The nature of adolescent learner interaction in a virtual high school setting

Abstract

This study used survey data to measure the effect of learners' reported interactions with content, peers, and instructors on several course outcomes in two virtual high school courses that emphasized interactive learning. Surveys found that the large majority of students viewed all investigated types of interaction as educational and motivational. Students perceived learner-instructor and learner-content interactions to have significantly higher educational value (α<0.01) than learner-learner interactions, and viewed learner-instructor interaction to be significantly more motivational (α<0.01) than learner-content interaction. Furthermore, nine significant correlations were found involving the time students reported spending on human interaction and course outcomes. Seven of the significant correlations were related to the time students reported spending in human interaction and the more affective outcomes, such as course satisfaction and disposition towards the subject area. Outcomes also indicate that learner-learner interaction had higher correlations with course outcomes than learners' interactions with the content or their instructor. Students' perceived learning was not significantly correlated with any type of interaction, and only students' total reported time spent on learner-learner interaction and students' social learner-learner interaction were significantly correlated with their grade. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.