Promoting Interaction in an Asynchronous E-Learning Environment

Interaction In Online Learning Environment

Interaction is at the heart of the online learning experience. Moore’s (1989) transactional distance theory considers interaction a defining characteristic of education and regards it as vitally important in the design of distance education.

Researchers have shown that interaction is a significant component in promoting learners’ positive attitudes towards distance education: when learners perceive a high level of interaction they are more satisfied, while, when they perceive low interaction, they are dissatisfied, which affects their academic performance. (Booher & Seiler, 1982; Thompson, 1990; Fulford &Zhang, 1993; Muirhead, 2001).

Moore (1989) identified three kinds of interaction that support learning: learner-content, learner-instructor, and learner-learner interaction.

Learner-content interaction is the process in which students examine, consider, and process the course information presented during the educational experience. According to Moore and Kearsley (1996), “Every learner has to construct knowledge through a process of personally accommodating information into previously existing cognitive structures. It is interacting with content that results in these changes in the learner’s understanding” (p.128).