Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Teacher Perceptions Of The Instructional Practices In An Online New Teacher Induction Program: A Case Study, Dennis Joseph Large

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined the perceptions of new teachers regarding an online version of a new teacher induction program. The need for the study is based on (a) the increased need to train new teachers, (b) the limitations of traditional new teacher induction programs, and (c) the affordances of an online version of an induction program. Although teacher induction programs have been studied for two decades, online versions of these specific programs are appropriate for current study because they are relatively new and those who implement such programs would benefit from knowing more about their best practices. In 2013, …

Experimenting With Digital Badges In An Online Graduate Education Course, Laurie Bobley, Ruth A. Best

Graduate School of Education Publications and Research

Introduction

In 2011, U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan endorsed digital badges as growing phenomena in the K-12 and higher education reform movement (Grant, 2014a; Tally, 2012; United States Department of Education, 2011). As an innovative technology, digital badges can be used to recognize accomplishments and achievements and may have a solid place in education because of the immediate feedback for graded and non-graded skills and competencies (Foster, 2014). As a disruptive technology, digital badges may emerge as motivational tools for 21st century learners because of inherent elements that are reminiscent of social media and gamification; two growing trends in …

Ireach Blended Learning Model And Reading Lexile Growth Of Freshmen In Maryville City Schools, Whitney Ann Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Maryville City School system has implemented the first year of the iReach blended learning model for which all students in the school district have access to either a laptop or an iPad to support their learning every day. The availability of research on the impact of iReach is limited because the blended learning instructional model is relatively new and has not yet been subjected to numerous research studies. The purpose of this ex post facto quasi-experimental quantitative study was to compare student reading Lexile growth data collected through the use of the Reading Comprehension Assessment before and after iReach …

To Foster A Culture Of Curiosity: A Hermeneutic Study Of The Experienced Nurse Educator And Student Intellectual Curiosity In The Online Learning Environment, Bedelia H. Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Skills of inquiry are essential outcomes from a baccalaureate nursing education. Students who demonstrate intellectual curiosity can develop effective skills of inquiry. Nurse educators must place emphasis on teaching and learning strategies which engage student intellectual curiosity. However, the concept of intellectual curiosity is not well-studied across multiple contexts of teaching and learning environments within nursing education. In addition, there is little known about the experienced nurse educator and the meaning of student intellectual curiosity across multiple teaching and learning environments. With the increased emphasis on online teaching and learning in nursing education as a solution for expanding student access …

Math Emporium Model: Preparing Developmental Students For College Algebra, Stephanie Patton Williams

Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of the Emporium Model in reducing math anxiety and in preparing developmental math students at a community college to be successful in College Algebra. The study involved 59 students enrolled in Intermediate Algebra at a community college and compared those in the Emporium class format to those in the Traditional class format. Participants completed a pre-post math anxiety rating scale questionnaire and a pre-post algebra readiness test to address the research questions of the study. Two mixed model ANOVAs were done and the findings showed that there was a significant difference in math anxiety level …

Social Learning Remixed: Peer-Based Learning And Social Status In An Online Community Of Practice, Christopher Erin Mikkelson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People have engaged in peer-to-peer learning within communities of practice (CoPs) for centuries. Thanks to web 2.0 technology, people in the 21st century can now learn together and enact Social status even if they have never met face-to-face. Online communities of practice have since formed around a wide variety of activities, one of which is remixing. Remixing is defined as combining or editing existing materials to produce something new, but leaving each part recognizable as a separate entity. Remixing has recently been recognized as form of digital literacy because users must understand each component to make a good remix. Much …

The Relationship Between Online Classroom Incivility And Sense Of Community Of Online Undergraduate Students, John Spohn

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Incivility is not just bullying and physically threatening students. Uncivil behaviors include more mild forms of classroom disruption, including plagiarizing, posting terse responses, and continually asking for extensions for assignments. A student’s motivation for learning can be hampered, when subjected to incivility causing classroom disruptions. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between student incivility in the online learning environment, as scored by the Incivility in Online Learning Environments instrument, and the student’s sense of community, as measured by the Community Classroom scale. This quantitative study seeks to extend Tuckman’s model (1965) of the Theory of Group …

Online Education: The Relationship Between The Perceptions Of Online High School Teachers Compared To Traditional Classroom Teachers Regarding The Visual Arts, Karen A. Fine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The incorporation of the arts as an academic subject in the high school distance education delivery method is being reinvented as something new. Most of the current research is focused on college courses. Online high school curricula are most often placed in research studies as an afterthought. Perceptions of faculty members from high schools with traditional instructional delivery models as well as public online schools concerning online education as it relates to the arts in 5 different areas was the focus of this research; mentor, delivery method, satisfaction, student learning, and curriculum. Examining the perceptions of teachers gives a blueprint …

Student Outcomes In Traditional, Hybrid, And Online Courses In Community College Career And Technical Education Programs, Thomas R. Sewell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether differences in student course outcomes as defined by final course grades existed between three content delivery methods in career and technical education courses: Traditional (face to face), hybrid, and online. Final course grades in career and technical education courses at one community college for the Fall 2011 through the Fall 2015 semesters were used in this study to compare the success of students in courses employing the three content delivery methods. The outcomes for male and female students and the outcomes for traditional and nontraditional students in career and technical …

Sharing Your Student’S Research With Voicethread, Curtis Izen

Publications and Research

One of the ways of sharing your student's individual research with the entire class is using VoiceThread. This provides all students the ability to learn about everyone's work. This eliminates the barrier between the student and instructor.

Infographic: How Are Teachers Using Networked Technologies?, Rebecca Vukovic

Teacher infographics

From online videos to digital comics and video games – there are countless different ways teachers can use technology to support their lessons. So how are teachers using networked technologies in the classroom? Find out in this Teacher infographic.

Attitudes Toward Statistics Studies Among Students With Learning Disabilities, Orly Lipka, Itay Hess

Numeracy

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a support course to change attitudes toward statistics studies of post-secondary students who were diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD) and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The participants were 22 students in a support course that was provided over a single academic term on a weekly basis. The design of the study was according to 'Pre-Post' comparison. The effects on attitudes toward statistics were examined quantitatively and qualitatively to provide a comprehensive methodology for the research purposes. Results suggest that the weekly support course model that was taught simultaneously to the on-line course …

Web-Based Training Program For New Custom Decoration Apparel Franchisees, Wesley Parsell

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

Effective franchise training is essential in the expansion of a franchised business. With advances in internet connections, web applications and multimedia capabilities, training for new and existing franchisees can now take place online in the form of web-based e-learning. In addition to potentially increasing the overall effectiveness of the franchisee training, web-based training also eliminates some of the challenges of traditional, face-to-face franchise training like travel expenses, time, and the availability of human resources.

The purpose of this project was to develop an asynchronous web-based training program for new or potential franchisees in the custom decorated apparel industry. The ADDIE …

Reflective Practice Series: Models And Theories To Guide Teaching In The Virtual Classroom, Martin Sivula

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

This reflective practice paper utilizes the action research model to discuss the real time, virtual classroom for the “adult” learner. A brief historical context is given on distance education, followed by selective theoretical models that inform the action research. Data was provided by graduate level students in a variety of courses over several years. Educators, trainers, and adult learners might benefit by improving and transforming their instructional practice by the use of these new tools. Physical, on the ground classroom simulation was successfully achieved by the use of video conferencing software products. Empirical testing also revealed that screen sharing, streaming …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Maine Virtual Charter School Costs Relative To The Essential Programs And Services Funding Model, Amy F. Johnson Phd, Fleur Hopper, James E. Sloan

School Funding - Essential Programs and Services (EPS)

In 2015, the Maine State Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs commissioned the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) to study the state’s Essential Program and Services (EPS) K-­‐12 education funding model in relationship to the funding for Maine’s two virtual charter schools. The study was initiated with a review of available literature and reports on virtual school funding in other states. Because the structure of Maine’s virtual schools differs from typical models in other states, most notably because core academic subject teachers are required to teach from one central physical location, further cost analysis was conducted …

Design Studios In Instructional Design And Technology: What Are The Possibilities?, Dave S. Knowlton

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Design studios are an innovative way to educate Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) students. This article begins by addressing literature about IDT design studios. One conclusion from this literature is that IDT studios have been theoretically conceptualized. However, much of this conceptualization is insular to the field of IDT and only narrowly considers studio pedagogy. This insularity and narrowness is odd, given both that design studios inherently are borrowed from other disciplines and pedagogy is a focus within IDT. Thus, this article identifies and analyzes the purposes of design studios as considered in other disciplines and through disparate lenses. These …

Evaluation And Approval Constructs For K-12 Online And Blended Courses And Providers, Michael K. Barbour, Tom Clark, Kristen Debruler, Justin Bruno

Education Faculty Publications

Public Act 60 (2013) of the Michigan Legislature tasked Michigan Virtual University, through its Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute, to “research, develop, and recommend annually to the department criteria by which cyber schools and online course providers should be monitored and evaluated to ensure a quality education for their pupils.” This study provides an overview of existing models of cyber and online evaluation, both of which serve to inform the forthcoming recommendations. In this study, the authors review existing literature related to the evaluation of online and blended learning programs and providers, and identify five dimensions for course and provider …

Multimedia Design, Learning Effectiveness, And Student Perceptions Of Instructor Credibility And Immediacy, Miguel Ramlatchan

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Online learning and the use of multimedia is a quickly growing element of higher education. This experimental research study examines five common audio and video presentation designs to inform evidence-based practices that can be applied by instructional designers as they develop content for online learners. Specifically, this experiment compares instructor-only, slides-only, dual-windows, video-switching, and superimposed-slides multimedia designs in terms of learning effectiveness, perceived instructor credibility, instructor immediacy, and cognitive load created by each design. This study included a diverse sample of adult learners who were randomly assigned to treatment groups. A total of 171 participants completed the study and responded …

Constructing Online Communities Of Practice, Marvin Cohen, Babette Moeller, Michelle Cerrone

Occasional Paper Series

The authors document the ways in which online communities of practice enable teachers to have meaningful conversations sharing practices and discussing the nuances of teaching math.

Operations Management Outside Of The Classroom: An Experiential Approach To Teaching Enabled By Online Learning, Kristen A. Sosulski, Harry G. Chernoff

Occasional Paper Series

This paper describes the design of an experiential approach to teaching operations management (OM) at New York University Stern School of Business. OM students study the design and management of the supply side of business, including how products are produced and how services are supplied. The course discussed in this paper is unique in that students learn operations while visiting real companies and organizations. The foundational concepts are not taught in classroom lectures, but through video minilectures, demonstrations, group work sessions, and practice problems that are available online and can be accessed at any time. This allows for classroom time …

Creating Meaningful Learning Opportunities Online, Hafdís Guðjónsdóttir, Svanborg R. Jónsdóttir, Karen Rut Gísladóttir

Occasional Paper Series

This paper describe the ways in which the authors have used digital pedagogy to address the loneliness of the distance learner by making their online course more inclusive and interactive.

Activating Emotional & Analytic Engagement In Blended Learning: A Multicultural Teacher Education Example, Ramona Maile Cutri, Erin Feinauer Whiting, Stefinee E. Pinnegar

Occasional Paper Series

The authors share their experience in designing a blended multicultural education course that they hoped would increase the likelihood that the teachers they were educating would take up socially just dispositions. They examined their own learning using a critical friend relationship with a colleague experienced in developing technological responses that honor relational aspects of teacher education within a framework of sociocultural theory.

Teaching Science Teachers In An Online Context With A Constructivist Approach, Frederick W. Freking, Jenny D. Ingber

Occasional Paper Series

The authors discuss the development of an online STEM-based teacher education program, providing a template for the inclusion of constructivist practices, such as course activities and student teaching.

Fostering Student Engagement: Creating A Culture Of Learning Online, Robin G. Isserles

Occasional Paper Series

The author addresses the ways in which distance learning offers possibilities for mitigating inequitable access to higher education — supporting community college students’ ability to take ownership of their learning, and encouraging them to think critically about what they are learning.

Preparing Teachers As Literacy Leaders In A Hybrid Classroom, Tamara Spencer

Occasional Paper Series

The author describes and analyzes how she developed a course (Literacy in the Elementary Grades) in hybrid format—50% online and 50% face-to-face teaching. First, she draws upon two overlapping frameworks in literacy studies—sociocultural theory and new literacy studies to describe the broader theoretical framework that grounds both the course design and the approach to literacy taken with the course. From there, the author provides a detailed analysis of the course, the objectives, overall content and assignments, and how she modified the course to be hybrid.

Beyond A Digital Status Quo: Re-Conceptualizing Online Learning Opportunities, Ellen Meier

Occasional Paper Series

According to the popular press and many policy pundits, online learning represents the next educational leap forward. Extraordinary claims have been made in the name of e-learning, including the assurance of educational equity, personalized learning for all, and significant cost savings for students — to name just a few. At the same time however, few policymakers are asking substantive questions about the educational nature of online learning environments. How are the classes organized, and what learning theories shape the design of these digital environments? What skills are needed to teach online and how are instructors prepared to teach in these …

Front Matter And Editors' Notes, Helen Freidus, Mollie Welsh Kruger, Steven Goss

Occasional Paper Series

Cover page, table of contents, editors' notes.

Developing A Challenging Online Doctoral Course Using Backward And Three-Phase Design Models, Jan G. Neal, Steven Hampton

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Current Practices and Future Trends in Aviation (DAV 735)—one of 19 online courses in the Ph.D. in Aviation program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University—has run five times since 2011. A team of one instructional designer and one professor were responsible for its initial design, development, and ongoing improvement. This continuity provided the opportunity for a longitudinal, descriptive case study reporting on three wicked instructional design challenges: (a) doctoral student body comprised largely of multidisciplinary aviation professionals, (b) no seminal textbook on the course topics, and (c) unforeseen usability problems with Internet technologies. This case analysis has significance because of the lack …

Inclusive Strategies For The Global Virtual Classroom, Angela Atwell

Publications

In today’s digital age of global enterprise, higher education is focused on delivering high quality experiences in virtual learning environments. Instructors must be armed with the knowledge and skills to use online learning tools effectively in order to deliver an engaging learning experience for all students.It is crucial to create a welcoming and inclusive learning environment, possibly even more so in a virtual classroom. Students who feel welcomed and respected are more likely to engage, contribute to the course and add richness to the content. Instructors must facilitate student learning by encouraging cooperation, collaboration and professional networking. Students and instructors …

Centralized, Decentralized, Distributed: Disruptive Technology In Distance Education From "Sunrise Semester" To Present-Day Moocs, Rosanna Flouty

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Lessons from early academic television courses from the 1950s guide an assessment of current disruptive technologies that shape Massive Open Online Courses (known as MOOCs) and other informal online learning opportunities today. This dissertation explores some of the unique contributing factors that led to the creation of Sunrise Semester (1957-1982), a popular network television program co-produced by New York University and CBS that offered college credit to viewers. Despite the fact that the show aired at dawn and rarely included one-on-one interactions with professors, Sunrise Semester aired for nearly twenty-five years and attracted a devoted viewership of over two million …