Psychological aspects of Distance Learning

Psychology is an important aspect of every task we engage in. The answer to many questions lies in this science. Our actions in certain situations are predetermined if we take a closer look at the rules of the brain, and our mental activities. The way we act and react is not accidental. When it comes to language learning, there are numerous activities that enable the retention of vocabulary, phrases, and constructions. These activities are to some extent similar, but in some ways modified when it comes to language acquisition in distance learning. In teaching methodology, we are familiar with the term metacognition. It is the ability of the students to control and regulate their own learning. Metacognition is defined as “cognition of cognition” or “thinking about thinking”. In this paper we shall see its function in distance learning. Another key issue is the psychological and communicational space that exists between the student and the teacher in distance learning, called transactional distance. The third term is learning analytics (LA), a tool for measuring, collecting, analyzing and reporting of data in relation to the learners, for the purpose of better understanding the process of learning and more successful improvement. Every time learners engage in the learning process, data trails are created, which can later be analyzed. LA is a metacognitive tool in an online environment that teachers can use to raise students’ awareness of their own learning results and behaviors. By analysing those trails and making students aware of their own learning, the transactional distance decreases and the learning outcomes increase. Hence, the focus of this paper is to discuss the role and the relation of these three terms in distance education.

Key words: metacognition, transactional distance, learning analytics, tool, self-regulation