Critical Approaches to Online Learning Assignment Sample

• Subject Name : Education

Data Collection in Qualitative Research

Summary of Critical Approaches to Online Learning

The trend of online learning has been increased rapidly across the world including Australia. Nowadays, colleges and universities use online teaching tools to educate students. Various advanced technologies have revolutionised learning methods and increased the flexibility of learning. Numerous learning and teaching theories are integrated with online learning, which allowed students or learners to study their topics of interest from remote locations. Virtual learning application, videos, presentations as well as live doubt-clearing sessions are used for providing educational services. However, professors or lecturers providing education through digital learning environments need to comprehend the needs of students clearly so that they can clarify student doubts. These educators interact with learners through video-conferencing technologies or provide structured course materials related to the learning topic to the students. The roles of educators are classified into various types, namely facilitators, assessors, content experts, and technical experts. The benefits and effectiveness of various learning methods will be discovered in the research. The research would collect authentic journals and peer-reviewed articles to discover the core concept of digital learning and related issues. These secondary sources will develop a literature review, which will help to design research questions and complete the study effectively. The strategy will also help to understand various issues that could affect digital learning in the future. The qualitative methodology will be selected to carry out this research.

Identify Three Issues that Can Impact the Area

The following issues can impact online learning approaches.

Such learning activities change social behaviour: Often online learning is offered in flexible environments, which does not enable learners to interact physically and socially (Erarslan and Topkaya, 2017). Thus, virtual learners can feel socially isolated even if they can interact with others through virtual space.

Technical difficulties can affect the learning environment: Technical issues like unstable network and device or OS compatibility issues with learning applications and browsers can affect online learning (Kebritchi, Lipschuetz, and Santiague, 2017). These issues mainly arise due to a lack of technical knowledge.

Learners cannot overcome all the doubts within a short duration of learning: Online learning is provided for a short and fixed time and usually incorporates multiple learners (Picciano, 2017). Thus, individual learners often could not express their doubts and relevant solutions.

Research Topic

The topic selected for the research is critical approaches associated with online learning. The research will investigate the learning or teaching methods, their efficiency as well as the role of online educators.

Research Plan

The follows steps are planned for completing the research systematically.

Literature review: Gathering peer-reviewed papers and journals is essential to discover diverse dimensions and approaches to online education (Picciano, 2017). The phase is initiated after topic selection and continues until the problem statement and relevant research questions are developed. Multiple pieces of literature related to the topic are explored and reviewed for this purpose. Besides, some papers are accumulated specifically concerning the Australian online education approaches.

Problem formation and development of research questions: The research problem is precisely defined based on review literature so that literature gaps can be realised and addressed. The problem statement helps to develop adequate research questions, which can address the knowledge gaps and ensure an effective outcome.

Research design: Qualitative design of the research is selected for gathering data (Korstjens and Moser, 2017). The subjective data will clarify various aspects of the VLE or virtual learning environment. Besides, the positivism paradigm is incorporated into the design.

Sampling design: Around 100 students and online educators are targeted from Victoria, who are interested in sharing their perceptions. Random sampling is used for filtering the respondents based on their qualifications, experience, and some other factors. The developed sample size will involve 35 respondents. These volunteers are communicated through email and social networks to avoid health issues in the current pandemic situation.

Data collection: Qualitative interviews are planned to be used for collecting primary data. Various open-ended or descriptive questionnaires will be developed key e-learning activities and their benefits (Barrett and Twycross, 2018). The questionnaires will be used during virtual interviews so that perceptions of respondents can be assembled precisely. However, interview timing should be instructed to respondents to avoid issues.

Data analysis: Qualitative analysis will be done based on various theories and hypotheses developed in the literature review should be validated (Korstjens and Moser, 2017). Confusing or biased data collected from respondents should be removed or deleted so that quality outcomes can be obtained.

References for Critical Approaches to Online Learning

Barrett, D. and Twycross, A., 2018. Data collection in qualitative research.

Erarslan, A. and Topkaya, E.Z., 2017. EFL Students' Attitudes towards e-Learning and Effect of an Online Course on Students' Success in English. Literacy, 3(2). Erarslan, A. and Topkaya, E.Z., 2017. EFL Students' Attitudes towards e-Learning and Effect of an Online Course on Students' Success in English. Literacy, 3(2).

Kebritchi, M., Lipschuetz, A. and Santiague, L., 2017. Issues and challenges for teaching successful online courses in higher education: A literature review. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 46(1), pp.4-29.

Korstjens, I. and Moser, A., 2017. Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research. Part 2: Context, research questions and designs. European Journal of General Practice, 23(1), pp.274-279.

Picciano, A.G., 2017. Theories and frameworks for online education: Seeking an integrated model. Online Learning, 21(3), pp.166-190.

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