Investigating Online Learning Environments Efficiently and Economically

The use of electronic learning and teaching technologies in formal educational settings, in a variety of formats, is, and has been, a common teaching practice. The advent of the microcomputer in the 1980s, the creation of protocols to network computers and the subsequent explosion of the World Wide Web has influenced all aspects of modern society including learning. Increasingly the perceived benefits of using these networked technologies in learning activities are being exploited within all curricula areas. As web-based and online software applications such as digital-document storage, search engines, communication tools, social-media and multimedia data-bases mature, so does educator’s use of this medium for teaching. A key question to be addressed is, “What are the educational impacts of this increased use of online learning on the educational experiences of learners?” The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of a learning environment instrument designed to investigate the online learning experiences of learners in an efficient and economical way.