A training module of six sessions was designed for professors in higher education who were transitioning to teaching synchronous, e-learning courses from formerly teaching in either asynchronous courses or in face-to-face courses. Since the participants were experienced educators, the boundary of their expertise to be extended was moving to the…

As the success of distance learning (DL) has driven universities to increase the courses offered online, certain challenges arise when teaching computer science (CS) courses to students who are not physically co-located and have individual learning schedules. Teaching CS courses involves high level demonstrations and interactivity between the…

The global work environment requires graduates to have skills to work collaboratively over distance and time. This pilot study presents the findings of a survey of student perceptions concerning a global virtual team (GVT) experience that used both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. Our findings revealed that while students experienced…

College courses that include universal design features can minimize the need to provide accommodations for students with disabilities and make courses accessible to students from diverse backgrounds. This article examines how principles of Universal Instructional Design (UID) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be incorporated into an…

This study investigated the small-group, learner-led discussion process in synchronous discussions. Transcripts from online chats and face-to-face discussions were analyzed within the context of the Community of Inquiry framework to examine the relationship of teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence to one another and for…

The transformative experiences afforded by technology are wide and varied. Among them is the extended reach these technologies give us in connecting with others around the world, or even in our own communities, who may be from very different backgrounds than ourselves. Emerging technologies are providing new opportunities in education, and this…

Technology has become an essential component of the teaching-learning process, and online learning, in particular, has captivated the interest of many educational institutions throughout the world. Web-based learning has provided both students and teachers with new and unique ways of communicating with each other. As a result, many studies have…

This case study reports on a teacher training experience for college professors in which participants were trained, taking advantage of technological tools, in two main teaching competences. First, professors were trained to use technology to enrich students' learning outcomes. Second, they applied strategies of significant learning in the design…

In October 2010, the University of Southern California School of Social Work entered the online education environment with the launch of the first national web-based MSW program. After an initial enrollment of 80 students, in just 3 years this state-of-the-art MSW, offered in a technology-advanced synchronous and asynchronous format, has generated…

This paper presents the structure of an undergraduate course entitled "programming techniques and the use of specialised software in structural engineering" which is offered to the fifth (final) year students of the Civil Engineering Department of Aristotle University Thessaloniki in Greece. The aim of this course is to demonstrate the…

"Keeping Pace with K-12 Digital Learning" (2014) is the 11th in a series of annual reports that began in 2004 that examine the status of K-12 online education across the country. The report provides an overview of the latest policies, practices, and trends affecting online learning programs across all 50 states. It summarizes that at a…

This study aims to compare the academics' perceptions about face to face and distance education, beside finding out the contributions of distance education to them, difficulties they experience in synchronous and asynchronous distance education environments and suggestions for possible solutions of the existing problems. The sample consists of 52…

This paper has a dual aim: to situate functionalities among the complex of factors that help shape online interactions and to explore the heterogeneity of audio conferencing and its implications. Following a critical discursive synthesis of the treatment of variables in the literature, attention focuses on the distinctive and diverse…

As online learning environments now have an established presence in higher education we need to ask the question: How effective are these environments for student learning? Online environments can provide a different type of learning experience than traditional face-to-face contexts (for on-campus students) or print-based materials (for distance…

Communicating and collaborating online are becoming common requirements in education. The specialized notations and symbols necessary for some content areas where mathematical expressions are part of the conversation require that users select appropriate communication tools. The purpose of this article is to describe tools that can be used for…