Abstract

The paper intended to investigate adult learners' perceptions of interaction in online learning environments with the use of Learning Management System. The interactions included learner-learner interaction, learner-instructor interaction, and learner-content interaction. The participants were African-American adult learners from a university in the southerneast US. They were enrolled into a one-semester research course delivered through online technologies. The online course activities included service learning, course discussion, class assignments, and final paper. The data was collected at the end of the course session. Student visits to the course website were compared among various activities. Regression and ANOVA analyses were performed to examine the contribution of interaction variables to student satisfaction. In addition, the relationship between course activities and number of student visits to the course website was examined. Adult learner characteristics in online learning will be discussed.