LMS Problem-Posing Academic Relationships Between Faculty and Students: A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Study of Dialogical Relationships in Asynchronous Online Courses

Drawing on Freire’s Engaged Pedagogy as a theoretical framework, I investigated the manifestation of dialogical relationships between faculty and students in fully asynchronous online courses. Employing a post-intentional phenomenological methodology, I examined how students and faculty held varying expectations for relationships in asynchronous online courses. The findings revealed that while students preferred transactional exchanges, faculty aspired to foster more profound and more enduring relationships with their students. This divergence can be partly attributed to the transactional exchange structure of Learning Management Systems (LMS), which heavily influences how faculty design and deliver courses and how students participate

Facilitating change: tablet PC trials across two distance education focused universities

This paper reports on initial findings in comparing two distance universities’ approaches to trialling tablet technology to enhance communication between instructors and students. There were different reasons for initiating the trials and different approaches to each of the trials, but there were also some striking similarities. For instance both trials were led from the bottom up, however they were each conducted with no knowledge of the other. Funding for each of these trials was resourced from a university learning and teaching grant/fellowship and both projects used an action research approach. The emphasis for both trials was on pedagogical and technological staff development facilitated and administered through each project leader. The paper gives an overview of how the trials were conducted, what did and did not succeed and what could be improved. Longer lasting outcomes that have been achieved through these projects are described. This comparison is meant to guide and inform change agents and identify good practice in the management of technology trials

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 51 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis. The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The difference between student outcomes for online and face-to-face classes—measured as the difference between treatment and control means, divided by the pooled standard deviation—was larger in those studies contrasting conditions that blended elements of online and face-to-face instruction with conditions taught entirely face-to-face. Analysts noted that these blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions. This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the media, per se. An unexpected finding was the small number of rigorous published studies contrasting online and face-to-face learning conditions for K–12 students. In light of this small corpus, caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings (e.g., medical training, higher education)

A Final Portfolio

This portfolio includes an example of English/Language Arts research, literary analysis, technical writing, and syllabi for teaching high school seniors

Handbook of Research on Transforming Teachers’ Online Pedagogical Reasoning for Engaging K-12 Students in Virtual Learning

Nicole Fletcher (with Candace Joswick and Audrey Meador) is a contributing author, Transforming K-12 Mathematics Classroom Teacher Pedagogy Through Virtual Number Talks, Chapter 20, pp. 402-422. The COVID-19 pandemic drastically transformed the classroom by keeping students and teachers apart for the sake of safety. As schools emptied, remote learning rapidly expanded through online services and video chatrooms. Unfortunately, this disrupted many students and teachers who were not accustomed to remote classrooms. This challenge has forced K-12 teachers to think differently about teaching. Unexpectedly and with little time to prepare, they have been confronted with redesigning their curriculum and instruction from face-to-face to online virtual classrooms to protect students from the COVID-19 virus while ensuring that these new online initiatives remain sustainable and useful in the post-pandemic world. As teachers learn to take advantage of the affordances and strengths of the multiple technologies available for virtual classroom instruction, their instruction both in online and face-to-face will impact what and how students learn in the 21st century. The Handbook of Research on Transforming Teachers’ Online Pedagogical Reasoning for Engaging K-12 Students in Virtual Learning examines the best practices and pedagogical reasoning for designing online strategies that work for K-12 virtual learning. The initial section provides foundational pedagogical ideas for constructing engaging virtual learning environments that leverage the unique strengths and opportunities while avoiding the weaknesses and threats of the online world. The following chapters present instructional strategies for multiple grade levels and content areas: best practices that work, clearly describing why they work, and the teachers’ pedagogical reasoning that supports online implementations. The chapters provide ways to think about teaching in virtual environments that can be used to guide instructional strategy choices and recognizes the fundamental differences between face-to-face and virtual environments as an essential design component. Covering such topics as K-12 classrooms, pedagogical reasoning, and virtual learning, this text is perfect for professors, teachers, students, educational designers and developers, instructional technology faculty, distance learning faculty, and researchers interested in the subject.https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/education-books/1071/thumbnail.jp

A Phenomenological Study of Community College Career and Technical Education Graduates\u27 Perceptions of the Impact of Online Delivery on Their Employability Skills Preparation

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to elevate and explore the voices of Oregon community college graduates of online career and technical education (CTE) programs to better understand how they perceive they were prepared with employability skills. The participants graduated from their program in Spring 2020, after their final term of classes were shifted completely online due to COVID-19. A three-interview protocol was conducted to explore how participants define employability skills, and the extent to which they felt their online learning experience prepared them with strong teamwork, communication, and results-orientation skills, requisite for success in their fields. Five major findings were uncovered in this study: (a) participants broadly perceive dependability, adaptability, and work ethic as the most desirable employability skills; (b) participants define strong teamwork skills as the ability to delegate and communicate tasks based on a realistic assessment of individuals’ abilities within the team; (c) participants believe that strong communication skills are relational, and marked by honesty and transparency, self and situational awareness, and non-verbal skills such as listening and body language; (d) participants understand strong results-orientation as the ability to effectively plan to clear outcomes and implement; and (e) employability skills can be taught and learned in an online modality, provided the appropriate technology, preparedness of the instructor, and alignment of assignments or activities. This study sought to bring student voice to the literature on online CTE learning, although it represents a particular experience in time with COVID-19. Implications for this study suggest a need for CTE programs and employers to better articulate desirable employability skills to students, for faculty to build belonging and communication into instructional plan, and for community colleges to invest in appropriate technology and professional development for growth and development of online CTE learning

Integrating Technology With Student-Centered Learning

Reviews research on technology's role in personalizing learning, its integration into curriculum-based and school- or district-wide initiatives, and the potential of emerging digital technologies to expand student-centered learning. Outlines implications

Relationship between pedagogic and course factors and student outcomes in community college online courses

The purpose of this study was to identify instructor behaviors that lead to positive student outcomes in online courses. The study investigated the relationship between 12 predictive variables and three measures of student success (assignment grade, course grade, and student retention) in online courses. Archived online courses at a rural community college were analyzed for the presence of the predictive variables, with each variable counted within the course and within each course activity completed by each student. Outcome variables were determined through the college's data warehouse and the online courses' gradebooks. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the predictive value of each predictive variable as it relates to the three outcome measures; the fourth was described in terms of correlations. Student-student interaction and immediacy were significant predictors of all three outcome variables, while other variables were inconsistent across outcomes or were not statistically significant predictors. Course grade was positively correlated with student-student interaction, student formative behaviors, and immediacy. It was negatively correlated with building student capacity. Assignment grade was positively correlated with student-student interaction, student-teacher interaction, student formative behavior, immediacy, and varied teaching activities. It was negatively correlated with number of formative activities in the course and preprogrammed instructor communication. Student retention was positively correlated with student-student interaction and immediacy. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed in relationship to the literature. Recommendations for future research and online instructional practice are suggested

Factors Contributing to Student Retention in Online Learning and Recommended Strategies for Improvement: A Systematic Literature Review

Aim/Purpose This systematic literature review investigates the underlying factors that influence the gap between the popularity of online learning and its completion rate. The review scope within this paper includes an observation of possible causal aspects within the non-ideal completion rates in online learning environments and an identification of recommended strategies to increase retention rates. Background While online learning is increasingly popular, and the number of online students is steadily growing, student retention rates are significantly lower than those in the traditional environment. Despite the multitude of studies, many institutions are still searching for solutions for this matter. Methodology A systematic literature review was conducted on 40 studies published between 2010 and 2018. We established a set of criteria to guide the selection of eligible articles including topic relevance (aligned with the research questions), empirical studies, and publication time frame. Further steps were performed through a major database searching, abstract screening, full-text analysis, and synthesis process. Contribution This study adds to expanding literature regarding student retention and strategies in online learning environments within the higher education setting. Findings Revealed factors include institutional support, the level difficulty of the programs, promotion of a sense of belonging, facilitation of learning, course design, student behavioral characteristics, and demographic variables along with other personal variables. The recommended strategies identified for improving student retention are early interventions, at-all-times supports for students, effective communication, support for faculty teaching online classes, high-quality instructional feedback and strategies, guidance to foster positive behavioral characteristics, and collaboration among stakeholders to support online students. Recommendations for Practitioners Since factors within the open systems of online learning are interrelated, we recommend a collective effort from multiple stakeholders when addressing retention issues in online learning. Recommendation for Researchers We recommend that fellow scholars consider focusing on each influential factor and recommendation in regard to student retention in online learning environments as synthesized in this study. Findings will further enrich the literature on student retention in online learning environments. Future Research Future research may investigate various data-mining and analytics techniques pertaining to detection and prediction of at-risk students, the efficacy of student support and faculty support programs, and ways to encourage struggling students to adopt effective strategies that potentially engender positive learning behaviors