Geographics

Using latitude and longitude information on respondents to determine how many were international and domestic and from which states they came.  Approximately 27{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} (284) were international.  For the 767 U.S. respondents, 108 of these came from California.  Other popular states were Florida (56), New York (39), Pennsylvania (38), and Texas (36).   A total of 45 states and DC were represented in the sample.

Learning Contexts & Formats

TABLE 1 contains the frequency distribution for online class formats.  A majority of respondents have participated in university for-credit classes.  The next most frequent group was corporate training, which applied to nearly a quarter of respondents.

Synchronous & Asynchronous Modalities

Q: Did your online class include live class sessions?

EXPERIENECE RATINGS

Q:How would you describe your experience with live online class / sessions?

For this question of the survey instrucment, a likert scale of 1-5 was represented by emotion face images. 
5 is a very satisfied, 1 is a very unsatisfied  Respondents were generally very happy with their courses

Of the 589 students who experienced a live class session, 31.1{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} (171) rated it a 5 and 50.1{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} (275) rated it a 4.

Technological Comfort and Features

Table 2 contains descriptive statistics for this question.  The mean is the simple arithmetic average, standard deviation (SD) is a measure of variability in the answers, and mode is the most common ranking.  I have converted the answers to numeric as follows:  Most Important = 3, Nice to Have = 2, Least or Unimportant = 1.  Thus, a higher mean/mode demonstrates a higher importance for that particular feature.

Hearing the instructor was seen as the most important factor, followed by seeing the instructor’s screen and then by ability to participate by chat/text.  The most common rating for these top three features was “Most Important.”  The least important factors were seeing other students, breakout group work, polling/voting, and whiteboarding.  

The analysis highlighted a strong preference for essential interactive features such as hearing the instructor (mean rating of 2.75) and seeing the instructor’s screen (2.58). Respondents also valued the ability to participate via chat/text, emphasizing the importance of two-way communication in online learning environments. Despite these preferences, there was a notable divide in comfort with using video/voice participation, with 81.1{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} of respondents indicating comfort, suggesting room for growth in adopting more interactive technologies.

Interaction and Community Building

Q:  How long should a live online class session last?

The most common response for this question was 30-60 minutes, which was selected by a majority (64.4{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}) of respondents.  The 60-90 minutes was a distant second, selected by 20.9{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} of respondents.  The results are contained in Table 3.

Q: Would you prefer that the time be filled with:

Respondents were fairly evenly split on this question.  Most respondents (53.1{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}, 558) preferred 4-5 shorter activities, while 45.3{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} (477) preferred 1-2 longer activities.  A small minority, 1.2{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}, answered “Other.”

Q: What percentage of time do you prefer to be lecture vs. individual or small group work?

On average, respondents preferred that 57.6{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} of time be spent on lecture, and 42.4{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} on individual or small group work.  As you can see in the figure below, there was significant variation in responses.  However, the majority (58.8{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}) of respondents stated that lecture should account for between 50 and 80{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} of class time.

Q: Do you believe that an online classroom can be as good as on campus?

A sizeable majority (74.7{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}, 785) of respondents answered yes to this question.   In the comments section for this question (Q13), many respondents espoused the positive benefits of online education versus a traditional classroom such as being able to learn at your own pace, improved attendance (might not actually be true…), and increased flexibility.  Others stated that the two are equivalent, and that the level of interaction in courses is about the same – “Many lectures have so little interaction that it doesn’t make a difference.”  A number of respondents stated that it depends on the quality of the course and the instructor – if both are good then the course can meet or exceed a traditional classroom.

For the negative responses, they overwhelming focused on the perceived lack interaction (with students and professor), social experience, or face-to-face time.

Q: Did your online class require or encourage you to interact with / peers outside of class time?

Q:.  Would you interact more with pers if there were a provided space to meet, like a virtual hallway…

A majority of respondents (63.9{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}, 672) answered yes to this question, and 35›.8{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def} (376) answered no.  A small number of respondents (3) did not provide an answer.

Q.  How likely would you interact with peers outside of class time if there were a provided space to…

As you can see in the figure below, responses were fairly uniformly-distributed for this question.  “Somewhat likely” was the most common response, followed by “Likely.”  Together, the top two answers accounted for a slim majority (50.5{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}) of respondents.

Technology Platforms in 2015

The most commonly-used platform was Skype (41.8{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}), followed by Other (29.4{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}) and then Google Hangouts (21.3{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}).  The least common platforms were Vidyo (1.0{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}), Adobe Connect (6.5{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}), and Facetime (7.1{4a69b362dd93a6614faf85c52b9015285f559d111cd601458465c7420b0c0def}).  The results for this question are contained within Table 4.  I also examined the comments section for this question (Q16).  Blackboard was by far the most common “Other” response.  Other responses included Canvas, Sakai, Moodle, Angel, and a smattering of other platforms.

Summary

While online learning has the potential to democratize education, accessibility and inclusion remain pressing issues. Advances in assistive technologies and universal design principles have improved accessibility, but digital literacy and access disparities continue to pose barriers. Ongoing efforts to address these challenges are crucial to realizing the inclusive potential of online education.