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The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that contribute to online collaboration in a web-based course by investigating the impact and the potential of an online learning environment in terms of both the students&#039 / and instructor&rsquo / s perceptions about learner benefits, learner support, motivation, computer mediated communication, and group work. A mixed methods case study design was thought to be appropriate to match the purpose of the study, thus a combination of components normally found in descriptive, case study and qualitative research was used to analyze the data. The study was conducted in the context of &ldquo / CSIT444-Online Web Design&rdquo / , an online course offered by the Institute of Distance Education of East Mediterranean University (EMU) in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This course was designed and developed by the instructor working at the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology of the Middle East Technical University located in Ankara and carrying out the classes for this course as online for the students at EMU. The participants were the instructor and 209 vocational education last year students, who participated in the course for three successive semesters, at the School of Computing &amp / Technology. In order to explore the perceptions of the students, they were asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of the each semester. Of the 209 participants 175 students ranked their agreement on each twenty eight five-point Likert-type item and 129 of them wrote also their comments about their online learning experience by answering the open-ended item in the questionnaire. Several interviews were conducted with the instructor using the informal conversational interview approach to explore his perceptions through his reflections on his online teaching experience in the web-based course. The perceptual student responses from the questionnaire were analyzed quantitatively. The responses to the open-ended item in the questionnaire and informal interviews were evaluated qualitatively to find out the emerging themes. In addition, the online learning environment offered in the web-based course was examined by using the instructional design framework. This study concluded that both the students and the instructor perceived the online collaborative learning/ experience positively by reporting that it was a beneficial and motivating experience with the availability of group work, CMC, and adequate support structure. Several specific factors that contributed to collaboration via CMC in the web-based course were identified under seven major topics. By considering these factors, it is hoped that the results will yield better solutions in terms of providing meaningful online learning experiences.

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The use of online courses continues to increase despite the small amount of research that exists on the effectiveness of online educational environments. The little research that has been conducted has focused on evaluating factors taken into consideration during the adoption of online learning environments. One notable benefit often cited is the ability to incorporate multimedia such as video games. Although game researchers and developers are pushing for the use of video games for educational purposes, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of serious video games. When paring the increasing use of online educational environments, the push to use serious video games, and the lack of research on the effectiveness of online learning environments and video games, there is a clear need for further investigation into the use of serious video games in an online format. Based on current literature, no other known study has conducted an analysis comparing a serious game-based and non-game based online course; making this a unique study. The purpose of this study was to compare student learning experiences and outcomes between a serious game-based and non-game based online American History course. The data sources were data provided from Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and student and teacher interviews. Random samples of 92 students were statistically analyzed. A group of 8 students and 4 teachers were interviewed. FLVS data provided were analyzed using an independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney test and the student and teacher interview were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results of an independent t-test revealed that there was a significant (p > .01) difference in the mean number of days necessary to complete the course (MGB = 145.80, SDGB = 50.64, MNGB = 112.63, SDNGB = 49.60). The Mann-Whitney results indicated a significant difference between course performance and the type of American history course (Z = -5.066, p > .01); students in the serious game-based online course had an A average whereas students in the non-game-based online course had a B average. The thematic analysis of the relationship between student performance and motivation in both courses indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more reasons for student motivation than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. The thematic analysis of what aspects do students perceive as helpful and/or hindering to their learning indicated that students and teachers of the game-based online course provided more desirable, more helpful, less undesirable, and less hindering aspects for their course than the students and teachers in the non-game-based online course. As a result of the unique nature of this study, the findings provide new information for the fields of research on online learning, serious video gaming, and instructional design as well as inform instructional-designers, teachers, education stakeholders, serious video game designers, and education researchers.