Perceptions of Interactions in Online Courses

This study examined the use of synchronous video chat, Elluminate Live ™ in online graduate courses. Four types of instructor interaction with students in online courses were compared. The methods included interaction with the instructor only asynchronously, instructor asynchronously plus a reader, instructor asynchronously plus synchronously through Elluminate Live™, and Instructor asynchronously, reader, and Elluminate Live™. One hundred fifty-one graduate students who took online courses in Educational Administration during the spring of 2009 were invited to participate in a twenty-one item online survey developed by the researchers regarding interaction in online courses. Graduate students in online courses in this study perceive the learner-to-content interaction, learner-to-learner interaction, learner-to-instructor interaction in the courses they take positively. When examining learner-to-content interaction this study found that females perceive the interaction significantly more favorably than their male colleagues. Interaction with the instructor was the one area in this study that received a lower level of agreement compared to responses to other survey items. Graduate students in online courses perceive the use of Elluminate Live more positively than that of a reader and the instructor synchronously