Distance Learning
Gh. Lotfi; S. Salehi; F. Chaeichi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: As technology advances, the method by which learners acquire new skills has also progressed. With the help of the Internet, a wide range of options are available to those interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills. Learners and educators can now take advantage of the ...
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Background and Objectives: As technology advances, the method by which learners acquire new skills has also progressed. With the help of the Internet, a wide range of options are available to those interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills. Learners and educators can now take advantage of the benefits of both online and offline teaching. In offline learning, participants have to acquire the content in ways such as watching recorded videos. On the other hand, online education takes place in the virtual platform through connecting to the Internet. In this regard, the current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of various types of virtual education, including online, offline, and combined (blended) education, on learning a perceptual-motor skill of jumping rope.Methods: The present study was a semi-experimental one with a practical purpose. In this study, from elementary third-grade female students of Hamedan 2nd district of education, voluntarily 30 students (with a mean height of 129.1 ± 9.87 cm and a mean weight of 29.33 ± 21.88 kg) were selected and randomly assigned to three groups of 10 participants, including online, offline, and combined education. In order to collect information, personal characteristics questionnaire, jogging rope test (with content validity and test - retest reliability of 0.89), standard sports rope and smartphone were used. This research included the stages of introductory, acquisition, and retention. After completing the personal information questionnaire and consent form, the participants first received introductory instruction on the criterion task and obtained the necessary information. Then, they entered the acquisition phase. At this stage, each group was trained separately and based on the national jump roping plan for 4 sessions in online, offline and combined rope-jumping skill training. After completing the acquisition phase, all participants first took part in the acquisition test, and one week later, they also participated in the retention test to measure the phenomenon of motor learning, and their scores were recorded. To analyze the data, the Shapiro-Wilk test, Levene's test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used.Findings: The findings showed that there was a significant difference between the scores obtained by the online and offline and combined and offline groups in both the acquisition and retention tests (p<0.05), in favor of the online and combined groups; this indicated that online and combined education groups performed better than the offline education group both in the acquisition phase and in the retention test. In addition, no significant statistical difference was found between the performance of the online and combined groups in any of the research stages (p>0.05).Conclusion: The results of this research emphasize the importance of using online and combined methods in virtual education conditions to teach perceptual-motor skills to learners. Based on the results, it is suggested to teachers and trainers of motor skills to use online and combined training instead of online training, to teach motor skills in physical education virtual classes of elementary school to create an interactive and dynamic learning environment and motivation to participate in using physical education class.
e-learning
R. Nejati
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Recognizing the unique requirements of online education is crucial due to its wide spread use. Self-regulation in learning seems essential for this instructional approach, as students and instructors are physically separated. To effectively manage their time, establish goals, ...
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Background and Objectives: Recognizing the unique requirements of online education is crucial due to its wide spread use. Self-regulation in learning seems essential for this instructional approach, as students and instructors are physically separated. To effectively manage their time, establish goals, and sustain motivation, individuals must adopt practical strategies. Active engagement in the learning process is also vital, requiring students to actively participate, contribute, and engage with instructors and peers. Assessing students' self-regulation and engagement can help educational managers and professors supervise the educational process and implement necessary measures when student participation is lacking. The objective of this study was to investigate how self-regulated learning and engagement contribute to outcomes of leaning as measured in terms of reading comprehension skills of Iranian students in online classrooms.
Materials and Methods: The study investigated research questions using two questionnaires and a test, namely, the Online self-regulation questionnaire (OSQ), the Online Student Engagement Scale (OSE), and the reading part of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The self-regulation questionnaire had three constructs with 10 items each, while the engagement questionnaire had four constructs with 19 items. These scales were translated into Persian and sent to 345 students. Out of the 287 returned questionnaires, 21 were excluded due to inattention. The remaining 266 responses, along with their test scores, were analyzed statistically. Both the questionnaires and the language test were administered via the LMS in 2022.
Findings: The data underwent a rigorous process of statistical analyses to evaluate reliability, construct validity, and the relationships between variables. These analyses aimed to ensure the accuracy and robustness of the findings. To assess reliability, Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were calculated for three key variables: Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading. The obtained coefficients were .89, .94, and .86, respectively. These values indicate high levels of internal consistency within each variable, suggesting that the measurement instruments used to assess these constructs were reliable. Construct validity was also examined through Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values for Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading. The reported RMSEA values were .08, .07, and .01, respectively. These values fall within an acceptable range, indicating that the measurement models adequately fit the observed data and supported the construct validity of the variables. All three variables (Engagement, Self-regulation, and Reading) exhibited statistically significant t-values, providing strong evidence that students' engagement, self-regulation, and reading ability were deemed satisfactory based on the collected data. The analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between regulatory engagement and reading comprehension. This finding suggests that higher levels of regulatory engagement are associated with better reading comprehension skills among students. Additionally, a regression analysis was conducted to explore the associations between specific factors and reading comprehension. The results indicated that both 'performance' and 'student-student interactions' had strong and positive associations with reading comprehension. The beta coefficients for these variables were 0.25 and 0.21, respectively. This implies that improvements in performance and increased student-student interactions are related to enhanced reading comprehension abilities.
Conclusions: The relationship between regulatory engagement and reading comprehension holds significant implications for educators and policymakers. Understanding this connection is essential to develop effective interventions and instructional approaches aimed at enhancing students' regulatory engagement abilities, ultimately leading to improved reading comprehension outcomes. However, it is important to acknowledge that the study conducted had certain limitations that restricted its scope and prevented a thorough examination of all potential factors influencing reading comprehension skills. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the topic, future research should explore additional variables beyond regulatory engagement. For instance, considering the influence of cultural background on reading comprehension can provide valuable insights into how diverse learners may approach and interpret texts differently. Similarly, investigating various teaching methods employed in different educational settings can shed light on the effectiveness of specific instructional approaches in promoting reading comprehension. Furthermore, individual cognitive factors such as working memory and attentional control warrant attention in future studies. These cognitive processes play integral roles in reading comprehension, and exploring their impact can help identify strategies to support students with specific cognitive profiles or challenges.
CALL
Z. Saeedi; N. Nikoobin
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Educational psychology is one of the core concepts in the area of teaching and learning and plays a key role in any educational context including language instruction. Learners’ mindset (fixed or growth) may have an impact on the learning process and the ubiquitous technology ...
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Background and Objectives: Educational psychology is one of the core concepts in the area of teaching and learning and plays a key role in any educational context including language instruction. Learners’ mindset (fixed or growth) may have an impact on the learning process and the ubiquitous technology can be of influence in making a change in students’ mindset. Despite the claim that through practice learners can improve in their subjects, many still consider it futile without related innate intelligence. Finding solutions for shifting this detrimental mindset is essential. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the effect of using gamified and interactive content (H5P) on shifting English learners’ mindset, moving from a fixed mindset into a growth one. Another purpose was to discover the probable relationship between learners’ different General English (GE) levels, the rate of their initial mindset, and the proportion of change induced in their mindset throughout the course.Materials and Methods: The participants consisted of 225 students aged 12-13 (111: experimental; 114: control). After conducting a placement test and using Dweck’s (2017) mindset questionnaire to measure their initial mindset, both groups went through a 12-week-long course, receiving similar instruction, except for the teaching phase. While the experimental group’s course was conducted through gamified and interactive content hosted on the Learning Management System, the control group’s was conducted live through web conferencing. Afterward, the learners redid the questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using ANCOVA and ANOVA statistical tests.Findings: To compare the GE levels two by two, a Scheffe test was used, and based on its results, it can be deduced that mindset differences mean for Pre-A1 (p = 0.001), A1 (p = 0.001) and A2 and above (p = 0.025) were all significant. Comparing the mindset differences means between the three English level groups, it can be inferred, however, that the Pre-A1 group was the highest in mindset differences mean, while A2 was the lowest. In other words, the weaker was the students’ level of GE, the higher the amount of change in their mindset type towards a growth one. The findings of the present study showed that the use of gamified interactive content (H5P) in the bichronous format of the LMS can have a significant effect on improving high school EFL learners’ Growth Mindset levels by 39%. The contents, which were provided for students in both gamified and H5P classes, resulted in immediate feedback exchanges, which raised the motivational level and encouraged them to go on with different interactive tasks and activities.Conclusions: After carrying out the research, the researchers concluded that using gamified and interactive content as part of the learning process could induce a Growth Mindset in learners, higher GE students mostly had higher initial rates of Growth Mindset, and weaker learners experienced greater shifts towards growth. This study can motivate language learners and teachers to utilize gamified and interactive content in online courses and can help educational system policymakers notice more deeply the effect the application of gamification and H5P plugins have on teaching English, which can result in new curriculum development for schools.
e-learning
A. Moradi; S. Zarghami
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Online education is done on a virtual platform and through the Internet and its purpose is to provide opportunities for learning, and students' personal autonomy in the teaching-learning process is one of the contributing factors to achieve this goal. Therefore, one of the ...
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Background and Objectives: Online education is done on a virtual platform and through the Internet and its purpose is to provide opportunities for learning, and students' personal autonomy in the teaching-learning process is one of the contributing factors to achieve this goal. Therefore, one of the missions of universities is to educate students with personal autonomy to live in harmony with the values they have accepted and if they are not successful in educating such students, they will not achieve much success in the two fields of education and research. On the other hand, online education technology is not a neutral tool and can grow and develop some other dimensions in exchange for weakening some aspects of students' experience. The expansion of online education in universities can create emerging educational and upbringing opportunities for students, which requires philosophical study. There is no consensus on the role of online education in fostering personal autonomy. Some argue that the development of individual personal autonomy in online education has been neglected and they basically do not find online education suitable for simulating educational activities. Contrarily, the proponents believe that through the abundant equipment, facilities and capabilities of online education, the growth of students' individual self-government is possible. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the role of online education in deeloping students' personal autonomy with an emphasis on social constructivism.Methods: The present study is philosophical and of the type of conceptual and linguistic analysis and logical analysis. In the first step to answer the research question, our method is conceptual and linguistic analysis, which includes the analysis, interpretation and clarification of the concepts of online education on the one hand and the analysis of the concept of individual self-government and social constructivism on the other hand. In the second step, using the method of transcendental logical analysis, we examine the logical condition of using a concept. In the third step, the inferential method and the type of theoretical analogy are used to infer constructive and non-constructive evidence of online education in cultivating personal autonomy. The community of research resources included all documents, credential and resources related to online education, personal autonomy and social constructivism and sample sources included documents and evidences in Persian and Latin, print and electronic, valid and related to the subject and concepts of the research. Due to the nature of the research, the tools and methods of data collection included Fish sheets and using the Fishing method from the mentioned sources and the method of analyzing the collected data was qualitative and based on philosophical and logical analysis.Findings: Based on social constructivism, online education, on the one hand, with the development of lifelong learning, changing the teaching- learning process, the growth of the dimensions of personal autonomy and Flexibility in learning and the possibility of anonymity and concealment of students' identity has provided the ground for individual self-regulation. On the other hand, Online education due to the extreme trust in student ethical judgment, promoting student-centeredness, the prevalence of eclectic choice instead of conscious and free choice, students' pursuit of personal desires and the extreme growth of self-centeredness have played a non-constructive role in fostering individual self-government.Conclusion: Based on social constructivism and the simultaneous agency of technology and human beings, online education through changing the nature, interests and intentions of students can play a constructive or non-constructive role in cultivating their personal autonomy. But online education is not read in a specific compulsory format and can be read by different actors in different ways. Thus, it is possible for its actors to intervene, modify and direct the development process of online education in cultivating individual self-government. As a result, the non-constructive role of online education in fostering personal autonomy can be reduced and turned into opportunities by making more use of multimedia technologies and making the online learning environment more interactive.
e-learning
S. Torkashvand; B. Yarigholi; V. Moradiyan Mohammadieh
Abstract
Background and Objectives: With the growth of new information technologies, educational systems have also undergone changes in terms of using new technologies in teaching and learning. New educational technologies have the potential to provide free education around the world and to achieve educational ...
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Background and Objectives: With the growth of new information technologies, educational systems have also undergone changes in terms of using new technologies in teaching and learning. New educational technologies have the potential to provide free education around the world and to achieve educational justice. But in developing and underdeveloped countries, due to their many challenges, a digital divide has been created between the rich and the poor cities which, in itself, has led to educational injustice. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to explain the challenges of the digital divide on the implementation of educational justice in order to solve the problems leading to the realization of educational justice in the country.Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical study. Therefore, it is a qualitative research and philosophical analysis. The research approach is analytical and critical. The method of data collection is library- documentary. The research population includes all the studies that had examined the digital divide and educational justice and by investigating the background, 30 research studies directly related to this context were found. The data analysis method was researcher-oriented. The validity of the data was obtained based on the analysis of experts' views. The reliability of the study was in line with the findings of other studies.Findings: The findings of the study indicate that various challenges have affected the digital divide and educational injustice. The challenges that have caused the digital divide in the country's education systems are as follows: governance-infrastructure challenges, educational, cultural and economic challenges. The governance-infrastructure challenge has been analyzed based on the Communication and Information Technology Development Index and shows inequality in the sub-indicators of access, usage and skills among the provinces of the country. Thus, the central provinces are in the top rank and the deprived and border provinces are in the last rank in all three sub-indicators. The educational challenge is also based on components such as the low level of digital literacy of teachers and families, centralized educational management, educational policy-making and reliance on traditional teaching methods. The cultural challenge is also based on components such as gender, race and language. Economic challenge is also based on components such as: low income of families, poverty, priority of earning a living on learning and expensive educational technology tools. Solutions to overcome each of these challenges can be listed as follows: raising the level of digital literacy in students and parents, strengthening the motivation to compete and strive, emphasizing e-learning methods and using new technology in teaching. Also, some other solutions such as upgrading the bandwidth of using the Internet, investing in human resources and developing the internal Internet such as providing Internet access points in every school and library, providing low-interest loans for public equipment in rural areas and urban slums, measures to reduce equipment prices (tax exemption, subsidies provision) and low-interest loans for low-income families, free web education sessions for the deprived, providing free Internet address for all students.Conclusion: The findings show that the digital divide can be examined at three levels: local, national and global. At all three levels, four elements are involved in the digital divide, namely education, economy, governance, and culture. Therefore, in order to get out of the digital divide and achieve educational justice in the country's educational system, we must first identify the gaps, and then take action to eliminate them. Therefore, the country's education system can achieve its ultimate goal, which is a fair society, when it can eliminate the problems facing justice.
