This study investigates the interactional functions of the "Slightly Smiling Face" (SSF) emoji in Chinese WeChat conversations through the lens of Conversation Analysis (CA). Drawing on 50 naturally occurring chat excerpts involving 12 participants across various relationship types, the study identifies three core uses of the SSF emoji:…

In today's workforce, soft skills such as communication and adaptability are increasingly critical for career success, yet many graduates lack these competencies. As online learning continues to expand, questions arise about its effectiveness in cultivating essential workplace skills. This mixed-methods case study examines how synchronous and…

Background: Amidst the increasing application of online education in the post-COVID era, new challenges in student engagement have emerged. However, most studies on online engagement have adopted macro-level approaches and relied on self-report measures of retrospective engagement. Few have examined micro-level engagement in terms of real-time and…

Research Findings: Several barriers can impede the use and effectiveness of intensive professional development programs, such as courses and coaching, for educators across today's mixed delivery early education system. The present study introduces and tests a light-touch text message-based approach to encourage educators' use of two high-quality…

The unique affordances of Action Research, including flexibility, playfulness, accessibility, and a focus on practical problem solving provided crucial strategies for generating knowledge and developing solutions to the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The move to online research settings, in particular, required action researchers to…

With the rising influence of technology, students have become heavy users of instant messaging applications. It makes one wonder about students' motivations in using these applications and their usage habits. The aims of this study were to analyze the messaging activities of university students in blended classroom groups, to investigate the…

Although roles of teaching presence have often been neglected in online learning environments, recent research has acknowledged its burgeoning importance. Synchronous online learning mode in which the teaching and learning process occurs in concurrent real-time helps blur the physical boundary hindrance of online learning for students. However,…

We have all made several transitions within our teaching practice since the start of the COVID 19 pandemic. After time reflecting and re-assessing my teaching pedagogies and practices, I have implemented many new-to-me online teaching tools with the intent to increase student engagement, empower student ownership of course content, and create a…

As institutions of higher education continue to offer online instruction, educators and administrators of presentational speaking courses must adapt their classes for various modes of online delivery. One primary consideration for adapting a presentational speaking course to online delivery is how students will experience communication…

This study explores the challenges and benefits of experienced recent graduates serving as online mentors for teacher education students by using synchronous videoconferencing. The innovative idea originated from the phenomenon that current teacher education students are likely to face several challenges owing to changes in the teacher education…

"Zoom class" has become a prevailing norm for online synchronous learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Zoom classes are often associated with fatigue and lack of student engagement. Theories of computer-mediated communication suggest that text-based, low-bandwidth, online communication may yield more positive communication…

The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to determine if there was a significant difference in course pass and withdrawal rates between online community college synchronous and asynchronous introductory English composition (IEC) courses. The community of inquiry provided the theoretical foundation for the study. The research…

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore current challenges, barriers, and successful practices from nursing faculty regarding how they are using learning or educational technology when teaching graduate nursing courses in an online environment. The target population for this study comprised nursing faculty who use teaching and…

Two studies were conducted to ascertain whether or not the embodiment principle of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning would apply to student's use of cameras in synchronous online instruction. Results from a cross-sectional dataset indicate that students who utilize their cameras report more positive outcomes than students who do not…

The effective anti-corruption education requires careful understanding of the teaching-learning context. At the different stages of the designing an anti-corruption focuses course, we need to consider factors related to target learning group as well as the respective context in which they are. Learning style versatility is an important factor that…