The Disembodied Classroom: Adapting a Multimodal Business Communication Course for Distance Education

Distance education pedagogies and methods are of critical importance to contemporary university-level composition education. However, the current literature regarding distance education applications in communication courses underscores several limitations: these distance technologies are envisioned in terms of writing courses, which avoids or marginalizes multimodal communication pedagogies; the majority of research and discussion in the discipline centers on foundational (or first-year) composition courses, rather than advanced or professional communication courses; and the majority of research and discussion addresses distance education technologies as situated within traditional classroom-based courses, rather than in place of traditional classrooms. This study extends the discussion of hybrid courses and their technological and pedagogical implications by comparing the outcomes of two advanced communication courses (one delivered as a traditional classroom course with hybrid features, and one delivered entirely through distance education technologies), designed around a broad multimodal focus on written, spoken, visual, and electronic communication. This comparison involves three data collection methods (a quantitative comparison of student pre- and post-instruction performance, a qualitative investigation of student perceptions and experiences, and a quantitative comparison of instructor time commitment), which drive a set of best practices recommendations for employing distance education pedagogies in an advanced communication course, and embedding distance education courses into an existing communication curriculum

User experience of academic lecturing staff in the use of a learning management system tool : a case study at an open distance learning institution in South Africa

The teaching model in Open Distance Learning is moving towards fully integrated information and communication technology applications, therefore, academic lecturers need to have a strong comfort level with the use of technology tools. The academic lecturers are qualified and experienced subject matter experts but this does not translate to having the necessary technical competencies to do online teaching. They consequently could experience feelings of incompetency to facilitate courseware on a technology platform. The study identified the factors that influence the user experience when using a Learning Management System (LMS) in an academic institution. The research design comprises a convergent, parallel design mixed-method case study. A literature review was conducted to abstract the factors that influence the user experience into a conceptual framework. An expert review was conducted to validate the conceptual framework and then a questionnaire-driven survey was performed. The quantitative analysis of the survey results revealed that eight of the nine factors proposed in the conceptual framework do have an influence on the perceived user experience of the academic when using the LMS. The qualitative analysis revealed that all nine of the identified factors do have an influence on the perceived user experience of the academic when using the LMS. The contribution of this study is to present a conceptual framework of the factors that influence the user experience of the academic when using an LMS to improve our understanding of the experience of the academic and the practical challenges involved for academics that have to facilitate learning in an online environment The findings should be of interest to developers of LMSs and to institutions in support and training of academics that have to use the LMS.School of ComputingM. Sc. (Computing

Understanding the Development of Global Leadership Competencies

As businesses seek to gain a competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving global marketplace and in the midst of a global talent shortage, the demand is increasing for guidance surrounding the development of global leaders. Although competency model frameworks have existed since the 1970s, the process of how an organization develops Global Leadership Competencies (GLCs) has not been well documented, particularly in new and evolving industries such as the biosciences. Furthermore, despite the time, effort, and money spent on learning and development or training programs, there are no studies that investigate employer-learner perceptions regarding the alignment of these learning programs with the GLC models designed to develop employees as transdisciplinary global leaders. This case study takes a modest step in filling that void by exploring a unique problem in the bioscience industry where scientists and business people are being cross-trained to bridge the gaps in their respective areas of disciplinary expertise. Among other factors, employee-learner perceptions regarding the impact of a learning program on their GLC development were studied to gain a better understanding of how employees make sense of their own development and apply GLCs in their work. The participant sample consisted of 714 responses included in the learning program evaluation data, as well as 14 purposefully selected individuals for in-depth interviews. A review of documents included: course syllabi, learning objectives, field observation notes, competency framework materials, and course-level evaluation data. The document review informed this study\u27s analysis of aggregate learning program evaluation data and the in-depth interviews. The findings of this study connected complementary streams of literature related to GLCs. Theoretical frameworks associated with leadership, learning, and transdisciplinarity were explored to gain a better understanding of how organizations and individuals develop GLCs. The significance of this study is applicable across a diversity of sectors, especially when considering whether to build or buy the talent needed for organizations to be successful. Not only does this study contribute to the nascent field of global leadership and the emergent biosciences industry, it extends theory and applied research with a scalable methodology for other comparative work

Eagle Executive Magazine

From the Desk of Dean Amason Student Honored Posthumously at Spring Commencement LaunchSAVANNAH First Year Anniversary Celebration College News Georgia Southern hosts Belgian consul general Department News City Campus News Graduate Studies Update Alumni Spotlight 40 UNDER 40: 11 College of business alumni Honored Development Newshttps://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/eagle-executive/1001/thumbnail.jp

Enhancing curriculum design and delivery with OER

This paper reports on the key findings from the EVOL-OER project which aims to develop a deeper understanding of the reuse of open educational resources (OERs) by academics in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This paper builds on the JISC OER Impact study by exploring and expanding on the Ratified quadrant of the study’s landscape of reuse framework (White & Manton, 2011). This paper puts forward a different four-quadrant diagram called ‘OER-enhanced curriculum’ to illustrate different approaches adopted by academics to embedding OER into curriculum design and delivery. Key issues in relation to motivation and challenges in reusing OER are discussed

Leading EDI Department Level Change

Higher education leaders face challenging times amidst persistent calls for actions to address discrimination and bias on their campuses. Critics point to the imbalance of women and racialized persons in faculty positions as evidence of structured inequalities. Increased scrutiny and research into this disparity reveals that there are institutional barriers and structured norms that maintain a status quo, which centralizes some experiences and disregards others. This disparity extends to students and affects their experiences, participation and performance in classrooms. Evidence of inequality on higher education campuses contradicts the established goals and values of these organizations and presents a challenge for how to align current practices with stated intentions. My organizational improvement plan focuses on introducing more equitable, inclusive and diverse practices into classrooms and centering such practices into the curriculum. It draws on transformative and shared leadership models to navigate a process to address issues identified, and implement solutions that are long lasting and effective. In this document, I adopt a critical theory, social justice lens in pursuing and finding answers for how to motivate and assist faculty members to adopt practices that reflect institutional leaders’ preference for more equitable, diverse and inclusive practices, into their teaching. This work uses the ADKAR, awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement, and Appreciative Inquiry frameworks to outline a structured change process. While the scope of this plan focuses on the local, higher education (HE) program level, it is applicable to other institutions whose leaders hope to consciously center equitable pursuits and embrace diverse practices

How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?

Design of educational interventions is typically carried out following a design cycle involving phases of investigation, conceptualization, prototyping, implementation, execution and evaluation. This cycle can be applied at different levels of granularity e.g. learning activity, module, course or programme. In this paper we consider an aspect of learner behavior that can be critical to the success of many MOOCs i.e. their persistence to study, and the related theme of learner retention. We reflect on the impact that consideration of these can have on design decisions at different stages in the design cycle with the aim of en-hancing MOOC design in relation to learner persistence and retention, with particular attention to the European context

Leadership Traits, Tools, and Practices: Decision Making in a Crisis

Crises often present complex, uncertain, and unstable situations where routine decision making is not enough. Crises are typically unpredictable yet leaders must prepare to make decisions using a variety of traits, tools and practices. While all leadership is dependent on many factors and subject to many variables, in a crisis, those variables are magnified. Effective decision making during a crisis is a key trait of crisis leaders and is developed over time and with practice. Using the classic Delphi Technique, the researcher obtained qualitative data from experts in crisis management concerning (a) the difference between non-crisis and crisis decision making, (b) the traits and tools of a crisis leader, and (c) evidence of effective crisis leadership practices. This research method was selected because of its flexibility, its use of experts, and the varied locations of those experts. Literature reviewed for this study considered traditional leadership as well as crisis leadership. Crisis leaders use traditional decision making strategies, tools and practices as well as those adapted to a crisis environment. This study seeks to capture some of that data and disseminate it to the community of practice as well as the research community. The goal of any research is to improve the field of practice, add to the body of knowledge, and increase awareness of an idea, concept, or theory. Recognizing the complexity of crisis environments, the researcher suggests recommendations that may assist the crisis management community to improve decision making and to share traits, tools, and practices of effective crisis leaders