Internet Learning Volume 4, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 121

Internet Learning Journal – Volume 4, Issue 1 – Spring 2015
chapters were not necessarily used in discussion solely related to collaboration or student
rapport.
Alred (2006) and Lewis et al. (2006) noted that popular texts do occasionally include
acknowledgment of scholarly theories, but the occurrences may be coincidental. The
inclusion of scholarly references stems from the authors’ networks of colleagues and
personal education that allow authors a closer relationship to the research community. For
unknown reasons, the 19 independently authored online teaching textbooks did not include
examination of the many immediacy studies published.
Another limitation is that the textbooks did not acknowledge the operational
definition of immediacy as defined in this study. Immediacy terminology found was likely
coincidental. However, the textbooks and the efficacy of the many other online teaching
techniques discussed can appeal to a wide-range of online education stakeholders.
Finally, as noted earlier, a limitation exists in Appendix A in that the references are
not all inclusive of scholarly immediacy studies. Only the prominent immediacy scholarly
studies that had the word immediacy in the title or abstract were compared. In addition, more
prominent immediacy studies were published from 2003 to 2007 as opposed to those from
1999 to 2003. Scholarly immediacy references dated 2003 to 2007 could not have appeared
in the set of online education textbooks dated 1999 to 2002.
Future researchers may want to sample a set 10 years in advance from 2009 through
2017 and examine all textbook chapters. In addition, this research recommends future
researchers consider surveying textbook authors to determine why the term immediacy was
absent. Investigating scholars’ opinions on how prominently they might feature immediacy
terminology in chapter headings could be used to test author familiarity of immediacy
particularly if prominent scholarly immediacy author names were used to prompt responses.
This suggestion may in of itself prompt more online education textbook authors to consider
including more information on immediacy as intended by immediacy scholars.
The most cogent benefit of the study was found in the first usage of the scholarly
derived immediacy terminology scale. For the first time the concept of immediacy was
operationalized for key immediacy related terms that scholars deemed important. The scale
allowed the ability for immediacy terminology to be counted. For example, as noted earlier,
the most prominent immediacy terms found in the first four chapters were those related to
student and teacher behaviors such as interaction and collaboration opposed to teacher
initiated behaviors important to immediacy such as acknowledging student emotions and
feelings. The most popular immediacy terminology found in chapter titles or sub titles was
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