Ok,
After all this time I am done! It is now Dr. Armstrong Ed. D. The study went well and can be found in Dissertation Abstracts and downloaded for free! This is not like other studies of online learning in this study i looked at the "Typical" course development that is done!
Significance of the Research
One crucial element in describing students’ perceptions of online learning is the use and expectations that students bring with them from their daily experiences with technology. Gaining an understanding of online learning from students engaged in the learning process, their expectations, experiences, and perceptions may provide a contribution to the literature base in online learning. Findings from this study suggest that how faculty designs communication, the structure of the online environment, and the use of resources contribute to the positive or negative perceptions students hold of the learning experience. So critical to this perception is the design and implementation of communication that it not only affects students approach to the learning but also shapes perceptions of academic quality. For the students taking online classes, learning is not putting students in touch with information; rather, it is putting students in touch with communities (Weigle, 2002). Indeed learning is the process of enculturation that engages students with concepts and communities (Weigle).
Online courses typically are designed and developed by faculty based on previous course design and face-to-face instructional methods (Allen & Seaman, 2008; Lin, Espinoza, & Davis, 2010; Osika, Johnson, & Buteau, 2009; Papasratorn & Wangpipatwong, 2005). Faculty typically design and implement online learning based on a text or information delivery system with little or no thought to the expectations of communication and technology students bring with them to this unique environment. Entwistle (1981) noticed that some methods of instruction, perceived to better encourage learning by the instructor, produced surface approaches to learning as a result of student perceptions. Although instructors view specific forms of delivery and assessment to be better, student perceptions will often determine the effectiveness of learning methods. A report by Eduventures (2009) sheds some light on why this might be so, noting that innovation in the use, implementation, methods, and delivery of online instruction is limited primarily to faculty teaching online and that how instructors teach is often a result of how they were taught and how they learned. The results of this study are significant in that they provide faculty with an understanding of the students’ perspective, examine how the students perceive learning, and present the voice of the student often missing from the design of online instruction.
