What is Learner–Content Interaction

This chapter discusses findings from a study of five faculty and 33 students from micro- and macroeconomics sections of online economics courses over the course of a semester. The study investigated faculty choice of web-based technologies for interaction and students' perceptions of such technologies. The objectives of the study were twofold. First, the author investigated faculty choice of web-based technologies for three major types of online interactions (learner–instructor, learner–content, and learner–learner). Second, the author examined student perceptions of technologies and recorded recommendations. Results from two online surveys of faculty and students at 2- and 4-year colleges showed strong agreement with perceptions of Moore, Drouin, Rhode, and Gardner. Faculty and students reported learner–learner interactions as the least important of the three interaction types. Although the discussion board was most effective for all three types of interactions, students from this sample did not prefer more learner–learner discussions.