Education Commons^™

Meaningful Engagement Via Robotic Telepresence: An Exploratory Case Study, Tommy Lister

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Recent advances in robotic telepresence have created new opportunities for students that are unable to engage in traditional classroom environments physically. Although these technologies are still being tested in application, early indicators support the idea that robotic telepresence enhances the learning experience by allowing greater autonomy and depth of engagement with peers. This exploratory case study examines the experiences of a fifth-grade student who was limited in her ability to attend school due to illness. It utilizes a qualitative investigation into the experiences of robotic-telepresence from the perspectives of the remote student, peer students in the classroom context, and the …

One Team’S Journey With Irubrics, Danan Myers, Amy Peterson, Angela Matthews, Miguel Sanchez

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This study explains the process of incorporating electronic grading rubrics into multiple sections of one Digital Literacy course at one online university. Researchers share their experience transitioning from paper rubrics to electronic iRubrics linked directly into each assignment, a process that involved evaluating existing course rubrics, revising them to align with assignments and institutional learning outcomes (ILOs), running pilot courses using the automated iRubrics tool, and training faculty on the use of these new rubrics and the iRubrics tool. The experiences suggest that using iRubrics instead of paper rubrics can significantly increase the efficiency of grading and offer quick access …

Analysis Of Instructional Design Job Announcements (2016), Marina Raynis

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This study reports on the results of a job announcement analysis of ninety-three (93) instructional design jobs. Job announcements were collected five (5) times: three times in September 2016, and twice in October 2016. The job analysis focused on identifying key responsibilities and qualifications for instructional designers across the following industries: Corporate, Government / Military, Health, Higher Education, and Non-Profit. The results are discussed, as well as supported and contrasted with a literature review that includes reports on surveyed instructional design professionals.

Adaptive Learning: A Tale Of Two Contexts, Charles Dziuban, Patsy Moskal, Constance Johnson, Duncan Evans

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This paper presents the results of student reactions to adaptive learning at two universities with considerably different contexts: a large public institution and a for-profit, professional university. A student response protocol developed by and administered at the University of Central Florida (UCF) was also distributed to students at Colorado Technical University (CTU). Demographic comparisons of the two responding sample groups indicated considerable differences in student characteristics, especially with respect to age and work status. However, a factor invariance comparison revealed that students at both universities evaluated the adaptive climate similarly though the lens of learning environment, guidance path and progression. …

Educational Apps In The Blended Learning Classroom: Bringing Inquiry-Based Learning Into The Mix, Todd S. Cherner, Alex Fegely

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

With schools investing heavily in mobile technologies and emphasizing blended learning lessons, teachers are being required to create learning experiences that utilize these technologies to further prepare secondary students for college and the workforce. In this article, the authors first present a brief vignette intended to be representative of the emotions and pressures facing teachers as they prepare to teach with these new technologies. Next, the authors provide a framework teachers can use to create app-based lessons, which are lessons that use multiple apps to engage students in an inquiry-based learning experience. To provide further support, the authors include two …

Beyond Assumptions: How Urban Students View And Practice Digital Literacies In And Out Of School, Storey Mecoli

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This qualitative, ethnographic case study investigates digital literacy practices and perceptions of students at an urban public high school in the Boston metropolitan area comprising a racially, ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse student body, an under-studied demographic. The study compares in-school and out-of-school literacy practices and posits the role schools might play in preparing learners. The study examines digital literacy practices among student based on information gathered through focus groups, survey methods, and interviews. Three controlling questions guided the study:

1. What digital literacy practices are students in Washington High School engaging in outside of school?
2. What purposes do these youth …

Library Portal 2.0: The Social Research Management System, Apostolos Koutropoulos

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Library 2.0 (L2) has been discussed in depth in library circles in recent years. This article looks at L2 initiatives and technology implementation with regard to L2 and proposes a reboot, repositioning the library portal as a Social Research Management System (SRMS). This SRMS adheres to the L2 principles of purposeful, user-driven, library services. The SRMS is envisioned as the center of academic research and activity at universities, not as a peripheral tool. Creating a new generation library portal (the SRMS) is a group endeavor, thus by utilizing both on-campus and peer resources, the realization of the faceted, modularized, SRMS …

Logging In To Learning Analytics, Edna J. Pressler

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

According to the most recent Higher Education Editions of the Horizon Report (Johnson et al., 2013; Johnson, Adams, & Cummins, 2012; Johnson, Smith, Willis, Levine, & Haywood, 2011), learning analytics (LA) is an emerging technology that will be widely adopted within the next few years. In this article, I use the McKinsey 7S Model (Waterman, Peters, & Phillips, 1980) as a way to organize a review of the learning analytics (LA) literature, in order to help organizational leaders assess and increase an organization’s readiness for LA. More specifically, I identify the 7 areas of an organization that need to be …

Dewey, Desi, And Dec: Exploring The Educational Philosophy Of Indian Open, Online, And Distance Education, Dennis Maxey

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This paper explores pedagogical underpinnings of current Indian open, online, and distance education. Tracing the history of national and cultural adherence to the precepts of American educational theorist and philosopher, John Dewey, the paper notes the Deweyesk perspective has not translated into constructivist distance educational practices. The work surveys the history of distance education in India, and reviews literature in the field produced by Indian academics, whose recent reports suggest that online education may be transforming Indian educational philosophy, bringing a more constructivist approach to teaching on the sub-continent.

The paper is organized into the following sections:

• A brief history …

Development Of A New Mindset For Elearning Pedagogy: For The Teacher And The Learner, Tara Devi S. Ashok

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Teaching, like learning, involves a personal journey. This researched narrative records the role of technology integration in one instructor’s teaching practice, and examines how literature in the field accounts for ways eLearning technologies have kept the author and her students engaged in the process of learning. Dr. Tara Ashok of the University of Massachusetts Boston chronicles the personal eLearning tool kit she has selected for effective delivery of contents in different teaching formats. She posits the importance of developing a new mindset to adapt to emerging technologies and examines the literature and her own experiences suggesting how and why, eLearning …

Discovering Behavioral Intervention: A Parent’S Interactive Guide To Aba, Richard Fleming, Carol Curtin, Cheryl A. Gray, Charles D. Hamad

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect one in 110 children in the U.S. Parents of children with ASD need clear and accurate information to communicate with professionals as they seek appropriate services, including applied behavior analysis (ABA) based intervention. Behavioral professionals can assist parents in this endeavor by recommending resources, including online courses. This paper describes the development and evaluation of an online course on ABA for parents of children with ASD. Parents completing a summative field test (N=21) made significant gains in knowledge and reported high levels of satisfaction. Implications include the potential for enhanced parent-professional collaboration in treatment decision-making.

Foreword, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Alan Girelli

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This first publication of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning (CIEE) opens and closes with research studies on eLearning practice. The studies frame three theoretical discussions regarding the judicious adoption of eLearning technologies and one extended narrative regarding the various factors behind innovative best practices.

Current Issues In Emerging Elearning, Volume 1, Issue 1

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This first publication of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning (CIEE) opens and closes with research studies on eLearning practice. The studies frame three theoretical discussions regarding the judicious adoption of eLearning technologies and one extended narrative regarding the various factors behind innovative best practices.

Technological Revolution And The Black Studies Curriculum: A Course Proposal, Abdul Alkalimat

Trotter Review

A technological revolution is changing the world. The computer is fast becoming the universal tool in all aspects of work, production and communication, and innovations in bio-technology are fast transforming agriculture and health. The main impact of this technological revolution has been to restructure the economy, both the centers of accumulation as well as the labor process. It is also restructuring the methods by which people communicate, form and maintain communities. In general, the objective basis of social life is being fundamentally changed.

This essay proposes a basic course that not only focuses on the technological revolution, but should be …

Better High Schools: What Would Create Them?, Theodore R. Sizer

New England Journal of Public Policy

The American desire to improve education has set off a flurry of activity to reform schools. In such a climate of restructuring, Sizer explores what better secondary schools might "look like" if indeed they existed. His consideration of the improved high school is based on five particular conditions — all of which support teachers and students in their engagement with the serious stuff of learning and all of which must exist in one form or another for schools to be effective. The conditions are cast as questions. Sizer locates the responsibility for school reform broadly, from the heart of a …

Violence Prevention In The Schools, Deborah B. Prothrow-Stith

New England Journal of Public Policy

Violence and its consequent injury and death represent a major health problem in this country. The United States has one of the highest homicide rates in the industrialized world: ten times higher than that of England and twenty times higher than that of Spain. Fatalities from violence represent only the tip of the iceberg: nonfatal intentional injuries occur as many as one hundred times more frequently: assault and intentional injuries identified in medical studies can be four times those reported to the police, suggesting that medical institutions are a primary site for identification of individuals with violence-related problems. Violence and …

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department: Correctional Education Program, Robert C. Rufo, Stefan F. Lobuglio

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article describes the Sheriff's Department correctional education programs at the Suffolk County House of Correction and Jail. It points out the tremendous need for educational services given that more than 60 percent of those incarcerated in these institutions are high school drop-outs, and a much higher percentage are functionally illiterate. Because 95 percent of those incarcerated at this facility will return to their communities within three years, educating prisoners serves as a constructive and cost-effective means of preventing recidivism and an effective investment in public safety. The authors also discusses the new Mandatory Literacy Law, which essentially links literacy …

New Directions In Juvenile Justice: School-Based Crime Prevention, Paul F. Walsh Jr.

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article considers the role of the district attorney as a catalyst for aggressive school-based educational programs to help young people avoid trouble with the legal system. Walsh argues that while it may be unfair to burden classroom teachers with additional responsibilities concerning drug and alcohol issues, school is the logical site at which to provide these services and that a district attorney is well suited to act as a catalyst and resource for providing these additional services.

Connecting Productive Schools And Workplaces For A Knowledge Society, Byrd L. Jones, Robert W. Maloy

New England Journal of Public Policy

As American education struggles to achieve new competencies for an emerging information age, popular reforms remain locked in industrial-era metaphors. Testing for basic skills, teacher professionalism, and school-business collaboration assumes that schooling prepares workers with skills for predictable roles. Meanwhile, computers and related technologies make possible low-cost information that is transforming learning and jobs. Hierarchical organizational structures that subordinated most employees have given way to flatter, flexible teams. Quasi-autonomous decision making by knowledgeable professionals extends to more and more workers. When businesses simply offer schools a few extra resources, they stunt interactive partnerships that enable youth and business cultures to …

Inclusion: Educating Students With And Without Disabilities, Bill Henderson

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article presents an overview of inclusion, a practice that is being utilized increasingly in schools across the country. In inclusive schools, students who have disabilities learn together with their nondisabled peers. Teachers and support staff collaborate to serve all students in integrated classes. After reviewing the social and legal background of inclusion, Henderson describes specific strategies for designing and implementing successful programs. He outlines organizational change, curriculum and instruction modification, and school culture transformation.

What's Wrong With Reform?, James H. Case

New England Journal of Public Policy

The conservative educational reform movement, which still, after more than a decade, is the dominant force in school reform, has had little success in improving schools because it is based on invalid and self-defeating theoretical assumptions. Taken together, these assumptions have the effect of substituting nostalgia — a longing for the schools the reformers themselves attended —for policy and for increasing standardization at the expense of individual growth and development. The reformers (Bloom, Hirsch, Ravitch, Finn, Bennett, et al.) have particular difficulty, given their assumptions, in dealing both with individual differences among students and with ethnic and racial differences among …

Service Learning: The Promise And The Risk, Alice L. Halsted, Joan C. Schine

New England Journal of Public Policy

Service learning, the pairing of meaningful work in the community and structured reflection, has the potential to transform schools. It provides opportunities for young people to test new roles, develop skills, apply academic learning in a "real world" setting, and move toward responsible citizenship. Service learning can reinvigorate traditional classrooms and turn passive students into dynamic and engaged learners. However, unless it is implemented with care, with a solid rationale and clearly articulated learning and service goals, service learning will fail to realize this potential. The power and the promise of service learning are too great to allow this imaginative …