| The use of World Wide Web and Internet technologies to deliver educational materials is expected to continue to increase, but the rush to utilize the online environment for higher education has not been met with universal success. The biggest challenge facing educators wishing to capitalize on the online environment is to identify which instructional approaches work for a given situation. This quantitative, ex post facto study sought to provide insight and guidance for instructional designers and educators utilizing the online environment for distance education by evaluating the use of an online social support component. The study evaluated whether students in FISDAP-based online courses with a social support component had higher levels of course competency achievement than students without a social support component. The results, which were consistent with the literature reviewed, yielded the expected findings that students with effective social support tools have higher levels of course goal achievement as well as narrower gaps in achievement. The results of the study support the use of online social support components, specifically components that support student-student and student-instructor interaction, to increase student competency attainment in online courses. |
