Embracing Research-Informed e-Learning

In a recent interview, 3C Institute’s CEO and founder Dr. Melissa DeRosier said that “effective online learning is here to stay.” These words demonstrate how quickly education has changed in the past year. With schools worldwide shutting their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, e-learning became the key mode for delivering instruction to millions of students. By August 2020, nearly 93 percent of U.S. households with school-age children reported at least some experience with e-learning, and many schools now see e-learning as an essential tool for educators. In fact, according to RAND Corporation, around 20 percent of school districts in the United States have already integrated or may integrate permanent e-learning options.

Effective online learning is here to stay.

The widespread, rapid transition to e-learning has drawn conflicting responses. Many students report feeling empowered by e-learning, especially students with behavioral differences. Others have praised e-learning for eliminating distractions, making lessons accessible, and incorporating technology-based collaboration. On the other hand, some administrators, teachers, and parents worry that e-learning during the pandemic negatively affected students’ social-emotional well-being. A recent survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speaks to these concerns.

Fortunately, e-learning can also help solve these issues. A forthcoming research article, published in Frontiers in Education, reveals the effectiveness of pairing game-based social-emotional learning (SEL) with other e-learning strategies. The results speak for themselves. The team of researchers found that playing Adventures Aboard the S.S.GRIN, one of 3C’s many SEL games, improved students’ interpersonal strength, communication skills, and prosocial behavior during the pandemic. In particular, students in the study became more empathetic and cooperative, and they demonstrated better emotional regulation and impulse control. In the post-COVID educational landscape, e-learning for behavior change and e-learning for content acquisition need to go hand in hand.

The logo for Adventures Aboard the S.S.GRIN

E-Learning for social skills and e-learning for content acquisition need to go hand in hand.

E-learning for behavior change is where 3C’s services and technology shine. Drawing on 20 years’ worth of success, 3C approaches e-learning as a distinct form of educational experience, with its own challenges and opportunities. In studies of game-based social skills development, resilience as students transition to college, and the link between positive racial identity and academic success among Black youth, among other topics, researchers have consistently found that 3C’s products significantly improve participants’ social skills and other behavioral health outcomes.

3C’s technology produces such powerful results because it adheres to the principles of research-informed e-learning: equity, interactivity, accessibility, and personalization. Together, these principles lead to immersive educational experiences that treat learners as active participants. The key to our success, as DeRosier says, is effective e-learning.

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    DEB CHILDRESS, PHD

    Chief of Research and Learning Content

    BIOGRAPHY

    Dr. Childress obtained her PhD in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to 3C Institute, she served as a research associate and a postdoctoral fellow in the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working on a longitudinal imaging study aimed at identifying the early markers of autism through behavioral and imaging methodologies. She has 19 years of autism research experience, during which she has examined the behavioral, personality, and cognitive characteristics of individuals with autism and their family members. Dr. Childress also has experience developing behavioral and parent report measurement tools, coordinating multi-site research studies, and collecting data from children and families. She has taught courses and seminars in general child development, autism, and cognitive development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

    Expertise

    • autism
    • early development
    • behavioral measurement
    • integrating behavioral and biological measurement

    Education

    • Postdoctoral fellowship, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (Institutional NRSA-NICHD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • PhD, developmental psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • BS, psychology (minor in sociology), University of Iowa

    Selected Publications

    • Elison, J. T., Wolff, J. J., Heimer, D. C., Paterson, S. J., Gu, H., Hazlett, H. C., Styner, M, Gerig, G., & Piven, J. (in press). Frontolimbic neural circuitry at 6 months predicts individual differences in joint attention at 9 months. Developmental Science.
    • Wassink, T. H., Vieland, V. J., Sheffield, V. C., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., Childress, D. & Piven, J. (2008). Posterior probability of linkage analysis of autism dataset identifies linkage to chromosome 16. Psychiatric Genetics,18(2),85-91.
    • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam K. & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: A comparison across parents of multiple- and single-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 147B(4):424-33.
    • Wassink, T. H., Piven, J., Vieland, V. J., Jenkins, L., Frantz R., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., … Sheffield, V.C. (2005). Evaluation of the chromosome 2q37.3 gene CENTG2 as an autism susceptibility gene. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 136, 36-44.
    • Barrett, S., Beck, J., Bernier, R., Bisson, E., Braun, T., Casavant, T., Childress, D., … Vieland, V. (1999). An autosomal genomic screen for autism. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 88, 609-615. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19991215)88:63.0.CO;2-L
    • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Landa, R., Santangelo, S., Jacobi, D. & Childress, D. (1997). Personality and language characteristics in parents from multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 74, 398-411.
    • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Jacobi, D., Childress, D. & Arndt, S. (1997). Broader autism phenotype: Evidence from a family history study of multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 185-190.