This study investigates how university students on distance learning courses experience interaction with their peers. Students on two distance learning courses at The Open University (UK) were interviewed, to investigate learners' experience of interaction on these courses. The analysis, using a grounded-theory approach, reveals disparities…

This paper reports the results of the first phase of a mixed methods study investigating the attitudes of students enrolled in a distance education MBA program towards interacting more with other students online. It grapples with the issue of whether students enrolled in a successful distance education program grounded in instructivist and…

The increasing use of innovative blended learning strategies which incorporate online discussion into the classroom requires the examination of asynchronous, computer mediated communication (ACMC) to fully understand the learners' total engagement and the contribution of such ICT tools to student learning. This study analysed students' online…

This study provides a simultaneous examination of all components of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000; Anderson, Rourke, Garrison & Archer, 2001; and Rourke, Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999) and seeks to extend previous work into the nature, development, and relationships between the constructs of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the most suitable ICT-based education and define the most suitable e-content creation tools for quantitative courses in the IT-management Masters program. ICT-based tools and technologies are divided in to three categories: the creation of e-content, the offering of e-content, and access to e-content. In…

This paper reviews past research that focused on questions of culture in distance learning. Of specific interest are the studies that examined the influence of culture on students' learning and engagement in asynchronous learning networks (ALNs). The purpose of this review is three-fold: to present the state of knowledge concerning the questions…

The increasing importance of technology in today's world challenges teacher educators to create technology-proficient teachers, practitioners who can utilize existing technology, learn to work with emerging technology and adapt as needed when confronted with technological issues. Acknowledging the need for technologically proficient teachers,…

Too often, when child care center directors turn their attention to enhancing management skills, or connecting with someone who understands the day-to-day demands of the job, they are pulled back to the immediate needs of running their programs. Directors, often masters of multitasking, are increasingly turning to web-based technology to manage…

The Web 2.0 tools and services that are making socializing, networking, and communicating in general so easy are also making group projects seriously simple. With the judicious use of a few of the popular tools that use Web 2.0 technologies and philosophies, one can collaboratively create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, websites, project…

This present study aimed to investigate the effects of the asynchronous web-based "General Teaching Methods" course conducted based on direct or indirect instructional methods on pre-service teachers' achievement, metacognition, and attitudes towards web-based course. Two groups, a total of 63 third grade elementary science and mathematics…

This research project investigated graduate faculty members' perceptions of online teaching. The participants were five graduate faculty members from a religious graduate school located in the mid-south. The project was a qualitative study guided by the phenomenological framework. The methods used to gather data were individual interviews and a…

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are becoming increasingly popular in online education environments and have multiple pedagogical advantages over more traditional approaches to education. VLEs include 3D worlds where students can engage in simulated learning activities such as Second Life. According to Claudia L'Amoreaux at Linden Lab, "at…

This article examined online learners' preferences in personalized, relationship-based social awareness information sharing in course management systems. Three hundred seventy-seven online learners' willingness to share social awareness information was measured through a national survey. Results indicated that today's online learners are open…

Online learning communities are an important means of sharing and creating knowledge. Online behaviors and online roles can reveal how online learning communities function. However, no study has elucidated the relationships among online behaviors, online roles, and online learning communities. In this study, 32 preservice teachers participated in…

This study examined students' perceptions of peer feedback and learning in a large, undergraduate course that incorporated supplementary online discussions. Peer feedback (PF) was facilitated via an automated rating system, within Blackboard discussion forums, for half of the students enrolled in the course. Following the peer feedback process,…