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SAI 2018: Intelligent Computing pp 251–264Cite as

Role of Digital Fluency and Spatial Ability in Student Experience of Online Learning Environments

Digital Readiness for Evolution of Educational Ecosystem

Part of the Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing book series (AISC,volume 857)

Abstract

Online learning environments have become a standard support for most higher education courses, whether they are face to face, hybrid, or online. During their years of study, today’s students will need to navigate these online learning environments: from finding the syllabus to interacting with the faculty virtually. However, not all learners have equal facility when dealing with online environments. In this article we report results of two exploratory studies investigating cognitive characteristics involved in learning and personal pre-requisites that are important for a positive learner experience in an online learning environment. In particular, we examined the perceived easiness of use and perceived helpfulness of the OLE, as related to the user’s digital fluency and spatial ability. Logistic regression of scores in digital fluency (DF) tests on dichotomized survey responses demonstrated that senior undergraduate students with higher DF scores find online learning environments easy to use, and helpful, more often than their peers having lower DF scores. Comparison of mental rotation scores with the digital fluency scores, by means of linear regression analysis, demonstrated statistically significant association between spatial ability and digital fluency. As previous studies demonstrated that spatial ability can be trained, these results will facilitate digital readiness for the expansion of educational ecosystem and will help people to make better use of eLearning materials.

Keywords

  • Learning environments
  • Online education
  • Learning management system
  • Digital fluency
  • Spatial ability

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tandon Online, New York University, New York, USA

    Tatiana Tchoubar

  2. College of Business, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, USA

    Thomas R. Sexton

  3. Department of Technology and Society, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, USA

    Lori L. Scarlatos

Authors
  1. Tatiana Tchoubar
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  2. Thomas R. Sexton
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  3. Lori L. Scarlatos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tatiana Tchoubar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Information Science, Saga University, Honjo, Saga, Japan

    Kohei Arai

  2. The Science and Information (SAI) Organization, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK

    Supriya Kapoor

  3. The Science and Information (SAI) Organization, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK

    Rahul Bhatia

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Tchoubar, T., Sexton, T.R., Scarlatos, L.L. (2019). Role of Digital Fluency and Spatial Ability in Student Experience of Online Learning Environments. In: Arai, K., Kapoor, S., Bhatia, R. (eds) Intelligent Computing. SAI 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 857. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01177-2_18

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