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Humanities
- ISSN: 2155-7993
- Journal of Modern Education Review
A Study of Students’Representations of Their Virtual Classroom*
Anna Toom
(Graduate School of Education, Touro College, USA)
Abstract: An adequate cognitive map of the virtual classroom (VC) is necessary for one’s successful adjustment to their learning environment. A student’s cognitive map is reflected in his/her representation(s) of the VC. In our research we studied such representations in 72 graduate students specializing in education and enrolled in the same distance online psychology course. The method included: a) analysis of the participants’ illustrations and descriptions of their VC; b) evaluation of correlations between the adequacy of their cognitive maps and other their characteristics, namely academic achievement and online learning experience. The results showed that the majority (73%) of the investigated population lacked adequate cognitive maps of their VC. No correlation was found between the degree of the students’ cognitive maps adequacy and their online experience. We hypothesize that in their previous online courses many of our students were not taught to orient in a virtual environment. That is, while they were studying the subject, they failed to master the learning instruments. We conclude that additional instructional support — more goal-oriented and systematic — is essential for helping online students, especially novices, to develop skills for becoming successful and productive learners.
Key words: virtual learning environment, virtual classroom, orientation, cognitive map
