Undergraduate students living on-campus and taking online and face-to-face courses concurrently, are the predominant consumer of online classes (Seaman et al., 2018). However, they have lower rates of persistence for online courses as compared to face-to-face courses (Hart, 2012; Xu & Jaggars, 2011). Part of the reason could be due to the…

As educators continue to explore the world of online teaching and learning as higher education instructors, it is essential that they ensure that the elements that create strong learning environments, the engaging conversations, the ah-ha moments, the laughter as they connect to content and one another, be ever present. Research on effective…

The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated long-standing educational inequities associated with technology access, learner agency, and participation in online learning. How were preservice and inservice educators supported in their pursuit of interest-driven professional learning that critically examined the unfolding impact of these inequities? This…

This article includes a review of the literature on personal epistemology and the reflective judgment model and applies these theoretical concepts to undergraduate students who engage in service-learning projects. The application will provide instructors with greater understanding of students' abilities and limitations in their…

Online dialogic communities have become a ubiquitous tool that transforms student learning and course delivery. Threaded Discussions extend classroom learning by providing an asynchronous method of communication for the exchange of meaningful ideas that promote critical thinking and develop thoughtful reflective learning. Threaded Discussions…

This paper discusses an innovative blended learning strategy which incorporates online discussion in both in-class face to face, and off-classroom settings. Online discussion in a face to face class is compared with its two counterparts, off-class online discussion as well as in-class, face to face oral discussion, to examine the advantages and…

Online learning is evolving into much more than discussions via Blackboard. Today's online learners are spending time engaged in discussions, meeting in virtual classrooms, and combining online and on-the-ground learning, even if they live time zones away from campus. In response, universities are adjusting their curriculum, learning expectations,…

This paper describes the development of augmented group awareness tools that take mutual user ratings of their online discussion contributions as input, aggregate these data, and visually feed these data back to the members in real time, thereby informing participants about how the group as a whole perceives their contributions. A specific group…

Is tutoring online more than just email? Two yearlong studies explored tutoring online in two different modes. One, from Atlantic Community College in New Jersey, looked at asynchronous (not real time) tutoring online using a discussion board. The other, at Pima Community College in Arizona, used synchronous (real time) online software. The…

In support of research examining relationships between learner characteristics and the quality of online discussions, this paper surveys different methods for evaluating discussions. The paper will present coding methods used in our own research as well as methods used by others interested in quality online discussions. Key topics include what…

This guide addresses issues around organizing learning services for students in ways that make sense for them, and what the research says about it. The focus is on the structure and organization of instruction and how practitioners can broaden the range of options that students have so that classes aren't the only option. This guide provides all…

This paper describes a method that utilized technology to collect and collate quantitative and qualitative data about pre-service teachers' use of networked technologies during a 12-week undergraduate course, and the impact of this use on their pedagogical beliefs regarding the integration of information and communications technology (ICT). The…

From its beginnings 25 years ago, the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu (UH-West O'ahu) has strived to provide its students, mostly working adults with an average age of 32 years, with easy access to classes and advising by maintaining flexible class schedules and office hours. When UH-West O'ahu initiated a distance education program in 1981, the…