In recent years, the use of asynchronous discussion forums in online learning has increased rapidly. In earlier studies, content analysis is the most-used research method in exploring the discussion transcripts. However, conventional content analysis is a time-consuming task and requires experienced coders. There is a need for an automated…

E-learning has become one of the primary ways to deliver education around the globe. Research is keeping pace with the use of various techno-aids as educators evaluate how to effectively use these aids in an ever-changing e-classroom. Adding to this body of work, and in assessing the effectiveness of techno-tools, this study evaluates meaningful…

Online learning is increasingly ubiquitous in higher education. However, research regarding online teaching often focuses on the affordances of the online environment rather than on the quality of pedagogy. In this paper we consider how online learning could be enhanced using rich pedagogical models that are consistent with a wealth of existing…

Digital technologies make possible new avenues for sharing and accessing literacy research and practices worldwide. Among the myriad of options available, web seminars have become popular online learning venues. The current investigation is part of Global Conversations in Literacy Research (GCLR), a longitudinal and qualitative study now in its…

This article details the results of an action research study which investigated how teachers used online learning community spaces to develop and support their teaching and learning of the Jewish Court of All Time (JCAT), a web-mediated, character-playing, simulation game that engages participants with social, historical and cultural curricula.…

Online nursing education has been evolving at a rapid pace as it is recognized as offering the flexibility needed for practicing associate degree (ADN) and diploma prepared Registered Nurses to return to school to earn their BSN. At the same time, there is a paradigm shift in how nursing education is delivered. The focus has shifted from content…

This case study examines the use of online tools, including blogs, as a means of enhancing face-to-face professional development in writing instruction for teachers in rural districts. Since many rural districts serve large physical areas that are geographically distant from larger metropolitan areas and/or colleges and universities, teachers in…

The present study analyses the use of Twitter in the course Social Media and Digital Learning, taught as part of a master's programme at Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia (Spain). The main purpose of the use of this resource was to develop a learning community. This was implemented through the micro design of activities. A mixed…

This quasi-experimental, mixed model study explored the use of an instructional approach that provided direct instruction and experiences in multicultural education while empowering preservice teachers to examine their perspectives using a hybrid classroom format. The purpose of the study was to explore preservice teachers' attitudes and…

Within the field of higher education, there are situations where the learner is not well served in a classroom setting. Problematic issues such as scheduling, critical mass, time, pace and location have the potential to be counterbalanced by e-learning. Within this, the asynchronous nature of today's online learning environments and computer…

This qualitative case study explored the collaboration between students in two social studies methods courses at different universities. The authors used technology to connect preservice teachers from teacher education programs that differ in terms of geography, size, and type of university. Using archived data from the courses, the authors found…

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 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…

This study examines online mentor roles and effects with the online mentoring process in computer-supported collaborative learning environments in communities of in-service teachers. Interest in the online mentors' activity encompassed their participation in the online interactions, the influence of their activity on participants' patterns of…

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…