Interactivity: Key to CLS Online Instruction

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Learning is the attainment and application of knowledge or skill. Effective online instruction should integrate interactivity. Online interactivity 1) includes a message loop, 2) occurs from the learner's point of view, 3) provides for content and affective outcomes, and 4) is mutually coherent. These characteristics must be woven into online interactive devices such as discussion boards, PowerPoint™ slides, email, and chat rooms to insure learning. Interactivity must be consistent with the course objectives. Increased interactivity enhances learning in online courses just as it does on campus.

The following paper was presented at the Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference, February 2005 in Williamsburg VA. This article describes the intimate relationship between interactivity and instruction. Dick and Carey define instruction as “the systematic process in which every component; (i.e. teacher, students, materials, and learning environment) is crucial to successful learning.”¹ Instruction is more than the dissemination of information. Instruction occurs when all factors work together to facilitate learning: the attainment and proper application of knowledge and/or skill.

Interactivity is not simple. There are a multitude of interactive processes in a face-to-face classroom: lectures, questioning, laboratory exercises, case studies, and non-verbal cues. Do we apply interactivity with online instruction as with face-to-face instruction? Online interactivity can include all of the above through formats such as email, discussion boards, and chat rooms.

Interactivity has several definitions.^2-8 In “Interactivity Demystified: A Structural Definition for Distance Education and Intelligent CBT” Michael Yacci discusses four essential characteristics:⁹

1. Instructional interactivity is a message loop.

2. Instructional interactivity occurs from the…