Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

The Tools That Matter: Assessing Online Resources, Valeriana Colon

Graduate Research Posters

In the age of technology, educators are encouraged to incorporate online resources into their teaching, but the impact of these resources on learning is rarely considered. To create a foundation for assessment, this poster reviews theories and research on how students learn across oral, written, and online modes of communication. It then reviews methods of assessing various elements of online resources. Lastly, this poster suggests an implementation approach to enhance the use of resources.

Comparing Students' Perceptions Of Online Language Learning To Traditional Learning, Noreen La Piana

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined students' perceptions towards online language learning and face-to-face learning. A survey of multiple intelligences (McClelland & Conti, 2008) combined with an Online Learning Readiness Survey (OLRS) survey (Dray, Lowenthal, Miszkiewicz, Ruiz-Primo, & Marczynski, 2011) was distributed to 2,177 community college and university students in order to measure the strength of each of the nine intelligences each student possessed, as well as their perceptions of readiness for online language learning. Student preference for online/hybrid versus traditional language class was also considered. The three research questions involved an investigation of: 1) the differences between students who attended an online/hybrid …

K-12 Online Learning: A Worldwide Perspective, Michael K. Barbour, Kathryn Kennedy

Education Faculty Publications

K-12 online learning is often used as an umbrella term to describe all instances of kindergarten through 12th grade students' learning by using the Internet. This chapter will explore the state of K-12 online learning in North America and around the world. From correspondence education to complete online schools that are found in some school districts today, K-12 online learning is continuing to grow at seemingly exponential rates. Policies in various districts and countries, along with the individual needs of students and goals for the education system, have often dictated--or at least influenced--this development. In this chapter, we explore these …

Tools Of The Trade: 'Breaking The Ice' With Virtual Tools In Online Learning, Naomi Mcgrath, Sue Gregory, Helen Farley, Pauline K. Roberts

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The reality is that online learning can be a daunting and lonely experience. This is why icebreakers can be a rewarding practice for both students and educators. The use of icebreakers allows students studying online to introduce themselves and become familiar with other members of the group and/or community. Not only are these icebreakers used as a starter within the first weeks of study, but they are also used to help motivate students throughout the course. Highlighted in this paper are particular online (virtual) tools that can be used as icebreakers within an online learning environment and help shift the …

Articulation Agreements: Academic Success, Persistence And Graduation From Online And Face-To-Face Degree Completion Programs, Darnette Hall

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this causal-comparative study is to examine whether differences exist in the retention and persistence of articulation participants based on face-to-face or online degree completion. The study will determine the rate of completion of articulation participants who transfer from a North Carolina Community College to a state university in North Carolina and enroll in traditional face-to-face classes versus articulation participants who enroll in online degree completion. There is considerable literature on articulation from the perspective of student satisfaction and an administrator's perception. Substantial research on policies and procedures as well as comparison to native and transfer students. There …

The Effect Of Online Collaborative Learning On Middle School Student Science Literacy And Sense Of Community, Jillian Wendt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examines the effects of online collaborative learning on middle school students' science literacy and sense of community. A quantitative, quasi-experimental pretest/posttest control group design was used. Following IRB approval and district superintendent approval, students at a public middle school in central Virginia completed a pretest consisting of the Misconceptions-Oriented Standards-Based Assessment Resources for Teachers (MOSART) Physical Science assessment and the Classroom Community Scale. Students in the control group received in-class assignments that were completed collaboratively in a face-to-face manner. Students in the experimental group received in-class assignments that were completed online collaboratively through the Edmodo educational platform. Both …

Online Learning Of Safe Patient Transfers In Occupational Therapy Education, Cynthia L. Hayden

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Online higher education is steadily increasing. For programs in allied health to be offered effectively in an e-learning format, clinical psychomotor skills need to be addressed. The aim of this research was to design, implement, and evaluate an online safe patient transfers module for occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students. The efficacy of teaching safe patient transfers in an e-learning environment was appraised using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The applied research project was completed at a Tennessee community college. A convenience sample of eighteen students participated in the pilot study. Twenty-five students participated in the subsequent study. The instructional design …

The Problem Of Too Many Statistical Tests: Subgroup Analyses In A Study Comparing The Effectiveness Of Online And Live Lectures, David M. Lane

Numeracy

The more statistical analyses performed in the analysis of research data, the more likely it is that one or more of the conclusions will be in error. Multiple statistical analyses can occur when the sample contains several subgroups and the researchers perform separate analyses for each subgroup. For example, separate analyses may be done for different ethnic groups, different levels of education, and/or for both genders. Media reports of research frequently omit information on the number of subgroup analyses performed thus leaving the reader with insufficient information to assess the validity of the conclusions. This article discusses the problems with …

Security Risks And Protection In Online Learning: A Survey, Yong Chen, Wu He

Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Publications

This paper describes a survey of online learning which attempts to determine online learning providers' awareness of potential security risks and the protection measures that will diminish them. The authors use a combination of two methods: blog mining and a traditional literature search. The findings indicate that, while scholars have identified diverse security risks and have proposed solutions to mitigate the security threats in online learning, bloggers have not discussed security in online learning with great frequency. The differences shown in the survey results generated by the two different methods confirm that online learning providers and practitioners have not considered …

Web-Mediated Education And Training Environments: A Review Of Personalised Interactive Learning., Eileen O'Donnell, Mary Sharp, Catherine Mulwa, Vincent Wade

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter reviews the concept of personalised eLearning resources in relation to integrating interactivity into asynchronous learning. Personalised eLearning resources are learning resources which are selected to suit a specific student or trainee’s individual learning requirements. The affordance of personalised eLearning would provide educators with the opportunity to shift away from eLearning content that is retrieved and move towards the provision of personalised interactive content to provide a form of asynchronous learning to suit students at different degree levels. A basic introduction to the concept of ePedagogy in online learning environments is explored and the impacts these systems have on …

The Farnet Journey: Effective Teaching Strategies For Engaging Māori Students On The Virtual Learning Network, Michael K. Barbour, Carolyn Bennett

Education Faculty Publications

The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) provides schools, particularly those in rural and remote areas, with the opportunity to cooperate to expand curricular offerings for their students. Each school that participates in a VLN cluster contributes at least one course delivered by an e-teacher, allowing member schools access to any course offered through the VLN that they cannot offer locally. At present, there is no formal national training for the e-teachers, although individual clusters offer a range of training opportunities. This case study focused on the e-teachers’ perceptions of the learning curve required for them to be adequately and effectively prepared …

Pictures From An Exhibition… Of Online Learning: A Creative Representation Of Qualitative Data, Michael K. Barbour, Jason Paul Siko, Kaye Simuel-Everage

Education Faculty Publications

K-12 online learning at the K-12 level has been around for approximately two decades and is continuing to grow. While researchers have researched a variety of issues related to K-12 online learning, there has been little published on the student experience in web-based learning environments. In this article, two doctoral students were tasked with analyzing existing data, then representing and situating their findings in a format other than the traditional "results" and "discussion" sections found in a typical six-section journal manuscript. One student created an image that focused upon the tools used by the K-12 student in her online learning. …

Suggestions For The Design Of E-Learning Environments To Enhance Learner Self-Efficacy, Charles B. Hodges

Leadership, Technology & Human Development: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

What Is The Participant Learning Experience Like Using Youtube To Study A Foreign Language?, Yuan-Hsiang Lo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research is to explore and understand participants' experience using YouTube to learn a foreign language. YouTube and learning has become more and more popular in the recent years. The finding of this research will be adding more understanding to the emerging body of knowledge of YouTube phenomenon. In this research, there are three interviews and two questionnaires. The interviews are conducted to find in-depth responses from participants; the questionnaires are used to inquire demographic and basic information about the participants. There are twelve themes found in this research. These themes reflect on the perceived experience using YouTube to learn …

State Of The Nation: K-12 Online Learning In Canada, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

This is the 5th edition of the State of the Nation: K–12 Online Learning in Canada report. The purpose of this annual investigation is to describe the policies and regulations that govern K–12 distance education in each of the thirteen Canadian provinces and territories. The study is also designed to survey the level of K–12 distance education activity across the country.

Planning And Implementing Online Instruction: Faculty Perceptions Of One University, James M. Wright

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects

To maintain a competitive advantage, many universities have expanded their online course offerings, and college faculty members are vital to the design, development, and delivery of online instruction (Allen & Seaman, 2007; Mitchell & Geva-May, 2009; Tabata & Johnsrud, 2008). In this study, a mixed-method approach is used to investigate faculty’s perceptions about teaching online at one university. Understanding the factors that motivate and impede faculty to teach online provided the knowledge to plan future strategies to increase faculty participation with this instructional medium.

At a large suburban university in the Southeastern United States, 363 faculty members were surveyed and …

How Ipads Can Be Used In The Math Classroom To Improve Student Learning, Katie Ann Garrity Smieja

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This study explores how iPads can be used to enhance student learning in the math classroom. The author reviews current literature to determine how iPads are being used to facilitate communication, formative assessment, and promising practices in math education such as discovery learning and use of spreadsheets, graphing calculators, and manipulatives. Additionally, challenges and drawbacks to using iPads in the classroom are examined. Research supports the use of iPads to provide students access to digital content including online discussion boards and practice activities with instant feedback. iPads can also be used as student response systems to engage students in instruction …

It's Not That Tough: Students Speak About Their Online Learning Experiences, Michael Barbour, Angelene Mclaren, Lin Zhang

Education Faculty Publications

K-12 online learning is growing in Canada and elsewhere in the world. However, the vast majority of literature is focused on practitioners and not on systematic inquiry. Even the limited published research has largely excluded the perspectives of students engaged in virtual schooling. This study examines secondary student perceptions of components of virtual schooling that were beneficial and challenging. Students largely enjoyed their virtual school courses and found the synchronous classes, the technology, and the ability to control their own learning as positive aspects of their experience. Students also found the lack of a sense of community, working during their …

Online Learning, Michael K. Barbour, Richard E. Ferdig

Education Faculty Publications

K-12 Online Learning has exponentially grown in the last 15 years. An estimated 1.2 million K-12 students took online classes last year; 45 states currently have some form of online learning at the state-level; and some states mandate some sort of online experience prior to high school graduation. Given its dramatic growth and ubiquity in K-12 schooling, it is critical that administrators learn more about K-12 schooling and the role it may play in their district or building. Unfortunately, there is not one single model of K-12 online schooling. Therefore, there is not one suggested set of recommendations, learnings, or …

Student Interaction With Online Course Content: Build It And They Might Come, Meg C. Murray, Jorge Pérez, Debra B. Geist, Alison Hedrick

Faculty Articles

Online learning continues to expand at educational institutions around the globe. Educators must better understand how interaction with online course content impacts student engagement and learning. Advances in technology amplify the imperative to gain further insights into how delivery of course materials can enhance and support the learning process. This study investigates student patterns of access to instructional resources provided in an asynchronous online digital literacy course offered at a regional university in the United States. Frequency counts and access rates collected from a learning management system were used to assess patterns of student retrieval of course materials in four …

State Of The Nation: K–12 Online Learning In Canada, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

A variety of initiatives are driving online and blended learning in each of Canada’s provinces and territories. From teachers’ unions in Nova Scotia fighting to ensure online learning is an accepted method of educational delivery, to Ontario’s College of Teachers creating an e-learning endorsement for teachers or the British Columbia government creating policies to expand the growth and opportunities online learning provides, there are multiple, isolated initiatives happening across the country.

State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada is now in its fourth year of publication and can be seen as a national guide for understanding the field …

The Promise And The Reality: Exploring The Research On Virtual Schooling, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

The first web-based distance education programs at the K-12 began in the early 1990s. Unlike distance education and online learning in general, much less is known about virtual schooling – even less of which is based on systematic research. What is known is often based solely on practitioner experiences. Regardless, the growth and practice of virtual schooling has far outpaced the production of reliable and valid research. This paper will focus upon describing the evolution of K-12 online learning in Canada and the United States, how that evolution has impacted rural schools, and what lessons can be learned from the …

The Promise And The Reality: Exploring Virtual Schooling In Rural Jurisdictions, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

The history of online learning at the K-12 level is almost as long as its history at the post-secondary level, with the first virtual school programs beginning in the early 1990s. While these opportunities were designed as a way to provide rural students with access to more specialized courses, as opportunities have become organized into virtual or cyber schools the nature of students served by these institutions have broadened. Unlike online learning in general, much less is known about virtual schooling – even less of which is based on systematic research. Regardless, the growth and practice of virtual schooling has …

The Impact Of Teaching Presence In Intensive Online Courses On Perceived Learning And Sense Of Community: A Mixed Methods Study, Elizabeth Laves

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This mixed methods concurrent triangulation design study was predicated upon two models that advocated a connection between teaching presence and perceived learning: the Community of Inquiry Model of Online Learning developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000); and the Online Interaction Learning Model by Benbunan-Fich, Hiltz, and Harasim (2005). The objective was to learn how teaching presence impacted students’ perceptions of learning and sense of community in intensive online distance education courses developed and taught by instructors at a regional comprehensive university.

In the quantitative phase online surveys collected relevant data from participating students (N = 397) and selected instructional …

Beyond Volunteerism And Good Will: Examining The Commitment Of Schoolbased Teachers To Distance Education, Michael K. Barbour, Dennis Mulcahy

Education Faculty Publications

Two decades ago Newfoundland and Labrador introduced distance education in the K-12 environment. The program focused upon providing advanced-level courses to rural school students, and worked largely due to the widely known, but rarely documented significant amounts of content-based assistance from school based personnel. In the past seven years the province has moved to a virtual school model of distance education and more rural schools find that they must rely upon this virtual school to offer academic-level courses to students with a wide range of abilities. This has created many new responsibilities for teachers that have also gone undocumented. Studies …

Using Blogs To Foster Inquiry, Collaboration, And Feedback In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Carol R. Rinke, Divonna M. Stebick, Lauren Schaefer, Michael Evan Gaffney

Education Faculty Publications

This chapter presents a critical case study on the use of information technology in a pre-service teacher education program. The authors integrated Weblogs (blogs) into two constructivist-oriented teacher preparation courses with the goal of helping students learn to think like a teacher through enhanced inquiry, collaboration, and feedback. The authors found that, through the use of blogs, pre-service teaching candidates grew in their abilities to reflect on their own teaching and to provide constructive comments to peers. The authors’ experience also indicated that while instructor and peer feedback via blogs was valuable, it functioned best when paired with face-to-face meetings …

Untying The Accountancy Knot Ii, Tony Kiely, Frances Boylan, Pauline Rooney, Jennifer Mcconnell, Alice Luby, Rebecca Maughan, Dan Shanahan, Daniel King

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Learning Styles: A Focus Upon E-Learning Practices And Their Implications For Successful Instructional Design, Morris Cooze, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

With the proliferation of online learning into the K-12 learning environment, the focus of investigation needs to shift specific studies that pertain to this environment. One such area of investigation surrounds the development of specific online course content and the individualized learning styles of the students in these online learning environments. This review focuses upon the vast body of literature for the post-secondary online learner and argues the case for additional research in K-12 education. While recent studies have started the process of changing this focus, as online learning becomes more prevalent and accepted as a means of learning at …

Is School Wide Adoption Of Ict Change For The Better?, Katherine Dix

Shannon Research Press

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in schools is now an intrinsic part of students’ learning, both inside and outside the classroom. The adoption and impact of ICT on teaching practice and learning outcomes has been a source of keen interest among government policy makers, school leaders, teachers and researchers worldwide. Few empirical studies have been conducted in Australia, or worldwide, that focus on student attitudinal outcomes framed within a design-based paradigm that spans several years. The overarching purpose of this study is to investigate longitudinal change in school climate through its influence on students and teachers, during …

Learning Styles: A Focus Upon E-Learning Practices And Pedagogy And Their Implications For Designing E-Learning For Secondary School Students In Newfoundland And Labrador, Morris Cooze, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

With the increase of online learning in the K-12 environment, research must turn to specific studies focused upon this level. One area of investigation surrounds the development of online course content and individualised student learning styles. This review found that although there is a vast body of research concerning online learning in the post-secondary environment, this is not true for K-12 education. Recent studies have begun the discussion for secondary school students as online learning becomes more prevalent and accepted as a means of learning. The lessons that these studies bring forward may be of particular interest to instructional designers …