FACTORS INFLUENCING APPROACHES TO LIFELONG E-LEARNING AMONG POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION FACULTY AND PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the factors influencing approaches to e-learning of faculty, who directly instruct others, and instructional designers professionals, who work with adult learners indirectly. This study of over 300 postsecondary educators and their approaches to online learning was based on interdisciplinary theories pivoting around a three-tier conceptual definition of human learning proposed by Peter Jarvis in 2006. Concepts of the self-directed learner, the lifelong learning process, and the transformation of learners framed the scope of this research within a matrix of adult learning and cognitive theories. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses of thirty null hypotheses were used to investigate deep and surface approaches to e-learning and adult learners' perceptions of functionality and quality of online professional development courses. Factors analyzed in relation to the learning approaches included course specific elements: orientation, use of models and templates, audio visual channeling, collaboration, assessments, and perceptions related to technology and function of professional development e-courses. Findings indicate that education professionals engage deep approaches to e-learning. Both the length of their professional experience and sheer number of online courses taken matter, as motivations, vary between individual learners and professional groups. This study should contribute to better understanding of learning in electronic environments and help practitioners and future researchers use e-learning factors to advance professional development offerings and their application.