Theme 3

Lowenthal, P. R. & Leech, N. Mixed research and online learning: Strategies for improvement

The aim of this paper is to increase the quality and promote sternness in online education research. It seems that research on online learning has been conducted mostly using a monomethod approach. A broad range of scientific studies were based on comparison that online learning is as good as face-to-face learning. Nowadays many  researchers try to avoid conducting comparison studies. Probably they have failed to use strong research designs. Nevertheless,  they  still  tend to rely on survey data, which  seems to be self-report data. Obviously it is not appropriate to investigate all research problems based only on it.

Even though the most studies made on online learning currently is monomethod, the author pointed out the importance of using mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) when investigating online learning. Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods of  data analysis could help find problems in ways that monomethod or even multiple method with two or more quantitative or qualitative approaches simply cannot.

The authors outlined  the common steps of the mixed research  proces, which are the next: research questions, research designs, sampling, and data analysis. They  also provided some suggestions  how to apply those steps. In the other words, the mixed method focuses specifically on collecting, analyzing and mixing both quantitative and qualitative data in one study or series of studies. The most important part is to identify whether a problem should be studied with a mixed framework.

Cleveland-Innes, M. & Campbell P. Emotional presence, learning and the online learning environment.

This study describes the evidence of emotions in online environment and the fact that they might have an influence on the human experience of online learning. It’s said the technology often involves the development of new competencies. The purpose of this study is to explain the importance of emotions in the human experience and to prove that they are a core element of it. It’s mentioned in the paper that emotion is often mistaken “as a deterrent that hinders effective teaching and learning”.

The authors  developed a working hypothesis that emotion plays a great role in learning. Therefore, they are presented in online learning environments. The two steps of data collections were done. Firstly to provide access to conference discussion transcripts and then secondly to complete a survey of questions regarding online experience. The data is both quantitative  and qualitative as they sampled 217 students of two graduate programs at a single mode distance education university. The students were supposed to answer open-ended questions about their online experience.

The conclusions were drawn from the data that emotions are presented in online learning communities. Emotions must be considered as an  influential part of learning. The authors defined emotional presence as an experience which is prominent in the online environment. Learners need to understand the role of emotions in our life and in learning and to realize their benefits. Researchers still have a lot of questions to explore  (e.g. Which emotions are unique in the triggering events, integration, exploration, and resolution found in cognitive presence?)