Internet and Higher Education

Influences of depression, self-efficacy, and resource management on learning engagement in blended learning during COVID-19
Heo H, Bonk CJ and Doo MY
This study examined the structural relationships among self-efficacy, resource management, and learning engagement during the COVID-19 era based on self-regulation theory. We also investigated whether the level of depression moderates the structural relationships among the factors by comparing a non-depressed group and a moderate-to-high depressed group. This study confirmed that resource management influenced learning engagement regardless of the depression level. Self-efficacy for learning also influenced resource management. The implications of this study are that self-efficacy is a prerequisite for resource management for learning. However, the direct influences of self-efficacy on learning engagement were observed only in the non-depressed group. Self-efficacy for learning indirectly influenced learning engagement through resource management in the depressed group. The self-regulated behaviors, such as resource management should be encouraged to enhance learning engagement of depressed students. Students' depression should also be monitored on a regular basis to help improve learning engagement during as well as after the COVID-19 era.
Modeling undergraduates' selection of course modality: A large sample, multi-discipline study
O'Neill K, Lopes N, Nesbit J, Reinhardt S and Jayasundera K
Scholarly understanding is limited with regard to what influences students' choice to take a particular course fully online or in-person. We surveyed 650 undergraduates at a public Canadian university who were enrolled in courses that were offered in both modalities during the same semester, for roughly the same tuition cost. The courses spanned a wide range of disciplines, from archaeology to computing science. Twenty-five variables were gauged, covering areas including students' personal circumstances, their competence in the language of instruction, previous experience with online courses, grade expectations, and psychological variables including their regulation of their time and study environment, work avoidance and social goal orientation. Two logistic regression models (of modality of enrolment and modality of preference) both had good fit to the data, each correctly classifying roughly 75% of cases using different variables. Implications for instructional design and enrolment management are discussed.
How health professionals regulate their learning in massive open online courses
Milligan C and Littlejohn A
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are typically designed around a self-guided format that assumes learners can regulate their own learning, rather than relying on tutor guidance. However, MOOCs attract a diverse spectrum of learners, who differ in their ability and motivation to manage their own learning. This study addresses the research question ' The study examined the 'Fundamentals of Clinical Trials' MOOC offered by edX, and presents narrative descriptions of learning drawn from interviews with 35 course participants. The descriptions provide an insight into the goal-setting, self-efficacy, learning and task strategies, and help-seeking of professionals choosing to study this MOOC. Gaining an insight into how these self-regulatory processes are or are not enacted highlights potential opportunities for pedagogic and technical design of MOOCs.