What is it about?
We explored both students' and instructors' views of online learning. We focused on oral communication skills (presentations, discussions, etc.) as these can be more challenging to learn online than writing skills and knowledge of a specific topic. We found students felt more confident and were more positive about this type of online learning than instructors. We also validated measures of attitudes toward online learning. That is somewhat rare for this type of research.
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Why is it important?
Universities and other learning centers need to identify specific strengths and obstacles for developing online education. The measurement of these factors needs to be valid and reliable, which we were able to demonstrate. The findings also provide useful information for understanding how students and instructors differ on how they perceive and approach learning methods.
Perspectives
We have begun applying these measures of learning attitudes toward other directions in education. Just as importantly, we are developing instructor approaches to online learning.
Dr Keith M. Harris
University of Tasmania
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Attitudes toward learning oral communication skills online: the importance of intrinsic interest and student-instructor differences, Educational Technology Research and Development, March 2016, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s11423-016-9435-8.
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