STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF ELEARNING IN SOUTH DAKOTA HIGH SCHOOLS

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STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF E-LEARNING IN SOUTH
DAKOTA HIGH SCHOOLS

• A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
  of
• The Requirements for the Degree of
• Doctor of Education
• Division of Educational Administration
• Education Administration Program
• in the Graduate School
• The University of South Dakota
• December 2004

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Why E-Learning?

• Background
• Experience with distance education
• Commitment to expand delivery systems and staff
  development opportunities
• Economic efficiencies
• Changing needs of students

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Need and Impact of E-learning

• Pace of change outside of the system greater than
  the rate of change inside.
• Growing awareness of the inefficiencies of the
  conventional classroom coincides with the
  emergence of web-based technologies.
• Adoption of E-learning has expanded from home
  bound students to students in high schools across
  the country.
• The popularity of the on-line technologies to
  provide remediation, acceleration, advanced
  placement, and dual credit offerings.
• Increasing number of states and school districts
  providing access to thousands of high school
  students across the country.

4
Methodology

• Descriptive research methods to acquire
  information about the perceptions of high school
  students regarding e-learning.
• Survey instruments were administered to 931
  students to collect data used to answer the
  research questions
• Data were analyzed and used to describe student
  level of satisfaction and those factors that
  contributed to their success as online students.

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Statement of the Problem

• Demographics of High School Students
• Student Perceptions of E-learning Instructors
• Student Perceptions Regarding Inclusion of other
  Students
• Student Perceptions of Course Quality
• Student Perceptions of Learning and Achievement
• Student Perceptions of Instructor Assistance
• Student Perceptions of Effective Teaching
  Strategies
• Student Perceptions of WebCT Resources
• Student Perceptions of Laboratory Resources and
  Equipment

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Population and Sample

• 931 Students enrolled in E-learning Courses
• 80 School Districts in South Dakota
• 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04 School Years

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Instrumentation

• Demographic data, gender, and school size
• 8 Questions Evaluation of instructor
• 1 Question Learning experience with students
  from other schools
• 2 Questions Rate course quality
• 2 Questions Open ended questions asking what
  the instructor
• could do to be more helpful and what aspects
  of the course students found good, helpful, or
  enjoyable
• 1 Question Aspects of WebCT or on-line course
  materials students
• found beneficial
• 1 Question Laboratory resources and equipment
  students found
• contributed to their understanding

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Data Collection

• Permission granted by Dr. Erika Tallman, Director
  of the State-wide Center for E-learning
• Data collected by Northern State University
• Data collected over 3 year period
• 931 Student Responses (240, 250, and 441)
• State-wide Center for E-learning randomized the
  data
• Open Ended responses provided with removal of
  teacher, student, or course identification.

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Findings

• Question 1 Demographics were analyzed by
  categorizing and computing frequencies and
  percentages. Over 78.75 of the participating
  schools had K-12 enrollments under 500 students.

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Findings

• Question 1 Demographics were analyzed by
  categorizing and computing frequencies and
  percentages. 77.5 of the schools had a poverty
  rating of 25 or higher.

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Findings

• Question 1 Demographics were analyzed by
  categorizing and computing frequencies and
  percentages. More females were enrolled in
  courses. In addition, a higher percentage of
  females completed the courses.

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Findings

• Question 1 Demographics were analyzed by
  categorizing and computing frequencies and
  percentages. From the first year to the third
  year, enrollment and completion rates doubled,
  with a higher percentage of students completing
  the courses.

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Findings

• Question 2 Student perceptions of instructors
  was answered using means and standard deviations.
  Survey responses were consistent with the related
  literature demonstrating a strong correlation
  between the quality of the instructor and overall
  course satisfaction.

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Findings

• Question 3 Student perceptions of the impact of
  students from other schools on the learning
  environment. This response received the lowest
  rating and greatest spread or dispersion of
  student responses.

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Findings

• Question 4 The question referencing perceptions
  of students regarding course quality were
  answered using means and standard deviations.
  Students rated the courses on a scale from poor
  to excellent. Survey responses indicated students
  perceived courses to be of high quality.

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Findings

• Question 5 The question referencing perceptions
  of students regarding level of learning were
  answered using means and standard deviations.
  Students were also asked to rate their level of
  learning on a scale of poor to excellent.
  Responses indicated students perceived their
  level of learning as above average.

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Findings

• Four open ended responses were grouped by
  similarity and most frequently mentioned
  responses reported.
• The first open ended question asked students what
  the instructor could do to me more helpful. The
  table below outlines the most frequent student
  responses.

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Findings

• The second open ended question asked students
  what aspects of the course or instructors
  teaching students found to be particularly good,
  helpful, or enjoyable. The table below outlines
  the most frequent student responses.

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Findings

• The third open ended question asked students what
  aspects of WebCT they found to be most valuable.
  The table below outlines the most frequent
  student responses.

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Findings

• The fourth open ended question asked students if
  their class had a laboratory component, were they
  able to perform the experiments and if the labs
  contributed to their level of understanding. The
  table below outlines the most frequent student
  responses.

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Conclusions

• There is a need for e-learning in high schools
• E-learning is expanding in popularity and is
  becoming more widely accepted.
• Student satisfaction, perceived level of
  learning, and overall experience is directly
  influenced by the quality of the instructor.
• Attributes of the learner affect student success
  in the e-learning environment.

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Conclusions

• Course design and instructional methods
  contribute to the students interest,
  satisfaction, and performance in the
  distance-learning environment
• The web-based interface supports a variety of
  effective tools that contributes to student
  understanding and facilitates communication.
• School leadership must be involved in and
  recognize that careful planning, training,
  support and evaluation are critical components of
  quality distance-learning programs.

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Discussions

• Students perceive the e-learning programs from
  Northern State University as a quality
  alternative system for receiving high school
  instruction.
• The findings support much of the current
  literature on e-learning.
• E-learning is used to a greater extent in smaller
  schools where low student numbers would not have
  justified the expense of a traditional classroom
  teacher.
• Students perceived instructors as knowledgeable,
  organized and prepared for class, and able to
  make subject matter understandable.

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Discussions

• Certain personal and academic attributes
  contribute the student success in the e-learning
  environment.
• Course design, with a focus on a more student
  centered learning environment, and a variety of
  learning strategies, activities, and technologies
  contribute to student learning and level of
  satisfaction.
• Instructors interest in students and
  interpersonal relationship skills contribute to
  student achievement and level of satisfaction.
• Hands-on instruction is as important in distance
  education as in the traditional classroom.

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Recommendations from the Study

• Educate and inform school boards, administrators,
  teachers, students, and community patrons about
  the advantages of e-learning.
• Establish an e-learning advisory council to
  establish policy, develop guidelines, provide
  training, and conduct periodic evaluations.
• Provide staff development, training, and support
  enabling traditional classroom teachers to make
  the transition to the e-learning environment.

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Recommendations from the Study

• Identify and match specific technologies and
  resources needed to effectively deliver courses
  across distance-learning multi-media platforms.
• Because of the similarity of student needs in the
  traditional and virtual classrooms,
  administrators need to identify and encourage
  highly qualified classroom teachers to consider
  their involvement in a distance-learning
  environment.

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Recommendations for Further Study

• A study should be conducted that includes the
  teachers perspective of distance-learning and
  the effectiveness of the high school e-learning
  environment.
• A study should be replicated to include a wider
  variety of student demographic characteristics
  including location, gender, size of schools, and
  academic areas.
• A study should also be conducted to determine the
  effectiveness of each of the various electronic
  delivery systems in isolation.

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Recommendations for Further Study

• An expansion of this study should measure if
  students who are exposed to the distance-learning
  environment experience more success at the
  post-secondary level than those students not
  enrolled in e-learning classes in high school.
• A study should be conducted to investigate new
  technologies that will allow for greater
  interaction and promote a more dynamic classroom
  in a distance-learning environment.

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STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF E-LEARNING IN SOUTH
DAKOTA HIGH SCHOOLS

• A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
  of
• The Requirements for the Degree of
• Doctor of Education
• Division of Educational Administration
• Education Administration Program
• in the Graduate School
• The University of South Dakota
• December 2004