Abstract:

Online learning is an ever growing field. Its increase has had significant impact on delivery of content and student learning. Presenters will discuss their research on increasing student mastery of online content by moving past the text-based linear format. The presentation will discuss ways the researchers structured online courses to increase student learning beginning with the design perspective and following through to the actual implementation.
The instructional design perspective in the courses was based on increasing the students’ active involvement with the content. The research was focused on the mastery of content rather than on community building which has previously been researched in other research studies. To this end researchers studied the effectiveness of utilizing a newly implemented online authoring tool (SoftChalk) to develop content of online courses in order to (a) increase student engagement with the content in online classes; and (b) assess students’ perception of the strengths and/or areas of need when using SoftChalk as a teaching and learning tool.
The investigation utilized a survey design. A ten question survey was developed and delivered through an online survey tool to preserve integrity and anonymity of student responses. Only students enrolled in online graduate level classes at Saint Leo University were eligible to participate. A link to the survey was posted in an announcement two weeks prior to the end of the term to allow for adequate response time.
The results were disaggregated to determine student perception of ease of organization of the information, impact of graphics, effectiveness of the use of manipulatives, and student mastery of content.
The results of the study as well as anecdotal experiences on the implementation will be shared.