studentto-student collaborative technologies had no impact on five of the seven given student survey questions or on grade delta variance. In fact, lack of access to the interactive technologies only had an impact on two survey questions, namely “I have learned a lot in this course” and “My instructor treats me fairly. ” Students in the restricted class responded more positively on these two questions. Literature Review Definition Of Online Learning Advances in technology and the Internet have changed the way in which individuals access and use information. This advanced technology can enhance education delivery and knowledge acquisition in the form of online learning where learners and faculty members are at a distance from one another but are connected through the Internet by a learning management system (LMS) like Blackboard or WebCT (Sava, 2005). Educational institutions across the world now offer classroom instruction through LMS (Dorado, Hernandez, Sani, Griffin, & Barnette, 2009). And this online learning is increasing at a rapid pace: a 2010 higher education study revealed that over 4.6 million students were taking at least one online course during the 2008-2009 Fall semesters, which reflected a 17 percent increase from the previous year. This growth far exceeded the 1.2 percent increase of the overall higher education student population (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Chawdhry, Paullet and Benjamin state that an increasing number of students are enrolling in online learning to complete their degrees, compete in today’s job market, and advance in their careers (2011). Advantages Of Online Learning Online learning offers advantages to both schools as well as students. For schools online courses offer higher education institutions innovative ways to target adult learners wanting to continue their education but are constrained (Coppola, Hiltz, & Roxanne, 2002). Lessen and Sorensen identify these constraints as work schedule, family and time (2006). Additional constraints such as distance, cost, time, job requirements, and family demands, can preclude students from attending traditional classes. Online courses enable students to balance the demands of their daily lives by setting their own schedule for learning (Chawdhry, Paullet, & Benjamin, 2011). Due to the flexibility in online learning most schools are able to reach a larger student population, thus increasing their enrollments in times of decreasing financial support from external entities. One population segment that benefits from online learning is the adult learners who can engage in just-in-time skill acquisition without time and location constraints (Zhang, 2004). Online learning also offers significant advantages to students. First, as previously noted, online courses provide opportunities for individuals who would otherwise not have opportunities for learning (Deal, 2002). One study indicated that students prefer online learning because this delivery mechanism allows them to balance their life demands while at the same time going to school. Almost 88 percent of students chose online learning because they had other commitments that prevented them from attending courses on campus in classrooms (Hannay & Newvine, 2006). Second, students perceive online learning and its associated technology as a strategic advantage to them. Several researchers have reviewed an entire body of literature that reflects the importance students place on the Internet to their academic careers (Budden, Anthony, Budden, & Jones, 2007). Almost 72 percent of students reported a preference for interacting online instead of face-to-face (F2F) with admission counselors (Hayes, Ruschman, & Walker, 2009). The importance of technology, particularly social networking, is especially important to graduate students, who recognize the benefits to their career development (Benson, Filipaios, & Morgan, 2010). Third, students view online courses as convenient and beneficial. An exploratory study of factors that influence a student’s decision to take online courses was conducted in 2009 by examining four key elements: convenience, level of difficulty, effectiveness, and social 12/14/12 3:09 PM Student Access to Online Interaction Technologies: The Impact on Grade Delta Variance and Student Satisfaction Page 2 of 11 http://www.westga. edu/~distance/ojdla/winter154/ciampa_revels154. html interaction. Convenience and effectiveness were both perceived by students as a positive influence in their decision to take online courses. Level of difficulty and social interaction were perceived by students as negative influences in their decision to take online courses. The study revealed that convenience was the major factor that influenced a student to take online courses (Dorado et al., 2009). Another study indicated that 59 percent of students surveyed reported that their grades were higher in online courses than in traditional courses, and overall 70 percent of students indicated that they preferred online courses. One interesting finding of this study was that 90 percent of students said that they read the textbooks associated with their online courses while only 60 percent of students in traditional classes read the textbooks (Hannay & Newvine, 2006). Fourth, online courses are seen as enhancements to communications and interactions. A 2008 study of student perceptions of various components of the Blackboard LMS found an increased level of communications and interactions in online classrooms. Over 63 percent of students indicated increased learner-to-instructor interactions, almost 62 percent agreed that there was a significant increase in the overall volume of communications in the online classroom, and 52 percent said that the LMS fostered a sense of community in the course. The respondents also found online learning to be effective and accessible: 68 percent stated that the online discussions helped them to understand and assimilate the course content and while almost 80 percent preferred submitting assignments online. Students also liked the functionality of the online learning: almost 81 percent agreed that the LMS makes the classroom handouts readily available and accessible (Buzzetto-More, 2008). Is Online Learning Viable? Although many faculty members are supportive of online learning, some faculty members believe technology cannot improve teaching and learning (Cheng & Miller, 2009). In addition, they believe that online courses are inferior to classroom courses in terms of quality and learning outcomes (Anstine & Skidmore, 2005). Some faculty members note that the benefits of online learning may be outweighed by the disadvantages, such as the lack of peer interaction and less dynamic modes of instruction (Welsch, Wanberg, Brown, & Simmering, 2006). Yet researchers demonstrate that the quality of online learning is as effective as F2F learning (Neuhauser, 2002). An analysis by the Department of Defense's Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative and the University of Tulsa found learning effectiveness of online courses comparable to that of classroom instruction (Sitzmann, Kraiger, Stewart, & Wisher, 2006). There may be several reasons why some faculty members are resistant to online learning. The implementation of online courses should be done only through careful analysis of online learning environments and an analysis of the online student’s characteristics (Singleton, Hill, & Koh, 2004). Without this analysis online courses can change the traditional student-teacher relationship from personalized attention to “just another number”, with the result being that the efficiency of online instruction is less effective than the traditional classroom (Bressler, Bressler, & Bressler, 2011). Online instructors should understand that adults prefer to be actively engaged and involved in the learning process and come ready to learn what they need to know in order to cope effectively with their real-life situations (Knowles, 1980) Constructivism And Collaborative Learning One approach to online learning that is currently being promoted is called “constructivism”. Carlson sates that constructivism has gained a foothold in education, including traditional higher education (2001). Constructivism says that for learning to occur it is necessary for learners to construct their own understandings of the world in which they live (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). Individuals “construct” new learning based on their past experiences, motives, and intentions. In short, learning is inherently personal, built sequentially upon a scaffold of experiences, and deepening in complexity as learners develop and gain new information and understandings. Education becomes a conceptual change, not just the acquisition of information (Biggs, 1999). Constructivism encourages faculty members to cultivate a learning environment by infusing students with a desire to engage in learning experiences that are self-directed, self-reflective, interactive, and collaborative. This self-paced and autonomous learning, which are key principles of constructivism, are enhanced in an online learning environment wher