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Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

Social capital from online discussion forums: Differences between online and blended modes of delivery

This study explored the concept of social capital in higher education contexts by investigating student discussion forum activity and academic performance. To address these aims online discussion forum logs, student marks and teaching delivery method (blended or fully online) data were extracted from the universities learning management system (LMS). Student social network centrality measures were […]

Can SPOC (Self- Paced Online Course) Live Long and Prosper? A Comparison Study of a New Species of Online Course Delivery

Numerous formats exist for online course delivery: pure online, blended or hybrid, flipped and web-enhanced. The literature is replete with comparison studies on the efficacy of online, hybrid and traditional format courses. However, the self-paced online course, a relatively new and rare variation, has received very little coverage in the body of research on this […]

When Learning Analytics Meets E-Learning

While student data systems are nothing new and most educators have been dealing with student data for many years, learning analytics has emerged as a new concept to capture educational big data. Learning analytics is about better understanding of the learning and teaching process and interpreting student data to improve their success and learning experiences. […]

MOOCs as a Method of Distance Education in the Arab World – A Review Paper

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the Arab World are still in their infancy. Many Arab countries are now starting to launch their MOOC platforms; however, there are only a few who have actually implemented such systems. This paper will explore online learning, in particular the rise of MOOCs around the world and their impact […]

Transactional Distance and Autonomy in a Distance Learning Environment

This paper studies the transactional distance between the students and the tutor as well as the autonomy of students in a postgraduate course of the Hellenic Open University (HOU). The aim of the paper is to examine how the relation between autonomy and transactional distance evolves during an academic year and how this relation is […]

Prevailing Attitudes about the Role of Women in Distance Learning Administration

The increasing scarcity of women within higher academic ranks is troublesome, especially as associate and full-professors with tenure are generally those tapped for leadership positions. This study surveyed female administrators in distance education in an effort to thematically analyze their perceptions of distance learning in higher education. Themes that garnered more input from the women […]

What Can the Business World Teach Us About Strategic Planning?

The need for a reliable strategic planning framework for distance educators and their institutions has never been greater than it is now. Increased government regulations, accreditation standards, and competition are converging with decreased funding from federal, state, and private sources, and administrators require better strategic planning. A strategic planning model known as the Balanced Scorecard […]

Impact of an open online course on the connectivist behaviours of Alaska teachers

In this article we will describe a continuum of development towards knowledge generation and networked learning which emerges as practising teachers participate in a connectivist experience offered through an open online class (OOC) learning design. We believe that this design offers an opportunity to provide authentic professional development and collaboration particularly for those teachers in […]

A pilot study: Facilitating cross-cultural understanding with project-based collaborative learning in an online environment

This study investigated three aspects: how project-based collaborative learning facilitates cross-cultural understanding; how students perceive project-based collaborative learning implementation in a collaborative cyber community (3C) online environment; and what types of communication among students are used. A qualitative case study approach was applied to explore these aspects using a variety of data sources. First, students’ […]

Interpersonal Skills and Education in the Traditional and Online Classroom Environments

The purpose of this descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study was to compare the interpersonal abilities of online students to traditional students by evaluating their Emotional Intelligence (EI) through the Situational Test of Emotional Management (STEM). The study sought to determine whether a relationship exists between the number of online courses completed and EI abilities of students. […]