Instructional Systems | Distance-Educator.com - Part 48 Distance-Educator.com

Posts Tagged ‘Instructional Systems’

What Motivates Students in the Online Communication Classroom? An Exploration of Self-Determination Theory

The purpose of this study was to examine instructional strategies used to motivate students to engage in online communication courses. Eighteen undergraduate students, seven graduate students, and ten faculty members were interviewed individually or in small focus groups. Results indicate the significance of instructional strategies that promote autonomy, perceived competence, and relatedness in motivating students. […]

Bot-teachers in hybrid massive open online courses (MOOCs): A post-humanist experience

Networked technologies have created many learning opportunities and led to new learning models such as massive open online courses (MOOCs). However, MOOCs are an evolving learning model that are even today changing according to learners’ needs. First generation cMOOCs and second generation xMOOCs are now being followed by third generation hybrid MOOCs. In these evolution […]

Social presence and motivation in online environments: Second Life versus the Enocta Learning Management System/Adobe Connect

This study aims to compare the social presence and motivation of students taking a database II course using either the virtual world Second Life (SL) or the Enocta learning management system (LMS)/Adobe Connect. The study group consisted of 60 undergraduate sophomore students enrolled in a fully online computer programming program. Students were divided into two […]

Keeping Online Courses Fresh: Valuable, but Costly

Mary Niemiec, associate vice president for distance education at the University of Nebraska, hears all the time from faculty members and others who believe online courses must cost less to produce than face-to-face classes because they can be left untouched after launch. She wants everyone who still believes that to understand why they’re wrong. Inside […]

The Impact of Program-Wide Discussion Board Grading Rubric on Student and Faculty Satisfaction

In addition to learning more about a topic, online discussion activities may be used to develop skills in reflective practice, critical evaluation, and leadership. Faculty often spends a great amount of time and energy developing discussion assignments that will improve these skills and align with course learning outcomes. Facilitating and evaluating online discussion assignments can […]

Technology Matters – The Impact of Transactional Distance on Satisfaction in Online Distance Learning

Transactional distance (TD), the perception of psychological distance between the student and his peers, his instructor/teacher, and the learning content, has long been a prominent construct in research on distance education. Today, distance education primarily takes place over the internet, with technology mediating engagement and communication. Because transactional distance in online distance learning will always […]

Ontology Informed Design to Advance Developers’ Informal Online Learning

Software developers rely on the abundance of online resources to meet their informal learning needs. Designing systems to effectively support this relies on a sound understanding of the informal learning process. In this paper, we show how the development and implementation of an ontological model can be used to increase understanding of informal learning needs […]

Stanford’s free online classes expand education opportunities

Aiming to promote life-long learning and share knowledge with the general public, Stanford University has put extensive efforts into providing free online courses to anyone, anywhere. Since 2011, Stanford faculty and the Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning (VPTL) have created hundreds of online classes in topics ranging from psychology and philosophy […]

Teaching Massive, Open, Online, Courses (MOOCs): Tales from the Front Line

Very little research has been conducted about what it is like to teach a MOOC. Given this, a mixed methods study, involving a survey of 186 MOOC instructors and 15 follow-up interviews, was conducted to explore the motivation, experiences, and perceptions of instructors who have taught massive open online courses. Findings indicate that instructors were […]

Understanding faculty training in competency‐based curriculum development

Background Competency‐based (CBE) programs have increased significantly over the past decade in response to a changing higher education environment. This dramatic increase in CBE programs has been supported by faculty tasked with developing curriculum composed of competency statements, assessment strategies, and learning content. Yet, little is known about the types of training and support provided […]