Education Commons^™

Design Variables For Self-Directed Learning In Mooc Environment, Tai Wang, Juhong Christie Liu, Tonggui Li

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can meet education needs from diverse social, cultural, and access backgrounds and require a minimal cost of resources from learners. To successfully scaffold large and distributed populations to learn effectively in these MOOCs, the design needs to optimize self-directed learning. In this paper, the researchers investigated the design variables for MOOCs' learning environment that allowed learning choices made by learners. With this study, the researchers developed a 21-item questionnaire based on a review of the literature and their MOOC design and implementation practices, Massive Online Open Course Learning Environment Design Questionnaire (MOOC-LED). The researchers used …

Social Media In Dynamic Learning: Logistics And Influential Factors, Leping Liu, Li-Ting Chen, Wenzhen Li

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Educators have been using social media to enrich learning activities and promote interactive and collaborative learning. Under the context of dynamic learning – the way that 21st century’s learners learn, the new challenges are: how educators design such a setting to effectively integrate certain social media tools to improve learning, and what the influential factors might be that educators need to focus during the design. In this article, we employ the concept “logistics” to explain and redefine dynamic design, dynamic learning, and dynamic thinking, which furthermore formulate the framework of the study. This article presents a critical content review of …

Fostering The Development Of Social Capital To Enrich Student Experiences Through After-School Digital Tutoring Programs, Chientzu Candace Chou, Hsueh-Hua Chuang, Aura N. Wharton-Beck

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Historically, tutoring has been considered an effective way of assisting academically challenged students. After-school digital tutoring programs that foster the development of social capital could provide academic and social support for struggling students in remote areas. However, research on how after-school digital tutoring programs can foster social capital development is sparse. In this study, we used the perspective of social capital theory to examine the factors that shaped student-learning experiences in an E-Tutor Program. Specific attention was given to the types of and the strategies for developing social capital. The study utilized a case study approach to analyze data collected …

Using Microsoft Hololens To Improve Memory Recall In Anatomy And Physiology: A Pilot Study To Examine The Efficacy Of Using Augmented Reality In Education, Chen Chen, Lei Zhang, Tony Luczak, Eboni Smith, Reuben F. Burch

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This paper explores the use of augmented reality (AR) to improve memory recall and learning experiences in human anatomy and physiology. In particular, the opportunity to assess new computer technologies to improve learning environments may allow for an improvement in self-efficacy and a reduction in test anxiety. Twenty-two undergraduates participated in one of two study groups, the Microsoft HoloLens group (HLNS) or the traditional projector-based Microsoft Power Point group (PPT). Each group completed a five-minute, three-subject anatomy identification and brain physiology memory test. After a three-minute time delay, participants completed a fill-in-the-blank anatomy identification test and brain physiology question test, …

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 …

Soft Skills In Mississippi Community Colleges' Online Career And Technical Programs, Joanna Sue Alston

Dissertations

Soft skills are an essential piece in the employment puzzle, and most students’ behavioral characteristics require development, if not complete transformation, before learning can subsequently be transferred to the workplace. To that end, this facet of occupational education in community colleges’ online courses was in need of exploration to determine whether instructors were having success in implementing instructional and assessment methods for both teaching and grading students’ soft skills behaviors. This mixed methods study narrowed the focus of an extremely broad topic to four skills, specifically communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and work ethic. A look at how those skills related …

Effectiveness Of Technology In An English Grammar And Punctuation Course, Deborah Brandon

Dissertations

As enrollment in online courses continues to climb, technology also continues to advance to provide students with course designs that promote optimal learning environments. New communication tools continually evolve that help improve learning outcomes in online course designs. The lack of physical class meetings in online classes necessitates a comprehensive focus on course design to optimize learning, including a focus on communication and collaboration opportunities.

Much of the available current research regarding the outcomes of increased online learning investigates the effectiveness of this learning format primarily in the fields of healthcare, foreign language, and the study of English grammar as …

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 …