With the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and subsequent high-stakes tests, including the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), literacy has become top priority in the field of education (Florida Department of Education [FDOE], no date a; NCLB, 2002). Though social studies was not mentioned in NCLB, nor is it tested by the FCAT, social studies teachers are expected to teach literacy skills in their classrooms. Social studies teachers' accountability for literacy enhancement is evidenced by the fact that some states, including Florida, now require social studies teachers to complete a course in reading integration to qualify for teaching certification in that state (Stilwell, 1999). Integrating reading into the content areas is commonly referred to as content area reading. By using content area reading, social studies teachers implement teaching strategies, methods, and techniques that foster their students' comprehension of the texts and other materials used in their course (Alvermann & Phelps, 2002; Billmeyer & Barton, 2002; Tovani, 2000). Though there are many benefits to content area reading, social studies teachers have resisted implementing content area reading for decades (Carnine, 2000; Daisey & Shroyer, 1993; Jacobs & Wade, 1981; Moore, 1983; Nourie & Lenski, 1998; Ratekin, Simpson, Alvermann, & Dishner, 1985; Richardson, Anders, Tidwell, & Lloyd, 1991; Stewart & O'Brien, 1989; Vaughan, 1977). Furthermore, research suggests that content area reading courses are often associated with heightened resistance to implementing content area reading (Nourie & Lenski, 1998; Stewart & O'Brien, 1989). In order for a content area reading course to impact the classroom practices social studies teacher in the intended ways, the course instructor must be sensitive to the process of change that the student is engaged in and recognize the causes of resistance to change. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) is a framework that provides tools by which the process of change and resistance to change can be evaluated and better understood. This study was designed to examine the characteristics surrounding the process of change as social studies teachers learned about and implemented content area reading into the social studies curriculum.

A need exists to gain a better understanding of how the online learning environment found in higher education is perceived by students of color. The research completed for this dissertation explored student participation in the online learning environment in higher education by examining the observations and perceptions of students of color. Along the way, the process of the research journey drew attention to the lack of inclusion of students of color in the literature and data collected about online learning, and pointed to the existence of the digital divide and its impact on graduate students of color and their participation in online learning. In this study, no significant relationships were found in the examination of the nature of the relationship between ethnicity and the variables of gender, age, and self-reported computer experience. The online learning environment was not conclusively found to be an environment where opinions or critiques could be expressed more easily than in a face to face classroom, and the importance to students of having the opportunity to challenge white norms in the online learning environment was not found to be significant. Advice is offered from students and instructors of color providing examples of ways in which an online course environment may more fully consider the voices and experiences of persons of color.

There has been a significant increase in the level of remote or distance learning using the Internet, often referred to as e-learning or online education. E-learning is often combined with classroom instruction and on-the-job training and this is referred to as blended learning. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact blended learning has in improving engineering training in the engineering field of industrial automation. This is especially in improving the reaction, achievement and return on investment of learners compared to that of only the traditional classroom or e-learning approaches. One of the gaps in current research is the examination of the impact of blended learning in improving engineering training. The research revealed significant growth in the use of e-learning for engineers and technicians. There would however appear to be a large number of engineers and technicians who were disappointed with their experiences of e-learning. Significant concerns were also identified in the efficacy of e-learning and the lack of hands-on experience in this form of training for engineers and technicians. Suggestions are made as a result of the research into addressing these issues.

Being able to study at the Municipal Adult Education, Komvux, is a privilege available to adults in Sweden of age 20 and above. Although almost 200 000 people attended Komvux 2011 in Sweden, a fifth of the participants discontinued their studies before completing their course(s). This becomes costly for the society, but it is also diminishes the future chances of a career and college studies. In our thesis we have done a quantitative investigation trying to determine what the reasons for dropping out could be. A request to participate in our survey were sent out to all 64 people who dropped out one or more courses during the fall semester 2012 at a Municipal Adult Education in southern Norrland. Almost half, 32 people, agreed to participate. The results indicated that most students applied to Komvux because they were lacking complete exams of high school or part of it. According to the home-background, most of the 32 pupils came from homes where none of the parents had a college degree. One third of the pupils in the survey dropped out because of work related reasons. More than half of those who had dropped off studied a distance learning course, or a combination of distance and regular courses. / Att studera inom kommunal vuxenutbildning, Komvux, är en förmån som finns i Sverige för vuxna från och med det andra kalenderhalvåret då man fyller 20 år. Nästan 200 000 personer var inskrivna på Komvux i Sverige år 2011, men var femte kursdeltagare beslutade ändå att hoppa av sina studier innan de avslutat kursen/eller kurserna. Detta är både kostsamt för samhället men också en fråga om individens möjliga framtid inom högre studier och arbetsmarknaden. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vad anledningarna av avhoppen kan vara, och detta har vi gjort i en kvantitativ undersökning. En förfrågan skickades ut till samtliga 64 personer som hoppat av en eller flera kurser under höstterminen i en kommunal vuxenskola i södra Norrland, om de vill medverka i vår enkätundersökning via telefon. Nästan hälften, 32 personer, ville medverka. Slutsatsen av svaren vi fick in tydde på att de flesta elever som sökte Komvux saknade grundläggande behörighet eller slutbetyg. En tredjedel av eleverna hoppade av på grund av arbete. De flesta kom från ett hem där ingen av föräldrarna hade högskoleutbildning samt att över hälften av eleverna gick på distansutbildning eller kombinerade distans och reguljär kurs.

This bounded case study describes the readiness of a Southeastern State University System to support the growth of online learning. Structured as a case study, the view provided of the Southeastern State University System in this moment in time provides a contextually rich view of the phenomenon of change within a university system. The study answers the following questions regarding the change towards online course delivery: Does the Southeastern State University System have a primarily transformational or transactional orientation? What are the key change facilitating factors within the Southeastern State University System? What are the key change restraining factors within the Southeastern State University System? The key change facilitating factors identified as part of the first phase of the study included: motivation to change, job/task requirements and organizational culture supportive of change. The perspectives of the administrators regarding facilitating factors differed, as did views on if the organizational culture was supportive of change. The CIO interviewed described a variation in perspectives regarding online learning based on institutional categories and missions, which was reflected in the interviews. The key change restraining factors were identified during the survey phase of the study as: change related systems, emotional impact of change and change mission and strategy. Financial incentives, both for the institutions and the individuals involved in online or blended activities was identified in the interviews. However, the CIO interviewed outlined a perspective that the funding model for collaborative programs in the university system was flawed. A perceived lack of change mission strategy was common through the interviews, with signs pointing towards improvement within the system, with a new focus on online learning as part of an initiative to have more college graduates within the state. This study provides a snapshot of the state of a university system as it adapts to the changing environment of higher education. The study describes the application of an established organizational change and development model to the study of online learning, which provides future researchers with a framework to investigate online learning at a university system level.

Laboratory experimentation plays a critical role in the education of engineers. With the increase of students choosing to obtain their education online through Distance Learning programs, something must be done to allow them to gain practice with experimental techniques. Remote Laboratories (RLs), or laboratory experiments specially constructed for remote use, have the potential to fill this void. In a "traditional" laboratory experiment, students physically interact with an apparatus to obtain experimental data. Remote Laboratories are meant to offer a similar learning experience that is equivalent to, or as close as possible to the physical one, by allowing a user to control the apparatus from a remote location using mechatronic control hardware, integrated with data acquisition software. Studies have shown there is no significant difference with regard to meeting educational outcomes between students who performed an experiment remotely versus those who carried out the same experiment in-person. The focus of this thesis is on the development of a framework for developing and implementing Remote Laboratories. To do this, this research introduces advances in the following areas: a) Identifying the educational differences between traditional and Remote Laboratories. b) Developing a method for comparing student perceptions about RLs and their laboratory reports through surveys and laboratory report grading. c) Creating a standard Information Technology protocol for hosting and conducting remote experiments. d) Investigating alternative uses for RLs. e) Proposing new methods to best mimic the physical interactions of traditional laboratories. f) Creation of functioning Remote Laboratories. g) Analyzing the findings of their use in a classroom setting. A comparison of surveys and laboratory reports between groups that conducted remote experiments and those which conducted traditional experiments over a period of 4 semesters suggest that RLs have the potential to be used to achieve the same educational outcomes as traditional laboratories.

<p>Bachelor thesis within Business Administration</p><p>Title: Second Life – New opportunity for higher educational institutions</p><p>Authors: Axel Andersen, Emil Hristov & Hamid Karimi</p><p>Tutor: Olga Sasinovskaya</p><p>Date: May, 2008</p><p>Subject terms: Second Life, virtual worlds, distance learning, marketing, universities, stu-dents, interactions</p><p>Executive summary</p><p>Background: Virtual worlds such as Second Life have been used in the corporate world for a few years now. However, it is only recently that higher educational institutions have seen the marketing and educational potential inside this world. Several hundred universities around the world are currently involved in Second Life and a majority of them give fully accredited academic courses inside SL. As traditional distance learning can sometimes be interpreted as low on interactions, SL represents a new means for interactive distance learn-ing.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore if, why and to what extent Second Life can be used as a marketing and pedagogical tool within higher educational institutions.</p><p>Method: A mixed qualitative and quantitative method was utilized in this study. For the qualitative side: in-depth interviews with SL teachers from five universities around the world were held and these were complemented by observations at educational institutions inside SL. For the quantitative side: a questionnaire was designed and sent out to 50 SL-students. This primary data have been combined with appropriate secondary data concern-ing distance learning and education within SL.</p><p>Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework can be divided into two main sec-tions: a marketing section with primarily service management theories and a pedagogical section where cognitive apprenticeship theory is applied.</p><p>Conclusion: Higher educational institutions can use SL to promote their schools to pro-spective students and to other stakeholders such as new teacher recruits. All of the univer-sities that were under our scrutiny felt SL had strengthened their university’s brand. Fur-thermore, SL represents an opportunity for universities that are looking to increase col-laborations with other international universities and who are interested in enhancing the public image of themselves as pioneering and global universities. Therefore, it is highly ad-visable that a university such as JIBS enters SL, if not on pedagogical reasons then on stra-tegic and marketing reasons. In general, a majority of the students interviewed were satis-fied or very satisfied with the quality of the SL-courses they had taken and an overwhelm-ing majority would recommend SL-courses to other students. The empirical findings showed that the most frequent courses taken within SL are design courses, although no limits were perceived to exist of which courses that can be held within SL. A majority of the students also felt SL aided their learning experience. However, due to some of the cur-rent flaws of SL – such as the slow graphics and the high demands of computer hardware – SL should be viewed mainly as a learning tool that complements, rather than substitutes other current educational forms.</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine the goal conflicts, self-regulation, and course completion of post-secondary learners and to compare these factors in distance and traditional learners. Participants completed a self-report survey given on-line to those who had Internet access and administered in paper format to students in traditional classrooms. Procrastination, socializing, and employment were the most common goal conflicts reported by participants. Significantly more web-based students than traditional students were employed and were employed more average hours. Web-based students also had more children under the age of 12 than did traditional students. A significantly greater percentage of web-based participants than traditional students passed the courses included in this study. Web-based participants reported a significantly greater amount of self-regulation than did traditional students. Contacting the instructor for help and analyzing assignments contributed significantly to passing courses included in this study. Distinctions between distance learners and traditional learners are becoming less clear since some traditional courses have begun to offer web completion as an option. Many students who live on or near campus and who are otherwise traditional students now include web-based courses in their schedule.

In traditional models of university education, students gather in classrooms, listen to instructors lecture on specific topics, and take notes with limited time for interaction. Students are then expected to spend additional time outside of the classroom reading textbooks, completing assignments, and preparing for tests. Instructors are viewed as experts providing information to students in much the same manner that they learned the content as students in college. The advent of the World Wide Web in 1991 allowed a dramatic change in the way students and faculty gather information, conduct research, and publish ideas. Internet-based technologies can transform traditional classroom experiences. Student participation can be increased by promoting group and collaborative learning online, and by the use of tools such as e-mail, discussion boards, and synchronous chat sessions. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine which factors affected faculty members’ use of technology integration in their instruction, and 2) determine what effect the integration of technology had on the role and teaching styles of faculty members. The study employed a mixed-methods research methodology. A survey instrument was developed and sent to faculty members at the five largest, public research institutions. The level of technology integration was calculated on a scale ranging from nonuse to full integration. The scale included practices such as providing online discussion areas, allowing/requiring students to use the Internet for assignments, and using anonymous online surveys to gather student feedback. Faculty members were then asked to elaborate on their answers. After the quantitative and qualitative survey results were analyzed, a select group of faculty members at one campus were interviewed to verify or dispute the findings. The survey results revealed the factors that significantly contributed to the overall level of technology integration were: instructional resources, professional and personal computer use, level of class, gender, title, and type of online teaching experience. One of the most significant factors was the level of instructional resources. Instructors with a facilitative teaching style were most likely to integrate technology into their instruction. This information can inform institutions when creating faculty development programs and budgeting limited resources. / text

Αντικείμενο της εργασίας μου είναι η E-learning. Αρχικά εξετάζω την πορεία της μέσα στον χρόνο, τα πλεονεκτήματά της αλλά και τα μειονεκτήματά της σε σχέση με την παραδοσιακή εκπαίδευση. Σαν μια νέα διάσταση στον χώρο της εκπαίδευσης χρειάζεται νέος σχεδιασμός τόσο όσον αφορά στην οργάνωση των μαθημάτων και του εκπαιδευτικού υλικού όσο και για την διαχείριση της τάξης. Συνεχίζω με την παρουσίαση των διαφόρων μοντέλων ανάπτυξης της E-learning που έχουν κατά καιρούς προταθεί. Μέσα από αυτά και κυρίως λόγω των προβλημάτων που αναδεικνύονται, διαφαίνονται και οι προοπτικές εξέλιξης της που δεν είναι άλλες από την συνδυασμένη μάθηση στην οποία και γίνεται ιδιαίτερη αναφορά αφού όπως όλα δείχνουν αναμένεται τελικά να επικρατήσει λόγω των πλεονεκτημάτων που προσφέρει. Ακολουθούν σκέψεις και προβληματισμοί ανθρώπων που έχουν ασχοληθεί ιδιαίτερα με την εκπαίδευση από απόσταση καθώς επίσης και προτάσεις για την αποδοτικότερη χρήσης της. Αυτοί που καλούνται να υλοποιήσουν την νέα αυτή μέθοδο μάθησης είναι βέβαια οι εκπαιδευτικοί και σίγουρα οι σκέψεις τους και οι προβληματισμοί τους έχουν θέση στην παρούσα εργασία. Στην συνέχεια γίνεται μία προσπάθεια αξιολόγησης της αποτελεσματικότητας της E-learning μέσα από διάφορες έρευνες που κατά καιρούς έχουν γίνει σε διάφορα σημεία του κόσμου. Στο κεφάλαιο για την κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα παρουσιάζω το Πανελλήνιο Σχολικό δίκτυο το οποίο είναι επιφορτισμένο με την παροχή τηλεματικών και άλλων υπηρεσιών στην πρωτοβάθμια και δευτεροβάθμια εκπαίδευση, με παράλληλη παράθεση των στοιχείων εκείνων που δείχνουν κατά πόσο οι υπηρεσίες αυτές χρησιμοποιούνται από μαθητές και εκπαιδευτικούς έτσι ώστε έμμεσα να φανεί κατά πόσο η εκπαιδευτική κοινότητα είναι πρόθυμη να χρησιμοποιήσει την νέα τεχνολογία. Συνεχίζω με τον μοναδικό πανεπιστημιακό φορέα που κάνει χρήση της Ε-learning ο οποίος είναι το Ελληνικό Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο επικεντρώνοντας την προσοχή ιδιαίτερα στο τμήμα εκείνο που αξιοποιεί και αναπτύσσει την νέα αυτή μορφή της εκπαίδευσης. Στην συνέχεια αναφέρομαι στην πετυχημένη προσπάθεια της Ρουμανίας πάνω στην E-learning η οποία θα μπορούσε να λειτουργήσει ως οδηγός για άλλες αντίστοιχες προσπάθειες και κλείνω την εργασία μου με παρουσίαση διαγραμμάτων που δείχνουν πως έχει η κατάσταση στα διάφορα κράτη της Ευρώπης σχετικά με την χρήση της νέας αυτής μορφής μάθησης. / The object of my study is E-learning. Initially I refer to E-learning through the time, the advantages and the disadvantages related to the traditional education. As a new dimension in the space of education it needs a new planning in the way the courses are organized, the educational material and the class management. I continue with the presentation of various models of growth of E-learning that have been proposed. Through them and especially through the problems that have appeared, we can see the prospect of E-learning that is not other than the hybrid learning. There is particular report in this kind of learning because all elements show that this learning will finally prevail, because off the advantages that it offers. Some thoughts and reflections of persons that have particularly dealt with the education from distance are presented as well as proposals for more efficient use. Those that are called to materialise this new method of learning are the teachers and surely their thoughts and their reflections have been writen in this work. Then becomes an effort of evaluation of effectiveness of E-learning through various researches that occasionally have taken place all over the world. In the chapter for the situation in Greece I present the Hellenic School network which is charged with the rendering of telematics and other services in the first and secondary education. Moreover there is a parallel presentation of the elements that show how much these services are used by students and teachers. Through these elements we can see the degree the educational community is willing to use the new technology.I continue with the unique academic institution in Greece that makes use of E–learning, which is the Greek Open University, focusing the attention particularly in that department that develops and uses this new type of education. Then I refer to the succesful effort of Romania in E - learning which would be a good example for other similar efforts. I close my work with the presentation of diagrams that shows the situation in Europe with regard to the use of this new type of learning.