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Archive for the ‘Higher Education’ Category

Speeding Up on Curves

Curves are full of unknowns, including their shape and whether they are gradually accelerating or decelerating. What are the curves that are reshaping higher education, and what are the smart bets along those curves that may bend them in our favor? EDUCAUSE Full Article  

Conjecture, Tension, and Online Learning

Although low cost and flexible access make online learning appealing to administration, the topic provokes considerable tension among faculty. The authors explore why this might be so and outline the University of Washington Tacoma’s top-down, bottom-up approach to change. A key piece is the UWT Initiative in Innovative Course Redesign, a competitive fellowship program aimed […]

Using a Video Game as an Advance Organizer: Effects on Development of Procedural and Conceptual Knowledge, Cognitive Load, and Casual Adoption

This paper reports on a study aimed at investigating whether a video game can act as an advance organizer for teaching a military call for fire task in order to improve learning efficiency. Participants were 23 males and 45 females, randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Conditions were developed by a 2 x 2 […]

Review of Educational Research Methods in Desktop Virtual World Environments: Framing the Past to Provide Future Direction

This article describes educational research methodologies being used in the investigation and evaluation of desktop virtual world environments (DVWEs) as used to teach a variety of subjects in higher education. Ellis’ research framework on innovations (2005) and Reeves and Hedberg’s research goals (2003) were used as lenses to examine the state of educational research methods […]

A cultural-historical activity theory investigation of contradictions in open and distance higher education among alienated adult learners in Korea National Open University

Drawing upon cultural-historical activity theory, this research analyzed the structural contradictions existing in a variety of educational activities among a group of alienated adult students in Korea National Open University (KNOU). Despite KNOU’s quantitative development in student enrollment, the contradictions shed light on how the institution’s top-down, bureaucratic pedagogical system collided with individual expectations and […]

Capacity Building For Online Education In A Dual Mode Higher Education Institution

This paper outlines the strategies employed by the Graduate Programmes Department of the University of the West Indies Open Campus to build capacity among academic staff to facilitate their transition to online teaching and learning. The strategies covered relate to course development and delivery, including activities that emerge at the interface of these two areas. […]

Designing Instruction for Speed: Qualitative Insights Into Instructional Design for Accelerated Online Graduate Coursework

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore instructional design strategies and characteristics of online, asynchronous accelerated courses and students’ choices of deep or surface learning approaches within this environment. An increasing number of university programs, particularly at the graduate level, are moving to an accelerated, time-compressed model for online degree offerings.  Through qualitative […]

Keep taking the tablets? Assessing the use of tablet devices in learning and teaching activities in the Further Education sector

This article summarises the methodology and outcomes of an interventionist/action research project to assess the benefits, and potential pitfalls, of the use of mobile devices in learning and teaching activities in a Further Education environment. A bank of 15 tablet devices were purchased and prepared for classroom use. Staff members were approached to scope potential […]

Relationship Between Age, Experience, and Student Preference for Types of Learning Activities in Online Courses

In this study, two researchers explored student learning preferences in online courses. They used the scholarship of teaching and learning process as a research model, and embedded a web-based survey and online focus groups in the online courses they were teaching. After collecting data, the researchers conducted multiple logistic regression analyses to test their hypothesis […]

Digital Native and Digital Immigrant Use of Scholarly Network for Doctoral Learners

The Doctoral Community Network (DC) is a learner driven, scholarly community designed to help online doctoral learners successfully complete their dissertation and program of study. While digital natives grew up in an environment immersed in technology, digital immigrants adapted to this environment through their ability to learn and adjust to new technologies. With several thousand […]