Exploring the Effectiveness of Adaptive Technologies to Improve the Quality of Online Library and Information Science Courses

Abstract

Adaptive Technologies and Quality Matters© Rubric standards have been created to mitigate the technological challenges for students taking online courses, to improve the overall quality of online courses, and to increase the effectiveness of student learning in online courses. This poster presents preliminary results of a two-year project that is testing the potential usefulness of these online teaching techniques. The activities for this project include incorporating Adaptive Technologies and the Quality Matters© Rubric into an online Library and Information Science (LIS) course and measuring the impact of these changes to the online course through student focus groups, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)-based surveys, and formative and summative assessments. The objective of this project is to measure the effectiveness of Adaptive Technologies and the Quality Matters© Rubric in improving the online educational experience of the students impacted. This project addresses the following research questions: 1. When incorporating Adaptive Technologies into online courses, what is the perceived usefulness and ease of use for students interacting with these technologies? 2. When implementing the Quality Matters© standards into an online course, what is the perceived usefulness and ease of use for students interacting with a course site based on the Quality Matters© standards? 3. Do Adaptive Technologies and Quality Matters© standards, by removing technology barriers, assist students’ overall outcomes in online courses? The purpose of this study is two-fold, to test how well these tools improve online education and to develop a framework for incorporating Adaptive Technologies and Quality Matters© in other online LIS courses.