Reaching hard to reach students through student learning communities

Because of the many hurdles and adjustments that students face during their first year at university, it is, typically, during this crucial time period that students decide to continue with their studies, transfer to another university or quit attending university altogether. Student learning communities attempt to mitigate those factors that may lead to student dissatisfaction and non-engagement. To this end, student learning communities attempt to improve student satisfaction and engagement, and concomitantly, to improve student retention and graduation rates

Open Education : International Perspectives in Higher Education

Open Education provides a great mix of research and authentic application of "open" in éducation which is global in perspective. The contributions provide insightful evidence that open education as an ecosystem is on the tipping point of crossing the chasm from sharing to learn to learning to share. This book is a must-read for those who care about more sustainable education futures showing that open is a viable pathway to realising education as a fundamental human right. — Wayne Mackintosh, Founding Director of the OER Foundation and the OER Universitas In a time of openness vs closure, collaboration vs competition, elitism vs democratisation, this volume presents a range of perspectives that make a strong case for open education in both the developed and developing worlds. A recommended read for all those interested in transforming higher education. This book is a rich resource that illuminates the different dimensions of open education and its critical link to human rights. This delivers a very important message: that open education is a powerful tool to throw open the ivory towers and transform higher education in the 21st century. — Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning Sustainable Development Goal 4 (United Nations) enjoins us to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. While we cannot rely on our current rigid and closed educational traditions to meet this goal, the concepts of the open education movement provide some promise. The importance of this book lies in its analysis of these concepts through the lens of the democratisation of education. Open is taken to enable far more than access - rather it focuses in on ideals of diversity, inclusion, agency, equity and social justice, towards the final goal of improving learning for all. — Jenny Glennie, Head of Said

Increasing student engagement and retention using immersive interfaces: virtual worlds, gaming and simulation

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Immersive Interfaces: Virtual Worlds, Gaming, and Simulation uses case studies, surveys, and literature reviews to critically examine how gaming, simulation, and virtualization are being used to improve teamwork and leadership skills in students, create engaging communities of practice, and as experiential learning tools to create inter-cultural, multi-perspective, and global experiences. Chapters include how to increase learner engagement using serious games, using game features for classroom engagement, using client-based peer assessment in multi-role, whole-enterprise simulations, using virtual worlds to develop teacher candidate skills, enhancing leadership skills through virtual simulation, using online video simulation for educational leadership, using augmented reality in education, using open source software in education, using educational robotics laboratories to enhance active learning, and utilizing the virtual learning environment to encourage faculty reflection. This volume will also discuss a framework for deploying and assessing these technologies

1. Introduction to Open Education: Towards a Human Rights Theory

Education is recognized as a fundamental human right. Yet, many people throughout the world do not have access to important educational opportunities. Open education, which began in earnest in the late 1960s with the establishment of open universities and gained momentum in the first part of this century through open educational resources and open technologies, is part of a wider effort to democratize education. Designed for access, agency, ownership, participation, and experience, open education has the potential to become a great global equalizer, providing opportunity for people throughout the world to exercise this basic human righ

1. Introduction to Open Education: Towards a Human Rights Theory

Education is recognized as a fundamental human right. Yet, many people throughout the world do not have access to important educational opportunities. Open education, which began in earnest in the late 1960s with the establishment of open universities and gained momentum in the first part of this century through open educational resources and open technologies, is part of a wider effort to democratize education. Designed for access, agency, ownership, participation, and experience, open education has the potential to become a great global equalizer, providing opportunity for people throughout the world to exercise this basic human righ

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Mobile Technologies: Smartphones, Skype and Texting Technologies

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Mobile Applications: Smartphones, Skype and Texting Technologies examines new research on how mobile technologies are being used in higher education to increase learner engagement in an epoch of increasing globalization and diversity. These enabling technologies are reshaping and reframing the practice of teaching and learning in higher education. Through case studies, surveys, and literature reviews, this volume will examine how mobile technologies are being used to improve teamwork and leadership skills in students, to create engaging communities of practice, and how these technologies are being used to create inter-cultural and global experiences. This volume will also discuss frameworks for adopting and deploying these technologies

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Multimedia Technologies: Video Annotations Multimedia Applications, Videoconferencing and Transmedia Storytelling

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Multimedia Technologies: Video Annotation, Multimedia Applications, Videoconferencing and Transmedia Storytelling examines new research on how videoconferencing, video annotation, video mapping, and related technologies are being used in higher education to increase learner engagement in an epoch of increasing globalization and diversity. These enabling technologies are reshaping and reframing the practice of teaching and learning in higher education. Through case studies, surveys, and literature reviews, this volume will examine how video, mapping, and related technologies are being used to improve writing/publishing skills, academic literacies in students, and create engaging communities of practice through digital storytelling, narratives, and inter-culturalism. This volume will also discuss a framework for deploying and assessing these technologies

Preface

The Book Higher education systems around the world are experiencing great change brought about by the global demand for tertiary education, which is at an all-time high. Open education (e.g., open educational resources, open courseware, open textbooks, massive online open courses) provide a means by which society can help meet this growing demand. Within this context, this volume examines the research literature on this topic and it explores, via cases studies, how higher education systems ar..

Increasing student engagement and retention using classroom technologies classroom response systems and mediated discourse technologies /

Index.Creative approaches in higher education : an introduction to using classroom-mediated discourse technologies / Patrick Blessinger, Charles Wankel -- Enhancing learning and teaching using electronic voting systems : the development of a framework for an institutional approach for their introduction / Amanda Jefferies, Marija Cubric, Mark Russell -- Using the Phoebe Pedagogic Planner to enhance student learning and engagement in undergraduate psychology courses / Mark J. Hager ... [et al.] -- Where technologies collide : a technology integration model / Christa L. Wilkin ... [et al.] -- The networked faculty and student engagement : the case of microblogging to support participation in a human resources management postgraduate course / Antonella Esposito -- Enhanced class replay / Ferdinando Pennarola, Leonardo Caporarello -- Bringing the world into our classrooms : the benefits of engaging students in an international business simulation / Tine Köhler ... [et al.] -- Mediated discourse in higher ed classrooms using text messaging / Binod Sundararajan, Lorn Sheehan, Sarah Gilbert -- Catalyzing learner engagement using cutting-edge classroom response systems in higher education / Julie Schell, Brian Lukoff, Eric Mazur -- Creating technology rich learning environments for the classroom / Robert Garrick ... [et al.] -- Learning tool or distraction : student responses to the use of iOS devices / Lauren Miller Griffith, Brian A. Roberts

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Online Learning Activities: Wikis, Blogs and Webquests

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention using Online Learning Activities: Wikis, Blogs and WebQuests uses case studies, surveys, and literature reviews to critically examine how these technologies are being used to improve writing and publishing skills, student subject awareness, and literacy create engaging communities of practice, and as experiential learning tools. Chapters include ones on the design for a robust use of wikis, using blogs to enhance student engagement by creating a community of practice around a course, integrating blogs across a range of college level courses, publishing activist biographies on Wikipedia, using blogs to increase off-campus student engagement, using video and wiki technology to engage learners in large international cohorts, using wikis as an experiential learning tool, consuming and constructing knowledge through WebQuests, and rethinking WebQuests in second language teacher education. This volume will also discuss frameworks for deploying and assessing the effectiveness of these technologies