Success factors in distance education

FACTOR 6: CLASSROOM INTERACTION (Table 2) 

 

This variable relates to the instructor's ability to encourage students to interact and participate in class 

and through the Internet. Students received a participation grade for their degree of interaction on the 

Web site and in the classroom. The WebCT software allows the instructor to monitor the use (e.g., time 

and amount) of the web course materials by each student. This information can be quantified and/or 

charted by the instructors. The Internet adds a new level of interactivity as it expands the meaning of 

office hours or class meeting times. 

 

The relationships between the various demographic variables relating to students and teaching 

effectiveness were tested with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results, presented in Table 

3, show that previous use of the WebCT is the only student characteristic influencing teaching 

effectiveness. Demographic student characteristics such as country of origin and gender were not 

influencing factors, nor were the type of program being undertaken or access to the Internet at home.