Editing Instructional scaffolding (section)

==== Downfalls in online learning environments ====
An online learning environment warrants many factors for scaffolding to be successful; this includes basic knowledge of the use of technology, social interactions and reliance on students' individual motivation and initiative for learning.  Collaboration is key to instructional scaffolding and can be lost without proper guidance from an instructor creating and initiating an online social space.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Cho|first1=Moon-Heum|last2=Cho|first2=YoonJung|date=April 2014|title=Instructor scaffolding for interaction and students' academic engagement in online learning: Mediating role of perceived online class goal structures|journal=The Internet and Higher Education|volume=21|pages=25–30|doi=10.1016/j.iheduc.2013.10.008|s2cid=144273353 }}</ref>  

The instructor's role in creating a social space for online interaction has been found to increase students' confidence in understanding the content and goals of the course.  If an instructor does not create this space, a student misses out on critical thinking, evaluating material and collaborating with fellow students to foster learning.  Even with instructors implementing a positive social space online, a research study found that students' perceptions of incompetence to other classmates is not affected by positive online social spaces, but this was found to be less of a problem in face to face courses.<ref name=":0" />  

Due to the distance learning that encompasses an online environment, [[Self-regulation theory|self-regulation]] is essential for scaffolding to be effective; a study has shown that procrastinators are at a disadvantage in online distance learning and are not able to be scaffolded in the same degree as if there was an in-person instructor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tuckman |first=Bruce |date=Summer 2005 |title=Relations of academic procrastination, rationalizations, and performance in a web course with deadlines |journal=[[Psychological Reports]] |volume=96 |issue=4 |pages=1015–1021 |doi=10.2466/pr0.96.3c.1015-1021 |pmid=16173372|s2cid=35744706 }}</ref>  

According to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information research paper, teacher-student interactions are not what they used to be. Social relationships among teachers and their students are weakened due to online learning. Teachers tend to have low expectations from their students during online classes, which leads to low participation. Online education increases the risk of anxiety disorder, clinical depression, apathy, learned helplessness, and burnout. Learners without access to a laptop and the internet are often left out of the online learning world. Online learning courses do not provide enough verbal interaction, which makes  it difficult for teachers to measure student engagement and learning outcomes. Students with disabilities often require special software to access educational resources online.<ref name="t149">{{cite web | last=Winograd | first=George | title=Top Advantages And Disadvantages of Online Learning of 2024 | website=Mission Graduate | date=2024-06-22 | url=https://missiongraduatenm.org/disadvantages-of-online-learning/ | access-date=2024-06-26}}</ref>

Students who had more desire to master the content than to receive higher grades were more successful in the online courses.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cho|first1=Moon-Heum|last2=Shen|first2=Demei|date=Summer 2013|title=Self-regulation in online learning|journal=Distance Education|volume=34|issue=3|pages=290–301|doi=10.1080/01587919.2013.835770|s2cid=144928828}}</ref>  A study by Artino and Stephens<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Artino|first1=Anthony|last2=Stephens|first2=Jason|date=December 2009|title=Academic motivation and self-regulation: A comparative analysis of undergraduate and graduate students learning online|journal=The Internet and Higher Education|volume=12|issue=3–4|pages=146–151|doi=10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.02.001}}</ref> found that graduate students were more motivated in online courses than undergraduate students but suggests that academic level may contribute to the amount of technological support needed for positive learning outcomes, finding that undergraduate students needed less support than graduate students when navigating an online course.