Distance education students’ attitudes towards increased online interaction: desired change or unwanted imposition?

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Research and Development in Higher Education Vol. 32: The Student Experience

July, 2009, 715 pages
Published by
Helen Wozniak and Sonia Bartoluzzi
ISBN
0 908557 78 7
Abstract 

This paper reports on the second phase of a mixed methods study investigating the attitudes of students enrolled in a distance education MBA program towards engaging in greater online interaction with other students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four respondents from the project’s first phase to explore key issues in greater detail. The results indicate a division in the attitudes of Australian and Indian students that may be a product of different perceptions of the nature of distance education courses, different learning preferences and different ways of managing their time and other commitments. They also suggest that wholesale unit design changes based on social-constructivist pedagogy would not be received positively by many of the students studied. Further research is required to explore these findings and determine their applicability to other distance education programs.

Keywords: Distance education, online interaction, student attitudes