Online and Distance Education Commons^™

A Fireworks Display Of Library Instruction, Terri M. Rickel

Nebraska Library Association: Conferences

Instructing students on how to use the library and the databases in one setting, especially when there is only 50 minutes, can be extremely overwhelming for the students and instructor. This session covered tips that can be used in the interview process with the professor, creating a flipped classroom or blended instruction opportunities to enhance the learning process ( including pre or post-session), as well as demonstrating guides for assisting students in database searching techniques. Finally, the session ended with ways to get buy-in from professors about tutorials and guides used outside the lessons.

Online Training For Judicial Officers And Court Personnel, Morgan Patten

Master of Education in Instructional Design and Technology Plan II Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to create two online, asynchronous courses: one on domestic violence for judicial officers and one on community supervision of sex offenders for probation and parole officers. These courses will be offered to the court community through the Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College, which is responsible for providing education to judicial officers, court personnel, and others who serve the judiciary.

These courses were developed in consultation with Supreme Court of Ohio staff, judicial officers, and other subject matter experts. These experts evaluated the courses on at least three occasions and provided substantive feedback. Once …

The Potential Of A Virtual School To Help Mobile Students, Amy G. Dickinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

An average of 1.8 million students drop out of high school each year (National Council of Education Statistics, 2014). Dropping out of high school is a problem for both society and the individual (Rumberger, 2003). It can lead to lower wages, unemployment, and incarceration. Mobile students make up a part of those who drop out of school. Students are considered mobile if they attend more than one high school in four years (Rumberger & Larson, 1998). One way of helping highly mobile students is to offer asynchronous virtual classes. Using Institutional Theory (Rumberger, 2001) and Academic Mediation Theory (Vygotsky, 1978; …

Education Individualized Through Technology, Rachel M. Leers

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis will overview technology in the classroom and the impact as well as the potential that is has individualizing instruction in order to meet the needs of every kind of student. The thesis will consist of thorough research on the subject matter. Technology is a great tool to use for individualizing instruction as it consists of many recourses, it increases communication, increases discussion, has high availability, it is affordable, and consists of a variety of lesson plan ideas to meet the needs of each student. Individualized learning is especially important in the classroom as it increases student achievement, provides …

Scalable Equals Asynchronous And Asynchronous Equals Boring. Or Does It?, Liz Thompson, Howard Carrier

Libraries

This paper reports on recent work to introduce a model of scalable, asynchronous library instruction into the First Year Writing program at James Madison University, inspired by the premise: Scalable equals asynchronous. And asynchronous equals boring. Or does it? The authors describe how a small team from Libraries & Educational Technologies at James Madison University planned and built an asynchronous, modular tutorial series, primarily designed to motivate students to engage with the library instruction contained within it. Information literacy instruction was provided using a tool called “Guide on the Side” and employed short scenario videos and additional content, followed by …

Psychiatric Clinicians’ Perspectives On Continuing Education (Ce) Programming In Rural Maine, Charles Michael Wakeling

All Theses And Dissertations

There are a variety of barriers that psychiatric clinicians face when attempting to attend continuing education programming. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological research study was to explore continuing education practices within the health care industry, specifically mental health care, with a focus on psychiatric clinicians’ perspectives on continuing education programming in rural Maine. For the purposes of this research study, mental health care was inclusive of behavioral health care and substance abuse treatment. This study defined the term “psychiatric clinician” to be inclusive of social workers, counselors, and therapists. The participant pool was comprised of 37 psychiatric clinicians employed …

Learning: It's Personal, Angela Atwell

Publications

If you have any questions about this presentation or would like a copy of the handout, please contact Angela Atwell. Her information can be found at the end of the presentation.

Contrary to popular belief, teaching and learning in an online environment is not easier or less work than a traditional classroom. It takes intentionality, discipline and commitment from both the instructor and the student. However, the flexibility offered by online programs makes this option increasingly appealing. With this growing demand, online instructors must think critically about the content, strategically plan activities and align outcomes with diverse student goals. All …

An Examination Of Accessible Hands-On Science Learning Experiences, Self-Confidence In One’S Capacity To Function In The Sciences, And Motivation And Interest In Scientific Studies And Careers., Mick D. Isaacson, Cary Supalo, Michelle Michaels, Alan Roth

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This study examined the potential relationship of accessible hands-on science learning experiences to the development of positive beliefs concerning one’s capacity to function in the sciences and motivation to consider science as a college major and career. Findings from Likert survey items given before and after engaging in accessible hands-on science laboratories show that students who were blind or had low vision (BLV) were more likely to agree with the following items after engaging in accessible science experiences: 1) I plan on enrolling as a science major in college; 2) My educational experiences, so far, have given me the …

How Do Faculty At The University Of New Mexico Use Humor In Online Teaching, John T. Granato

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

Humor is a ubiquitous experience that facilitates learning, social coordination and wellbeing. This study examined how the faculty at the University of New Mexico used humor in its online courses. The process involved faculty interviews, a focus group of instructional online designers, questionnaires and documentation to collect data, and then used thematic analysis and code development to arrive at its findings. The study found that the humor pedagogy at the University of New Mexico has fallen into disuse for online courses because of (1) a hesitation (fear) to use humor, (2) fear of what students would think, and (3), hesitation …

What Can Social Networks Tell Us About Learning Ecologies?, Caroline A. Haythornthwaite

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

The ecology metaphor is drawn from the biological sciences and refers to the “scientific study of the distribution, abundance and dynamics of organisms, their interactions with other organisms and with their physical environment” (British Ecological Society, 2016). In recent decades, the metaphor has become useful for tackling the complexity of new information and learning environments, particularly as driven by the increasing quantity of information, the growing number of available media and means of communicating, the extended reach of information technologies, and the new practices arising from these configurations. This paper brings to the discussion of learning ecologies the research and …

An M-Learning Maturity Model For Universities And Higher Educational Institutes, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Muasaad Alrasheedi, Arif Raza

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

An m-learning maturity model is put forward in this research to assess the mobile technology adoption rates in universities and higher educational institutes. The model is derived from Capability Maturity Model (CMM), which has been widely used in organizations to gauge the adoption of various new processes. Five levels of m-learning maturity are specified including preliminary, established, defined, structured, and continuous improvement. Each of these maturity levels is gauged through nine critical success factors (CSFs) in assessment questionnaires. The CSFs used in measuring instrument of the model are adopted from three of our previous empirical studies. Using an assessment questionnaire …

Faculty Development Initiative For Converting F2f Courses Into Online Courses, Maria Lizano-Dimare, Antoinette P. Bruciati

Education Faculty Publications

With faculty development changes in practice from traditional face-to-face to online delivery modalities, this paper describes an initiative for faculty at a College of Education whereby pre-existing courses are converted for online delivery. Opportunities and challenges are examined and used in the development of best practices for faculty development that embrace the use of online modalities. What strategies can Online Learning Mentors use to achieve the expected outcomes when mentees differ in technology competencies, pedagogical skills and have minimal online experience? Implications for faculty preparation, professional growth, and considerations for online conversion are discussed.

Informal Technology Coaching: Using Pre-Service Teacher Field Experiences To Support K-12 Flipped Classroom Instruction, Antoinette P. Bruciati, Maria Lizano-Dimare

Education Faculty Publications

This paper describes a pilot field experience component that is part of an online graduate level course in educational technology for pre-service teacher candidates. As part of the field experience, teacher candidates develop a model lecture video and learning activity screencast that are used to coach certified teachers in the methods for “flipping” their classrooms. The field experience is used by course instructors to determine the ability of their teacher candidates to plan technology-enhanced learning experiences, deepen their content knowledge, and improve their abilities to select and use developmentally appropriate technologies. Certified teachers benefit through informal coaching by pre-service teacher …

A Professional Development Certification Program For Instructors Teaching In The Online Environment And Student Completion And Success Rates At A Midwestern Community College: An Ex Post Facto Study, Marie L. Gardner

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The increased demand for online courses in higher education, particularly at community colleges, highlights two concerns: 1) online courses have high drop-out rates and 2) the prevalence of part-time instructors teaching online courses. As demand for online increases, administrators are challenged to hire faculty who are knowledgeable about their content and also qualified to teach in the online environment. Since the quality of online programs depends upon the performance of faculty, community colleges that offer online programs should provide training and on-going support for their instructors. The literature indicates that a best practice in online education to facilitate student learning …

Connected In Isolation: A Correlational Study Of Students' Sense Of Connectedness In An Online Course And Their Learning Outcomes, Ben Morrell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, bivariate correlational study is to understand the relationship between online high school students’ sense of connectedness in the course, as measured by the Online Student Connectedness Survey (OSCS) and the students’ standardized End of Course (EOC) Milestone scores. A review of literature revealed a lack of research on high school students and their perception of connection in their online course as it relates to their academic success. The independent variable for the study is the students’ sense of connectedness score as derived from the Online Student Connectedness Score (OSCS). The dependent variable for the study …

Differences In Sense Of Community Between Students In A Middle School Virtual Class Versus A Traditional Class, Brandon Ratliff

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the difference between students’ sense of community in the traditional classroom setting versus the virtual classroom setting with middle school–age students. McMillan and Chavis’s sense of community theory served as the theoretical foundation of the study. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was utilized to determine the effects of the variables. Students at a public middle school in Virginia and a virtual middle school in Tennessee participated in this study. Seventy-eight students participated from the public middle school that constituted the traditional setting, and 60 students participated from the virtual middle school that constituted the virtual setting. The students …

Differences In Motivation And Game Scores Between Middle School Students Completing Digital Game-Based Learning Tasks With And Without Supports Of Autonomy And Structure, Joseph Harmon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of autonomy and structure support on intrinsic motivation (IM), the facilitators of IM, and game scores during digital game-based learning (DGBL) tasks. The sample included 222 students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classrooms. Three instruments from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) were utilized during the study: (a) Perceived Choice; (b) Perceived Competence; and (c) Interest/Enjoyment. A quasi-experimental static-group comparison model research design was used to test the differences in perceived autonomy, perceived competence, interest/enjoyment, and game scores between four groups of middle school students completing online learning games in …

Using A Bci To Assess Attention During An Online Lecture, Ethan Hanner, Marguerite Doman

The Winthrop McNair Research Bulletin

Brain computer interfaces (BCI) use neural signals as input into computer applications. In this study, we demonstrate the use of a low-cost, commercially available BCI to directly measure participants’ attention levels while using WUtopia, and online learning platform developed at Winthrop University. Previous research demonstrated that students using this platform performed better on a post-lecture quiz than those who only viewed the lecture (Grossoehme et al.). We hypothesize that the increase in performance is due to an increase in attentiveness when using the WUtopia platform. We divided participants into the intervention (n = 7) and non-intervention (n = 12) groups. …

Opportunities And Challenges In Inter-Country Educational Collaboration: United States And Philippines, Richard Taylor

Southwestern Business Administration Teaching Conference

No abstract provided.

The Attitudes Of University Faculty Toward Humor As A Pedagogical Tool: Can We Take A Joke?, John A. Huss, Shannon Eastep

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Faculty members in a College of Education responded to a mixed methods questionnaire regarding their attitudes toward the use of humor as a pedagogical tool. Quantitative data and coding of open response questions revealed that instructors overall considered humor to be an integral part of their teaching plan and that humor relaxes students, contributes to a more enjoyable classroom climate, and helps students make content connections, in both traditional and web based classes. Despite general acceptance, the feedback suggested instructors could benefit from targeted training in how to effectively and consistently use humor as a teaching strategy, particularly in their …