Contributing Factors to the Success or Failure of Students in E-learning

INTRODUCTION The use of technology in education has facilitated many changes. Among those changes is the way instruction is delivered. Today's learning environments have the technological means to open learning to the world and support interaction styles that are fundamentally different from those of a traditional classroom environment and no longer need to conform to the traditional classroom environment (Gulikers, Bastiaens, & Martens, 2005). Where previously only face-to-face interaction was possible, technology can be used to "transform" space and time and enables students to communicate, coordinate and collaborate their activities at any time without the need for face-to-face contact (Alavi, Wheeler, & Valacich, 1995). The appeal of the e-learning environment to students becomes evident. The challenges posed in traditional learning settings do not disappear when students and teachers enter the e-learning environment. With these challenges present, can students be successful in the e-learning environment? When addressing the success or failure of students in e-learning courses, several factors must be considered. What perceptions and attitudes do students hold in regards to online courses? What factors influence achievement in online courses? Are students motivated to succeed in online courses? And finally, can instructors contribute to student perceptions and attitudes, thus affecting their success? STUDENT PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES As with traditional instruction, students enter the e-learning environment with attitudes and perceptions. However, attitudes and perceptions are not exclusive to students. Teachers and course designers also hold perceptions. As Martens, Bastiaens and Kirschner discuss, there is often a gap between what teachers and course designers perceive and what students perceive. E-learning environments tend to lean towards a constructivist approach. This presents a challenge for teachers. Constructivist design principles are difficult to implement because developers must be able to predict how students perceive the tasks (Martens, Bastiaens, Kirschner, 2007). This can carry heavy implications if the gap in perceptions is too wide or if teachers fail to correctly predict how students will perceive the tasks. The implications will be very positive if predicted correctly. A negative perception potentially creates barriers to e-learning; conversely, a positive prior perception motivates a student to engage with the learning systems. The positive associations do have an impact upon students' openness to the concept of blended-delivery modules (Flynn, Concannon, Bheacháin, 2005). Although there are challenges facing teachers in regards to student perceptions, there are factors influencing student achievement that will help make decisions and make it easier for teachers to …