Online and Distance Education Commons^™

An Institutional Approach To Developing A Culture Of Student Persistence, Gary J. Burkholder Jr, Jim Lenio, Nicole Holland, Alan Seidman, Diane Neal, Jimmy Middlebrook, Rebecca Jobe

Office of Institutional Research and Assessment Publications

There continues to be increasing focus on college student retention and persistence. This focus is coming from the United States federal government, accrediting organizations, and from students, parents, and the public. Given the spiraling costs of education and the fact that retention rates have not improved over time, various stakeholders are concerned about the value of a higher education credential. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the efforts of a for-profit, distance education institution to focus its resources, in an evidence-based manner, on retention and to develop a culture of retention and persistence throughout the institution. The literature …

The Journey To Teaching Online: A Case Study Of Faculty Preparation And Experiences In Online Teaching, Angel Chi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When Bill Gates published his book "The Road Ahead" (1995), he summarized the transformative implications of the personal computing revolution and described a future profoundly changed by the arrival of a global information super highway. Almost twenty years later, the tsunami of online programs and the MOOCs (massive online open courses) is impacting the structural integrity of postsecondary institutions and changing the competitive landscape of higher learning at an unprecedented pace. When Allen and Seaman (2013) asked the question of whether faculty acceptance of online education increased in their Sloan Consortium annual report, only 30.2% of chief academic …

Multimedia Instructional Tools And Student Learning In Computer Applications Courses, Debra Laier Chapman

Dissertations

Advances in technology and changes in educational strategies have resulted in the integration of technology into the classroom. Multimedia instructional tools (MMIT) have been identified as a way to provide student-centered active-learning instructional material to students. MMITs are common in introductory computer applications courses based on the theory that this type of educational tool should be effective in increasing student knowledge and result in positive changes to motivation and the learning strategies used in the course.

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of the MMIT in an introductory computer applications course to determine if there was …

The Effect Of Online Discussion Forums On Student Learning And Student Perception Of Learning In A Science Course At The Community College Level, Rachel Syring Ryan

Dissertations

Institutions of higher education are feeling the pressure to offer a greater number of courses through alternative methods of instructional delivery including hybrid and online courses in an attempt to meet the needs of their students. Among institutions of higher education, community colleges have become a forerunner in online education, in many cases incorporating the development of online education into the institution’s strategic plan. To some educators, hybrid course offerings provide the best of face-to-face education with electronic transfer of information. One of the greatest challenges which exists in the development of a hybrid course is the development of instructional …

Job Embeddedness Theory: Can It Help Explain Employee Retention Among Extension Agents?, Jeffery A. Young, James Stone, Oscar Aliaga, Brad Shuck

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The study reported here examined Job Embeddedness theory, as introduced by Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, and Erez (2001), which offers a method of discovering why people stay in an organization. Extension agents in two states (N=454) reported significantly different levels of job embeddedness during the study period. Regression analyses showed that job embeddedness was significantly correlated with and predicted unique variance in intent to stay.

Transformation Change Via Disruptive Technology: Removing Education Barriers In K-12 Through Distance And Blended Learning, Lisa Cluxton Jones

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Lisa Cluxton Jones on July 29, 2013.

Learning To Adapt: Online Social Science Instruction In Higher Education, Patrick Steven Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Online learning is a rapidly growing phenomenon in post-secondary education. Institutions of higher learning have embraced online learning for its perceived merits, but without the consideration of how instructors deal with this different learning medium. Little is known of the extent to which different disciplines are suited to the online medium; this is pertinent to disciplines that rely on spontaneous in-person discussion. Furthermore, as colleges continue to invest heavily in online learning, instructors who only possess face-to-face teaching experience may begin teaching online. This poses a pedagogical challenge for instructors who are unfamiliar with the medium. This qualitative, in-depth interview …

Current Practices In Distance Learning Library Services At Urban And Metropolitan Universities, J B. Hill, Hongyu Li, Carol Macheak

Faculty Scholarship

Urban and metropolitan universities serve a diverse population of learners, including nontraditional and part-time students, many taking courses on-campus, off-campus at remote locations and/or online. Libraries at these institutions are committed to providing collections and services to support students and faculty engaged in both traditional and online environments. This article reports on a survey of libraries at the member institutions of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) that identifies the services, activities and policies that urban and metropolitan libraries have developed to provide library resources to their distance learners.

Mobile Learning - Why Tablets?, Helen Galatis, Gerry K. White

Digital learning research

Although flexible and distance learning has been an integral part of the education landscape for many years , the nature of learning using technology has experienced an unprecedented rate of change over the last decade. This change has been also reflected in the terminology used to describe this learning, such as e - learning, m - learning and more. In the broadest sense, the new technologies have been a catalyst for merging the boundaries of formal, informal and lifelong learning. Global economies are driving aspects of social change through the adaptation of new technologies for everyday business and transactions. As …

A New Polemic: Libraries, Moocs, And The Pedagogical Landscape, Nora Almeida

Publications and Research

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) has emerged in the past few years as the poster child of the online higher education revolution. Lauded and derided, MOOCs (depending on who you ask) represent the democratization of education on a global scale, an overblown trend, or the beginning of the end of the traditional academic institution. MOOCs have gained so much critical traction because they have succeeded in unmooring educational exchanges and setting them adrift in the sea of the internet. Although the MOOC is a new and evolving platform, it has already upended facets of education in which librarians are …

Forward Thinking : Three Forward, Two Back : What Are The Next Steps?, Gerald K. White

Digital learning research

The use of digital technologies and digital media in teaching, learning and leadership in education has gradually gained momentum since the 1980s, when personal computers first became popular. The resultant media hype and educational posturing by technology evangelists were given a boost with the take up of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. And significant investment followed nationally and internationally. So what have we learnt in that time about using technology for teaching, learning and educational leadership? What will be the challenges for successfully using digital technologies in education in the next five years?

This address briefly traverses …

Going The Distance: A Study Of Student Success Rates In An Online Platform, Della F. Pack

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Della F. Pack on June 6, 2013.

Deep Learning Through Reusable Learning Objects, Rosalyn Rufer, Ruifang Hope Adams

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Being able to leverage an organization’s processes and core competencies to sustain its competitive advantage is important (Ray, Barney, & Muhanna, 2004). One learning objective of an on-line MBA is to teach students how to apply the VRIO (value, rarity, imitate, and operationalize) model, developed by Barney and Hesterly (2006), in order to identify an optimum strategy. However students in the program have had difficulty in understanding this model, partially because of the traditional pedagogy used in online teaching. This case study demonstrates how reusable learning objects (RLO) can facilitate knowledge in an online learningenvironment. The RLO developed and …

On A Deeper Understanding Of The Constructivist Learning Principles And Constructivist Instructional Design, Kekang He

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Compiled by the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) in the US, the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology has impacted the field of educational technology in many important ways, since the 1990s. The third edition, published in 2008, in particular, provides the reader with more innovative content due to the collected efforts of its co-editors and a large team of contributing scholars. This article will focus on the third edition of the handbook by first outlining its overall structure and contents, and directing the reader to those arguments that stimulate the field most. It will then …

The Potential Of A First Lego League Robotics Program In Teaching 21st Century Skills: An Exploratory Study, Yuxin Ma, Douglas C. Williams

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Business and political leaders in the US call for schools to teach 21st century skills. In the meantime, researchers call for more research to develop curriculum that teach 21st century skills. In this study, the authors examine the experience of a First LEGO League (FLL) robotics team to explore the potential of FLL for teaching 21stcentury skills. We found that the program provided opportunities for learning many 21st century skills such as systems thinking, decision making, problem solving, teamwork, conflict resolution, flexibility, perseverance, and selfmanagement. We also found that instructional strategies such as modeling, coaching, …

Development Of Visual Philosophy Under Impact Of Philosophy Of Technology, Li Zhao, Shuyu Zhang

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Throughout history the development of technology has been affecting people’s lives. Any kind of technological innovation may give a qualitative leap in human society. The impact of technology has penetrated into the study of various disciplines. Philosophy is no exception. In 1877, Karp formally proposed the concept of“philosophy of technology.” Technology has been studied from the practical aspect of a tool to the level of philosophy. Although the concept of visual philosophy has not yet been formally proposed, the thinking of philosophical vision has already existed. This paper is to analyze the impact of philosophy of technology on the …

Development Of A Scaffold Design Model In Inter-School Collaboration Environment: A Design-Based Research, Xiaoying Feng, Li Chen

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This study examines the development of a theoretical framework for scaffold design in an inter-school collaboration environment. The research question primarily deals with how to design scaffolds for an Inter-school Collaborative Learning (ICL). Design-based research methodology was used in this study. Literature review, questionnaire survey, field survey, and interviews were used during the course of research. Forty-seven secondary schools in 25 provinces in China were selected and participated in the study. This paper reports the first circle of design-based research. Through design-based research, a scaffold design model was developed and revised. Eight key types of scaffolding for ICL were identified. …

Examining Student Participation In Three Learning Activities Supported By Social Annotation Tools, Tian Luo, Fei Gao, Kathryn S. Hoff

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

ocial annotation (SA) allows learners to highlight and comment on Web pages and share annotations with each other online. Despite its potential in promoting collaborative learning, examining how to integrate it into educational settings has not been fully studied. The purpose of the study is to examine student participation in three different SA-based online activities: (1) peer review, (2) annotated discussion, and (3) collaborative reading. Students participated in all three SA-based activities and took a survey at the end reporting the effectiveness of these activities. The analysis of students’ annotations and their survey responses suggested that although participants perceived …

Jetde Preface, Marcus D. Childress

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

I am proud to introduce this issue of the Journal of Educational Technology and Development Exchange. This compendium of scholarly writing illustrates the breadth, depth, and diversity of work in the area of teaching and learning. The articles in this issue provide a glimpse into the ongoing research and scholarly dialogue in educational technology..........

First Steps To College And Career Success: Predictors Of Recent High School Graduate Readiness For Online Learning, Laura Mae Pannell

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine a number of factors related to traditional student online course readiness at a large community college prior to state initiated K-12 curriculum design initiatives, NCLB possible exemptions, passage of Senate Bill 2792, and possible future virtual charter school laws. This study analyzed the traditional college freshmen students' perceptions in several areas related to online learning. This study included surveys completed by 143 traditional online students at a community college. The study examined the students' perceptions of self-management of online learning, comfort of online learning, reported differences between males and females in the …