Effectiveness of Internet Training for Child Caregivers. Mastering EarlyChildhood Course Content and Learner Satisfaction: A Comparison of Regular Classroom Instruction with Three Variations of Internet Delivery Via the Penn State World Campus

摘要

In the spring semester 2000, a Penn State course, ECE 479 (The Young Childs Playas Educative Process), was taught by the same instructor in four delivery formats. One group consisted of a regular classroom, which was held on the York campus. A second group, also on the York campus, was taught in a computer lab via the Internet, but there were opportunities for interaction with peers and the instructor. A third group took the course on the Internet as part of a local distance education group; hence, there were some limited opportunities for face-to-face interaction with peers and the instructor. The fourth group took the course on the Internet, as part of a statewide distance education group, where there were no opportunities for face-to-face interaction. There were 20 students (directors of childcare centers) who initially enrolled in the course, five per group. The twenty students completed questionnaires and were interviewed by phone prior to the course to gather demographic and other background information regarding professional activities and computer experience and to assess their level of content knowledge on the topic of play. Sixteen of the 20 who completed the course were interviewed again to evaluate levels of satisfaction with the course and to determine the learning outcomes.