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Commentary on "Factors affecting learner satisfaction with an internet-based curriculum".

Sisson and colleagues offer value to higher education academicians in their article in this issue of the Southern Medical Journal. This article focuses on the use of online learning among medical residents, but the components of learner satisfaction can be translated to the traditional classroom or any learning environment. Online learning has many benefits over the traditional face-to-face method of education because it allows learners to complete their education at a time and place of their choosing while eliminating the costs associated with tuition, travel, and being away from the office and family. Online learning also has a unique set of challenges, such as the teacher’s and learner’s perception of the course objective and learning environment, a complex relationship that must be taken into consideration or the learner will not participate in future online education programs. Learner satisfaction is an important component of learning and is a predictor of learning outcomes. Sun et al developed an integrated model that identifies multiple dimensions of learner satisfaction that includes the student, the teacher, the course, technology, system design, and the environment. These specific dimensions need to be considered by the educator when developing an online or traditional face-to-face course. These dimensions also can assist when developing an appropriate evaluation for these educational courses. The dimensions of learner satisfaction are components of an appropriate evaluation tool to evaluate an academic course, especially in an online environment. Unfortunately, the traditional, end-of-course evaluation does not always capture the nature of the course, which can lead to a harsh evaluation of the course and teacher or no evaluation at all. Therefore, it is important to have an appropriate evaluation tool that incorporates the dimensions of learner satisfaction and teacher quality in evaluating the online or traditional education course appropriately. A strength of this article is that the author uses Kirkpatrick’s learning and evaluation theory as a basis for the research. The use of theory guides research and is an essential component in explaining behavior and behavioral change. The use of additional theories and research dimensions could further explain or bring additional insight to learner satisfaction. Everett Roger’s diffusion of innovations theory is another theory that can assist in explaining the use and nonuse of online technology for educational purposes. This theory takes into consideration that a learner’s age and demographics (eg, rural vs urban) play a role in his or her use of technology and satisfaction with this type of learning. Thus, additional research that includes age and demographics could further explain learner satisfaction among the groups identified in the article by Sisson et al. Self-efficacy is another dimension that needs to be explored when discussing or evaluating learner satisfaction. Self-efficacy is described as an individual’s belief that he or she can successfully complete a specific task within a specific situation. In higher education, professors are not always taught how to teach students. Rather, we spend our time sharpening our skills in our own specific field of study. Therefore, it is important for educators to do more than simply provide information to students; we need to present it in a way that is understandable and relevant while meeting students where they are, either in location or at an academic level. For students to meet the rigorous requirements of higher education, it is incumbent on professors and administrators to consider learner satisfaction during the development and evaluation of academic courses. University administrators can support learner satisfaction by offering faculty development programs that challenge professors to incorporate different techniques in their teaching portfolios.