Title: Designing and implementing critical interaction factors for student engagement in distance learning

Authors: Diane Ehrlich, Stephen Dundis

Addresses: Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis, Chicago, IL 60625, USA. ' Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis, Chicago, IL 60625, USA

Abstract: As instruction moves through a cycle of course delivery from traditional face-to-face instruction to web-based courses, one of the major challenges facing educators/trainers is student engagement. In order to help adult learners successfully transition from one environment to the other, instructional designers need to consider the three types of ||interactions|| outlined by Moore (student interaction with course content, student interaction with fellow students and student interaction with the instructor) when designing and implementing courses. We consider an additional factor that has an important bearing on these interactions – student interaction with the interface/technology. This paper presents a process for course redesign and delivery based on research collected from graduate students currently enrolled at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago as we explored the feasibility of converting face-to-face instructor-led courses to web-based courses.

Keywords: interaction; web-enhanced; blended; hybrid; interactive; web-based courses; case studies; instructional design; inquiry-based; discussion; online courses; student engagement; adult learners; student interaction; course design; course redesign.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLT.2004.004878

International Journal of Learning Technology, 2004 Vol.1 No.2, pp.231 - 242

Published online: 14 Jul 2004 *

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