So much depends on online course participants' ability to communicate in ways so that others can perceive their personalities and know that they are "real people." However, the line between the "real" and the "artificial" has been blurred with the rise of generative AI and guidance is needed for integrating generative…

Purpose: With the rapid transition of education from the traditional, classroom- or campus-based to the online format, there grows a need for not only taking advantage of online technology but also assessing actual and potential effects it can make on the learners, learning, education, and society. One of the risks inherent in online learning is…

Technology has changed the practices related to teaching and learning mathematics in schools. The demand for learning mathematics in virtual environments is increasing in the 21st-century classroom. There has been widespread expansion of the use of technology in education. This column reviews three types of instruction--synchronous, asynchronous,…

As COVID-19 continues to impact various business sectors, university administrators have steadily pushed for all academic units to resume on campus operations and activities; conversely, faculty and students have expressed increased interest in continuing online teaching/learning. We aim to mitigate this "tug-of-war" between…

The recent rise in online learning in statistics has made it essential for instructors to teach effectively in that modality. In this retrospective, we reflect on how online course content was added to an introductory statistics course in a graduate public health program and how it was updated over time based on student feedback and instructor…

This design case documents the reimagination of new faculty orientation for a mid-sized public university due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This fully virtual iteration was facilitated during the summer of 2020 and is compared both to previous in-person iterations of new faculty orientation as well as a blended modality version of the…

Purpose: There is an increase globally of students using technology to support their learning. The purpose of this paper is to outline the technical aspects of adaptive learning and contribute to the development of pedagogy that incorporates this method in teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach: This is a technical review article that…

The "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" posits that the practice of asking questions in order to deepen inquiry and understanding is a key element of information literacy. While the "Research as Inquiry" frame is teachable in library instruction, it can be difficult to scale. Popular instructional design…

The transition to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic brought about many changes in the methods of teaching of the physical classroom. This sudden shift required teachers to plan and implement their teaching and assessment online, using videoconferencing software and online learning platforms. Switching to online instruction posed…

During the coronavirus pandemic, nearly all forms of education underwent an online pivot, to some form of internet-based instruction. The UK Open University (UKOU), like many other distance education and online universities, found its expertise in designing and delivering effective online teaching in demand. This paper reports how the UKOU…

Higher education (HE) faculty are increasingly teaching online. For many faculty, this represents a new instructional mode that comes with its own set of challenges but also with new instructional possibilities. One challenge is identifying innovative and effective active learning methods that academically engage online students. Along with other…

"Online learning"--learning that involves interactions that are mediated through using digital, typically internet-based, technology--is pervasive, multi-faceted, and evolving, creating opportunities and challenges for educational research in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this special issue, we advance an interdisciplinary agenda…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had broad ranging impacts on the delivery of education at universities. In this context, hybrid-flexible teaching, or HyFlex (HF), has been offered at my university as a mode of delivery ostensibly suitable to what is ultimately a disrupted teaching environment. HF involves the delivery of a subject simultaneously in…

The author's organic chemistry course at Thomas Jefferson University incorporated student engagement activities through Nearpod, a web-based classroom response system. After transitioning to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the spring of 2020, students were given the option to complete multiple-choice poll questions either…

The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating in terms of the loss of human lives, damage to the economy, and upheavals in the fabric of society. It has also drastically impacted higher education and academic institutions throughout the world. This article analyzes the impact of the pandemic on the higher education industry and its stakeholders;…