Research in Online Learning

Research in Online Learning

by Meryem Yılmaz Soylu

​What is OL?

​Online learning is a more recent aspect of distance learning that occurs via the Internet. It can be conducted through both synchronous or asynchronous.

Multiple Choice

When do you think distance learning begin?

• 1830

• 1728

• 1901

• 1914

History of OL

Late 1800s and Early 1900s > Letters

​1920s >Telephones, radio, and even phonograph

​1970s > Television (satellite or cable)

​1980s > The first accredited graduate degrees through online courses

​1990s > Internet (Jones International University became the first accredited fully online university in 1996)

• ​text-based (email, chat vb.)

​2000s > LMS

• ​​interactive (sound, animation and video)

​2010s > MOOC​

Poll

What was the first course taught via MOOC?

Take a guess!

• Introduction to Programming

• Introduction to Economics

• Learning Theory

• Calculus 1

​Emergency Remote Teaching

​Mass migration to online learning due to 2020 global pandemic.

Best Practices

​–  Objectives are available.

–  Navigation is intuitive.

–  Technologyisusedtopromotelearnerengagement/facilitatelearning.

–  Student-to-student interaction is supported.

–  Communication and activities are used to build community.

–  Instructor contact information is stated.

–  Expectations regarding quality of communication/participation are provided.

–  Assessment rubrics for graded assignments are provided.

–  Assessments align with objectives.

–  Links to institutional services are provided.

–  Course has accommodations for disabilities.

–  Course policies are stated for behavior expectations. (Baldwin et al.,2018, p. 56)

Poll

If you were an employer, who would you hire?

• A person providing a stack of micro credentials to show expertise

• A graduate of a four-year traditional degree program

​Micro-credentials

​Micro-credentials are digital certifications that verify an individual’s competence in a specific skill or set of skills.

​

​Each micro-credential is grounded in sound research that illustrates how that competency supports positive professional impact.

​

GT MicroMasters^® Program in Analytics: Essential Tools and Methods

​

Clausen, J.M. (2021). Learning to Fly: Development and Design of a Micro-Credentialing System for an Educator Preparation Program in the Absence of a Required Educational Technology Course. TechTrends. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-021-00673-x

​

​Gauthier, T. (2020). The value of microcredentials: The employer's perspective. Competency-based Education. 5:e01209. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbe2.1209

What could research in onli​ne learning tell us?

​

Poll

What could be the most frequently studied with "online learning" in the last five years?

• MOOC

• Higher Education

• Educational Technology

• Covid 19 Pandemic

• Student Engagement

Bibliographic mapping

Science mapping or bibliographic mapping is a fundamental research method of bibliometry (Pritchard, 1969) which aims to shed light on the nature and development process of science disciplines by analyzing written communication through mathematical and statistical means (Cobo et al., 2011; Morris & Van DerVeer Martens, 2008).

​

• ​In-spire (Wise, 1999),

• Bibexcel (Persson et al., 2009),

• Cit- eSpace II (Chen, 2006),

• The Network Workbench Tool (Börner et al., 2010),

• VOSviewer (van Eck & Waltman, 2007, 2010, 2014).

Bibliographic mapping via VOSviewer

​Database: Scopus

​

​Search query:

​TITLE-ABS-KEY ( "online learning"  OR  "virtual learning"  OR  "e-learning")  AND  PUBYEAR  >  2016  AND  ( LIMIT-TO ( SRCTYPE ,  "j" ) )  AND  ( LIMIT-TO ( DOCTYPE ,  "ar" ) )  AND  ( LIMIT-TO ( LANGUAGE ,  "English" ) )

​

​Time period: 2016 to Present

​More bibliographic studies...

​Park, H., & Shea, P. (2020). A review of ten-year research through co-citation analysis: Online learning, distance learning and blended learning. Online Learning, 24(2), 225-244. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i2.2001

​

​

​Bardakci, S., Yilmaz Soylu, M., Akkoyunlu, B., Deryakulu, D.(2021). Collaborations, concepts, and citations in educational technology: A trend study via bibliographic mapping. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10785-9

​​Park, H., & Shea, P. (2020). A review of ten-year research through co-citation analysis: Online learning, distance learning and blended learning. Online Learning, 24(2), 225-244. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i2.2001

Open Ended

Please write down three words or statetements that summarize today's class.