WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN ONLINE EDUCATION?

The delivery of courses, programs and degrees in the online format is well established in institutions of higher education. However, educational institutions and students may have different reasons for choosing online education. This research surveyed over four hundred students in three different universities and identified “Perceived Effectiveness of Online Courses” and “Classroom Interaction and Discussion” as two significant factors that affect students’ selecting of online courses, as opposed to on-ground (i.e., face-to-face) or hybrid courses. With the maturity of online education, the emphasis on the mechanism (i.e., the “technology”) of course delivery has lessened in comparison to the early days of online education. It is the quality of education, proxied in educational effectiveness and course structure (e.g., classroom interaction) that really matters. In addition, online education is not “one size fits all.” This studyy finds that students who selected an online course for the initial reason of “scheduling” were significantly influenced by perceived effectiveness of online courses, age, and the ability to prioritize, but not classroom interaction and discussion. This differs from students who selected an online course based on convenience and selecting a particular professor or other specific factors.