Online and Distance Education Commons^™

A Case Study Of Online Discussion Boards For First Year College Students: A Qualitative Case Study, Eric Cummings

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to understand first-year college students’ perspectives on online discussion boards in the context of learning, via the community of inquiry framework. The theory guiding this study is Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which identifies how learners create their own learning experiences in the classroom. The theory’s value comes from it being used to understand student thought in discussion boards, which is the study’s focus. A case study was the design, and the goal was to gather empirical data from discussion board experiences from students. The central research question was What are the experiences of …

Revolutionary Applications Of Generative Ai In Higher Education Institutes (Heis) And Its Implications, Arvind Sahu, Atul Sahu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In recent decades, there has been a notable transformation in educational procedures due to technological breakthroughs, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI). In recent times, there has been a noteworthy advancement and acceptance of generative artificial intelligence (AI) models, specifically exemplified by the emergence of Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT). Within the overarching category of Generative AI, various AI tools and technologies facilitate the production of computer-generated text, images, and other forms of digitized media. This paper comprehensively analyzes the concepts and implications of the discourse surrounding Generative AI. By adopting a position that advocates for the acceptance rather than the opposition …

Evaluating Universities Twitter Web Pages Responding To The Black Lives Matter Movement, Hind Albadi, Thomas Kenny

Faculty Publications: Communication

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in May 2020, many colleges and universities responded by making statements on their website and social media channels condemning racism. Higher education institutions began initiatives for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) for faculty, staff, administrators, and students on campus. Three years later, this study investigates whether universities are still offering and promoting workshops, classes, events, and activities related to DEI to campus communities. To do so, the researchers conducted a content analysis on Twitter categorizing tweets over a one-month period, then they classified the Tweets using the top 10 colleges …

Digital Capital And Belonging In Universities: Quantifying Social Inequalities In The Philippines, Wilfred Luis Clamor, Czarina Saloma-Akpedonu

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

This study examines social inequalities in Philippine universities that were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach using a national sample of 677 university students was utilized to measure the mediating role of digital capital on social inequalities associated with belonging to academic spaces. For the purpose of determining direct and indirect impacts, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed. Sociodemographic (i.e., gender, age, type of residence, and family income) and educational (i.e., type of university, year in the university, and excellence criterion) characteristics were the direct predictors that were examined as exogenous variables for both digital capital and belonging. …

Facilitating Conditions That Increase Faculty Perceived Usefulness Of Learning Management Systems: A Multiple-Case Study, Darnell S. Kemp

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research study designed as a multiple-case study was to discover the facilitating conditions that led faculty at the higher education level to create activities using student-centered learning tools in the learning management systems (LMSs). The theories guiding this study were Davis’ technology acceptance model and two versions of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. Both theories looked at how perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU) determine a user’s use of a technology. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology added facilitating conditions as a primary determiner of technology …

Learning Technology Acceptance And Continuance Intention Among Business Students: The Mediating Effects Of Confirmation, Flow, And Engagement, Hungwei Tseng, Xiang Yi, Brent Cunningham

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The emergence of mobile applications has opened the door to a new kind of information and communication technology tool and educational support which is vital for students’ positive learning behaviours. The aims of this study were to examine the effects of three mediators (confirmation, flow, and student engagement) on students’ learning technology acceptance and information systems continuance intention, and to explore the functions of these variables in the mediating process between learning technology acceptance and continuance intention. Using PROCESS macro program where the bootstrap confidence interval was adopted, a parallel multiple mediation model and a serial multiple mediation model were …

Re:Thinking Virtual Faculty Learning Communities, Angela Atwell

Publications

Kickstarted with a POD Early Researcher Grant in 2016 and subsequent Research Grant in 2017, Virtual Faculty Learning Communities (V-FLC) have become a staple offering at our center. Since their inception, times and conditions have changed but the idea of reconnecting with colleagues, specifically remote colleagues remains at the heart of these V-FLC experiences. In this session, participants will explore the value and flexibility of V-FLCs by reviewing the development process, analyzing the concept of community, and scrutinizing the impact of size on a V-FLC. Participants will also leave with access to a framework for creating Virtual Faculty Learning Communities. …

And Finally... Systems And Instructional Design, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

A system is a set of interrelated parts, all working together toward a defined goal. The parts of the system depend on each other for input and output. The entire system uses feedback to determine if its desired goal has been reached. If not, then the system is modified until it reaches its goal (Dick et al., 2015).

Orientation Online: The Surprising Benefits Of Virtual New Faculty Orientation, Kristin Herman, Patricia Davidson

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This design case documents the reimagination of new faculty orientation for a mid-sized public university due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This fully virtual iteration was facilitated during the summer of 2020 and is compared both to previous in-person iterations of new faculty orientation as well as a blended modality version of the orientation program offered in 2021. The redesign is explained using language from Puntedura’s (2006) Substitution- Augmentation- Modification- Redefinition (SAMR) model of technology application in distributed learning. Such terminology provided a helpful common vocabulary for a design team pressured to determine which elements of orientation needed to be …

The Hidden Costs Of Connectivity: Nature And Effects Of Scholars’ Online Harassment, Chandell Gosse, George Veletsianos, Jaigris Hodson, Shandell Houlden, Tonia A. Dousay, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Nathan Hall

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A growing body of research reveals that some scholars face online harassment and that such harassment leads to a wide variety of adverse impacts. Drawing on data collected from an online survey of 182 scholars, we report on the factors and triggers involved in scholars’ experiences of online harassment; the environments where said experiences take place, and; the consequences it has for personal and professional relationships. We find that online harassment is heavily entwined with the work, identity, and in some cases, the requirements of being a scholar. The online harassment scholars experience is often compounded by other factors, such …

Authentic Assessment Framework May 2021 Version, Jen Harvey, Derek Dodd

Reusable Resources

The TU Dublin Authentic Assessment (AA) framework was designed to be used as a general guide.for staff undertaking assessment redesigns as part of a University Initiative under the IMPACT SATLE 1 funding call.

The Framework builds on the work of Gulikers et al, (2006) and Villerarroel et al (2020) and is structured across four dimensions: ‘Realism’, ‘Cognitive challenge’, ‘metacognition’, and ‘feedback processes’.

The resource provides a set of ideas that can be used to build the four dimensions into programme based Authentic Assessment strategies and practices.

Supporting Students Through Online Learning, Kristen M. Carlson

Teacher Development Faculty Publications

With the onset of a pandemic, there were opportunities and challenges for supporting learners. Schools and universities were physically closed while interaction shifted to a distance learning modality. In some instances, courses became asynchronous, while other courses met synchronously using video conferencing. Educators were adaptable when the pandemic occurred, quickly setting up home offices to meet their learners’ needs. This occurrence showed that it was in educators’ best interest to understand distance best practices. Distance learning has been utilized at institutions in the United States for the past two decades. However, it has not been widely adopted as mainstream because …

Community And Connectedness In Online Higher Education: A Scoping Review Of The Literature, Jesús Trespalacios, Chareen Snelson, Patrick R. Lowenthal, Lida Uribe-Flórez, Ross Perkins

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Community and connectedness are important concepts in online higher education. However, researchers debate how they are defined, operationalized, or enacted in practice. A scoping study was conducted to review the research literature on the extent, range, and nature of research in community and connectedness in online higher education. A total of 66 studies published from 2001 through 2018 were identified for review. The findings illustrate how research on community and connectedness has focused on areas such as course design, technology tools, faculty, and students as well as highlight the important role these concepts have played in the last two decades …

Making Your Online Life Easier Through Tools To Reduce Student Questions & Master Online Group Work, Melissa Diegnau

Management and Entrepreneurship Department Publications

The purpose of this session is to introduce faculty to three new tools they may not have used to enhance their on-line courses during COVID and beyond. We will explore TechSmith Capture; a great tool to reduce student emails and even receive student praise for your reply, and VoiceThread, a great tool to minimize complaints in on-line group work while protecting student privacy when sharing work. We will close with screencast-o-matic, the free version, for student presentations as an alternative to other platforms where student work can be seen by the public. Out goal today is to introduce you as …

And Finally... A New Era..., Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Some have written that the modern era of distance education began with the widespread availability of the internet. Others move the date back to when it was possible to communicate quickly, such as with the telephone.

And Finally... Crisis Planning, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

The time to plan is now. If you do not have a plan to move to online teaching and learning, develop one. If you do have a plan, review it, update it, and train everyone.

And Finally … It’Ll Never Happen …, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Educational contingency planning is the process of developing in advance what will be done if there is an event that impacts the school or training organization. Contingency planning for distance education is a subset of general contingency planning.

And Finally … The Night Is Dark …, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

For many, the previous 18 months have been dark and uncertain. Jobs have been changed, friends are different, and future events seem threatening— the playing field of doomsayers and charlatans preaching negativity.

Does "Significant Difference" Hold True? Comparing Student Performance In Online Vs. Traditional Science Courses, Emily Faulconer, John C. Griffith

Publications

Meta-analysis studies comparing student outcomes in online and traditional courses indicate no significant difference (or a slight improvement in online courses)

Institutional Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic: Faculty And Administrator Experiences, Narketta Sparkman-Key, Tammi F. Dice, Alexandra C. Gantt

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic required shifts in operations for institutions of higher education everywhere. Faculty and administrators were asked to adapt to meet the needs of students. We conducted a qualitative content analysis to understand institutional responses and examine the experiences of faculty and administrators during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of chaos theory. Institutional responses to the pandemic varied. Participants identified supports and resources deemed helpful, as well as those found to be inadequate or unwanted. We also found that the pandemic resulted in some positive outcomes for faculty and administrators, which led to growth in …

Status And Trends Of Mobile Learning In English Language Acquisition: A Systematic Review Of Mobile Learning From Chinese Databases, Zhang Jie, Helen Crompton

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Mobile learning has become the potential for innovation and disruption in the last decade. This study reviewed Chinese scholarly publications related to mobile learning research and published related to teaching and learning English in China’s higher education. Its purpose is to enrich systematic reviews for digital education with the provision of mobile learning research in China’s context with academic findings inaccessible to those who do not speak Chinese. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) principles are used to provide a transparent synthesis of extant studies. Major findings include that English learning has made progress in teaching strategy, …

Scientific And Information Literacy In Online Discussion Forums, Emily Faulconer

Publications

Scientific Literacy

• identify a valid scientific argument
• analyze scientific evidence including graphical representations of data
• use mathematical information, and critical thinking in decision-making processes

Guidelines For Designing Online Courses For Mobile Devices, Sally J. Baldwin, Yu-Hui Ching

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

College students frequently use mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets) to access online courses yet online course designers often do not design courses with mobile learning in mind. This research identified seven national and statewide online course design evaluation instruments and examined the criteria that guide course designers designing online courses for learning with mobile devices. Currently, minimal guidance on course design for mobile learning is offered in most of the national and statewide online course design instruments. Research-supported design tips that promote device compatibility, content readability, format optimization, and mobile-friendly navigation are suggested in this paper to guide future …

And Finally A Baker’S Dozen Ideas For Creating An Online Course, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Most likely, everyone reading this column in Distance Learning journal has been asked how to quickly develop an online course, or tasked to actually redesign a course for online delivery. For those who have taught and learned in the world of distance education this process is easy, straightforward, even if time-consuming. One issue for new online designers or instructors is that much of the process for converting a traditional course to an online one is not intuitive, and in some respects is counterintuitive. For example, the idea of chunking instruction into single concept building blocks is an example of …

And Finally... Blending In All The News That’S Fit To Print, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Even the New York Times agrees. In a recent Business section article about success in online courses, the Times wrote that “The instructional ingredients of success include … short videos of 6 minutes or less, interspersed with interactive drills and texts; online forums where students share problems and suggestions; and online mentoring and tutoring” (“Online Courses,” 2020). The Times got it right.

And Finally … What’S In A Name?, Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Call me Ishmael” is the first line of the classic novel, Moby Dick. Most high school students do not realize the importance of Ishmael’s name when they start reading. However, if they wanted an A on the final essay they wrote about the novel, they should have mentioned how this first line of three words set the intellectual tone for Herman Melville’s masterpiece.

Instructional Design Leadership And Management Competencies: Job Description Analysis, Joel Gardner, Lewis Chongwony, Amie Tope

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Researchers in the field of instructional design and educational technology journals usually focus on the practice of instructional design; however, the management and leadership of instructional design has typically received little emphasis. Recent studies have investigated the competencies associated with effective leadership and management of instructional design from the perspective of those they lead, and from the perspective of leaders in higher education. There is, however, little systematic research into what competencies employers require of leaders and managers of instructional designers in higher education. This research would provide the field with further guidance on training and preparing instructional design leaders …

Staff Accessibility And Online Engagement With First-Year Students: An Autoethnographic Reflection, Andrew Kelly

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Studying online is becoming an increasingly attractive option to prospective students worldwide, yet external completion rates tend to be considerably lower than those enrolled on campus. Through an autoethnographic critical reflection process of teaching 27 first-year online students at a regional Australian university, this article considers methods for increasing accessibility and student engagement as well as managing personal challenges supporting online students from non-traditional backgrounds. Among seven key implications for practice, this article argues the need for genuine and open-ended interaction with online students at the early stages of a semester. It also recommends that teaching staff consciously recognize the …

Well Begun Is Half Done: Using Online Orientation To Foster Online Students' Academic Self-Efficacy, M'Hammed Abdous

Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Publications

Past research suggests that the use of an online learning orientation is an effective proactive strategy to ease online students' transition into online learning. Based on a sample of 3,888 online students from an urban public university, we used ordinal logistic regression to understand the influence of students' satisfaction with an online learning orientation (OLO), their prior level of online learning experience, and their demographics on their academic self-efficacy (ASE). Consistent with prior research, our findings confirmed the influence of students' satisfaction with OLO, their prior online learning experience, and their gender on their ASE. Unsatisfied students were 85% less …

Old Dogs Can Learn To Like New Tricks: One Instructor's Change In Attitude To Online Instruction From 2009-2017, Thomas V. O'Brien, Holly A. Foster

Faculty Publications

This qualitative case study examined a veteran instructor's change in attitude about university online instruction. After a short review of the literature and explanation of the project, researchers conducted a content analysis of an instructor's annual self-reports about his online teaching of a graduate course in the social sciences. The self-reports were written between 2009 and 2017. The researchers also examined students' end-of-semester evaluation scores about the course and instructor. Results suggest that the teacher began online teaching with a mixed attitude. After four years of teachin ghte online course (delivered once each spring) the instructor reported more about content …