As distance learning continues to grow, ads continually appear seeking instructors to teach online. Many have experience teaching online, yet some also apply who have a solid education and great experience in a specific field--but have never taught online. This latter group of potential online instructors should not be dismissed merely because…

We present SimpleApprenant, a platform aiming to improve French L2 learners' knowledge of Multi Word Expressions (MWEs). SimpleApprenant integrates an MWE database annotated with the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) level and several Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools: a spelling checker, a parser, and a set of…

Based on a three-semester design research study, this paper argues the need to redesign online learning environments to better support the representation and sharing of factual, procedural, and conceptual knowledge in order for students to develop their design capabilities. A web-conferencing environment is redesigned so that the modalities…

A few school administrators in Clovis, California, began a quest to introduce online high school courses in their school district, believing it might cost less to teach classes online than it would to teach students face to face in a classroom. They figured instead of having one teacher fielding a load of 150 students per course, an online course…

The number of games, simulations, and multi-user virtual environments designed to promote learning, engagement with subject matter, or intended to contextualize learning has been steadily increasing over the past decade. While the use of these digital designs in educational settings has begun to show promise for improving learning, motivation, and…

As Internet technology encroached on the public school classroom about a decade ago, Kim Ross, superintendent of the Houston School District in Houston, Minnesota, saw an opportunity. At first, he and his administrative team simply wanted to offer students in the district of 1,300 access to more classes via the web than what a district that size…

This article presents a virtual roundtable discussion with instructional design leaders on mobile technology application which included: (1) Jim Wolfgang, director of the Digital Innovation Group at Georgia College & State University and member of "Campus Technology's" ("CT's") editorial advisory board; (2) Michael Cottam,…

The establishment of an online community is widely held as the most important prerequisite for successful course completion and depends on an interaction between a peer group and a facilitator. Beaudoin reasoned that online students sometimes engage and learn even when not taking part in online discussions. The context of this study was an online…

Development of critical thinking abilities is essential for students in clinical disciplines of the health sciences. Past research has shown that critical thinking is a learned skill that can be fostered through teaching strategies. Ten educational strategies that were developed and tested by the authors in online courses are presented to assist…

Group social structure provides a comfortable and predictable context for interaction in learning environments. Students in face-to-face learning environments process social information about others in order to assess traits, predict behaviors, and determine qualifications for assuming particular responsibilities within a group. In online learning…

The ability to apply existing knowledge in new situations and settings is clearly a vital skill that all students need to develop. Nowhere is this truer than in the rapidly developing world of Web-based learning, which is characterized by non-sequential courses and the absence of an effective cross-subject guidance system. As a result, questions…

Describes accreditation guidelines that are being developed to include electronically delivered educational programs and corporate training. Explains guidelines drafted by the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) and the Global Alliance for Transnational Education (GATE). (LRW)

This paper provides guidelines for designing metacognitive maps in web-based learning environments. A metacognitive map is a visual interface-based tool that supports metacognition throughout the entire learning process. Inspired by the four key metacognitive skills of planning, monitoring, evaluating, and revising, the metacognitive map is…

Discusses the growing importance of the World Wide Web as a delivery method in higher education and offers guidelines to faculty and designers regarding transitioning from face-to-face classroom instruction to Web-based instruction. Highlights include managerial considerations; pedagogical considerations; designing Web-based instruction; social…

Outlines Web-based training (WBT) options (page-, frame-, and screen-based), provides general guidelines for designing Web-delivered instruction. Discusses case studies of a teacher's guide to the Holocaust and sales training for a telecommunications company. Provides addresses of sample WBT sites. Includes reader reactions and author responses to…