Online Interaction
Interaction in distance learning is an interplay and is defined by Garrison (1993) “as two-way communication among two or more persons for purpose of explaining and challenging perspectives” (p.16). Further, the importance of learner-learner interaction is enabling students to acquire skills of group interaction. (Phillips, Santoro and Kuehn, 1988)
There are four main types of online interactions: learner-content, learner-instructor, learner-learner and recently, incorporated learner-interface, referred to the technological skill for a learner to communicate with peers and tutor (Hillman, Willis & Gunawardena, 2009) These interactions are further defined as either asynchronous or synchronous interactions. An online forum post is an example of an asynchronous interaction as it allows students to participate in their own time contributing to an online discussion or thread by reading and posting a comment on a topic. A synchronous interaction requires participants to actively and simultaneously interact in the same online discussion. Hirumi (2002) suggest a third dimension of online learning based on the level of interaction: Level I: Learner-Self Interactions Level II: Learner-Human and Non-Human Interactions Level III: Learner-Instruction Interactions |
|