This study looks at why learners lose motivation during Self Directed E-Learning. This study found the results (relevance, technology, and age) that decrease motivation through out SDEL. The authors were able to relate the motivation to student satisfaction. And from there were able to link the problems with principles to sustain motivation in SDEL. The principles include:
- Making sure content is relevant
- It is at the appropriate learner's difficulty level
- Incorporate multimedia
- stimulate real-world situations
- Provide hands on activities
- Give appropriate feedback
- Ease of navigation
- Incorporate social interaction
I can agree with these for the most part. I think that they are important. But I think I like the way the 5 Star System (Merrill 2001) better. I think being able to rank the principles gives a more visual way to see weaknesses.
The first criticism I have is that this is only for SDEL. I think that perhaps if they evaluated a distance education program they might find that motivation remains higher than SDEL. I can give an example of this. For work orientation, I had to learner different LMS tools. Well the tool is already user friendly and I have used two different LMS in the past. I also learn better just being thrown into software, and only looking things up when I need help. But I am in this distance course and I can say that my motivation is higher. Plus there is a level of interaction with other students that make you want to learn more.
I agree Brittany! I also felt that the focus on SDEL left the reading lacking. While SDEL was the most common distance education format in the past, there has been many advances in distance education!
ReplyDeleteBrittany, I think that there were several areas not covered in the article. There was not explanation for the finding that the older students have higher motivation in SDEL. Perhaps goal orientation has more of a correlation with motivation than age.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point Brittany regarding motivation in SDEL versus distance learning. I agree that the peer-to-peer and professor contact in distance learning has helped me to sustain motivation during my IST program, but I think my motivation is usually higher for SDEL. This doesn't necessarily have to do with the instruction, it's more of a time issue for me. With distance learning, especially if you're completing a degree, burn out becomes an issue. This is my sixth semester of distance learning and my motivation is definitely not what it was back in fall 2009. The SDEL I take is usually between 2 and 8 hours long. I think sustaining motivation for 8 hours of SDEL is a lot easier than distance learning.
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