Online and Distance Education Commons^™

Developing Social Work Skills In Online Environments: What Online Msw Graduates Tell Us, Samuel W. Gioia

Dissertations and Theses

Social work education is an academic discipline that prepares students to support individual, family, and community wellbeing, and to advance policies for social equity. Despite the increasing use of online education for social work, many social work faculty believe that online Master of Social Work (MSW) programs do not adequately prepare graduates for direct practice (engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation) with vulnerable populations. Students from an online MSW program at a midsized urban research university were interviewed to learn (a) how well an online MSW prepared these students for direct practice with individuals, families, and communities; and (b) what instructional …

School Library Media Specialists: An Evolving Profession In A Pandemic, Heather Kapanka

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In March 2020, Michigan’s school library media specialists, along with the entire educational community, found themselves facing unprecedented challenges brought by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. As learning shifted online, the roles of school library media specialists shifted as well. Three southeast Michigan school library media specialists were interviewed to obtain their perspectives regarding the adaptation to distance learning, as well as how they predicted educational practices will evolve going forward. The educational practices of learning commons, guided inquiry, co-teaching, and information literacy were found to be particularly valuable during the shift to distance learning. The increased dependence on …

The Impact Of The Online Learner Advising Model On Retention And Grade Point Average, Julie Delich

Doctorate in Education

As more students experience online learning environments, the academic community must invest more energy into improving retention of these learners. The purpose of this research was to study the impact of an advising model designed to support online learners, the Online learner advising model (OLAM). This study examined new student retention in the first 3 terms and GPA outcomes to measure the impact of the advising approach. OLAM was designed to address the specific needs of online learners through bringing together elements of proactive advising, shame resilience theory, and appreciative advising.

The sample was selected from Concordia University, St. Paul …

Studying Chinese Characters In A Web-Based Learning Environment: A Case Study Of Swedish University Students, Tao Yang, Man Gao

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

This survey study aims to investigate the perceptions learners have of the character-learning strategies they employ when taking a web-based course in Chinese. The seven Likert-scale statements are included in the questionnaire to examine learners’ opinions on the three character-learning strategies that are widely used in traditional campus courses. A total of 65 students who completed the beginner level ‘Chinese Characters’ web-based course at a university in Sweden completed the survey. The results suggest that students in web-based courses consider these three strategies to be just as helpful and effective as campus students; moreover, the more orthodox strategy – rote …

"Letters", James V. Koch, Seth Forman

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

And Finally... A New Era..., Michael Simonson

Faculty Articles

Excerpt

Some have written that the modern era of distance education began with the widespread availability of the internet. Others move the date back to when it was possible to communicate quickly, such as with the telephone.

Examining Changes In Learning And Engagement Of Higher Education Students In A Fully Online Flipped Learning Distance Education Classroom, James David Riel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The challenge of implementing effective online distance education courses for academics and institutions is a centuries-old task. We can look across early developments in the 18^th century with the creation and delivery of correspondence courses; into the 20^th century with teaching and learning across analog methods such as audio and video; and now in the current era of digitized mechanisms that enable the online classroom. This includes advances in internet technologies and computing abilities that are the empowering the backbone processes, bridging connectivity between the student and the instructor. As society has trended toward massive increases in online …

Freedom For The (Distance Education) People! Ten Practical Ways To Bring Liberatory Pedagogy To Your Online Class, Jason Johnston

Pedagogicon Conference Proceedings

With the rapid growth and adoption of online programs in higher education comes a concern that education is becoming even more industrialized, reducing student liberty. This paper first critiques online learning with the concept of industrialized education. Then, it outlines and applies the revolutionary approaches of liberatory pedagogy. Finally, this paper explores and describes ten practical ways for teachers and instructional designers to apply liberatory pedagogy in online courses to empower students as partners in their own learning.

Promoting 21st-Century Learning: Online Collaboration Through Design Thinking Framework For Today's Esl Students, Hande Yildiz

Master's Projects and Capstones

Learners of the 21st-century engage and learn differently than ever before. Policymakers and teachers are now challenged to makeshift into the 21st-century education model and adapt their approaches to better prepare the students for the future work world. 21st-century ESL classrooms should reflect this learning model through a more engaging, collaborative, and student-centered approach. Collaboration and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills are vital in 21st-century learning. Research shows that ESL learners can benefit from collaborative activities and the use of technology improves students' language reception and production. However, due to the lack of understanding of the paradigm shift in …

The Remote Learning Experience At Portland State University In Spring 2020, Liana Bernard, Phoebe Brown, Peter Chaille, Brenden Clenaghen, Joshua Eastin, Andrea Garrity, Sherril B. Gelmon, Carolina Gomez-Montoya, Laura E. Jacobson, Susan Lindsay, Maya Mcgill, Nate Midgley, Stephen Percy, Judith A. Ramaley, Risto Rushford, Gayle Y. Thieman, Luis Balderas Villagrana

Office of the President Publications and Presentations

It is an endeavor to understand what we have and will learn about the impact of remote instruction on faculty, students and relevant academic support teams. Simply put: We want to learn from an experiment foisted upon us by a health crisis. We have engaged in an incredibly innovative response. And now, we ask what have we learned? How might we improve? And, most importantly, are there implications from this experiment for the future of instruction at PSU and throughout higher education?

The project was organized around two stages in the Spring 2020 term.

• Stage One: Out of the Gate: …

Overcoming The Feeling Isolation In Distance Learning: A Collaborative Auto-Ethnographic Research, Jayrome Lleva Núñez, Marie Camille Cuisia-Villanueva

FDLA Journal

In this research, we present our own experience as distance education (DE) learners the process of overcoming the feelings of alienation and isolation. The participants of the study are the authors, themselves, which are graduate students from the University of the Philippines – Open University. Thus, auto-ethnography is used. Autoethnography is an approach to research and writing that seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural experience (ethno) (Ellis, Adams, & Bochner, 2010). This research is significant because we, the authors ourselves, are distance learners and have experienced isolation in our journey. This …

Looking Through The Lens Of Online Faculty In Higher Education, Theresa West

FDLA Journal

This article aims to provide a meaningful, insightful, and educational perceptiveness of online faculty. Specifically, this article will provide specific insight of online faculty’s changing role, cultivate an educational teaching philosophy, incorporate a structural teaching methodology, and exemplify a multicultural teaching presence.

Social Presence In Online Counselor Education, Courtney M. Holmes, Christine Reid, Carolyn Hawley, Christopher Wagner

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Outcome research in online counselor education is lacking as is the focus on online teaching andragogy. To address this gap, the Community of Inquiry framework and social presence are discussed within the context of online learning in a counselor education program. Data were collected in a counselor education program in the mid-Atlantic comparing online and on-campus learning outcomes and perceptions of social presence in the classroom. On-campus learners had significantly higher perceptions of social presence when compared with online learners, although perceived level of social presence was not correlated with learning outcomes. Implications for counselor education are discussed.

Impact Of Oer In Teacher Education, Denise Cummings-Clay

Publications and Research

The purpose of this research study, which employed a quantitative research design, was to determine if there was a difference in the grades achieved by students who were enrolled in an entry-level Foundations of Education course using Open Educational Resources (OER) versus the grades achieved by students who used textbooks in other course sections. The goal was to find out whether OER was of the same or higher quality as textbooks in our minority-serving higher education institution. The outcomes revealed that there was no significant difference in grades for course sections that used OER when compared to course sections that …

Learning And Teaching Online During Covid‑19: Experiences Of Student Teachers In An Early Childhood Education Practicum, Jinyoung Kim

Publications and Research

Online learning is an educational process which takes place over the Internet as a form of distance education. Distance education became ubiquitous as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic during 2020. Because of these circumstances, online teach-ing and learning had an indispensable role in early childhood education programs, even though debates continue on whether or not it is beneficial for young children to be exposed extensively to Information and Communication Technology (ICT).This descriptive study demonstrates how a preservice teacher education course in early childhood education was redesigned to provide student teachers with opportunities to learn and teach online. It reports experiences …

Sense Of Belonging From A Distance: How Online Students Describe, Perceive, And Experience Belonging To The Institution, Marleigh Luster Perez

Dissertations and Theses

The availability and ease of access to online bachelor's degree programs has led to a dynamic shift in the world of higher education. While overall, there has been a decrease in student enrollments, distance student enrollment has been growing. According to a report by the Babson Survey Research Group, between the fall of 2012 and the fall of 2016 students pursuing higher education at all levels across degree-granting institutions fell by 3.8%. During the same four-year period, the percentage of those students choosing to take all or some of their courses at a distance increased from 25.9% to 29.7%. Among …

Interview: Schools Coping With Covid-19, Vishal Varia

Teacher India

Some schools have taken rapid measures to prevent learning loss due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Vishal Varia shares the experience of the Rosary Group of Schools in a conversation that includes some useful tips for schools and teachers.

Comparing Online And Traditional Student Engagement And Perceptions Of Undergraduate Research, Emily K. Faulconer, John Griffith, Zachary Dixon, Donna Roberts

Publications

Undergraduate research benefits students by strengthening skills, providing professional growth, and improving retention. Yet significant barriers exist, including low awareness of opportunities, restrictive cultural norms, and resource constraints. The proliferation of online education potentially increases barriers, both real and perceived. This study compared participation rates and perceived barriers between undergraduate distance and traditional students. Survey results indicated no significant differences in self-reported participation or overall interest in research. Despite inherent structural limitations of online education, there were no significant differences in the respondents’ perceptions of access to opportunities, physical resources, or human resources. Significant differences were seen regarding awareness of …

Developing Online Sense Of Community: Graduate Students' Experiences And Perceptions, Jesus Trespalacios, Lida J. Uribe-Florez

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Building a sense of community (SoC) is an important process in the success of distance education and students’ retention. However, developing a community in online learning environments is not an easy task. The purpose of this research study is to explore perceptions of graduate students on SoC and learning after using different collaborative activities with diverse forms of interaction (text, audio, and video) in an online educational research course. Quantitative data from two surveys and qualitative data from individual interviews were collected. Findings indicate that multimodal and scaffolding interactive activities help to support connectedness and learning, and therefore foster online …

Exploring The Development Of Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge And Attitudes Toward Integrating Computational Thinking And Robotics Into The Classroom, Jillian Powers, Ann Musgrove, Victoria Brown, Mohammad Azhar

FDLA Journal

This paper presents an introductory computational thinking (CT) module that can be implemented into teacher education curricula. The researchers examined how the integration of CT and robotics instruction into an undergraduate instructional technology course influenced pre-service teachers' understanding of CT and robotics and their attitudes towards adopting these tools in their future classrooms. The online module was developed as a result of a collaboration between computer science and education faculty from two universities. A total of 93 students participated in the study. The course was delivered during the spring, summer, and fall semesters of 2020 via distance learning at a …

Understanding Educators’ Experiences During Long-Term School Closures, Jessica Pryor, Jessica Pryor

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

In the spring of 2020, many public places closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most public schools in the United States suddenly closed buildings as educators and students scrambled to adapt to distance education. This phenomenological, qualitative study holistically explores elementary educators’ experiences during the extended school closures. The 18current elementary educators who participated in individual interviews, served rural, elementary students. Individual interviews allowed participants to discuss and explain their experiences concerning methods, materials, time commitments, and communication with colleagues, parents, and students. They also discussed how they used feedback to alter their teaching. The interviews were conducted during …

Next Evolution Of Workforce Experiential Learning For 21st Century Global Access Learners, Jasmine D. Darnell

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid pace of technological innovations has created opportunities, but also made it difficult for higher education institutions to keep up with 21st Century workplace readiness skills for students. By the time students graduate from college and enter the workforce, many are lacking the skills and capabilities needed to be proficient in their job functions. These skill and capability gaps are even wider for global access learners, or online learners. Due to new entrants possessing skill and capability gaps, leaders in workforce development, typically housed in learning and development, talent management, or other human resources arm, have taken ownership of …

What’S In Your Gifted Education Online Teacher Professional Development? Incorporating Theory- And Practice-Based Elements Of Instructional Learning Design, Matthew J. Edinger

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

This paper examined six theory- and practice-based elements of instructional learning design in online teacher professional development (oTPD), how these elements were implemented into Edinger’s (2017) PACKaGE model of gifted education oTPD, and how teachers evaluated each element. Elements were based on Berge’s (1995) instructor roles model theory and gifted education research. Each element was evaluated by teachers (N=184) who completed oTPD designed from the PACKaGE model. Self-report survey findings suggest that teachers considered most elements, such as asynchronous discussion board and article review assignments, to be useful to a great extent to their gifted education learning and pedagogy. However, …

0704: Satellite Network Of West Virginia (Satnet) Records, 1986-2001, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Satellite Network of West Virginia Collection consists of the bulk of documents and other corollaria accumulated by the entity from its inception in 1986 to the time its Director, John H. Buskey, retired from his position early 2001. These documents consist of Minutes and Correspondence, Technical Information, Budgetary Data, Personnel Files, and Work Product, to name several examples. Other corollaria consist of programs found on Videocassette. The Collection is divided into fifteen (15) user-friendly sections as listed in the Table of Contents. In the collection itself, Folders are designated by two different reference numbers. First, Folders are numbered as …

Online Ultrasound Programs: Program Directors’ Perspective, Ashley Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on opinions of diagnostic medical sonography program directors concerning online education within an allied health field that is clinically based. Although the study is centered around sonography, the findings can be applied to many online programs with clinical aspects. There was limited information concerning online education within a clinically based healthcare field, therefore the literature review focused on distance or online education in general. The participating program directors used online/distance learning terms interchangeably. The objective of this study was to identify factors that attributed to or hindered the progress of an online program in diagnostic medical sonography. …

Dichotomies: Lessons From A College Life On Tour, Alexander J. Dontre

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

In this unique memoir, the author reveals his struggles and triumphs as a touring musician pursuing a college education. From 2011-2017, Alex Dontre performed 505 concerts with his band Psychostick while simultaneously enrolled in rigorous online courses. It culminated with a master's degree in Business Psychology from Franklin University, at which time he gave the commencement speech at his graduation as valedictorian.

Assessing Affective Differences Between A Virtual General Chemistry Experiment And A Similar Hands-On Experiment, Cory Hensen, Jack Barbera

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

To date, few general chemistry laboratory studies have included affective measures despite calls for more research on aspects of this domain. This shortage of studies may be partially due to the scarcity of affective measures that have been designed for, or tested in, the college laboratory setting. To provide measures for use in this environment, several existing affective scales were adapted for this new context. Before data from the scales were utilized to study the environment, evidence was provided for the validity and reliability of the data generated from them. Once sufficient evidence was provided, it was possible to determine …

Alayne Thorpe, Alayne Thorpe

Spring 2019

“Education is a sacred profession where a good and caring teacher can change a student’s life,” reflects Alayne Thorpe, PhD, dean of the School of Distance Education & International Partnerships and graduate dean. Dean Thorpe is one of the individuals on campus who makes the love of education infectious. Her passion, her creativity and her energy consistently invite students and colleagues to think in new ways and discover with excitement what knowledge in a faith environment can mean. So I want to share with you Alayne’s story, what inspires her passion for Adventist higher education and why she is part …

Design And Investigation Of Cooperative, Scaffolded Wiki Learning Activities In An Online Graduate-Level Course, Kun Huang

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications

Informed by the literature on community of inquiry, wikis in education, and scaffolding in technology-supported learning environments, this study reports the design, implementation, and investigation of wiki-supported cooperative learning activities in an online graduate-level theories class. The investigation of emerging research questions revealed students’ participation patterns in the wiki learning activities, the relationship between their participation and course performance, and the students’ experiences with the scaffolding strategies designed to support their cooperative activities. The study offers implications for designing and scaffolding wiki-based cooperative learning.

Adaptive Leadership Approaches In Online Education: A Study Of Trust Creation And Change Management In Higher Education, Andrew R. Casiello

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this study was to determine which aspects of “Adaptive Leadership” are most commonly used by leaders in online education at doctoral research institutions where online education is playing a major role in enrollment. Within this study, the current state of higher education is reviewed and major changes in the financial, technological and competitive landscape are discussed. Challenges within the higher education context are addressed. These challenges include the increasing cost of a college education, decreased state support for public institutions, reduction of regional hegemony caused by technological advancements, increasing competition for students, and student demand for greater …