Biography: Dr. Haimin Dai has received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Sun Yat-sen University and her doctoral degree from Murdoch University, Australia. She is currently an assistant professor at the School of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her primary research interest focuses on the use of technology in education. As a lead/corresponding author, she has published several articles in highly ranked journals across various fields of research, including Computers & Education (rated top 1% in Education), Computers in Human Behavior (ranked top 3% in Psychology, Experimental), Interactive Learning Environments (JCR, Q1), Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, and Higher Education(JCR, Q1). She also led and participated in research projects in mainland China, Macau and Australia. Her achievements were also recognized by Murdoch University. She received the “Best Publication Award for HDR students 2020” and the “2021 Vice Chancellor's Excellence in Research — Best Research Output Award” from Murdoch University. In October 2021, she was awarded the prize of “Excellent Chinese Overseas Students” by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

Topic: Persistence in Online Learning: A Systematic Review

Abstract: The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought drastic changes in social life. The evolving global situation stresses schools to instigate changes in the way they operate to curb the spread of the virus and safeguard their staff’s and students’ health and safety (World Health Organization, 2020). Online learning has been suggested as a feasible alternative to ensure the continuity of learning and chosen by many schools globally. Correspondingly, online learning has shifted its role of an extended/complementary nature into a substitutive/integrated part of formal education. Even though it has been almost three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, 43, 518, 726 students are still reported to be affected by partial or complete school closure (UNESCO, 2022). To optimize learners’ experience in the virtual settings and promote their learning achievement, it is worthwhile to grab this opportunity to reflect and examine the online learning experience documented in the extant literature, synthesize the research findings regarding the underlying mechanisms influencing learners’ persistence in online learning, and correspondingly devise targeted strategies to tackle the dropout issue systematically. The speech will discuss our findings regarding (a) the current literature on persistence in online settings; and (b) the areas where knowledge is inclusive or as yet well-explored, thereby identifying directions for future research.