Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, Volume 1, Issue 1

This first publication of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning (CIEE) opens and closes with research studies on eLearning practice. The studies frame three theoretical discussions regarding the judicious adoption of eLearning technologies and one extended narrative regarding the various factors behind innovative best practices

What\u27s old is new again, and what\u27s the value of open

This is the editor\u27s note for this special issue of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, where the editor discusses Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), as well as the value of openness in education

Foreword

This first publication of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning (CIEE) opens and closes with research studies on eLearning practice. The studies frame three theoretical discussions regarding the judicious adoption of eLearning technologies and one extended narrative regarding the various factors behind innovative best practices

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, Volume 5, Issue 1: Special Issue on Leveraging Adaptive Courseware

This special edition of Current Issues in Emerging eLearning comprises new empirical research focused on strategies for implementing and scaling personalized and adaptive courseware solutions. A special call for studies related to adaptive courseware implementation was announced broadly. The Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) was solicited for research originating from institutions who participated in a postsecondary success initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As evidenced in the research in this edition, high-enrollment foundation or gateway courses are of particular interest for pioneering initiatives regarding adaptive courses, given these courses have been identified as obstacles to degree completion. The research studies in this special edition share findings from five institutional implementations of adaptive courseware solutions and one additional study delves into motivations that drive faculty members to adopt adaptive learning technologies. The findings are particularly valuable for institutions currently implementing a digital courseware platform who may be stymied by barriers to adoption addressed in this research. Similarly, this special edition offers significant findings to institutions planning an implementation and seeking strategic advantage through access to peer-reviewed research

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning, Volume 7, Issue 1: APLU Special Issue on Implementing Adaptive Learning At Scale

The second of two Specials Issues of the CIEE journal to have been produced and guest edited by the Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), featuring important research resulting from university initiatives to launch, implement and scale up the use of adaptive courseware and the strategies of adaptive learning

What is it like to learn and participate in rhizomatic MOOCs? a collaborative autoethnography of #RHIZO14

In January 2014, we participated in a connectivist-style massive open online course (cMOOC) called "Rhizomatic Learning – The community is the curriculum" (#rhizo14). In rhizomatic learning, teacher and student roles are radically restructured. Course content and value come mostly from students; the teacher, at most, is a curator who provides a starting point and guidance and sometimes participates as a learner. Early on, we felt that we were in a unique learning experience that we wanted to capture in writing. Explaining #rhizo14 to others without the benefit of traditional processes, practices, roles, or structures, however, presented a challenge. We invited participants to contribute narratives to a collaborative autoethnography (CAE), which comprises an assortment of collaborative Google Docs, blog posts by individuals, and comments on those documents and posts. This strategy afforded insight into what many participants found to be a most engaging course and what for some was a transformative experience. In discussing the findings from the CAE, our intent is to benefit others interested in rhizomatic learning spaces such as cMOOCs. This authoethnography specifically addresses gaps both in the understanding of the learner experience in cMOOCs and in the nature of rhizomatic learning

Foreword: Leveraging Adaptive Courseware and Adaptive Learning

This special edition ofCurrent Issues in Emerging eLearningcomprises new empirical research focused on strategies for implementing and scaling personalized and adaptive courseware solutions. A special call for studies related to adaptive courseware implementation was announced broadly. The Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) was solicited for research originating from institutions who participated in a postsecondary success initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As evidenced in the research in this edition, high-enrollment foundation or gateway courses are of particular interest for pioneering initiatives regarding adaptive courses, given these courses have been identified as obstacles to degree completion. The research studies in this special edition share findings from five institutional implementations of adaptive courseware solutions and one additional study delves into motivations that drive faculty members to adopt adaptive learning technologies. The findings are particularly valuable for institutions currently implementing a digital courseware platform who may be stymied by barriers to adoption addressed in this research. Similarly, this special edition offers significant findings to institutions planning an implementation and seeking strategic advantage through access to peer-reviewed research

Foreword: Implementing Adaptive Learning at Scale

What follows is the second of now two Specials Issues of the CIEE journal to have been produced and guest edited by the Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Both special issues feature important research resulting from university initiatives to launch, implement and scale up the use of adaptive courseware and the strategies of adaptive learning. The Personalized Learning Consortium has been working with institutions for more than five years to improve student success in high enrollment undergraduate courses. Using a combination of active learning and adaptive courseware, many universities are reporting higher passing rates but also more equitable outcomes. In this issue, we share five papers that discuss how and why higher education institutions have incorporated adaptive courseware and learning into high enrollment general education courses. The papers also provide detailed examples of levels of success achieved

Nursing Advising Using a MOOC: A Case Study

Advanced technology has moved online courses from being available to exclusively to elite students to literally being open to the general public. The proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has led to expanding public access to a wide range of information including careers in health care fields. Our group developed a MOOC to assist people from around the world who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing get the information they need to be successful in the nursing program and in the profession of nursing. In this article, we describe course content, who the students were who enrolled in the free MOOC, and the course outcomes we developed. In addition, we discuss lessons learned and provide recommendations to assist others seeking to develop a MOOC for career advising