Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Women's Experiences With Distance Education, Jane Elizabeth Moody

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines issues that affect women in online learning, and discusses four women's particular experiences in the University of Central Florida's distance learning program. Online education involves aspects of support and communication that may affect women's learning experiences either positively or negatively. Distance learning may also allow women to pursue their education while still taking care of their families and outside work. In order to get a better idea of how distance learning impacts women, I discuss several studies that examine how distance learning affects women in particular. I identify three areas from this literature that seem to be …

Administrator Perceptions Of Internet-Based Distance Education In Adventist Colleges And Universities : A Mixed-Method Study, Pamela K. Cress

Dissertations

Problem . The quality of Internet-based distance education (IBDE) will increasingly become the standard by which students choose a program as higher educational options multiply due to the dramatic growth in distance education. A system-wide examination of perceptions of IBDE in Adventist highereducation is important to administrators for future institutional strategic planning purposes, systemic adoption of policies and practices that promote excellence, and identifying collaborative efforts.

Method . This was a sequential exploratory mixed-method study of the perceptions of administrators on IBDE. It was conducted collaboratively with Susan Smith who examined teacher perceptions. Data were collected for both studies from …

Psychological Sense Of Community In On-Line Learning Environments, Thomas Chris Laughner

Dissertations

Problem. Current literature discusses differences among populations as they relate to face-to-face learning communities. However, no literature exists to determine if these same differences exist in an on-line learning environment. Since community has been closely linked to social and academic integration and success, additional research on whether populations with certain demographics feel the same absence of a sense of community in an on-line environment must be addressed. This study examines differences in psychological sense of community among students based on ethnicity, age, and sex.

Method. A revised Sense of Community Index was administered to students enrolled in at least one …

Research Readiness Self-Assessment: Assessing Students' Research Skills And Attitudes, Lana Ivanitskaya, Ryan Laus, Anne Marie Casey

Publications

Librarians and learning researchers at Central Michigan University collaboratively developed an online tool that assesses how student research attitudes and perceptions correlate to their actual research skills in order to educate them about state-of-the-art library resources and prepare them to write high-quality research papers. This article describes the reasons for developing the assessment as well as the design process and technical characteristics.

A Historical Overview Of Internet Reference Services For Distance Learners, Anne Marie Casey

Publications

The advent of library services and collections on the Internet revolutionized reference services to students enrolled in distance learning programs. Prior to the Internet, reference librarians who supported distance learning programs had few methods, and many of them costly, to provide the equivalent library services advocated by the ACRL Guidelines. Through the Internet, these librarians were able to approximate the services and resources that had always been available to students who came into the library. This article describes the development of reference services on the Internet in a variety of libraries that support distance learners.

Istart: Interactive Strategy Training For Active Reading And Thinking, Danielle S. Mcnamara, Irwin B. Levinstein, Chutima Boonthum

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART) is a Web-based application that provides young adolescent to college-age students with high-level reading strategy training to improve comprehension of science texts. iSTART is modeled after an effective, human-delivered intervention called self-explanation reading training (SERT), which trains readers to use active reading strategies to self-explain difficult texts more effectively. To make the training more widely available, the Web-based trainer has been developed. Transforming the training from a human-delivered application to a computer-based one has resulted in a highly interactive trainer that adapts its methods to the performance of the students. The …

Synthesizing Social Construction Of Knowledge In Online Conferences Using Concept Maps, Ludmila Ortegano-Layne, Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

By using content analysis techniques to compare social construction of knowledge in online dialogues to concept maps generated to synthesize this knowledge construction, this study showed that concept maps are an effective tool to synthesize knowledge construction in online conferences. This finding was also supported by self-reported data in a moderator survey. Concept maps were also considered an effective tool for organizing information which indicates that they can be utilized as a knowledge management and preservation tool in online conferences. All students perceived that the Cmap tool software could be used as a tool to foster online collaborative learning in …

Assessment Methods For Comparison Of On-Camps And Distance Learning Laboratory Courses In An Engineering Technology Program, John R. Hackworth, Richard L. Jones

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Assessment methodology and results for two Electrical Engineering Technology laboratory courses are shown. In these cases, courses are offered in both the traditional on- campus and non-traditional distance learning format, assessment methods are prescribed, assessment data are taken, and the results compiled and compared. Student comments are included which also support the assessment data. In addition, this paper describes ways in which the laboratory courses are structured in order to make the assessment process easier to manage. Pedagogical issues are addressed that were encountered when constructing the distance learning laboratory courses to assure that the learning experience could equal or …

Methods For Evaluating Interface Design For Online Learning Environments, Constance A. Lowe, Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Designing online learning environments poses many challenges. One critical issue is the design of appropriate user interfaces so that the interface does not become a barrier to the learning process. The interface of a web site may be described as the sum of the visible (and/or audible) elements which convey to a user what functions and resources are available at the site and provide access to, or control over, those functions and resources. The interface is a key element of usability, where usability means the ease or difficulty with which the user can complete the intended tasks. Following a brief …

Designing The Social Environment For Online Learning: The Role Of Social Presence, Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

A major challenge to designing online learning is the development of appropriate means to facilitate the social environment that is critical for higher-order learning in many disciplines. In many online learning designs, the majority of resources are channeled to web interface design and technology, while little or no resources are devoted to facilitating the teaching and learning process, the negotiation of meaning and the validation of knowledge among peers and instructors that depends on a conducive socio-cultural environment and adequate learner support. This paper seeks to address this issue by examining one factor, social presence that has been shown to …