The possible organization for the research may be the edX online education platform. It is an American massive online course provider founded with the cooperation of specialists from Harvard and MIT. The project’s main aims are to provide high-quality education to students worldwide and enhance teaching and learning processes online. EdX (2012) provides access to university-level courses in a wide range of disciplines, most of which are free. The offices of the company may be found worldwide, while the headquarters is located in Cambridge. However, the research may be conducted at any place because it focuses on the employees’ interviews which may be taken online with the help of special programs. The key personnel of the edX platform involves mostly editorial content creators, professors and specialists in various courses, managers, and administrators.
The authors mentioned in the Literature Preview explore the problems of creating effective learning environments for the online education practice. They also analyze the issue of student accessibility and explore possible challenges such as equity concerns, the disparity in different academic subjects’ transitions, and the negotiations with Internet vendors. Ali (2020), Hodges et al. (2020), and Charles et al. (2020) discuss the influence of Information Communication and Technology on education development in general and its practical uses in times of the COVID-19 crisis. Picciano (2017) suggests an integrated online teaching model that may be applied in different fields of study. It may be clearly seen that recent researches propose a transition to online education because of the necessity, disregarding other possible advantages of such practice.
This research is based on the data gathered from the interviews. Consequently, the subjects are the members of the key personnel and students who participate in the edX courses. The study focuses on subjects’ reviews, comments, and expectations for the improvement of online courses. The research question may be formulated in the following way: What are the main advantages and conditions of transition to online education that outweigh the benefits of face-to-face teaching? As a result, there are several guiding questions that may help the study. How can the quality of online education be ensured? What is the role of accessibility in online lessons, and can it hinder the platforms’ development? What is the quality of online graduates compared to traditional ones? The study mainly focuses on the possible benefits of transitioning to distance education.
The study may concern itself with group differences and relationships among variables. For example, the reviews of graduates from different courses may be compared to see how suitable some study subjects are for online application. The student-teacher relationship may be considered to explore the changes in group communication in traditional and online education. According to Catalano (2018), there is a number of measurements that may be applied to this research field. Such variables as student satisfaction scale, teacher readiness for online learning, teaching climate, and environment scale may be implemented, among others. A questionnaire may be an excellent tool for data compilation.
The research hypothesis may be formulated in the following way: the transition to full-time online education may provide greater results in terms of student achievement and satisfaction compared to traditional learning. The purpose of the study is to examine the accumulated experience of online education based on the specific platform, provide valuable observations concerning the methods used in such courses and discuss their effectiveness. In conclusion, the research examines the possible advantages of transition to online education centered on data gathered from interviewees and proposes the implementations that may enhance this process.
References
Ali, W. (2020). Online and remote learning in higher education institutes: A necessity in light of COVID-19 pandemic. Higher Education Studies, 10(3), 16-25. Web.
Catalano, A. J. (2018). Measurements in distance education: A compendium of instruments, scales, and measures for evaluating online learning. Routledge.
EdX. (2012) About us. Web.
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., & Bond, A. (2020). The difference between emergency remote teaching and online learning. Educause Review, 27, 1-12. Web.
Picciano, A. G. (2017). Theories and frameworks for online education: Seeking an integrated model. Online Learning, 21(3), 166-190. Web.
Rapanta, C., Botturi, L., Goodyear, P., Guàrdia, L., & Koole, M. (2020). Online university teaching during and after the Covid-19 crisis: Refocusing teacher presence and learning activity. Postdigital Science and Education, 2(3), 923-945. Web.
