Participation in Online Distance Learning Environments: Proxy, Sign, or a Means to an End?

View Sample PDF

Author(s): David Starr-Glass (University of New York in Prague, Czech Republic)
Copyright: 2016
Pages: 32
Source title: Handbook of Research on Strategic Management of Interaction, Presence, and Participation in Online Courses
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Lydia Kyei-Blankson (Illinois State University, USA), Joseph Blankson (Ohio Northern University, USA), Esther Ntuli (Idaho State University, USA)and Cynthia Agyeman (Ohio University, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9582-5.ch004

Keywords: Education / Educational Technologies / Information Science Reference / Web-Based Teaching & Learning

Purchase

View Participation in Online Distance Learning Environments: Proxy, Sign, or a Means to an End? on the publisher's website for pricing and purchasing information.

Abstract

Participation is actively encouraged and promoted in online distance learning environments because it is associated with effective learning behaviors and with overall learner satisfaction. Participation is easily observed and measured; indeed, it is often seen as “making visible” underlying behaviors and dynamics at both the individual and group level. The reality, however, is that the ease with which participation can be assessed is in stark contrast with the complexity that surrounds its role in the productive distance online learning environments. This chapter explores the multiplicity of meanings, definitions, and attributions associated with participation. It attempts to make sense of this complexity, to consider a broader framework that makes a connection between participation and learning outcomes, and to examine the ways in which individual learning styles and national culture assumptions impact and mediate student participation in online learning contexts.

The IRMA Community

Research IRM

Participation in Online Distance Learning Environments: Proxy, Sign, or a Means to an End?

Purchase

Abstract

Related Content

IRMA Sponsors