Urban and Rural Area Graduate Students’ Perceptions toward Synchronous English Learning amidst Covid-19 Pandemic

Teachers and students are forced to change the learning system from face-to-face into virtual learning through synchronous and asynchronous. This transformation perhaps raises various perceptions both urban and rural area students since they have sundry backgrounds and conditions. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the EFL urban and rural area graduate students’ perceptions towards synchronous learning amidst covid-19 pandemic. The respondents of this study were 30 EFL graduate students at English Department in State University of Malang, including 17 urban area students and 13 rural area students who were from 1st semester and 3rd semester. This study was conducted by using survey research design. Furthermore, the data of this study were collected by distributing questionnaire in the form of Google Forms with the combination of close and open ended questions. The findings were urban and rural area students had no significantly different perceptions towards synchronous learning. There were only some different perceptions in terms of learning motivation, learning style, and suitability of the course goal. In addition, the urban and rural area students perceive positive responses to synchronous learning, then synchronous learning can be classified as the effective online learning during this pandemic. However, their common problem was from the slow-speed internet connection. Thus, they feel that synchronous learning is not as effective as face to face learning

A Study of Asynchronous Learning Options that Promote Continuity of Learning in K-12 Settings

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Timothy Wade Bobrowski on April 11, 2013

University Students’ Perceptions in Implementing Asynchronous Learning during Covid-19 Era

This study aimed to know students' opinions about the implementations of asynchronous learning (Screencast-O-Matic and Google-Form apps) during COVID-19, to identify the advantages and disadvantages were produced by these devices, as well as to analyze how big the students' confidence on this type of learning when implemented in the rural area. The subject of this study consisted of 45 respondents from the English education study program. They spread in the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8thsemester. Qualitative descriptive students were used in this study. Among the questionnaire, open-ended questions and interviews were the methods to collect the data. The results of this study indicated these platforms had shown various obstacles. Over half of respondents criticize that limited internet access was one of the most significant restrictions when implementing asynchronous learning (Screencast-O-Matic and Google-Form apps). Although Screencast-O-Matic and Google-Form had some barriers in their virtual class, they provide more advantages. Many respondents believed they have all these advantages compared to the limits. The majority of respondents argued that it facilitated EFL students to increase acquisitions of language software that could contribute to students' ICT capabilities in particular

Utilization-Focused Evaluation: Exploring the Academic Self-Efficacy of Paramedic Students in a Hybrid Learning Program

The purpose of this study was to conduct a utilization-focused evaluation of the paramedic hybrid learning program at Colorado Mountain College, a rural community college. The study examined the relationship between student academic self-efficacy (SASE) and learning in a hybrid program and the effect of SASE on program satisfaction. Data were collected through multiple methods, including a questionnaire of program graduates from 2014 to 2018, interviews of seven past graduates, and a focus group involving eight stakeholders. These data were carefully analyzed for accuracy and then coded for relevant elements. The findings, evaluated in relation to two guiding research questions, were presented in terms of four major elements of the program: (1) learning environment, (2) self-reliance, (3) faculty and program facilitator preparedness, and (4) prior knowledge. Program recommendations for practice discussed SASE and learning in a hybrid program. They also discussed student satisfaction, reliance, and motivation. Nine specific recommendations were offered to the program: (1) foster intentional instructional practices, (2) promote resilience, (3) offer precourse student training, (4) improve student-instructor interaction, (5) offer faculty professional development, (6) improve instructor competence, (7) make changes to the curriculum design, (8) adjust course scheduling, (9) and improve the clinical coordination process. Recommendations for future research include identifying the specific motivational factors that interact directly with SASE in hybrid learning; addressing hybrid learning and self-efficacy from the faculty perspective; exploring what instructional elements support SASE in hybrid learning; and re-evaluating the paramedic hybrid program after program improvements have been implemented

Comparison of Traditional to Hybrid Modality of Instruction

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in education across the United States. Prior to the pandemic, students in third grade struggled with low reading proficiency, a difficulty that predicts persistent academic struggles, school dropout, and even delinquency. Districts in South Carolina and around the United States adapted to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in various ways, and among these strategies were a traditional learning modality, where students attended school only in-person and when possible, and a hybrid learning modality, where students alternatively attended in-person and remotely. It is important to understand the potential impacts of these scheduling decisions on student performance, particularly in third grade reading. The purpose of the proposed quantitative causal comparative study was to examine whether third grade students\u27 reading performance, as measured by the SC READY ELA assessment, vary as a function of students\u27 enrollment in a district using a hybrid modality of instruction as compared with a traditional modality during the 2020-2021 school year. Data from districts using hybrid and traditional schedules were analyzed, representing 1,455 students. Results indicated that students on hybrid schedules had significantly higher mean scores than students on traditional schedules, particularly for male, female, and White students. Follow-up interviews with superintendents revealed that districts were generally unprepared for the pandemic and that roles of parents, teachers, and leaders changed significantly during the pandemic. Additionally, superintendents focused on making informed decisions, reducing inequities in learning related to technology access, and supported instruction using technology. Taken together, the quantitative findings and experiences of superintendents support the need for increased preparedness for potential future disruptions to education and concerted effort on the part of all stakeholders to ensure continuity of instruction and adequate support for all students

Physiotherapy student perspectives on synchronous dual-campus learning and teaching

An increasing number of universities offer educational programmes across multiple campuses, as a way of facilitating access to tertiary education and filling the shortage of health professionals in rural and regional settings. Offering an equitable learning experience across all sites has been considered an important aspect in any learning and teaching approach. This qualitative study analysed data from 10 focus group discussions and 11 unit evaluations, to explore student perceptions of synchronous dual-campus delivery of a physiotherapy programme in Central Queensland, Australia. An inductive approach to thematic analysis was used. Three themes emerged: (a) Student location influences learning; (b) Videoconferencing impacts learning and teaching; and (c) Dual-campus delivery determines teaching structures and shapes teaching processes. Difficulties related to cross-campus communication, logistics, and opportunities for interaction and engagement were seen as detrimental to synchronous dual-campus delivery. Skill-based demonstrations added another level of complexity. However, students identified a potential benefit from accessing expertise from both campuses. With careful planning and consideration of the potential barriers and facilitators, synchronous dual-campus learning environments can be an effective delivery option for higher education institutions. This study builds on existing literature and suggests a number of strategies that are specific to this mode of programme delivery

Using ODL and ICT to develop the skills of the unreached: a contribution to the ADEA triennial of the Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning

Innovation in technology is occurring at rapid pace thus shrinking the distances and making information and knowledge more than ever accessible to everyone irrespective of where the person resides. This paper consists of four main articles. The first one deals with technological trends. The second one focuses on the deployment and use of open and distance education mode in rural areas by documenting initiatives that embrace information and communication technologies (ICTs). Due to challenges faced in rural areas only a few success stories/cases currently exist and some of these are cited in this article. The challenges faced in the deployment of ICT enhanced ODL have been highlighted as well as the potential of developing and delivering effective and relevant ODL programmes in rural areas in order to ensure that issues of educational equity and social exclusion rural communities are adequately addressed. ICTs in ODL are perhaps the greatest tool to date for self-education and value addition to any community’s development efforts, yet poor rural communities particularly in Africa do not have the necessary awareness, skills or facilities to enable themselves to develop using ICTs. Inadequate ICT infrastructures in rural areas remain a major source for the digital divide in Africa and for under-performance of distance learners. The third one analyses the support provided to ODL learners who often encounter difficulties in completing their studies through the distance education mode due to loneliness, uncertainties and de-motivation. ICT has not been able to sufficiently support distance learners in overcoming those obstacles efficiently. An investigation regarding those learning supports has been conducted in ten distance learning institutions, along with an intensive literature review with the aim of understanding the high percentage of dropout rates of distant learners. The learners’ interactions have been scrutinized through content analysis of their synchronous exchanges, during a completely online course. After taking into account the limited technical and human resources in Africa, a technological virtual environment along with a pedagogical framework has been proposed with the aim of giving adequate educational support to them. The fourth article has explored The Open University (UK) and its efforts to use new technologies to deliver online courses to difficult-to- reach learners in prison environments. The case study analysed here is an international course (called, B201- Business Organisations and their environments) which also touches an African cohort of learners. The implications for designing and delivering online ODL to the complex unreachable environments of prisons anywhere, and particularly in Africa, have been discussed

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education)