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

Nowadays, the discussion of virtual education, especiallybased on the constructivist approach has received double attentionfrom experts and planners of educational systems. As a result, theaim of this study was to presenting the optimal pattern of virtualeducation based on the constructivist approach.

In a qualitative research from among thevirtual education specialists number of 10 people were selected as asample with the purposeful and snowball sampling methods andaccording to the principle of theoretical saturation. The research toolwas a semi-structured interview, which its validity was confirmedby the triangulation method and its reliability was obtained by theCohen's kappa coefficient method 0.83. Data were analyzed byopen, axial and selective coding method in lisrel software version2020.

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

The optimal pattern of virtual education based on theconstructivist approach designed in this study can help specialistsand planners of educational systems in improving the quality ofeducation.