The document describes observations of an online student, April Wallace, completing her coursework at home. Over three hours, April navigated her online courses, read materials, and participated in a discussion board. She took several breaks to check social media, bake cookies, and complete unrelated tasks. April expressed some frustration with assignments but showed improvement over time. A follow-up observation two weeks later found April progressing well, demonstrating her learning to the observer. April also completed a positive program evaluation using a Likert scale, agreeing the program was fulfilling her professional and personal goals.

1. Setting
Online student in cohort
Asynchronous, text-based
interactions
Learner is at home,
navigating through
course work
All course materials are provided
online (even textbooks)
Learner printed course materials
to highlight and write notes

2. April enjoys the comfort and
convenience of completing
course work at home, while
wearing pajamas.

3. Date: 2/24/2014
Place: Learner’s home
Event: Learner
completing course
material for master’s
class via online learning
Participant: April Wallace
Notes
Observation
• Learner navigates through course work, while narrating aloud
• Instructor gives long, detailed feedback
• Learner has many of the readings and other notes, printed out
• Learner spent three hours navigating through readings and
completing coursework
• Learner navigated through course management software with
ease
• After doing the readings, the learner participated in a threaded
discussion

4. April stays organized by
printing the course materials
After logging into to the
course managment system,
April can view institution
updates and find her courses.

5. Learner’s Organizational Process
In this short video clip,
April gives details about
how she navigates through
the course materials. She
finds difficulty in
organizing printed notes,
due to the set-up of the
course materials.

6. Date: 2/24/2014
Place: Learner’s home
Event: Learner
completing course
material for master’s
class via online learning
Participant: April Wallace
Notes
Comments
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Learner is visibly frustrated navigating the site
Learner is disappointed in a grade received on an assignment- “I did everything
he said to do, but I only got 40/50 (points). I don’t know what he wants”
Even though the course material are readily available online, the learner prefers
to print each article
Learner did not work straight through for the 3 hours. She stopped to check her
Twitter and Instagram. She also baked cookies.
Interface allows learners to track progress with progress monitor checks for
readings and assignments. It also displays time online
Learner said the course management interface changed since last quarter. She
detailed her initial frustration with it, but that the online orientation helped
Learner said “I have to post my discussion, before reading anyone else’s. The
discussions are blocked if you haven’t participated. I used to just see what
everyone else wrote. I hated it like this, at first. But, now I like it because it
makes me take the readings more seriously. I feel smarter now”.

7. Course
Management
System
April gives an overview of
the steps to completing
course work within a
module.

8. During the 3-hour
observation, April takes
several breaks. Some
are simply “stretchbreaks”, while others
involve doing a
completely unrelated
task.

9. Before returning to
her course work, April
scrolls through her
Twitter and Instagram
timelines.

10. April decides to take a break from her studies,
in order to bake a batch of cookies

11. Follow-up
Short 30 minutes observati0n of
the learner’s progress on 3/8/2014
• Learner navigated progress monitors to show me her progress
since the last observation
• She also showed me her latest grade, which was higher than her
last. She said, “I tried to correct all of the things he told me was
wrong in my last paper”
• She also showed me her group, experiential case assignment and
explained “I felt like I was really a manager of a company in this
role-play activity. I thought it would be stupid at first”
• I asked if she felt like she could take any of her experiences so far
and use them at her job right now. She said “no, this week was on
how managers create high job satisfaction. I did learn that it is
possible to be a manager, put the business first, and keep your
employees happy. Google does it” (The group used Google for
their case)

12. Learner’s Evaluation- using 5-level Likert Scale
from Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree
• Course outcomes were clearly stated- Agree
• The course outcomes are aligned to my professional goals-
Strongly Agree
• Assignment objectives were clearly stated-Agree
• Assignment objectives were aligned to my professional goalsAgree
• I can easily navigate the course management system to find course
materials-Neutral
• Discussion board assignments were interactive and a useful
scaffolding exercise- Strongly Agree
• Online assignments provided experiential learning- Strongly Agree
• Feedback was timely- Strongly Agree
• Feedback was constructive and informative- Strongly Agree

13. Learner’s Evaluation- using 5-level Likert Scale from
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree
• Assignment grades reflect rubric guidelines- Agree
• I learned from the course work- Strongly Agree
• The course work makes me want to learn more- Strongly Agree
• I can use what I have learned in my classes, in my current
profession- Agree
• I can use what I have learned in my profession, in my current/past
class in the program- Agree
• I am intrinsically motivated to continue my studies- Strongly Agree
• I am extrinsically motivated to continue my studies- Agree
• The program is fulfilling my professional goals- Strongly Agree
• The program is fulfilling my personal goals- Strongly Agree

14. Likert Scale
I developed the Likert Scale questions based
on my assumptions of adult learning and
online learning after reading the course
materials for EDU 6319