Online programs are growing exponentially; the structure, program design, and instructional strategies used determine learner success and the viability of online programs. Instructors are expected to demonstrate competence as online facilitators, creating an educational experience that meets the demands of 21st-century teaching and learning. In…

This study examines influence of online text-based discussions for secondary school students. It aims to analyze students' shares and views with the goal of exploring the implications of online synchronous text-based discussions held in the Information Technology and Software lessons. It was carried out as a case study in which 10 discussion…

Given that our current educational context has required many educators to utilize online instruction in some capacity over the past year, the purpose of this paper is to describe how literacy specialists and teachers can use digital tools to remotely engage in data-based decision-making within a collaborative professional learning community.…

Faculty learning communities (FLCs), established prepandemic to disseminate and discuss evidence-based teaching practices as part of an NSF-funded project, Investigating Student Success Using Evidence-Based Strategies-eXpanded (ISSUES-X), proved effective at facilitating learning during a pandemic. As our university made the decision to operate…

Higher education faculty benefit from participating in communities of practice focused on developing and improving their own instruction. However, collaborators with common interests are not always located at the same physical location. In this article, we share how participation in a technology-facilitated lesson study provided the means for five…

It seems certain that blended learning will be on the rise in higher education, with in-person meetings increasingly precious time, and online synchronous and asynchronous sessions used to complement them. This paper examines Knowledge Building in two graduate courses conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no in-person sessions;…

Research on microblogging in education has suggested its potential to promote community building and collaborative learning, but little is known about the nature of interaction in such microblogging communities. More research is needed to understand how online learning communities can be designed in a way that supports effective learning. The…

This article explores professional learning through online discussion events as sites of communities of learning. The rise of distributed work places and networked labour coincides with a privileging of individualised professional learning. Alongside this focus on the individual has been a growth in informal online learning communities and…

The notion of synchronous office hours in an asynchronous course seems counterintuitive. After all, one of the tenets of asynchronous education is to not require students to be online and participating at any time during the course. Having taught higher education online asynchronous courses for twenty years, the researcher experimented with online…

The nexus between paid work and study is important. Developing opportunities to facilitate this link is a key part of good course design especially in postgraduate programs. Strong communities of practice can also assist with improving links between research and practice. The online study environment affords some challenges to achieving these…

As more classes move to online instruction, there is a need for research that shows the effectiveness of synchronous learning. Educators must guide students on how to use these new learning tools and become aware of the research trends and opportunities within these developing online and hybrid courses. "Educational Technology and Resources…

While the benefits of online group work completed using asynchronous CMC technology is documented, researchers have identified a number of challenges that result in ineffective and unsuccessful online group work. Fewer channels of communication and lack of immediacy when compared to face-to-face group work are a few of the noted limitations. Thus,…

Because distance education is such a rapidly developing educational venue, knowing what factors impact success must be known. Loneliness and sense of connectedness, or community, are issues facing graduate distance education students. These issues may influence retention. The theoretical framework of a Community of Practice assisted in…

Videoconferencing was often used to distribute live or pre-recorded lectures to students at remote sites. This paper reports a recent study of videoconferencing as a form of technology-enabled learning and teaching in higher education. Videoconferencing was integrated in a blended synchronous approach to teaching remote and face-to-face students…

The purpose of this case study was to assess a history instructor's attempt to redesign an introductory history survey course. Traditionally, it has been taught in a face-to-face environment within the university's core curriculum program. It was redesigned as a synchronous online course that provided students with opportunities to work…