Comparing Remote Learning Between Live Lectures and Self-paced Interactive Tutorials for Learning an Introduction to Blockchain

Online learning in universities in Thailand is still a problem in terms of adaptation and finding a suitable way to learn. During the Covid-19 pandemic, most teachers give live lectures online via video conferencing platforms to teach students; however, there is still room for improvement. This paper experiments with the use of interactive tutorials as an alternative to live online teaching for learning a complex topic. Blockchain is the technology underlying the popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, and has been gaining attention, but it is a complex technology with limited learning resources. Therefore, we chose to create an interactive tutorial on the topic of an ‘Introduction to Blockchain’. We expected this instruction method to be more effective than live online lectures. A between-subjects user study was conducted to compare two modes of instructions using 2 student sample groups. A control group of 7 students learned online with an instructor via a video conferencing program, Zoom, and an experimental group of 7 students learned the content through the interactive tutorial we created. The average post-test scores of the students who studied with the interactive tutorial were better than that of the students who studied in a live online lecture. A within-subjects study was also conducted to understand students’ preferences between the two modes. It was found that the students preferred learning with interactive tutorials more than live online lectures, but a disadvantage was that they could not ask clarifying questions about the content when needed while using the interactive tutorial.