Engagement in an online course: The students\u27 viewpoint

Distance education is not a new phenomenon, distance education had its beginning with correspondence education through postal services in the 19th century (Daniel, 2000) and progressed into the 21st century with the use of computer-mediated instruction. Even with all of its convenience and portability, the online classroom is still seen by many as lacking the human connectivity of face to face courses. Recent findings have shown that online learners\u27 levels of satisfaction, performance, and sense of community are related to the interactions they have with their instructors, including the tyoe and frequency of feedback they receive on assignments and course material (Gallien & Oomen-Early, 2008). A review of the published literature supports that interaction between instructor and student is an important aspect of learning and that students perform at a higher level when this interaction is available to them. What is not supported is what type of interactions are effective from the viewpoint of the student and lead to better engagement in the learning process by the student. Twelve student participants were selected from an online course at a small southern community college. The institution where the study was performed used the Moodle platform to offer distance courses to their students. The common themes identified from student interviews were (a) strategies of instructors in virtual classroom instruction, (b) intrinsic motivation of students\u27 engagement in virtual classroom, (c) factors that facilitates completion of online tasks, (d) creation of sense of community, (e) domains of engagement in virtual learning environment, and (f) technologies that enhances students\u27 engagement. Findings suggest that students believe that technology is important to their engagement in an online course. Technology is important to this classroom to keeping students engaged in the couse through either videos, interactive websites, or other interactive technologies such as Skype or Elluminate Live. These types of connections is what keeps the students engaged and what students are looking for from their instructors and their courses