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Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

Lost in the lifeworld: Technology help seeking and giving on diverse, post-secondary campuses

Information and communications technology (ICT) is integrated throughout a student’s lived experience in their post-secondary learning environment. In order for students with limited or no background with ICT to achieve their academic goals, a central part of their adaptation involves an intensive period of ICT help seeking. Using anecdotes from phenomenological research, this paper explores […]

Mobile Knowledge, Karma Points and Digital Peers: The Tacit Epistemology and Linguistic Representation of MOOCs

Media representations of massive open online courses (MOOCs) such as those offered by Coursera, edX and Udacity reflect tension and ambiguity in their bold promise of democratized education and global knowledge sharing. An approach to MOOCs that emphasizes the tacit epistemology of such representations suggests a richer account of the ambiguities of MOOCs, the unsettled […]

“Wouldn’t you like to talk it over before having your people die?” Engaging Middle School Students in Inter-school Online Synchronous Discussions

While peer-to-peer online synchronous discussions offer students a means to engage those from other schools in discussions about matters of public importance, existing research offers middle school teachers limited insight into how best to conduct such discussions. This study examined the peer-to-peer interaction of three classes of students from three separate schools as they participated […]

Developing Civic Agency in an International Videoconference: Reflecting on Audience and Public Voice in Participatory Media

This article presents findings from a multisite case study that focused on three international videoconferences, which involved secondary students discussing controversial social issues. As a learning experience, the videoconferences helped students better understand their use of participatory media, authentic discussion, and public voice. Findings suggested that the students’ engagement in dialogue with a diverse audience […]

From “Community Helpers” to “Community Service”: Using a WebQuest with Second Graders

Drawing on action research, a professor of social studies education reports on the development of a WebQuest to explore community service with second graders. Using the WebQuest, students wrote and asked appropriate questions to community workers who visited their classroom, collaboratively researched different community organizations, and selected a volunteer project that the class could accomplish. […]

Open Access and the Author-Pays Problem: Assuring Access for Readers and Authors in a Global Community of Scholars

Out of concern for its lifeblood—communication—academia is rushing to correct serious inequities in access and revenue distribution by embracing open access (OA) in a variety of ways: some journals provide access openly to all readers, some allow authors to pay for OA options, some share copyrights with authors to allow open sharing, etc. For publication […]

All Adjuncts are Not Created Equal: An Exploratory Study of Teaching and Professional Needs of Online Adjuncts

Online education programs continue to rely on a significant contingent of adjunct faculty to meet the instructional needs of the students. Discourse relating to this situation primarily focuses on the extent to which adjuncts are able to ensure the rigor and quality of instruction as well as the ability of the organization to attract, retain, […]

Analyzing Reasons for Non-adoption of Distance Delivery Formats in Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Education

Though distance education formats could help address an urgent need for growth in the occupational therapy assistant (OTA) workforce, distance methods are not as accepted in these programs as they are in other professional and clinical programs. This study investigated whether beliefs and levels of experience of OTA program directors shaped their views about whether […]

Enriching Learning for First Year Chemistry Students: Introduction of Adobe Connect

The study of chemistry is central within science and other associated degrees. At the University of New England in Armidale academics need to provide chemistry teaching in both a distance and the traditional on-campus mode within science and other degrees. This study explores the contribution that the adoption of Adobe Connect technology can make to […]

Communication and Social Presence: The Impact on Adult Learners’ Emotions in Distance Learning

The aim of this work is to examine the role of communication and social presence in distance learning environments and their impact on the emotions of adult learners. A study was conducted at the Hellenic Open University (HOU), using a questionnaire that was completed by 94 undergraduate and postgraduate students. More than 94 % of the […]