Students' Social Interaction, Collaborative Learning, and Perceived Learning in an Online Learning Environment

Abstract

Learning is a social process, but limited studies have explored the degree of social interaction and collaborative learning in an online learning environment and whether these variables foster students' perceived learning. This descriptive-correlational research determined the level of students' social interaction, collaborative learning, and perceived learning in the online learning environment and analyzed the relationships between these three (3) variables. The data were gathered using online survey questionnaires distributed to 288 conveniently sampled teacher education students from a state university in an eastern province of the Philippines. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results revealed a high level of social interaction, collaborative learning, and perceived learning in an online learning environment, and a significant relationship among the variables was also noted. Thus, teachers should encourage social interaction and collaborative learning among students to foster learning in an online learning environment.