Iranian Distance Education

The purpose of this research is to design and validate the model of combined education of educational organizations of the CEPA program for the protection of international wetlands in Sistan and Baluchistan region. In terms of purpose, this research is applied-developmental and in terms of qualitative-quantitative mixed method with exploratory approach. In the qualitative part, the main components of the model were extracted by combining the IBM blended learning model and the components of the CEPA program. Then, to determine the micro-components, evaluation and summarization of the discourse space was done through the Q method, and 51 Q phrases were selected from among 110 statements by ten experts. Then, the Q questionnaire was given to 19 specialists of the CEPA program through targeted sampling, and the micro-components were prioritized. Structural equation modeling analysis was used to test the model. In the quantitative part, the validation of the questionnaire was done by SPSS 22 and Amos software, and the researcher-made questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha of 91% was available to the participants. Based on the results of the qualitative part, the model includes four main components and 14 key micro-components. According to the results of the quantitative section, the t-statistic values for all factors are higher than the standard absolute value of 1.96. The validation of the research model also showed the significance of the relationships between the variables and the acceptability of the overall fit, and the research questions were suitable explanations. Creating the motivation for participation with the highest factor load was the first priority of the model design. Priority micro-components in the main component of communication and interaction, "educational network development", in education and information, "educational process development" in partnership and cooperation, "participatory and interdepartmental management" and sustainable practical action, jointly, "establishment of the indigenous approach" and "combined use of learner-centered styles" were selected.

AbstractThis research is conducted aiming to study the relationship of self-directed learning, information technology and communication and academic motivation with entrepreneur curriculum in distance education. This research in terms of aim is practical, in terms of data collection is quantitative, and in terms of nature and method is descriptive (non-experimental) and correlative. Statistical population of this research includes students of smart secondary schools of Esfahan city in Academic year of 1395-96 (2016-2017) up to 550 persons. Sampling method is clustered method and 225 persons were selected randomly among of regions of 2, 3, and 5 of Education Administration of Esfahan city using Morgan formula. Library and survey methods were used for data collection. The instruments include researcher made questioners about entrepreneur curriculum of distant education, academic motivation, self directed learning, and ICT. The validity of questionnaires was confirmed by ten professors and experts in this field and its reliability was calculated through alpha Cronbach that was α=0.73. For analyzing data, SPSS software, version 21) was used to present descriptive statistic (including Frequency distribution table, mean, Percentage, and Standard deviation) and inferential statistic (including Pierson Correlation and Regression). The results show that self directed learning, ICT, and academic motivation have positive significant relationship with entrepreneur curriculum of distance education. It also shows that all of three variables of self- directed learning, ICT, and academic motivation are important in preparing entrepreneur curriculum. Academic motivation have maximum importance with β= 0.43 and information technology has minimum importance with β= 0.23.

The concept of social presence is defined as the ability of learners to identify the learning community, have a sense of belonging to the community and communicate purposefully in a learning community. The reason for emphasizing the social presence of online learning is that online and virtual learning experts believe that social constructivism is an important factor in promoting interpersonal communication and the quality of learning. Given the importance of social presence as an influential variable in the process of virtual education, it is necessary to pay more attention to this issue and its predictors. In this regard, the present study aimed to provide a causal model for predicting social presence based on cognitive presence mediated by the online learning atmosphere. Participants included 265 students of online courses of Payame Noor universities in North Khorasan province in the academic year of 2009-2010 who were selected by cluster random sampling method. In order to measure the research variables, questionnaires of cognitive presence, social presence and online learning atmosphere were used. Amos software and path analysis method were used to evaluate the proposed model. The results showed that, 1-According to the above findings, the proposed model in the RMSEA index (root mean square of estimation errors) does not fit well, so the model was modified by correlating latent variable errors and The results showed that the final model has a good fit; 2-Cognitive presence has a direct, positive and significant relationship with social presence (P≤0.05 and β=0.62); There is a direct, positive and significant relationship between cognitive presence and online learning (P≤0.05 and β= 0.14) and also a direct relationship between online learning atmosphere and social presence is positive and significant (P≤0.05 and β=0.32); 3-In the indirect way, with the presence of mediator variables, the relationship between cognitive presence and social presence was still significant and the online learning atmosphere absorbs part of the effect of cognitive presence on social presence and mediates this relationship in part .

The Iranian Distance Education Journal (IDEJ) is one of the most critical journals in electronic education that publishes articles in the field of distance education. This research aims to review and analyze the content and citations of IDEJ articles. The research method, content analysis, and citation were done using Excel and SPSS software. The research findings showed that 81 articles were published in 10 issues of this quarterly magazine, from number 1 of volume A to number 2 of volume 4. Findings show that 83 percent were written in groups, the rest were written individually, 54% were university faculty members, and Payam Noor University had the most significant number of authors. Quantitative methods were used more with 66%, the keyword "e-learning" with 14 repetitions had the most extensive range of articles, and three professors from Payam Noor University had the most significant articles. Also, some authors were from Brazil, Nigeria, and Alaska, and women are as active as men. Suggestions were also made to correct the deficiencies and develop the magazine.

The purpose of current study is to explore the critical challenges of e-learning in higher education institutions. The data for this research were collected through a qualitative approach using a descriptive phenomenological method and semi-structured interview tool, then the findings were analyzed by Colaizzi's (1978) 7-step method. The research field included 12 academic experts in E-learning at the University of Tehran through purposeful Sampling. The validity of qualitative data, based on the four criteria of Lincoln and Goba (1985) including; credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability and also reliability by re-coding and two coders have been examined and confirmed. The results of the analysis led to exploring142 main concepts, then in the form of 10 critical challenges related to the most components of the educational system including; learner, teacher, technology, financial and information resources, ethical considerations, university culture, classroom leadership, support system, learning effectiveness, and satisfaction of internal stakeholders. Finally, using a systematic approach, the mentioned challenges have been classified into three main dimensions of learning-teaching system such as; input, process, and output.

E-learning has been extensively integrated into the educational system during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to enhance the quality of education. While introducing numerous benefits and positive impacts, this rapid transition has also posed new challenges that could potentially increase anxiety among elementary school teachers. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between web-based teaching components during the COVID-19 pandemic and anxiety levels among elementary school teachers, providing practical operational solutions. This research is applied in terms of purpose and correlational in terms of methodology. The statistical population of the study included all elementary school teachers in the city of Amol, totaling 750 individuals. A sample of 256 teachers was randomly selected from the city of Amol. Data were collected using the Salmi Anxiety Questionnaire, Abedini Chogordani, Ghasemi Nafchi, and Tabashir (2021), and a researcher-made questionnaire to measure web-based teaching components. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed through face validity, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was employed to determine the reliability of the research instrument. Data analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. The findings indicated that the contributions of web-based teaching components, including support and virtual learning infrastructure (169.0), learning and technological complexity (141.0), electronic content production (267.0), and type of course instruction (203.0), were significant predictors of teachers' anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the contribution of the effective assessment component (107.0) was not statistically significant. Virtual education infrastructure, learning technological skills, acquiring content production skills, type of course instruction, were negative predictors of teachers' anxiety during the pandemic. The results of the study revealed a significant negative relationship between some web-based teaching components and anxiety levels. Therefore, it is recommended to reduce teaching anxiety in web-based education by implementing empowerment courses to develop online teaching skills, producing effective content, and fostering technological development in in-service teacher training.