How Interactive are YOUR Distance Courses? A Rubric for Assessing Interaction in Distance Learning

Like many other programs which offer courses via distance technologies, the State University of West Georgia’s teacher education program has found that one factor that plays a primary role in determining course quality is students’ perceptions of the degree of interaction. The research literature supports this observation (Fulford & Zhang, 1993; Klesius, Homan, & Thompson, 1997; Zhang & Fulford, 1994; Smith, 1996; Zirkin & Sumler, 1995). In fact, in their annotated bibliography on this topic, Zirkin and Sumler found that interaction seemed to have an impact on student achievement, as well as satisfaction: "The weight of evidence from the research reviewed was that increased student involvement by immediate interaction resulted in increased learning as reflected by test performance, grades, and student satisfaction" (p. 101).

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