Context / probleemstelling of aanleiding

Context/probleemstelling of aanleiding:

Online education has become more popular, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides the many advantages online learning brings, it also comes with disadvantages, such as a lack of interaction, collaboration, and communication. The importance of interaction, its quality, as well as the need to improve interaction, are broadly discussed in the literature [1]. However, there seems to be no consensus on what quality of online interaction exactly details. Through a scoping review, we aim to explore how the construct “quality of online interaction” has been defined and measured, which interventions are being used to improve it, and what the reported reasons for studying it are. With this review, we hope to provide a better understanding of the construct, which could help us improve interaction in online learning environments.

Beschrijving van de interventie/innovatie:

We designed a scoping review [2] on the topic of quality of online interaction. The articles resulting from the search will be initially screened and only research papers on the quality of online interaction between students and teachers and in-between students in higher education will be included. Data answering the research questions will be extracted from the selected articles into a data charting form, and will be analyzed by thematic analysis and descriptive statistical analysis.

Ervaringen/analyse van de implementatie:

We developed the following search strategy: (“quality of interaction*” OR ”quality of online interaction*” OR ”interaction* quality” OR ”quality of social interaction*” OR “quality of discuss*” OR ”quality of online discuss*” OR ”discuss* quality”) AND (“online” OR ”distance” OR ”virtual” OR ”digital” OR ”remote” OR “computer”). We applied this strategy on PubMed, ERIC, Embase, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, which resulted in approximately 1400 records (including duplicates). The resulting articles are currently under review for further inclusion and analysis.

Lessons learned (implicaties voor de praktijk):

The definitions, measurements, and interventions for quality of online interaction that will result from this scoping review, as well as the reasons for studying this construct, will inform us better about what is already known about interaction in online learning environments. Our conclusions will help researchers, educators and policy-makers by providing a comprehensive view of the literature on the construct of quality of online interaction in higher education. This can be the basis for future research and development of interventions to improve online interaction in medical education.

Referenties (max. 2):

References

1.Mehall, S. (2020). Purposeful interpersonal interaction in online learning: What is it and how is it measured? Online Learning, 24(1), 182-204.

2. Arksey, H. and L. O’Malley (2005). Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework. International journal of social research methodology, 8(1), 19-32.