Iranian Distance Education

Iranian Distance Education

Iranian Distance Education, Volume 5, Issue 2, Summer & Autumn 2023

مقالات

۱.

Construction, validity and reliability of online teaching satisfaction model in virtual course professors

کلید واژه ها: online teaching satisfaction questionnaire construction Accreditation Trust online professors

حوزه های تخصصی:
تعداد بازدید : ۱۵ تعداد دانلود : ۱۱
The purpose of this research was to construct, validate and determine the reliability of online teaching satisfaction model among virtual course professors. For this purpose, an attempt has been made to design a questionnaire based on the model of Bolliger and Vasilik (2009) to measure the satisfaction of professors with online teaching. In order to create, compile and standardize such a questionnaire, the literature related to satisfaction with online teaching, which was available in the form of articles and books, was carefully reviewed. Finally, the definitions and concepts of satisfaction with online teaching were designed as 30 questions with 5 options using the "Likert scoring" method in the form of measuring the satisfaction of professors with online teaching. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated through Cronbach's alpha and retest and construct validity through confirmatory factor analysis. The formal and content validity of the questions was examined by asking the opinions of 19 expert professors in the field of online teaching, and its reliability was also tested on 50 professors of online courses in the "retest" method and at a time interval of 5 weeks. , 0.72 was calculated. Then the questionnaire was implemented on 350 professors of the virtual courses of Payam-Noor University and by using factor analysis with "rotational" method of "Varimax" type, 3 factors with characteristic value higher than 5 were determined as follows: "Satisfaction" from the organization", "student satisfaction" and "self satisfaction". Therefore, the reliability coefficients were between 0.68 and 0.89 for all subscales and 0.78 for the whole questionnaire by the test-retest method. The internal consistency coefficients for all subscales were between 0.62 and 0.75 and for the whole questionnaire was 0.93. In general, the validity and reliability coefficients obtained for the questionnaire were satisfactory. The designed questionnaire is distinguished from other questionnaires in the field of online teaching satisfaction for two reasons. First, this questionnaire covers areas of satisfaction that are related to organizational, student, and self-satisfaction. Second, each of its questions is derived from a defined index, and this issue makes the professors' "satisfaction with online teaching" based on a theoretical framework. Finally, it can be said that according to the reliability and validity results, this questionnaire is a relatively suitable tool for measuring the threshold of "satisfaction with online teaching" of online course professors at Payam Noor University. Obviously, building a scale to measure an existing structure is extremely difficult and time-consuming if done correctly; For example, studying the history of the formation of well-known tests in the world, which are highly reliable and valid.
۲.

A The Presentation of the causal model of the effect of educational conflict on students’ educational self-regulation, considering the mediating role of family communication pattern

کلید واژه ها: family communication patterns Educational self-regulation Educational Conflict

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تعداد بازدید : ۱۶ تعداد دانلود : ۱۴
The purpose of the present study was to present a causal model of the effect of educational conflict on students' educational self-regulation, taking into account the mediating role of family communication patterns. Therefore, in terms of purpose, this research is applied and in terms of methodology, it is quantitative research of correlation. The statistical population of this research includes all students of Payam Noor University of Isfahan in the academic year 1400-1401. 300 people were selected as the sample of this study using the random sampling method. Rio’s Educational Engagement questionnaires (2013), Bouffard et al.’s (1995) Educational Self-regulation, and Koerner and Fitzpatrick’s (2004) family communication patterns were used to collect data. To analyze the data at the level of descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation tests and at the inferential level, T-tests, regression coefficients, and path analysis were used in the SPSS19 software environment. The research findings have shown that there is a positive and significant relationship between all of the research variables the results of path analysis also showed that the variable of family communication patterns was able to establish a mediating role in the effect of educational conflict on educational self-regulation.
۳.

The Desirability of Quality Components of E-learning Payam Noor University; Student’s Perspective of ISFAHAN LMS

نویسنده:

کلید واژه ها: E-Learning evaluation of desirability quality of e-learning indicators LMS

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تعداد بازدید : ۱۳ تعداد دانلود : ۱۴
The conditions of the corona virus forced online education with LMS (learning management system). The main purpose of this research is to investigate the desirability of the quality of electronic education of Payam Noor University from the students' point of view of ISFAHAN LMS. The current research is a survey. The research tool was the USELEARN questionnaire and the checklist of the National Learning Association website. The statistical population includes all students who were studying at the Bachelor's degree and Master's degree (LMS) in the 2023 at Payam Noor University through electronic education. The simple random sampling method was used. The sample size was 384 students.Benson et al.'s and Salmon's models have been used to evaluate the quality indicators and components of Payam Noor University's electronic education. The average values of the ratings showed that the indices of "Professor", Information Technology" and "University Support" had the highest average and the most importance, and the index of "Contextual Factors" had the least importance. Based on the ratio test, the factors "teacher ", "electronic interaction” and “Access to facilities” are desirable factors.”University support and support" has been evaluated as a low desirability. There is a significant difference between the evaluations of the desirability of the quality of e-learning indicators and gender.Multivariate regression analysis showed that among the independent variables entered into the equation, the variables of the “Electronic lesson score”, “The teacher's interest and friendly behavior toward all students”, “Inviting students to use electronic education”, “Evaluation of face-to-face training” and” Ease of use of electronic education system” have the greatest impact on evaluating the desirability of electronic education that could explain 73% of the variance of the changes related to the dependent variable. The variables have been able to explain 73% of the variance of changes related to the dependent variable.
۴.

The Effect of Interventionist Dynamic Assessment through WhatsApp and Bigbluebutton on Learning Grammar by Iranian EFL Learners

کلید واژه ها: Grammar Interventionist Dynamic Assessment Zone of Proximal Development

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تعداد بازدید : ۱۹ تعداد دانلود : ۱۷
Dynamic assessment (DA) is an effective strategy to combine teaching and testing and it is even more enjoyable through digital devices such as computer and moblie devices. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether the effect of interventionist dynamic assessment through WhatsApp, Bigbluebutton, and face to face classes had significant impacts on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ learning of grammar. The participants of this quasi-experimental study were seventy-five male intermediate EFL learners studying English in one of the English language institutes in central Iran. Three intact pre-intermediate level classes were chosen based on non-random convenience sampling and assigned to the three groups of WhatsApp, Bigbluebutton, and traditional group. The instruments that were used in this study were the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT) and a multiple-choice grammar test. Over the course of six sessions, all three groups received interventionist DA strategies in teaching countable and uncountable nouns and determiners. The results of statistical data analysis showed that all three groups had significantly progressed over the study since there was significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores of each group. However, no statistically significant differences were found among the three groups’ means on the posttest of grammar. The findings have implications for language teachers and researchers of second language acquision.
۵.

Pathology of the virtual evaluation system in elementary school

کلید واژه ها: Pathology evaluation virtual space Elementary School

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تعداد بازدید : ۱۸ تعداد دانلود : ۱۶
The aim of the current research was the pathology of the virtual evaluation system in the elementary school. The current research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of survey type. The population of this research included all primary school teachers in Miandoab city in the academic year of 2019-1400. Using proportional stratified random sampling method and using Morgan and Karjesi table, the sample size of 201 teachers was determined. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. The face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and professors of the Department of Educational Sciences. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean and standard deviation, variance, etc.) and inferential statistics (one-sample t-test) were used to analyze the data. The data was analyzed using spss22 software. The results of the research indicated that the items (attention to the correlation of evaluation methods with general goals and behavior, the level of student readiness to enter electronic courses in evaluation, the way the teacher interacts with managers, other teachers, staff and knowledge students in the evaluation of the virtual environment, the level of knowledge and skills in the evaluation of virtual education) are management aspects in the pathology of virtual evaluation of the primary course; and cases (the need for hardware and software and web browsers in evaluation; the possibility of adding evaluation methods by the teacher; taking advantage of digital media and resources in evaluation; adapting the technological architecture to the evaluation schedule of the course; using educational tools for student evaluation; use of technical standards to share questions, assignments and feedback in evaluation) are the aspects of electronic technology in the pathology of virtual evaluation of the primary course; and issues (the extent of using inter-curricular questions for self-testing and encouraging content learning in evaluation; paying attention to setting the structure of each lesson and dividing it into sections of introduction, content, assignments and evaluation; integrating curriculum and electronic environment tools in virtual education in evaluation; the degree of participation of students' knowledge in the learning process in evaluation;
۶.

Identifying and evaluating the factors affecting the establishment of "quality culture" (QC) and effective factors in the quality of virtual education of Farhangian University

کلید واژه ها: quality culture Faculty Members university employment Virtual Education Farhangian University

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تعداد بازدید : ۱۵ تعداد دانلود : ۱۲
The purpose of study is Identifying the factors affecting the establishment of "quality culture" and effective factors in the quality of virtual education of Farhangian University.The research method was a two-stage combined exploratory exploration. In the qualitative section, using a semi-structured interview technique, 23 academic and thematic experts were interviewed in a purposeful manner from educational and research centers and the research method in the qualitative part is foundational data theorizing, which seeks to create a theory, model and pattern (Sharmaz, 2007: 462),. A descriptive-survey method has been used in the quantitative part. To analyze the data in order to evaluate the fit of the proposed model from confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling technique by using Smart PLS software. In the quantitative part of research, the initial structure of questionnaire which was compiled with 136 items, in the initial study among five quality monitoring and evaluation experts at Farhangian University. The information obtained from the examination the indicators of each of dimensions and indicators of the quality culture using the criteria of the absolute magnitude of the factor loadings, T-statistics and R2, it should be said that all the items have a suitable factor loading (above 0.7) on the related variable. And these factor loadings were significant at 0.05 and 0.01 levels. In other words, the value of t associated with each factor load is greater than its critical value (1.96) at the 0.05 level and (2.58) at the 0.01 level. Then, in the quantitative section, 389 faculty members and non-faculty members were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling and answered the questionnaires. Findings from first and second confirmatory factor analysis showed that culture quality of factors; "Structural / managerial elements"(0.388), "Cultural/ psychological elements" (0.248), "Leadership" (0.500), "Communication" (0.584), "Trust"(0.457), "Commitment"(0.150) and responsibility"(0.528),"Participation"(0.176), "Empowerment"(0.312), "Infrastructure reform"(0.161), "Results of quality culture"(0.458) has been formed and its native model has a suitable structural validity for establishment in Farhangian University. As a result, it can be said that the structural model under study is of good quality and the observed values are well reconstructed and the model has a good predictive ability.
۷.

The Effects of Using Educational GIFs to Teach the Continuity of Progressive Tenses to the EFL Learners

کلید واژه ها: grammatical proficiency computer-assisted nonlinear dynamic approach (CANDA) Communicative Skills Psychological factors graphic interchange files (GIFs)

حوزه های تخصصی:
تعداد بازدید : ۱۲ تعداد دانلود : ۱۰
Abdelaziz and Zehmi (2020) reported that “pictures, videos and PowerPoint presentations with interactive practice activities served as motivating and stimulating factors in delivering the lessons” (p.16). To examine other potentials of visual tools, we used animated educational GIFs (graphics interchange format) as the educational intervention based on strategies suggested by the computer-assisted nonlinear dynamic approach (CANDA) to test their efficacy in developing learners’ grammatical proficiency. To this end, mixed methods research was used to concurrently triangulate different strands of data on the effects of educational GIFs on grammatical proficiency among randomly sampled adolescent and adult participants. The interpretations were made based on methodological triangulation of QUAN + QUAL data and running one-way ANOAV. Pedagogical implication of the study confirms the efficacy of animated educational GIFs as a tool to enhance learners’ grammatical proficiency in mastering progressive tenses (present, past, and future).
۸.

Identification Analysis of MOOC Ethical Features (Courses & Online)

کلید واژه ها: analysis of MOOC ethical Courses Online

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تعداد بازدید : ۱۹ تعداد دانلود : ۱۲
Introduction: The purpose of this study is to identify MOOC ethical features of Courses & Online MOOC courses in higher education. Methods: This study was designed as embedded mixed model research to provide a better understanding of the research problem. Throughout this research, both the heuristic inquiry method and the questionnaire method were applied to obtain and analyze the data. At the primary stage, ethical features of Courses & Online MOOC courses were identified. The content analysis method was used for qualitative data, and for quantitative data, both weighted mean and Friedman test were used. The statistical population in the qualitative section of the study includes the electronic resources related to the research subject and, in the quantitative section, 60 distance education experts in the field of planning in virtual learning environments and virtual universities so that 36 of these experts were voluntarily selected as the study sample. Results: Content analysis results showed 4 dimensions and 16 criteria. The evaluation results of the experts also showed that interacting with the global network, the ease of online interactions with learners and other organizations, and the possibility of receiving electronic assignments or workbooks during the course, are regarded as the most important ethical characteristics of Courses online MOOC courses; security and privacy of individuals ought to be considered in their interactions, observance of the principles related to confidentiality with regards to the files or marks, with other participants through emails, chats, forums, etc.Conclusions: In these courses, the features of online courses and openness for enrollment are emphasized and predominant. Therefore, there is no need to get involved in new ethical features. Since the maximum current size of online classes is 60 students, various factors of these indicators such as learner agents, instructive organization, content, and teaching and learning environment ought to be accurately studied. Given that the capacity of learners may reach the limit of hundreds and thousands, the kind of considered ethics should be beyond the procedure implemented for online classes.
۹.

Using Writing Assistive Technology to Improve EFL University Students Performance

کلید واژه ها: Assistive technology Auto-correct technology EFL students Spell-checkers Writing skills

حوزه های تخصصی:
تعداد بازدید : ۱۶ تعداد دانلود : ۱۴
It is a truism that success at university depends on the possession of outstanding writing skills. Yet of all language skills, writing is the most arduous to master and the situation gets even worse in the case of second or foreign languages. The current study aims at investigating the suitable ways to overcome the difficulties students of English face with writing especially in terms of vocabulary items and spelling mistakes by exploring the effects of adapting autocorrect and spell- checkers technologies on their writing skills. The research data comes from an experiment conducted at Adrar University, south of Algeria, in which 18 LMD (Licence-Master-Doctorat, equivalent to the BMD, Bachelor-Master-Doctorate) students utilize autocorrect and spell-checkers as assistive technology. The finding of the experiment shows that the use of assistive technology has perceptible effects regarding the quality of students’ production as these technologies displace the attention from worrying about spelling mistakes to other aspects of writing. The paper does also propose some suggestions regarding the improvement of the writing skill at the level of Algerian Higher educational institutions (HEIs).
۱۰.

Digital Tools for the Development of Oral Skills in English

کلید واژه ها: Virtual Ethnography Digital tools Oral skills

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تعداد بازدید : ۲۲ تعداد دانلود : ۱۵
This paper presents the results of a virtual ethnographic study developed in an online classroom in a public university in Brazil. The online activities aimed to help 70 students to develop English oral skills in a 60-hourcoursetaught along 15 weeks using the Moodle Language Management System (LMS).After the initial weeks, and some dropouts, there were 59 participants in this study. The course was planned and managed by the authors of this article and some modifications were made along the experience in face of unexpected changes in the learning environment. Having as theoretical support complexity, connectivism, and learning ecology, we assessed digital tools for oral communication and verified that they had a positive impact on language learningand increased learners’ opportunities for language practice. The tools not only contributed to the development of the students’ oral skills but also decreased their anxiety when speaking English.
۱۱.

Weaving reflexivity and revealing of the self in online foreign language practice

نویسنده:

کلید واژه ها: Online Foreign Language Weaving reflexivity

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تعداد بازدید : ۱۶ تعداد دانلود : ۱۳
IntroductionIn the context of collaborative online foreign language practice, we look at how metacognition and revealing of the self combine when the full potential of the digital tools are put to use. We present a qualitative study of a corpus of written contributions by English as a foreign language distance French learners and look into a model for teaching and learning in which emotions are integrated. We study how expression of emotion and commenting on learning are combined in the learners’ discourse. We thus give insight into the meeting point of technology on the one hand and learning and teaching strategies on the other hand, and detail diverse appropriation regimes within a community of trust (Privas-Bréauté & Rémon, 2018).
۱۲.

Foreign Languages and Computer-Assisted Learning: New Principles for Language Assessment in Teletandem?

نویسنده:

کلید واژه ها: Assessment CALL Distance learning Foreign languages Teletandem

حوزه های تخصصی:
تعداد بازدید : ۱۷ تعداد دانلود : ۲۳
In this chapter I review principles and practical aspects of language assessment in foreign language (FL) learning, more specifically with a focus on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and other contexts in which computers are used as a means for distance learning and for language assessment (Computer-Aided Assessment - CAA). Assessment constitutes an essential dimension of learning experiences and it is an aspect of most formal processes of language teaching and learning. Language assessment may involve language testing, as well as other procedures and instruments such as observations, performance tasks, portfolios and self-evaluation, and by combining information from various sources of assessment one is able to obtain more valid and reliable results. I draw on the literature on CALL and on language assessment, and on data collected within the scope of the Teletandem Brazil Project: foreign languages for all (henceforth TBP), to support my position on principles that may or may not characterize language assessment in the context of teletandem interactions. CAA is defined as any type of activity in which computers are used to support a process of assessment apart from and beyond their simple function to store and transmit information. CAA helps faster assessment, increases the quality and quantity of information detected, and maximizes the provision of feedback about language assessment processes. In the TBP project, undergraduate students from a Brazilian university interacted with students from universities abroad, by means of computer programmes for synchronous communication, microphones and webcams. Besides the claims about CALL from the literature, I make reference to teletandem interactions in both EFL and Portuguese as a foreign language, considering occasions in which teletandem agents evaluate each other linguistic performances. I also analyse a questionnaire for evaluation in teletandem, which does not focus on language assessment but rather on the experience of interacting in the teletandem context and on the tools used for communication. No clear distinctions were found to exist between CAA and more traditional procedures for language assessment. Principles for CAA seem to combine traditional bases for language assessment and testing with a number of pedagogical principles that underpin distance learning.