Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Alexa?: Possibilities Of Voice Assistant Technology And Artificial Intelligence In The Classroom, Patrick D. Hales, Melissa Anderson, Tonya Christianson, Amber Gaspar, Billi Jo Meyer, Beth Nelson, Krista Shilvock, Mary Steinmetz, Makenzi Timmons, Michelle Vande Weerd

Empowering Research for Educators

The following paper represents the combined effort of 10 educators exploring the experience and use of voice assistant technology in classrooms. This reflection and study of our classrooms looks to better understand both our use of technology and students’ use of technology in very specific ways. Is there a place for voice assistant technology in our classrooms? What benefits are there? What obstacles exist? We tell our stories and experiences here with the intent to provide context and continue the discussion among more of our colleagues.

From Assertion To Conversion: Classroom Management For 21st Century Teachers, Benjamin Halbkat

Empowering Research for Educators

The following position paper provides a new teacher's perspective on modern classroom management. Where is there room for improvement? What might the future hold?

High School Biology Preparation: Do Students Feel They Have Been Adequately Prepared For Introductory College Biology?, Mara Neitzel

Empowering Research for Educators

The purpose of this study was to determine how well students are being prepared in high school for introductory college biology courses. Specifically, the objectives of the study are as follows: To gain a better understanding about how well students feel they have been prepared for college science classes based on their high school education, to gain insight on how college preparation in high school impacts students’ self-confidence, and to determine if the accessibility of advanced education courses is influenced by the size of a high school. A mixed methods survey was distributed to freshman in the fall semester of …

In Support Of The Tinker V. Des Moines Decision, Matthew Olson

Empowering Research for Educators

The following position outlines a case for the Tinker v. Des Moines decision, including a historical and modern perspective. With freedom of speech and protest being a regular part of the discussion about U.S. society and schools, now is a good time to look back.

Student Outcomes -Online Vs. Hybrid, Sharon Jalene

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The purpose of this class is to introduce the student to the field of Kinesiology -the science of human movement. Concepts in the various subfields of Kinesiology are examined and career opportunities are explored. Students will also gain a better understanding of the course concepts through online lectures, discussions, assignments, and quizzes

Student Polling In Webcampus, Benjamin Root, Jennie Tran, Joey Kim, Philip Cheung

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Our goal was to increase student engagement with online courses by building a student polling system that works inside of WebCampus.

Dynamic Lightboard Videos, Kristina Schmid, Peter Mccandless, Eddie Gomez

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

STEM content in online courses can be difficult to convey. Instructional videos are often limited to voiced-over, handwritten examples which can limit the quality of dynamic presentation. The need is for a technological medium that facilitates a personal connection. The Office of Online Education’s new lightboard technology enhances video presentation. This solution supports online learning and student engagement to promote student success.

February 2019, Marci Grant

The CETL Correspondent

New Teaching and Learning Coordinator has been hired!

Mr. Steve Ray has joined the ranks of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, please contact Steve and give him a warm SWOSU welcome.

Meaningful Learner Information For Mooc Instructors Examined Through A Contextualized Evaluation Framework, Kerrie Douglas, Mitch Zielinski, Hillary Merzdorf, Heidi Diefes-Dux, Peter Bermel

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Improving STEM MOOC evaluation requires an understanding of the current state of STEM MOOC evaluation, as perceived by all stakeholders. To this end, we investigated what kinds of information STEM MOOC instructors currently use to evaluate their courses and what kinds of information they feel would be valuable for that purpose. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 faculty members from a variety of fields and research institutions who had taught STEM MOOCs on edX, Coursera, or Udacity. Four major themes emerged related to instructors’ desires: (1) to informally assess learners as an instructor might in a traditional classroom, (2) to …

What Is Humanistic Stem And Why Do We Need It?, Debra T. Bourdeau, Beverly L. Wood

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Getting students who are planning on technical careers to value their general education courses, particularly in the humanities, is not an easy task. The experiences of two professors from disciplines that cross the so-called divide between STEM and Humanities motivate not only a series of courses blending the two to the advantage of their own students but also a virtual pedagogical community to support efforts taking place elsewhere.

A Predictive Study Of Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Skills And Their Roles In The Social Network Interaction Of Online Discussion Board, Cherng-Jyh Yen, Aras Bozkurt, Chih-Hsiung Tu, Laura Sujo-Montes, Claudia Rodas, Hoda Harati, Adam B. Lockwood

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Online learners’ learning skills and behaviors are challenging for educators to foresee, particularly what skills may be related to certain social interaction behaviors. Self-regulated learning (SRL) skills are critical to online learning. It is unclear how SRL skills may predict social network interaction. This study empirically investigated: How will SRL skills predict students’ network roles (i.e., in-degree, out-degree, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, eigenvector centrality, reciprocated vertex pair ratio, & PageRank) in the social network discussions of discussion board within online courses? The predictive utility of SRL skills for betweenness and closeness centralities was supported. Learners with greater SRL skills play …

Lxd: Ten Critical Differences Between Lx And Ux, Jeffrey Bergin

The Emerging Learning Design Journal

The term “Learner Experience Design” is beginning to gain currency. Yet, there is little agreement over what that term means. Is it just user experience design for learners? In my opinion, LX design differs from UX design in ten important ways. Taken together, these differences make the job of learning experience designers quite distinct from the job of user experience designers.

Spotlighting Innovative Use Cases Of Mobile Learning, Alex Rockey, Samantha Eastman, Mindy Colin, Margaret Merrill

The Emerging Learning Design Journal

Students bring 2-3 devices to class, 100% of 18-29 year olds own a cellphone and 94% own a smartphone (PEW Research Center, 2018), reflecting ubiquitous mobile device ownership among university-aged students across the U.S. Due to the surge of personal devices, campus infrastructure is increasing capacity to rapidly meet demands for wireless access, and instructors are using mobile learning to push classroom boundaries within and beyond the campus environment. This brief showcases innovative uses of mobile learning uncovered through a cross-campus study at four campuses. Our findings have implications for administrative, funding, information technology, and curricular decisions on individual campuses, …

Toward Formalizing Teleportation Of Pedagogical Artificial Agents, John Angel, Naveen S. Govindarajulu, Selmer Bringsjord

The Emerging Learning Design Journal

Our paradigm for the use of artificial agents to teach requires among other things that they persist through time in their interaction with human students, in such a way that they “teleport” or “migrate” from an embodiment at one time t to a different embodiment at later time t'. In this short paper, we report on initial steps toward the formalization of such teleportation, in order to enable an overseeing AI system to establish, mechanically, and verifiably, that the human students in question will likely believe that the very same artificial agent has persisted across …

Cool Newsletter, Spring 2019, Coastal Office Of Online Learning

Coastal Office of Online Learning/Digital Learning Publications

No abstract provided.

Problem-Based Learning And Information Literacy: Revising A Technical Writing Class, Kelly Diamond

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This chapter discusses the collaboration between a librarian and faculty member to revise an online technical writing course using the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy, problem-based learning, and instructional design principles. The chapter outlines three components of course revision: 1) re-design online course to be more engaging to students as well as easier to navigate; 2) create assignments and activities to mirror actual workplace writing tasks; 3) develop research assignments focused on information literacy skills used in the workplace. Using elements from ADDIE (Analyze; Design; Develop; Implement; Evaluate) and Backward Design, the course …

Asynchronous Video And The Development Of Instructor Social Presence And Student Engagement, Kayla Collins, Shannon Groff, Cindy Mathena, Lori Kupczynski

Education Collection

Enrollment in online learning continues to grow in the higher education sector, along with persistent goals dedicated to achieving better student outcomes and lowering attrition rates. Improved student engagement has been shown to possibly reduce attrition rates through a greater sense of connectedness and decreased feelings of isolation among online learners. Instructor social presence may be the most important factor in building the relationships that foster learning and retention. Through communication, the instructor conveys the necessary immediacy behaviors required to cultivate these interpersonal relationships. With improved technology that allows for enhanced communication in online classrooms, the use of asynchronous video …

Faculty Development For Online Teaching, Karen R. Johnson, Gertrude I. Hewapathirana, Mauvalyn M. Bowen

Business Faculty Publications

Despite dramatic increase in online education and the benefits associated with this instructional pedagogy, many challenges exist with the design and delivery of online learning. Faculty play a critical role in the process of quality online education. Yet, development opportunities for faculty are too few, often lacking a comprehensive approach needed for faculty to function optimally in the online learning environment. The interconnection among pedagogy, technology, context, students, faculty, key decision makers, and administrators in higher education complicates the online teaching and learning processes. The purpose of this chapter is to address development issues related to faculty who teach online …

The Relationship Between Metaliteracy Pretest, Posttest, And Metacognitive Strategies For Library Research Skills Scale: Creating A Metaliteracy Course For Online Ed.D. Students, Melissa D. Atkinson

Library Research and Publications

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, exploratory study was to create a metaliteracy course for online Ed.D. students and determine if there was a relationship between the Metacognitive Strategies for Library Research Skills Scale, Metaliteracy Pretest, and Metaliteracy Posttest. Library literature is lacking on assessment of information literacy skills as determined by a new term, metaliteracy, and the goals and objectives associated with this new term. A course was created in the researcher’s institution’s learning management system, Canvas, using metaliteracy goals and objectives. The researcher developed a pretest and posttest using the goals and objectives of metaliteracy to assess students’ …

Not Always A Straight Line: Connecting Information-Literacy Instruction To Online Students, Carol A. Leibiger

Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.