Student Motivation and Instant Access to Information Online

How student motivation has changed as a result of instant access to information online

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Motivation is the internal condition that initiates behavior making people be able to create what they want to achieve, and it is the main cause why different people perform different activities. Motivation is argued to be one of the most important psychological concepts in education for it sustains the satisfaction of a learner (et al. Fu-Yun Yu 95-106). Lack of motivation makes the learner not to concentrate on an instruction. The rapid growth of the online distance education has made need be there for the creation of other structures of learning besides the ones that were used before. In this ever-changing world computers and online information is being embraced by most people for education purposes. Most students embrace Self-direct e-learning (SDEL) whereby no peers or instructors are regularly available but according to, (Senday, Serkan &Odabasi 132-141), it is not as fruitful as face-face.

According to (Wang & Hua 207-217), podcasts which are audio recordings that can be listened to, different preferential affect perceptions of learners for example between males and females this affects their comfortability hence causing dissatisfaction. New learners tend to be anxious as compared to the old ones, and this state makes them feel uncomfortable creating dissatisfaction. Technical issues and communication breakdown provides obstacles to access information thus discouraging because technology is the only connection that students have in the online environment and if it is broken will not be motivated to continue learning hence dropping out of their online courses. Interface design needs have contributed to the motivation level of students dropping down because online learners tend to visit websites that are more appealing and attractive even if they have irrelevant information or shallow information. Too much searching of information from relevant and irrelevant sources causes the retention of information to be poor these leads to failure which causes dissatisfaction basing on the research made by (Buckey & Kathleen 367-370).

Due to instant access to online information, there is no motivation as compared to face face learning which the lecturer could be like the role model in that the presentations are delivered with energy and enthusiasm, and this helps the lecturer to know their students, (et al Melamad 879-887). An assumption has always been made that e-learners are self-motivated and active learners of which it is not always true. In most cases for face-face interactions, incentives could be given to students so as to motivate them to do tasks smartly hence tasks could be handled with a lot of keenness and greater attention given to detail, (et al Fu-Yun Yu 95-106) points out that instant access to information online has led to online learning whereby the instructors do not have time to create for only one student hence there is no motivation to pay attention.

One of the greatest motivators for the students is the confidence that they have. For face-face learning, students could get pats on their back for assignments well done. According to(Senday, Serkan & Odabasi 132-141) praises in ways big and small after recognition of good work and even send positive notes to parents this would motivate students even more to do better next time. Their confidence in the area of study improves. Online studying does not give the student this feeling for they totally depend on themselves for they are self-driven. Wang & Hua (207-217) suggests that any given time they have low self -esteem they are likely to drop out of the online courses.

Basing on (Buckey & Kathleen 367-370) there is no satisfaction when instructions are given online for they are not given face-face. Interaction of face-face help the student and the instructor to interact verbally, socially and even psychologically hence being able to stimulate the whole body. There is a barrier between the instructor and the student in the case of online learning which does not motivate the student in any way (et al. Melamad 879-887). In fact, the student is unmotivated. The retention power of instructions that are given online is lower as compared to that given face-face. The interaction between the instructor and students face-face brings in a higher sense of belonging and satisfaction and the feedback is very positive and greater, especially where the kind of instruction being passed forward is very sensitive or the course being taught is a hybrid one. Tracking of improvement for exams that are done only once is very hard in cases of online learning as compared to face-face learning. For the face-face learning, the instructor is able to give cats and assignments to assess the progress of the student, also offer incentives to motivate the student while for online learning, the exam is done once or twice to determine the fate of the student. In the case of failure, this discourages the student and they could easily drop out of the online class because of lack of motivation.

There is a gap in the relationship between the instructor and the student as pointed out in (et al. Fu-Yun Yu 95-106) hence making the instructor not to be a role model to the student. This reduces the level of motivation the student receives from the instructor in the case of online learning. This gap makes the receiving and retention of the data very low. Senday,Serkan & Odabasi (132-141), found out that students themselves use their knowledge to construct the meaning of a particular problem, there tend to be irrelevancy and if failure is experienced, there is a lot of discouragement causing demotivation to the student unlike face-face learning whereby the instructor is available to help out in solving the problem.

Online learning is more of business whereby the instructor is selling knowledge and the student is buying the same. Wang & Hua (207-217) argue that this is because none of the parties is interested in knowing the interests of the other. Buckey & Kathleen (367-370) believe that this makes the student unmotivated for even if they perform well their success will not be recognized and appreciated publicly. Their strengths are not rewarded and their weaknesses strengthened. Unlike face-face learning, any success is recognized and appreciated hence motivating the student. The instructor tends to know the names of each of their student hence ease in communication and improving motivation of the student.

The instructional strategies in online learning are the same, and if the student has not understood, it means that they will have to fail for they will interpret the question wrongly or will not understand the concept. According to (et al. Melamad 879-887), this causes dissatisfaction to the student while for the face-face learning, the instructor can change the strategies from instructing to group work, demonstrations, discussions, and even case studies. Online learning also does not give the student chance to express their views and even the opportunity to ask question hence it is not easy to know whether the student has understood or not, (et al Fu-Yun Yu 95-106)

Virtual education limits the learning potential for it has an inability to give genuinely the information that is being exchanged, those participating can give very inaccurate responses (Senday, Serkan & Odabasi, 132-141). In most cases there are very many miscommunications and misinterpretations for it is not easy to convey emotion in a chat or an email for it can be received with higher or lower appreciation. (Wang & Hua 207-217) point out that there is real life interaction with responses, connections and responses in face-face learning. By actively being able to see the instructor face-face a great passion is likely to grow over the subject being taught, this is motivation on the side of the student.

Buckey & Kathleen (367-370) believe that most of the times, face-face learners know the objective of what they are learning for their instructor get to review it with them to make sure that students know what they are expected to know or learn. The instant access to online information has made students start studying without having any objective in mind, and this easily leads to then acquiring irrelevant information (et al. Melamad 879-887)

Motivation is the leading cause of the failure or success of a student for it completely influence the attitude, study habits and academic readiness of the student. Motivation is also the main barrier for online classes, (et al. Fu-Yun Yu 95-106). Communication face-face causes faster, easier and more immediate response. Motivated students are also easy to teach and are willing and receptive. The advantages of online learning cannot be denied, makes information search to be faster, we cannot also outlook the fact that the face-face learning gives more satisfaction and motivation to the students (Senday, Serkan & Odabasi 132-141). The role of teachers has also changed completely, and most of the work has been left to the student to deal with it by themselves.

Works cited

Buckey, Kathleen M. "Evaluation of classroom-based, web-enhanced, and web-based distance learning nutrition courses for undergraduate nursing." Journal of Nursing Education 42.8 (2003): 367-370.

Huang, Tien-Chi, Yueh-Min Huang, and Fu-Yun Yu. "Cooperative Weblog Learning in Higher Education: Its Facilitating Effects on Social Interaction, Time Lag, and Cognitive Load." Educational Technology & Society 14.1 (2011): 95-106.

Sendag, Serkan, and H. Ferhan Odabasi. "Effects of an online problem based learning course on content knowledge acquisition and critical thinking skills." Computers & Education 53.1 (2009): 132-141.

Shapira, Bracha, Paul B. Kantor, and Benjamin Melamed. "The effect of extrinsic motivation on user behavior in a collaborative information finding system." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 52.11 (2001): 879-887.

Wang, Kua Hua, et al. "Learning styles and formative assessment strategy: enhancing student achievement in Webbased learning." Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 22.3 (2006): 207-217.