Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field

Online learning has been a powerful by-product of the ‘network age’, yet current education practices are still grappling with the most effective way to tap into this valuable resource. This paper reports on a series of investigations which aimed to provide a greater understanding of online learning...

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Main Authors: Dixon, Kathryn, Pelliccione, Lina
Other Authors: Wendy Sheldon
Format: Conference Paper
Published: Australian Association for Research in Education 'AARE' 2004
Online Access:http://www.aare.edu.au/publications-database.php/1474/constructing-meaning-for-online-learning-messages-from-the-field
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37127
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author Dixon, Kathryn
Pelliccione, Lina
author2 Wendy Sheldon
author_facet Wendy Sheldon
Dixon, Kathryn
Pelliccione, Lina
author_sort Dixon, Kathryn
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Online learning has been a powerful by-product of the ‘network age’, yet current education practices are still grappling with the most effective way to tap into this valuable resource. This paper reports on a series of investigations which aimed to provide a greater understanding of online learning through the eyes of higher education students in two very distinct courses (undergraduate and postgraduate). The study involved two stages of investigation. Survey instruments were designed specifically for each stage. Stage one focused ultimately on the student’s reactions to online delivery, their rates and depths of participation in this environment, and their levels of engagement in the learning process. The aim of stage two was to identify their prior experience and perceptions of online learning environments. The findings revealed that students are entering the University as technically competent and confident people who expect to utilise technology in their learning environment. Students in both groups indicated that the most important feature of the opportunity to work online was the flexibility this approach allowed in terms of being able to study in their own time and in other environments such as home. They also identified that this mode of delivery enabled them to enhance their learning.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-371272022-10-11T07:07:02Z Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field Dixon, Kathryn Pelliccione, Lina Wendy Sheldon Ruth Jeffery Online learning has been a powerful by-product of the ‘network age’, yet current education practices are still grappling with the most effective way to tap into this valuable resource. This paper reports on a series of investigations which aimed to provide a greater understanding of online learning through the eyes of higher education students in two very distinct courses (undergraduate and postgraduate). The study involved two stages of investigation. Survey instruments were designed specifically for each stage. Stage one focused ultimately on the student’s reactions to online delivery, their rates and depths of participation in this environment, and their levels of engagement in the learning process. The aim of stage two was to identify their prior experience and perceptions of online learning environments. The findings revealed that students are entering the University as technically competent and confident people who expect to utilise technology in their learning environment. Students in both groups indicated that the most important feature of the opportunity to work online was the flexibility this approach allowed in terms of being able to study in their own time and in other environments such as home. They also identified that this mode of delivery enabled them to enhance their learning. 2004 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37127 http://www.aare.edu.au/publications-database.php/1474/constructing-meaning-for-online-learning-messages-from-the-field Australian Association for Research in Education 'AARE' fulltext
spellingShingle Dixon, Kathryn
Pelliccione, Lina
Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field
title Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field
title_full Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field
title_fullStr Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field
title_full_unstemmed Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field
title_short Constructing meaning for online learning: Messages from the field
title_sort constructing meaning for online learning: messages from the field
url http://www.aare.edu.au/publications-database.php/1474/constructing-meaning-for-online-learning-messages-from-the-field
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37127