New ways of learning: Comparing the effectiveness of interactive online media in distance education with the European textbook tradition

Although many innovations exploiting web technologies have been suggested in distance higher education, very little original research exists investigating the impact of web-based learning environments on distance students' learning processes and outcomes. To close this gap, four sets of data have been collected in a distance-learning course: behaviour and usage data derived from the log files of an online learning environment; responses from a competence pre- and posttest that measures the competence gain of online and offline students; technology assessment data from the online students capturing their perception of the learning environment; and formal assessment data acquired from a written examination test. By analysing these data, insight into the effectiveness of online learning material compared with custom-designed textbooks for self-controlled distance study can be gained. Distance educators and open or distance universities may take the analysis results as a basis for the decision whether to migrate from textbooks to online learning materials. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at