Abstract:
Distance education service providers, parents, and tutors need to know exactly what
drives learners to achieve in a distance education ecosystem so that they can create the
correct enabling environment for the learners. The aims of this research were to
understand what a learning ecosystem is in the context of distance education, to
determine the factors that drive student achievement in a school-level distance education
ecosystem, and to gain a deeper understanding of these factors. Furthermore, this
research aimed to discover which of the identified factors has a greater influence on
achievement when combined with another factor. This would enable service providers,
parents, and tutors to create a distance education ecosystem that ensures achievement.
A qualitative, exploratory research methodology was followed to gain new insights into
the different factors that drive achievement in this unexplored area of study. Twenty
semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with six tutors, six parents, and eight
learners engaged in a distance education programme. The interviews were each
analysed using thematic content analysis which took approximately 2.5 hours per
interview.
The concepts of learning ecosystem and student achievement were defined in the
context of distance education to gain an understanding of the participantsÕ perceptions
of these concepts. To guide stakeholders when setting up or reviewing a distance
education ecosystem that ensures achievement, a framework was developed to assist
stakeholders in understanding the factors that drive student achievement. The four
themes that emerged and were presented in the framework are: Environment and
support, Learner input, Resources and content, and Practice, assessment, and
feedback. This framework is important for service providers, parents, and tutors in that
they will be better informed to support a distance education student to achieve well
academically.
