This study aimed to examine the behaviour of learners across a whole system and in various courses to reveal the interrelation between learners' system interaction, age, programme features and course design. We obtained data from the system logs of 1,634 learners enrolled in distance learning programmes. We performed hierarchical clustering…

A variety of understandings of feedback exist in the literature, which can broadly be categorised as cognitivist information transmission and socio-constructivist. Understanding feedback as information transmission or "telling" has until recently been dominant. However, a socio-constructivist perspective of feedback posits that feedback…

A synchronous blend of online learning and "face-to-face" teaching is becoming a feasible instructional approach in higher education with the advent of technology. Although this learning mode is not new in higher education, little research has been done to contextualise social presence experiences in which effects of interactions were…

This article presents the sociometric analysis of the interactions in a forum of a social network created for the professional development of Portuguese-speaking teachers. The main goal of the forum, which was titled Stricto Sensu, was to discuss the educational value of programmes that joined the distance learning model in Brazil. The empirical…

This dissertation examines the spatio-temporal practices of a distance learning class in a graduate institution in the Northeast United States. Guided by a multispatial and temporal perspective, the case study builds on Hine's (2003) and Leander and McKim's (2003) connective ethnography of offline and online research sites, and frames the research…

The study buddy is a learning strategy employed in a graduate distance course to promote informal peer reviewing of assignments before submission. This strategy promotes student-student interaction and helps break the social isolation of distance learning. Given the concern by Arum and Roksa (2011) that student-student interaction may be…

This paper addresses the lack of formalised methodology for analysing learner interaction data created in conversations on audiographic platforms. First the author shows the importance of conversations in language learning and the need for researchers to understand how users learn from these interactions. Then the author establishes that…

This experimental study investigated the effectiveness of structured Web-Based Bulletin Board (WBB) discussions in improving the critical thinking (CT) skills of learners involved in veterinary distance learning, as well as their attitudes toward learning via WBBs. The two dependent variables were learners' CT skills and their attitudes toward…

This paper focuses on one of the most significant challenges in distance learning, the student-to-student interaction issue, by studying the interaction experiences of a group of students who have had a distance education experience. It addresses questions such as the current status of student interactions, the students' perceptions of such…

This paper investigates self-regulated learning (SRL) in a virtual learning community of adults interacting through asynchronous textual communication. The investigation method chosen is interaction analysis, a qualitative/quantitative approach allowing a systematic study of the contents of the messages exchanged within online communities. The…

For the thirtieth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the National AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…