Presenting the Optimal Pattern of Virtual Education based on the Constructivist Approach (A Qualitative Research)

Nowadays, the discussion of virtual education, especially based on the constructivist approach has received double attention from experts and planners of educational systems. As a result, the aim of this study was to presenting the optimal pattern of virtual education based on the constructivist approach.

In a qualitative research from among the virtual education specialists number of 10 people were selected as a sample with the purposeful and snowball sampling methods and according to the principle of theoretical saturation. The research tool was a semi-structured interview, which its validity was confirmed by the triangulation method and its reliability was obtained by the Cohen's kappa coefficient method 0.83. Data were analyzed by open, axial and selective coding method in lisrel software version 2020.

The findings showed that 136 indicators, 20 components and 8 dimensions were identified for the optimal pattern of virtual education based on the constructivist approach. In this pattern, the dimensions include organizational (with 2 components of administrative affairs and educational service affairs), pedagogical (with 6 components of educational goals, educational content, learner characteristics, teacher characteristics, teaching and learning strategies and interaction), technology (with 2 components of hardware and software), user interface design (with 2 components of personalization and accessibility), evaluation (with 2 components of institution and program evaluation and learner evaluation), managerial (with 1 component of management team), support services (with 3 components of student support, teacher support and resource support) and ethical and legal considerations (with 2 components of learning rules and regulations and legal issues). Finally, the optimal pattern of virtual education based on the constructivist approach was designed.

The optimal pattern of virtual education based on the constructivist approach designed in this study can help specialists and planners of educational systems in improving the quality of education.