The capacity of online education to produce learning environments that are supportive of hybrid identities, complex discourses, and multiple relations among learners raises questions about the ethical response of online educators. To investigate the ethics of online education, we discuss two questions: How are identity and communication…

Recent calls have been made for a fundamental reorientation in higher education from a curriculum that simply transmits information (learner as receiver) to one that encourages students actively to construct their own knowledge and practice using new skills and concepts (learner as constructor). In response, the Case Analysis in Organisational…

In this paper we discuss findings from evaluations we conducted and share lessons we learned as developers of online education during the last 10 years. The purpose is to analyse some of the complexities in the design of online communities for professional development and continuing education. We present STAR-Online (Supporting Teachers with…

In this article, the author, an eighth-grade student, relates her own experiences when she took an online course. She cites some of the pros and cons of taking an online course. She also observes that taking a course online is very different from taking a course in the classroom. Although both are good, the choice really depends on the student's…

This study investigates the quality and nature of virtual interaction in a higher education context. The study aims to find out variables that mediate virtual interaction, particularly the emerging processes of sharing and constructing perspectives in web-based conferencing. The purpose of this paper is to report the results on different levels of…

Human resources (HR) departments are often responsible for providing employee and supervisory training in soft skill areas-such as performance management-and in compliance with HR-related laws, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act. Traditionally, this training has occurred in classrooms. In recent years, however, HR departments have made…

This research examined the impact of the length and format (video, audio or text) of instructional Web modules (segments of lectures) on information recall, persistence, perceived content difficulty, aesthetic appeal, and perceived module length. Twelve Web-based instructional modules with different formats and lengths were evaluated through an…

We developed an instrument that allows instructors to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of Web-based courses. Development and validation of the instrument involved four phases. In Phase I, an instrument was developed based on survey results from students and instructors of Web-based courses and an extensive literature review. In…

In this study, the authors examined the impact of task assignment on the effectiveness of a Web-based experiential exercise based on cognitive flexibility theory to enlighten learner attitudes toward the ill-structured topic of sexual harassment. In the research study, we sought to shed light on the use of a cognitive flexibility approach when…

In a series of 5 experiments in 2000 and 2001, several hundred students at two different universities with three different professors and six different teaching assistants took a semester long course on causal and statistical reasoning in either traditional lecture/recitation or online/recitation format. In this article we compare the pre-post…

Data from 87 out of 250 faculty (34% response rate) responded to a two-page survey on Internet usage, attitudes, and perceived benefits and shortcomings. Overall, 73.6% of the faculty indicated a positive view of using the Internet for instructional purposes and 69.4% believed that the Internet is an effective teaching tool. However, only about…

The need for designing the next generation of web service-based educational systems with the ability of integrating components from different tools and platforms is now recognised as the major challenge in advanced learning technologies. In this paper, we discuss this issue and we present the conceptual design of such environment, referred to as…

There has been considerable discussion in general educational publications about the value of instructional technology, in particular multimedia- or Web-based instruction. Much of the published work thus far has described various features of multimedia systems in an anecdotal manner rather than focusing on an evaluation of multimedia and its use…

The International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (IBSTPI) provides a methodology for drafting and validating teaching competencies. This study applied the IBSTPI methodology to identify and validate distance education (DE) instructor competencies. The research team's review of DE literature in the past 10 years…

A five-month research study at Cornell University Library (CUL) confirmed the strategic importance of a library presence in faculty-created course Web sites. It sparked specific recommendations to support the seamless integration of the CUL digital library within the virtual learning environments created by faculty.