Online asynchronous courses require close attention to course design to ensure there are strategies in place to foster social presence to build stronger senses of community and to motivate students to engage (content, peers and instructors). Judicious use of social media may serve this purpose. Since its inception, social media, Twitter in…

Background: Research into enhancing the effectiveness of information delivery in asynchronous video lectures remains sparse. This study analyzes the nonverbal teaching behaviours in asynchronous online videos, drawing comparisons between pre-service and in-service teachers (ITs). Objectives: This research primarily aims to juxtapose the nonverbal…

Distance learning and online learning have become the new educational paradigm. Based on synchronicity, online learning environments can be classified into synchronous and asynchronous online learning. However, previous evidence demonstrating the effects of these two online learning modalities on students' academic achievement has been…

The quality and effectiveness of online teaching-learning are increasingly important with online learning becoming the norm. This cross-sectional survey study aimed to determine the relationship between first-year polytechnic students' perception of chemistry asynchronous lectures and their learning performance. Their perception was determined…

Physiology concepts, such as acid-base balance, may be difficult for students to understand. Systems modeling, a cognitive tool, allows students to visualize their mental model of the problem space to enhance learning and retention. We performed a within-subjects three-period randomized control comparison of systems modeling versus written…

This article outlines a three-phased approach to enhancing online student-instructor interaction using asynchronous threaded discussions: check-ins. These instructor-initiated touchpoints, a form of Classroom Assessment Technique, are staged throughout the grading period to help affirm online presence, clarify expectations, monitor performance,…

Distance learning frees the learning process from spatial constraints. Each mode of distance learning, including synchronous and asynchronous learning, has disadvantages. In synchronous learning, students have network bandwidth and noise concerns, but in asynchronous learning, they have fewer opportunities for engagement, such as asking questions.…

With the growth of online courses, moderators can play a significant role in engaging and supporting learners in asynchronous online discussions (AODs). However, a synthesis of the research on moderators has not been performed in the 40 years since the term was first used in reference to online learning. We examined 76 studies to determine key…

Gamification is the use of game elements in a non-game context to encourage desired behaviours (Detering 2011a). It has been identified as a promising technique for improving user motivation on e-learning platforms. Since previous literature reviews and meta-analyses only considered gamification and learning effort without focusing directly on…

Student enrollment in online courses continues to grow as student retention rates continue to decrease. Student disengagement in learning directly impacts online nursing programs' attrition and retention rates. The problem addressed in this study was students' disengagement with learning in asynchronous online nursing courses. The bioecological…

Workplaces increasingly have enlisted their subject matter experts to construct online, asynchronous slideware lessons with simplified authoring tools. However, these subject matter experts lack instructional design knowledge and often transfer in-person slide lessons to an online format with few modifications and assume learners automatically…

This paper describes a case study of one large asynchronous college-level organizational psychology class taught during COVID-19, in which a major intent was to develop virtual teamwork skills in students. A literature review yielded four challenges of virtual teams in higher education--communication, trust, connection and social bonding, and…

The purpose of this multiple-case study was to investigate how expert instructors in case-based learning (CBL) conceptualize, structure, facilitate, and assess asynchronous online discussions while addressing challenges. Accordingly, we first interviewed three expert instructors with extensive teaching experience using CBL in higher education in…

Learning management systems (LMS) are essential components of courses, yet student engagement on these platforms remains a significant challenge. Traditionally, grades have been used to incentivize student engagement, but this approach comes with drawbacks. In this paper, we explored an alternative form of incentivization, gamification, that has…

This online project was created to orient multilingual international students into the new academic context of a major Canadian university by offering them a set of asynchronous interactive self-paced modules. We drew on an academic discourse socialization framework to identify and scaffold areas in need of further development in students'…