This paper empirically examines the impact of the interactivity elicited by e-learning environments for higher education. By considering the underlying processes of imagery, spatial presence, copresence and flow, we analyse how interactivity affects users’ responses towards the learning environment, including their actual continuance behaviour. We validate our conceptual model by using survey and registrar data obtained from 2530 students of an open, distance university in the European Higher Education Area. The results suggest that the interactivity elicited by an e-learning environment unleashes imagery that in turn facilitates spatial presence and copresence as well as flow. Significant paths are also found from interactivity to flow and from flow to e-learner response variables (attitude, intention to continue and actual continuance behaviour). The paper provides a novel account of the presence and flow-enabling mechanisms in e-learning and offers novel knowledge on how higher education institutions can facilitate e-learners’ continuance behaviour

This paper seeks to explain why some individuals sink further into states of flow than others, and what effects flow has in the context of a virtual education environment. Our findings—gathered from both questionnaire and behavioural data—reveal that flow states are elicited by the e‐learners' senses of controlling the virtual education environment, their attention centred on the learning activity, and their feelings of physically being in such an environment. We bring evidence about three benefits from flow states: they facilitate e‐learner's positive emotions, they enhance e‐learners' academic performance, and they contribute to students' effective continuance in e‐learning.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to investigate university faculty perceptions and practices of using Wikipedia as a teaching resource.Design/methodology/approach: – This study is based on a large survey to all faculty members in two large public universities. A total of 913 valid responses were collected through an online questionnaire with 9 control variables and 41 Likert-scaled questions.Findings: – The results do not support an overwhelming sceptical attitude among faculty towards Wikipedia. The overall quality of Wikipedia articles is highly valued and most faculty are regular users, just as students are. Though most faculty show a positive view on the teaching usefulness of Wikipedia, few of them actually use it for teaching purposes. A certain conflict has been detected between standard academic procedures of knowledge building and the open collaborative model on which Wikipedia rests. In the end, two important factors play a role in shaping faculty views: their colleagues’ perceived opinions and practices, and academic disciplines.Research limitations/implications: – The survey has only been conducted in two universities. More institutions are needed to broaden the scope.Originality/value: – The authors have gathered a greater number of answers than those collected in previous studies. The questionnaire is also very extensive. The survey has been addressed to all faculty members at one online university and at one standard brick-and-mortar university.