This paper explores elements of open education within the context of higher education. After an introduction to the origins of open education and its theoretical foundations, the topics of open and distance learning, international education issues in open education, open educational practices and scholarship, open educational resources, MOOCs, prior learning accreditation and recognition, and learner characteristics are considered, following the framework of macro, meso, and micro levels of research in open and distance learning. Implications for future research at the macro, meso, and micro levels are then provided.
Teaching and assessment in higher education institutions are increasingly supported by digital tools and services. Students, however, perceive and value the importance of such e-learning offerings in very diverse ways. The goal of this article is to examine which predictors significantly influence students’ perceptions of the value of digital learning formats. Based on Küpper's acceptance model, we generate hypotheses that are subsequently tested using data from a German student survey. The results show that individual-related characteristics, especially motivation and orientation patterns of students, have a high impact on the perceived importance of digital learning formats. Our analyses indicate that besides individual performance and motivation, the practical orientation of a student is also a key predictor for a high rating of the importance of digital learning formats. An analysis of characteristics regarding the field of study shows that students who major in economic sciences, especially those who frequently work with digital learning formats in their classes, find them significantly more important than students who major in social science. Regarding innovation-based characteristics, students who express a need for flexible course offerings rate the use of digital learning formats as particularly important. The discussion provides an evaluation of the results of the student study based on the hypotheses and presents further implications.Keywords: digital learning formats; online learning; online learner characteristics; motivation; perceived benefit(Published: 15 April 2014)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2014, 22: 23342 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v22.23342
This article describes how numerous studies on student usage of various digital applications, social media and networks are available but studies on study-related media usage typologies are rare. Based on the instruments developed by Zawacki-Richter, Müskens, Krause, Alturki, and Aldraiweesh, as well as Zawacki-Richter, Kramer and Müskens, a short questionnaire was developed and tested with a cohort of 72 students. The results of the factor analysis suggest statistically relevant scales, which are suitable for classifying students along their media usage patterns through a subsequent cluster analysis. The three clusters that were determined can be compared with the usage types from Zawacki-Richter et al. During the instructional design process these heterogeneous groups and their media usage should be taken into consideration. The identified items can be applied in order to develop qualitative interviews for a deeper understanding of the usage types.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.