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Interaction and presence in the virtual classroom: An analysis of the perceptions of students and teachers in online and blended Advanced Placement courses
ARTICLE

Computers & Education Volume 132, Number 1, ISSN 0360-1315 Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

Abstract

Interaction has been shown to be a key component to the success of online and blended learning, so it is crucial to understand how teachers and students perceive the interaction within online and blended secondary courses. Using a qualitative content analysis approach to student and teacher focus group transcripts, this study focuses on student and teacher perceptions of interaction in Virtual Advanced Placement courses across a state in the northeastern United States. Viewed through the lenses of social and teaching presence components of the community of inquiry model, students and teachers perceived the interaction within the course very differently, with teachers reporting largely favorable views of the interaction and students generally viewing the interaction in opposing ways. Results of this study suggest that a fourth presence, learning presence, warrants consideration since without it areas of student experience in online and blended coursework remain unaccounted for. Results of this coding scheme show that we can do more to communicate both the expectations and the process of communication between students and teachers in online and blended coursework, especially at the secondary level.

Citation

Blaine, A.M. (2019). Interaction and presence in the virtual classroom: An analysis of the perceptions of students and teachers in online and blended Advanced Placement courses. Computers & Education, 132(1), 31-43. Elsevier Ltd. Retrieved August 9, 2024 from .

This record was imported from Computers & Education on March 15, 2019. Computers & Education is a publication of Elsevier.

Full text is availabe on Science Direct: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.01.004

Keywords

References

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