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…

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, instructors across the world faced the uncertainty and challenge of retaining student engagement after transitioning from face-to-face to emergency remote instruction. Yet, few studies have evaluated student interest and motivation in the various learning formats during emergency remote learning…

Graduate Schools provide formal education. Their functions for providing students with scientific research methods, technics and procedures are of great importance for the scientific developments and discoveries globally. However, because of the COVID-19 virus emerged from the Republic of China in 2019, schools and universities across the world…

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a host of personal and professional complications for faculty across academia, as well as the students they teach. While the severity of these complications vary at the individual level and look different for everyone, one area COVID-19 has presented enormous challenges in academia is…

With the development of the technological equipments, distance education technologies are developing rapidly. This development has made distance education a powerful alternative to the traditional education. While Asynchronous Model provides students with complete freedom of time and place, Synchronous Model is offering online learning platform…

DL is a new means of implementing the learning process, which is based on the use of modern information and telecommunication technologies that allow studying at a distance without personal contact between the teacher and the student. DL is one of the main ways of computerization and automation of education and the use of the latest technologies…

Online learning continues to be an increasingly popular option in K-12 and postsecondary settings As this trend continues, it is important that the developers of online instructional environments and materials proactively consider the needs of all students. This includes determining how special education and specially designed instruction can be…

Microcredentials enable a digital transformation of educational offerings that build skills of learners and the capability of organisations; however learners struggle with balancing study on top of work and family commitments unless they are motivated and self-regulated in their learning. Designing microcredentials that intrinsically motivate…

Although there are many studies on distance students' language learning strategies (LLS) use, very little is known about what distinguishes LLS use between synchronous and asynchronous environments. This preliminary mixed-methods research helps to fill this gap by investigating distance students' LLS use in these two environments. The picture of…

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has forced teachers at all levels to adjust their teaching styles. Nearly every instructor is teaching in ways that are entirely new (at least to them). Online methods have jumped suddenly from à la carte options to essential components of instructional delivery at all levels from pre-kindergarten to higher…

Establishment of online communities in distance education has been linked to improved engagement, retention, and learning outcomes. This study investigates how online community building was fostered in the text-based Discussion Board (DB) and multimodal VoiceThread (VT) in one of the postgraduate units offered by Open Universities Australia.…

With the increased adoption of online learning (even greater as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic), online asynchronous discussions have become a mainstay of many online learning platforms. As teachers struggle to communicate and connect with students due to the forced transition online, we can better appreciate the differences between traditional…

The shift of evidence-based, active and inquiry-based pedagogy to online modalities has typically been done with a synchronous model, using video conferencing technology to facilitate interaction and collaboration amongst students. Such an approach can be infeasible for some students and create inequitable situations within a class. This paper…

While online learning holds many benefits for graduate students, lack of student interaction often found in asynchronous content delivery may negatively impact student engagement. This study examined student perceptions of online lecture-embedded interactive activities that promoted student active engagement through quizzes and gamification. From…

Various instructor qualities have been shown to have variable influences student outcomes in online courses. In this study, the impact of faculty quality on student performance was examined by comparing student performance when taught by excellent faculty and average faculty (determined through administrative evaluations). We examined 328 student…