(Distance Ed) Week 6 - Findings

Article	Findings
Dalsgaard, C., & Mathiasen, H. (2008). Self-organized learning environments and university students' use of social software: A systems theoretical perspective. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(2). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Feb_08/article01.htm.	Finding: "The study of the two project groups suggests that a conference system offering asynchronous discussion forums and file sharing has the potential to support students' self-organized learning environment." My thoughts: The results of this study were not earth shattering.  Nor were they particularly bold.  I felt that they were timid, hedging their conclusions.  They concluded that social software in general can help support a self-organized learning environment.  I wouldn't have thought to argue with that in the first place, but it's good that they're not assuming anything, right? Finding: "Given that students are allowed to work independently and are provided with a range of tools, they are excellent in choosing the right media in a given context." My thoughts: I'm not sure that this study (with a sample size of 4) really justifies the generalization that "students are excellent in choosing the right media in a given context."
Ganjooei, B. A., & Rahimi, A. (2008). Language learning strategy use for EFL E-learners and traditional learners: A comparative study. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(12). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Dec_08/article01.htm.	Finding: "the education system has little influence on the way learners usually go about applying language learning strategies." Finding: "No significant differences were observed in regard to the frequency of occurrence of learners' use of strategies." My thoughts: I thought this was a valid research question, and I think it is interesting to see that there is no difference between online and F2F students regarding usage of learning strategies. Finding: "Learners with high language proficiency level showed more effective use of strategies whereas the learners with low level of proficiency usually failed to choose the appropriate learning strategies in their process of language learning." Finding: "There is a positive correlation between language proficiency level and application of subcategories of language learning strategies." Finding: "Analyzing the results from one-way Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA), one could claim that there were differences regarding language learning strategy use in each proficiency level, but contrasting each proficiency level two by two, no significant differences were observed." Finding: "Both language learning strategy use and language proficiency level can be predicted by each other." My thoughts: The study was well thought out, planned, and seems (in my limited knowledge of what good research is all about) to be rigorous in its methodology.
Gouge, C. (2008). Redesigning online instruction: theory and application. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(2). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Feb_08/article04.htm.	Finding: "Evaluations showed that what students valued most about the structure of the course was not any one individual demonstration or other aspect of the course (no matter how sophisticated the technology used to support it);" Finding: "students reported that they appreciated the variety of interactivity and opportunities to communicate with me and their classmates encouraged and made possible by the course structure." Finding: "90% of students cited the message board interaction with me and their peers as the most useful to their learning in the course." My Thoughts: This was a nice case study, Interesting to hear her personal results from this particular course redesign
Holbein, M. F. (2008). From traditional delivery to distance learning: Developing the model. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(8). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Aug_08/article05.htm.	Finding: "Sitting in a classroom and listening to a lecture or small group discussion can actually be quite passive. Online learning is active and alive. Beyond the technology and instructional design lies the human element. Students want and need to be connected. The challenge for instructors is to help them build a sense of community so that while they may not see one another face-to-face, they know one another and share their ideas thereby contributing to learning for all." My thoughts: This one was more theory-based and focused on the importance of building community and interaction for an online setting to be instructionally effective.
Kiriakidis, P., & Parker, A. (2008). Faculty and learner interaction in online courses. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(11). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Nov_08/article03.htm.	Finding: The relationship between the extent of faculty interaction and the extent of learner interaction in online courses was found to be of statistical significance (r = .763, p < .01). " Finding: "The findings of this study suggest that there is a direct relationship between faculty and learner interaction in online courses." My thoughts: No argument here.  Teachers interact with students more = students interact with teachers more.
Kok, A. (2007). Metamorphosis of the mind of online communities via E-Learning. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(10). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Oct_08/article03.htm.	Finding: "Recognizing the learners' input, providing opportunities to develop a sense of group cohesiveness, maintaining the group as a unit and helping learners to work collaboratively may increase the effectiveness of online communities." My thoughts: Mostly theory based; conclusions seem valid.
Kupczynski, L., Davis, R., Ice, P., & Callejo, D. (2008). Assessing the impact of instructional design and organization on student achievement in online courses. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(1). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_08/article01.htm.	Finding: "The original intent of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between instructional design / organization and student performance in online courses. None of the three methods revealed a relationship between the predictor and criterion variables."
Royal, P., & Bell, P. (2008). The relationship between performance levels and test delivery methods. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(7). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jul_08/article05.htm.	Finding: "There was a difference between student performance and test delivery method. However, the overall difference was not significant." My thoughts: Surprising.  I would've thought that there would be a much higher achievement rate on exams that were non-proctored.
Shi, S., Bonk, C., Tan, S., & Mishra, P. (2008). Getting in sync with synchronous: The dynamics of synchronous facilitation in online discussions. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(5). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/May_08/article01.htm.	Finding: Moderators effectively moderate an online  group discussion by posting messages with "hooks on both ends" Finding: "When a moderator was demonstrating and modeling, hopefully within the zones of proximal development of most or all of the participants and coupled with deep engagement with real issues related to the topic, participants were drawn into the discourse. Finding: "when individuals operate on each other's reasoning, they become aware of contradictions between their logic and that of their partners. The struggle to resolve these contradictions might very well propel them to new and higher levels of understanding." Finding: Moderators can effectively moderate an online group discussion by establishing group norms. Finding: Moderators can effectively moderate an online group discussion by trying to accommodate for students' social-emotional needs. My thoughts: A "best practices" type of article.  From their experience, they collected a number of things moderators can do to provide high quality online group discussions for distance education situations.
Young, B., Hausler, J., & Sanders, J. W. (2008). Do online students exhibit different learning styles than onsite students? International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 5(4). Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Apr_08/article02.htm.	Finding: "While we found students who preferred visual learning were slightly less inclined to prefer online classes, we found no one discernable learning style to be prevalent in most of our online classes.  Preferences were more likely dictated by other considerations than learning styles." My thoughts: This finding was surprising to me, and I think it made for a good study.  I would have thought that online courses would appeal to a specifically different type of learner.