Emotions in online learning environments: Introduction to the special issue

In recent years, several scholars have called for more inquiry on the role of emotions in education. And while the dynamics of the emotions that emerge during online learning may be difficult to observe, limited evidence suggests that, not unlike traditional classroom instruction, emotions have important affects on learning, engagement, and achievement in online settings. This special issue highlights contemporary research in this area, with the goal of rousing other investigators to contribute to the growing empirical literature on emotions in online learning environments (OLEs). The articles in this issue explore the question of emotions in OLEs from a variety of theoretical and methodological frameworks, in several different types of online contexts, and from two different participant perspectives (students and teachers). In doing so, these articles begin to shed light on the dynamics of student and teacher emotions how these emotions emerge and are regulated, what precedes them, and how they relate to important behavioral, motivational, and achievement outcomes. In this introduction to the special issue, I briefly summarize each manuscript and suggest some future research directions. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc.