E-LearningPub Date : 2023-06-23DOI: 10.1177/20427530231170765
Tin-Chun Lin
{"title":"Can online discussions benefit students’ learning in online courses? Evidence From teaching introduction to microeconomics","authors":"Tin-Chun Lin","doi":"10.1177/20427530231170765","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231170765","url":null,"abstract":"In this research, we investigated whether online discussions can significantly benefit students’ learning in online courses. We designed an experiment by dividing 129 students who enrolled in four fully online “Introduction to Microeconomics” courses taught by the same instructor into four groups (one control group and three experimental groups). We adopted econometric analysis to investigate the issue. Our empirical evidence demonstrated that online discussions can significantly benefit students’ exam performance in online courses only when instructors are effectively engaged in discussions. Instructors who do not effectively engage in online discussions had a less than significant effect on students’ exam performance even when peer-responses were required. On the other hand, the effect was positive and significant when instructors effectively engaged but the level of significance was weak (at the 10% level of significance) and began with a later exam (Exam 4, out of a total of five exams) rather than the first exam or earlier. Detailed discussions about these phenomena are offered as are several possible reasons for these findings. We recommend significantly increasing weights for online discussions in the final course grade and including exam questions that directly reflect online discussion questions (including serious participation in discussions and requiring that students provide answers to instructors’ follow-up questions). These additions would significantly benefit students’ learning in online courses.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47124647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-06-20DOI: 10.1177/20427530231180029
Wali Khan Monib
{"title":"Afghan undergraduate students’ perceptions toward e-learning","authors":"Wali Khan Monib","doi":"10.1177/20427530231180029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231180029","url":null,"abstract":"E-learning provides teachers and students with great opportunities and benefits, by enhancing teaching and learning experiences. Although e-learning is widely adopted in educational systems, some countries still use traditional teaching methods with limited use of technology as a medium of teaching and learning. This study investigates the perceptions of Afghan EFL undergraduate students toward e-learning at a public university in Afghanistan. Few studies have investigated the use of e-learning in tertiary-level education in Afghanistan, indicating the need to understand the perceptions of undergraduate students toward it. Students who were the primary beneficiaries of e-learning were included. This quantitative study was conducted in the form of a survey using data gathered via questionnaires. In total, 140 randomly selected respondents participated in the survey. The key finding of this study was that e-learning is perceived to be useful in higher education. However, it was also realized that electronic education is not only expensive but also require strong Information and Communication Technology skills. Additionally, more than half the participants preferred hybrid learning, a combination of online and face-to-face learning methods. The Chi-square test results indicated a significant association between gender and the perceived ease of use of e-learning, whereby a large proportion of males perceived e-learning as user-friendly in education, but females disagreed. However, the Mann-Whitney U test results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between freshman students and senior students’ attitudes toward e-learning. These findings contribute to the field of tertiary-level education regarding the usefulness and flexibility of e-learning. As most participants favored hybrid learning, the implementation of hybrid learning was recommended. These results have significant implications for higher education institutions that use e-learning for teaching and learning. The conclusions of this study might not be generalizable to all universities in Afghanistan; however, to some extent, are reflective of the situation in other universities.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49157105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-06-02DOI: 10.1177/20427530231156282
S. McNaughton, N. Rosedale, Tong Zhu, L. Teng, R. Jesson, Jacinta Oldehaver, Rashina Hoda, Rachel Williamson
{"title":"A school-wide digital programme has context specific impacts on self-regulation but not social skills","authors":"S. McNaughton, N. Rosedale, Tong Zhu, L. Teng, R. Jesson, Jacinta Oldehaver, Rashina Hoda, Rachel Williamson","doi":"10.1177/20427530231156282","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231156282","url":null,"abstract":"It is assumed that digital tools with ubiquitous classroom use have affordances for student agency and a range of social skills. However, few studies have explored the generalised impact of everyday digital classrooms on self-regulation and empathy, perspective taking and prosocial skills. Ten and 11 year old students’ ( n = 115) ratings of self-regulation, social skills and personality were examined in relationship to school-wide practices and instructional foci in two groups of schools ( n = 9) involved in a digital innovation serving low-SES culturally diverse communities. In an early adopting group, students had received a high dosage of three or 4 years of 1:1 digital pedagogy, and in a later adopting group of schools, students had received a low dosage of only 6 months . This natural experiment revealed a context specific effect where high dosage students rated their regulation in digital contexts higher, but not in more general non-digital contexts. However, personality scores particularly those related to self-regulation, were higher for the high dosage students. There were no differences in social skills. The differences were related to the strong focus in the digital innovation on aspects of self-regulation. There was less focus on social skills in the digital innovation. More deliberate teacher augmentation and instructional designs for social skills may be required to capitalise on the affordances of digital tools. School-wide practices, while necessary may not be sufficient to enable the generalisation of skills without this deliberate teacher focus.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47896731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-05-18DOI: 10.1177/20427530231174582
Luke Santamaria, Sue Cherrington, M. Shuker
{"title":"New Zealand early childhood services: Reasons for use or non-use of tablet computers","authors":"Luke Santamaria, Sue Cherrington, M. Shuker","doi":"10.1177/20427530231174582","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231174582","url":null,"abstract":"With the increasing use of tablets in early childhood education (ECE) services internationally, a sequential explanatory mixed-method doctoral study was undertaken to explore their use in New Zealand. The study surveyed four major service types: education and care, home-based, kindergarten, and playcentre. Qualitative data from one tablet user service and one tablet non-user service from each type were then collected. The findings revealed three main reasons for not using tablets: educational philosophy, funding, and company or service policy. The three main purposes for using tablets were for documentation and assessment, playing music, and using these devices for creative purposes. A collective case study identified that two non-users shifted from completely not using tablets to using them for specific purposes, suggesting that tablet computer adoption in ECE is not binary. The data suggest that teachers and educators play a key role in deciding when and how to use tablets in ECE services. Tablet computer use was not limited to a dichotomy of use and non-use; rather their use in New Zealand’s ECE services was spread along a spectrum that ranged from limited, to specialised, to comprehensive use. This study suggests that access to and use of tablet computers is not fixed but varies according to services’ goals and educational philosophies.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47035584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-04-25DOI: 10.1177/20427530231167642
Mavis SB Mensah, Keren NA Arthur, Enoch Mensah-Williams
{"title":"Antecedents of E-learning in undergraduate entrepreneurship education","authors":"Mavis SB Mensah, Keren NA Arthur, Enoch Mensah-Williams","doi":"10.1177/20427530231167642","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231167642","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the factors that influence the intention and actual use of e-learning in entrepreneurship education by undergraduate students. The paper relies on a predictive study design and the partial least squares structural equation modelling to analyse data from a cluster sample of 599 students from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The results demonstrate that all the independent variables, assessed within a framework of an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, determine students’ intention to use e-learning in entrepreneurship education. Of particular importance are the preponderant effects of hedonic motivation, facilitating conditions and social influence on students’ intention as well as the effect of intention and facilitating conditions on actual use of e-learning. A key implication of the findings is that students’ continuous acceptance and use of e-learning in undergraduate entrepreneurship course delivery is contingent upon adequate presence of all the examined predictors of technology usage.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47856246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-04-15DOI: 10.1177/20427530231156483
C. Wekullo, Brendah Kabindio, Iddi W. Juma
{"title":"Faculty and students’ perspectives of online learning during COVID-19 crisis: Constraints and opportunities for Kenyan universities","authors":"C. Wekullo, Brendah Kabindio, Iddi W. Juma","doi":"10.1177/20427530231156483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231156483","url":null,"abstract":"At the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, all higher education institutions had to abruptly migrate from face-to-face mode of learning to virtual learning. Students and faculty members were thrown into the process of acquainting themselves with a fully virtual system. How prepared were institutions, faculty members, and students for the abrupt and massive transition to online learning? The study examined the faculty and students’ perspective of online learning during COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the study examined the perceptions of faculty and students on the preparedness of higher education institutions for online teaching and learning. The study also determined the perceptions of staff and students towards online education, constraints, and opportunities. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted at a public university in Kenya. A semi-structured interview was conducted on a total sample of 36 respondents; 24 students and 12 faculty members to capture unique, idiosyncratic and whole individual viewpoints. A conventional Content Analysis was done to determine words or concepts within the transcripts. The findings showed that the study institution, faculty members, and students were unprepared for the immediate and massive shift to online teaching and learning and had challenges using virtual technologies for teaching and learning during the lockdown. These challenges ranged from insufficient or lack of internet bandwidth, training, increased teaching and learning workloads to limited time for interactions. Based on the findings, the study suggests significant implications for higher education institution leaders, policymakers, faculty, and students. The study contributes to the existing literature by analyzing the perceptions of faculty and students about the preparedness of institutions, faculty, and students on the abrupt shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48610025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-04-07DOI: 10.1177/20427530231167644
Linda Rohr, Jane Costello, Laura Squires
{"title":"Exploring students’ Twitter use in the online classroom across 4 years","authors":"Linda Rohr, Jane Costello, Laura Squires","doi":"10.1177/20427530231167644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231167644","url":null,"abstract":"Online asynchronous courses require close attention to course design to ensure there are strategies in place to foster social presence to build stronger senses of community and to motivate students to engage (content, peers and instructors). Judicious use of social media may serve this purpose. Since its inception, social media, Twitter in particular, has been employed in higher education courses for teaching and learning experiences with a notable impact on student engagement and social presence. This research examines students’ use of Twitter for assessment and interaction in the online asynchronous classroom from 2014 to 2018, to determine if there has been an increase in the length, amount or content within Tweets, and if students report stronger engagement and interaction following the use of Twitter for assessment. While results indicate such a connection exists, students were more focused on completing course requirements than creating connections or interacting with others, and were bothered by the constraints of the Tweet length.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48332151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-04-02DOI: 10.1177/20427530231167651
A. Aslan, Y. Turgut
{"title":"Parental mediation in Turkey: The use of mobile devices in early childhood","authors":"A. Aslan, Y. Turgut","doi":"10.1177/20427530231167651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231167651","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to investigate the use of mobile devices including smartphones and tablets in terms of mediation types of parents who have young children. In this case study, which is one of the qualitative research methods, criterion sampling was adopted for the selection of the study group. The fact that parents of 4–7-year-old children who use mobile devices is determined as the principal criterion. Twelve children aged 4–7 and their parents participated in the study. Data were collected through child observations and parent interviews. The results indicated that children with the mediation of parental supervision had fewer problematic behaviors in the use of media and faced fewer online risks. Besides, children whose parents have general restrictive mediation were the most likely to exhibit problematic media use behaviors. Children whose parents have active mediation were also the most likely to face Internet risks. It was observed that children frequently played games and watched videos on mobile devices. Most parents considered their children’s use of mobile devices as risky and harmful, while it was considered as useful only by co-using parents. It was found that children’s use of mobile devices causes physical, psychological, communicational, and cognitive issues while improving their academic abilities, interests, and cognitive structures. Nevertheless, it was discovered that parents used mobile devices to convince their children to go through their daily routines such as eating, bathing, and sleeping or calm them down in the workplace or social environments.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45634451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-03-29DOI: 10.1177/20427530231167646
Leo A. Mamolo, S. G. C. Sugano
{"title":"Digital interactive app and students’ mathematics self-efficacy, anxiety, and achievement in the “new normal”","authors":"Leo A. Mamolo, S. G. C. Sugano","doi":"10.1177/20427530231167646","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231167646","url":null,"abstract":"The pandemic brought changes in the educational setup leading all learning institutions to rely on online learning. In instruction, using the e-learning method has increased due to the pandemic. This study investigated the effects of the Digital Interactive Math Comics (DIMaC) mobile App on students’ self-efficacy, anxiety, and achievement in General Mathematics. The study employed quasi-experimental research, specifically a one-group pre-posttest design. Two adapted questionnaires were employed in the study. Results revealed that students’ self-efficacy remained the same as “Moderate,” anxiety significantly decreased, and their achievement improved from “Satisfactory” to “Very Satisfactory” when utilizing the DIMaC App for 6 weeks. A negative correlation was observed between students’ mathematics self-efficacy and anxiety, while no significant association was found in the combination of the other variables. Results revealed that interactive instructional materials like the DIMaC app help students decrease their learning anxiety in the “New Normal” setup and improve learning gain. Learning materials that students manipulate and interact with significantly affect Mathematics Performance. Therefore, school stakeholders, especially the subject teachers, may develop interactive materials to aid students in the new setup in education.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49520939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
E-LearningPub Date : 2023-03-17DOI: 10.1177/20427530231164053
Maisa Mielikäinen, Essi Viippola, T. Tepsa
{"title":"Experiences of a project-based blended learning approach in a community of inquiry from information and communication technology engineering students at Lapland university of applied sciences in Finland","authors":"Maisa Mielikäinen, Essi Viippola, T. Tepsa","doi":"10.1177/20427530231164053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530231164053","url":null,"abstract":"The increase in remote work in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry has introduced the need for research into team collaboration platforms and education using a project-based blended learning approach. This study investigates the perceptions of ICT engineering students ( N = 56) at Lapland University of Applied Sciences in Finland regarding the social, cognitive, and teaching presences in a blended setting using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. The CoI questionnaire data were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model, and team collaboration and development platform logs were used to explore platform usage. The results suggest that the students’ overall perception of blended learning was highly positive. Questions associated with discussing through the online medium were relatively harder for the students to agree with, although the online medium was perceived as excellent for social interaction by the students. The results may help institutions develop an understanding of the factors that may improve the quality of blended learning experiences in project-based digital ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":39456,"journal":{"name":"E-Learning","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44928607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}