Distance librarians often do not have the opportunity to engage face-to-face with users of library services. Without this personal interaction, it can be difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of library services in meeting the needs of the distance learners. Distance librarians may not realize it, but most have a wealth of information at their…

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…

This mixed-method study examined whether online learning interaction participation, perception, and learning satisfaction would be consistent across varied age and ethnicity groups. Data were collected from students enrolled in 28 online courses via content analysis with online interaction transcripts, structural equation modeling with the…

This paper discusses students' experiences with the use of identification codes in a graduate course delivered asynchronously via the Internet. While teaching an introductory masters level graduate course in distance learning, the authors discovered that the learning management system, Moodle, was programmed to display identification codes rather…

The growth of online learning has exposed fundamental gaps in our knowledge, both theoretical and pragmatic. This research investigated some questions of the role of emergent leaders in online leaning and the influence of different behaviors. Firstly are there any common factors that identify thought-leaders? Secondly does the presence of…

The use of online discussion has a long history in distance education and higher education generally, and has recently been proposed as a means of supporting beginning teachers as they face the challenge of being new to the profession. Often using text-based asynchronous programs, online discussion is advocated to enable teachers to interact with…

This study analyzes middle school students' spontaneous mathematics-related help-seeking behavior, in view of making ecologically valid recommendations for the design of supporting tools or "help systems". Our aim was to investigate the content of students' help-seeking messages--Are there different forms of help-seeking messages and do…

This article provides a personal perspective about the development of the seminal papers associated with the Community of Inquiry Framework. The framework and its construction are described. The main part of the paper explores the evolution of the framework and its associated methodology. Finally, research associated with the validation of the…

The Community of Inquiry Framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) has been an important contribution to the online distance education field and has been useful in providing researchers with the construct of "teaching presence". Teaching presence as described by the framework provides insight into the types of interactions…

The current study investigates the effects of preparing learners for an online debate through a worked example in terms of student perception, participation, level of cognitive skill, and electronic interaction patterns. There has been a change in the focus of distance learning research from comparative media studies to the means to improve the…

In this article, the community of inquiry cognitive presence model was mapped to a recently developed semistructured approach to online discourse called SQUAD to detect aspects of critical or higher-order thinking online by cleaning online message transcript through the use of code-recode. It is argued that using code-recode in the way suggested…

The purpose of this study was to explore the dynamics of an online educational experience through the lens of the Community of Inquiry framework. Transcript analysis of online discussion postings and the Community of Inquiry survey were applied to understand the progression and integration of each of the Community of Inquiry presences. The results…

The objective of this research was to compare the quality and quantity of teacher and student interaction in an on-line versus face-to-face learning environment. A Master's level course on nursing theories was taught by the same professor by both methods. Transcripts of the face-to-face class and on-line postings were analyzed to identify…

This paper introduces a rationale for change in roles and practices of the participants in mathematics education MA courses and their instructor, based on the integration and use of a web log, both as a medium for asynchronous communication, and as a mechanism for provoking professional reflection, through changes in the discursive style and the…

The constructionist concept of social negotiation of meaning recognizes peer interaction and feedback as an important factor for expanding meaning. This concept has particular relevance in the context of developing habits of reflective thinking in teacher preparation programs. This article describes an approach to increasing opportunities for peer…