Vietnamese high school students have few opportunities to use English outside class and they are often reluctant to speak in class. This paper describes and explains the students' willingness to communicate (WTC) and relates this to varied perceptions of social presence. Eighteen high school students in Vietnam took a six-week online course using…

Information and communications technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for innovation in educational practice. Among all the educational technological tools, online discussion forums represent one of the most extensively adopted educational media in higher education. Yet a review of the literature indicates a lack of empirical studies…

This chapter examines practical issues regarding Virtual Exchanges (VEs) for educational purposes in the university context and covers language use, cultural differences, time management, teacher collaboration, technology-related issues, assessment, and context specific factors. It charts the establishment of three academic collaborations between…

This article discusses the use of online asynchronous discussion boards as a valuable tool for connecting students to leadership concepts, theories, and models in introductory leadership survey courses. Recommendations are given for designing effective discussion boards that engage students and enhance their learning. Student outcomes include…

This case study examined dynamic interactions of two small teams of English as Second Language students when they performed two collaborative argument writing tasks in asynchronous and synchronous web-based contexts. The two teams exhibited different interaction patterns when switching between contexts. These patterns were identified in terms of…

Assessing student presentations can be made more reliable with video-recording and post-performance rating. Further, self assessment and peer assessment can aid in the learning process by students when using specific, easy-to-understand rubrics. A ten-year action research study involved video-recorded performance assessment tasks using a free,…

In this article, 61 high-school students learned about ocean acidification through a virtual laboratory followed by a virtual lecture and an asynchronous discussion with a marine scientist on an online platform: VoiceThread. This study focuses on the students' development of ocean literacy when prompted to ask questions to the scientist. The…

Background: New emerging online technologies have made dynamic changes in the structure of the online environment possible to address varying needs of diverse learners. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the changes that occurred in online instructional design and strategies in mathematics education courses taught over a course of…

There is a plethora of established theories about online pedagogy. This white paper provides insights into the findings of a research study conducted in January 2016 that focused on the types of training, if any, online instructors have received that pertains to teaching in the online environment. The study was conducted by a team of researchers…

Building on research on the development of reading and use of technology for language learning, this multiple-case study explored English as a second language (ESL) students' perceptions of using a social bookmarking Web 2.0 tool for the development of reading from an ecological perspective. Five students in a community college ESL course in the…

Online educational instruction has become more prevalent in American and international educational institutions and is increasingly the chosen format for many academic programs. The use of web conferencing, virtual classrooms, and computer-based training are becoming the common platform in which schools provide education in online teaching. This…

In March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic caused schools to close for the remainder of the school year, all Pennsylvania school districts and charter schools were required to "make good faith efforts to implement continuity of education plans for the duration of the 2019-20 school year." RFA analyzed these plans for each of the 43…

Knowledge is power. Technological devices provide the new pathway to online learning and student retention. This is especially true for deaf learners, who have difficulty learning with the traditional pedagogies used in teaching. Results of studies have indicated that students using the suggested new technologies become more interested and…

Problem Statement: Within the frame of learning management systems, this study develops a concept focused discussion environment and validates the effectiveness of this environment's use through an experimental study. Purpose of the Study: Online discussion forums, which are commonly used in learning management systems (LMS), can negatively…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas. Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their…