Abstract |
- With the rapid development of technology, online learning is increasing
significantly and becoming a popular method of education for many universities and
colleges around the world. Because of computers and the internet, most online
learning today is interactive, and sometimes more interactive than the traditional
classroom. Students can interact on equal ground, regardless of their race, gender, and
appearance. Even without face-to-face teaching, it is now possible for rapid
communication to take place between the teacher and the students using a variety of
technological tools to enhance learning, such as conferencing tools, electronic mail,
internet mailing lists, and newsgroups.
Online education gives students a high level of responsibility for their learning.
However, there are many issues that affect their successful completion of online
courses. Some of these issues include work overload, lack of technological skills, and
feelings of isolation. In addition, course design for effective online learning needs to
be modified to fit the online format. Since there is no direct teacher-student contact,
course expectations and outcomes must be clearly defined, and timely feedback must
be provided. Well-trained online teachers often encourage critical thinking, problem
solving, and the discussion of alternative points of view through a variety of available
technologies. Because critical pedagogy emphasizes these elements, the researcher
further investigated the theory of critical pedagogy as it applies to successful, webbased
learning.
Critical pedagogy theory emphasizes human factors and addresses many
important educational issues, such as diversity, equality, gender, student
empowerment, and positive student-teacher interactions. Therefore, the focus of this
study was to determine effective factors of online learning, based on the theory of
critical pedagogy and best practices for traditional and online teaching. From the
literature review, seven criteria were established, including Instructional Design and
Delivery, Student Learning Outcomes, Assessments, Student Empowerment, Social
Presence, Critical Thinking Skills, and Alignment.
Utilizing mixed evaluation methodology, these criteria of effectiveness were
used to evaluate online courses at Oregon State University, College of Liberal Arts. In
addition, this study examined whether students and teachers differ in their perceptions
of online learning and whether or not significant relationships exist between these
criteria. Finally, based on an analysis of the study results, the researcher explored
elements of an effective online course derived from instructor perspectives, student
perspectives, and researcher observations.
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