The importance of participant interaction in online environments

  • Authors:
  • J. B. Arbaugh;Raquel Benbunan-Fich

  • Affiliations:
  • College of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Blvd. Oshkosh, WI 54901, USA;Zicklin School of Business, Box B11-220, Baruch College, CUNY New York, NY 10010, USA

  • Venue:
  • Decision Support Systems
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

An emerging body of research suggests that participant interaction is one of the strongest predictors of success in online environments. However, studies about the effects of participant interaction in a large sample of multiple online environments are rather limited. Using hierarchical modeling techniques, we examine a sample of 40 online MBA courses to determine whether learner-instructor, learner-learner, or learner-system interaction is most significantly related to online course outcomes. Our findings suggest that while collaborative environments were associated with higher levels of learner-learner and learner-system interaction, only learner-instructor and learner-system interaction were significantly associated with increased perceived learning.