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Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

The Effects of Meta-Cognitive Instruction on Students’ Reading Comprehension in Computerized Reading Contexts: A Quantitative Meta-Analysis

Comprehension is the essence of reading. Finding appropriate and effective reading strategies to support students’ reading comprehension has always been a critical issue for educators. This article presents findings from a meta-analysis of 17 studies of metacognitive strategy instruction on students’ reading comprehension in computerized reading contexts. Overall, some instances of metacognitive strategy instruction tended […]

Self-esteem and Loneliness as Factors Affecting Distance Learning Students

This study aims at empirically examining the relation of self-esteem and loneliness with social presence, academic performance, satisfaction with the course and intention for academic drop out, in a blended distance learning environment in Greece. The study involved both undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Hellenic Open University (HOU). Data were collected via a four-section […]

The Case for ‘Passive’ Learning – The ‘Silent’ Community of Online Learners

This paper examines two modules within the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Open University (OU) and considers the extent to which ‘passive’ learning may be taking place. Both are level one modules (first year undergraduate) and use a combination of asynchronous (forums) and synchronous (Blackboard Collaborate technology, branded ‘OU Live’) technologies for teaching. The […]

iSELF: The development of an Internet‑Tool for Self‑Evaluation and Learner Feedback

This paper describes the theoretical basis and development of the iSELF: an Internet-tool for Self-Evaluation and Learner Feedback to stimulate self-directed learning in ubiquitous learning environments. In ubiquitous learning, learners follow their own trails of interest, scaffolded by coaches, peers and tools for thinking and learning. Ubiquitous learning solutions include on- and off-line, formal and […]

Effect of Geographic Distance on Distance Education: An Empirical Study

This study investigates the effect of geographic distance on students’ distance learning experience with the aim to provide tentative answers to a fundamental question – does geographic distance matter in distance education? Using educational outcome data collected from an online master’s program in Geographic Information Systems, this study calculates the distance between students’ residences and […]

Student Online Readiness Assessment Tools: A Systematic Review Approach

Although there are tools to assess student’s readiness in an online learning context, little is known about the psychometric properties of the tools used or not. A systematic review of 5107 published and unpublished papers identified in a literature search on student online readiness assessment tools between 1990 and 2010 was conducted. The objective of […]

Learning in cyber-physical worlds

What lies in the space where the cyber world and physical world converge? A spectrum of blended augmented experiences and a fount of new opportunities for educational practice. The success of this projected convergence depends on the availability of affordable virtual reality hardware, such as wearable haptic and movement tracking devices, and the use of […]

E-counselling implementation: Students’ life stories and counselling technologies in perspective

Given the current global trend of mimicking real life situations into digital counselling games and its related digital counselling platforms, we decided to contextually understand from the Ghanaian senior high school students, their life challenges arising from their life stories. The study also explores the extent to which ICT is currently being used to provide […]

Investigating students’ behavioural intention to adopt and use mobile learning in higher education in East Africa

Recent penetration of mobile technologies and its services in East Africa has provided a new platform for institutions to widen access to education through mobile learning. Mobile technologies provide learners with flexibility and ubiquity to learn anytime and anywhere via wireless Internet. However, far too little research has been conducted to investigate factors that contribute towards students’ adoption and […]

The evolution of open access to research and data in Australian higher education

Open access (OA) in the Australian tertiary education sector is evolving rapidly and, in this article, we review developments in two related areas: OA to scholarly research publications and open data. OA can support open educational resource (OER) efforts by providing access to research for learning and teaching, and a range of actors including universities, […]