This research was made possible through the assistance and support of many people and it is difficult to list them all. I am especially grateful to my primary and second supervisors (Dr. Barbara Ridley and Dr. Yann Lebeau respectively), in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, for their insightful guidance. Their patience in reading and re-reading the manuscript and inspiring comments enabled me to complete the research successfully. My sincere gratitude also goes to my examiners (Professor David Bridges and Dr Jane Cullen) for facilitating the viva in a wonderful setting and giving me the last opportunity to share my views. Their insight about the problem helped me to look deeper into the problem for further research and their intellectual discourse will remain in my memory forever. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the CARE and the University of East Anglia for awarding me an extremely rare studentship award, without which everything was impossible for me. I also thank all members of CARE for their cooperation and kind assistance during my stay in UEA. I also wish to express sincere appreciation to all persons involved in the study as informants from the Ethiopian Civil Service College, Institute of Distance Education and the regional and study centre of Arba-Minch in particular. The coordinators, and distance education tutors made invaluable contributions for the success of the study. My great appreciation also goes to the distance students who participated in the study by filling in the questionnaire and responding to interviews with deep concerns. Without the support of those individuals, I could never have succeeded in the study. However, any deficiencies in the report can be attributed to me alone.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have played a critical role in the educational changes that have occurred in the last few decades. The emergence of web applications such as: social networking sites, wikis and discussion forums, created opportunities for online interaction, synchronous and asynchronous communication and potentially collaboration between the students. However, although many of these web applications are used by the students to keep them connected outside school, their potential to support collaboration in an educational context, inside and outside school, has not yet researched in depth. Although collaboration has been reported in many research studies, as the outcome from the use of these web applications, in only a few of those collaboration has been the core subject of the scientific investigation. The study reported in this thesis, investigated whether and how collaboration can be supported between primary students in Greece when using an Online Learning Environment (OLE) to develop jointly a wiki for a school project in the school classroom and from home. For the purposes of this study, an OLE was designed and collaboration between students was investigated by utilising a multiple case study research design that involved having primary students working in groups around a laptop at school. The students used the online tools integrated within the designed OLE i.e., discussion forum, instant messaging and wiki, to address the tasks designed by the teachers and develop a joint wild for a school project. Using a mixed methods approach, qualitative and quantitative data were collected with the use of observation, focus group and questionnaire methods of data collection. Another data source, were the data generated from the OLE (e.g. forum and instant messaging discussions of students in the OLE and students' log files). The findings of this study showed that using the designed OLE at school and from home engaged primary students in working together and participating in face-to-face and online discussions but collaboration was not always supported. In particular it was found that primary students' development of their face-to-face and online discussions after sharing an idea or giving help and feedback differs between collaborative and non-collaborative discussions. Only in certain discussions explaining and/or elaborating and/or commenting and/or justifying occurred, and in those discussions collaborative situations were found

The use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to support teaching and learning in a range of second and third level education contexts is increasing. The variety of elements included in the VLE and the extent to which it is integral to the course varies. While the use of the VLE may appear to have a number of benefits, in particular the promotion of independent learning, there is a need for empirical research in a range of contexts to establish an evidence base that will inform practice. This dissertation reports on a study of a General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Supplementary (AS) Level Information Communication Technology Course (ICT) in a co-educational school with a mixed ability intake. The course models a 'blended' approach to the teaching, incorporating many of the Web 2.0 technology tools that comprise a VLE to support the students in their work and to encourage independent learning. The VLE is used along with the traditional teacher-led style of delivery outlining learning outcomes, directing learning and assessing progress. While numerous studies in this area have provided insights into the potential benefits of a VLE, many use third level institutions as a backdrop and focus on staff rather than pupil experiences. Students' perceptions and engagement is under researched. This study addresses the students' reasons for engagement with the VLE, their perceptions of this mode of delivery and the extent and nature of independent working promoted by this approach. The study showed that students saw the benefits of engaging with the VLE for ~he purpose of the course over and above those employed in other subject areas specifically in relation to student management and organisation of learning, absence from school, assessment feedback and belonging to a community of learners. The study also found that although the school made the development of the VLE a whole school initiative, for the majority of subjects its use was limited to an online resource storage area.

This study investigates the factors that affect student achievement in a distance learning English writing course in Indonesia and examines the reasons for dropping out of the course. A cohort of students who registered for writing courses in an open university was used. The study also sought information from lecturers and online tutors. A longitudinal research design employing mixed methods was used over four stages of data collection. The questionnaires consisted of closed-ended and open-ended questions were administered at each stage through postal services and online. The questionnaires were followed by semi-structured interviews. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation and factor analysis. NVivo version 10 was used to analyse the interview transcripts. The study suggests that family and employment responsibilities, absence of feedback from the online tutor, limited time to study, lack of writing practice, and a poor level of English skills at first enrolment were issues associated with underachievement. The major reasons that led the interviewed students to drop out were a lack of basic skills in English, unmet expectations, feelings of isolation, and the inability to balance work, family and study responsibilities. The study offers models of interaction, teaching and learning in distance language learning to improve student achievement and minimise the dropout rate. The study recommends that the university leaders and policy-makers improve online tutorials, induction, formative feedback provision and blended learning practice in terms of adopting distance learning and face-to-face learning arrangements to support student learning.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate course design and instructional strategies that contribute to create and sustain a learning community in an online post-graduate course. Sixteen students and two instructors of an online course delivered at an American University during the fall semester 2004 agreed to participate in the study. A review of key learning theories and relevant concepts is then conducted which provides a theoretical framework for the study. This is followed by a review of empirical studies. The thesis adopts an in-depth case study approach and uses multiple methods of data collection including interviews, questionnaires, student products, and course material as well as conference transcripts. Findings suggest that the design of the learning activities helped create interaction but did not generate collaboration. Of the three strategies implemented in th~ course team work succeeded best in establishing social presence. It was further found that the two instructors successfully modelled appropriate participation in the course. The course .leader, in particular, tried to promote student participation and engagement through their messages. Students constructed knowledge through interaction with course material, application of knowledge and skills in practice contexts and through online interactions. This thesis discusses community in terms of spirit, trust, interaction and learning (Rovai, 2001a; 2002). There was evidence of a strong sense of spirit and trust but limited collaboration and a focus on independent learning. The term 'community', as perceived by Rovai did not adequately match the perceptions of students in the particular course. Rather, this was a community minded practitioner learning group (CMPLG). A CMPLG recognises the spirit and trust generated among students but acknowledges the independent nature of their learning.

Distance education has been recognised around the world as a viable and cost-effective method for the initial training of teachers. and for their continuing professional development. In Nepal, one teacher training college has been offering a teacher education course through distance mode. In this regard, the main objective of this study was to seek a deeper understanding of the programme and to determine its overall quality. To achieve this, the research utilised a case study methodology and explored the experiences and reactions of students, tutors/founder members on this B.Ed. programme. To systematically assess the programme's effectiveness, the research developed a new analytical framework appropriate for this context. The framework was further refined as data were analysed. The study revealed that the quality of Self-Leaming-Materials provided were poor in terms of content presentat ion, coverage, student-content interaction, and in encouraging distance students in learning. While the poor quality of the materials was partly due to inadequate finances, it was also due to a lack of expertise and training in distance learning materials development. The distance approach introduced by the college was highly appreciated by students, but the study revealed that the context in which the college worked had impeded development. Initiatives were constrained by several issues, such as the college and its study centres operating with minimal physical infrastructure and logistics, poor learning resources and inadequate staffing. The co llege and university management and administration was inefficient in supporting its students and staff. Study findings ind icate that the quality of the programme was undermined by several factors such as political instability, absence of government support,

The success of any online learning programme is crucial especially in the current economic global climate where resources are scarce and demands are constantly being made on universities to increase their intake and revenue. Implementing an online programme is challenging and it is even more so for universities with a multi-cultural audience that is spread across many geographically dispersed countries such as the Caribbean. This study seeks to determine the factors that play the most significant role in the success of an online learning programme for a university that is based in the Caribbean and whose primary audience is the Caribbean student. The factors determining the success of the online learning programme are derived primarily from the student’s perspective and secondarily from the lecturer’s perspective. The outcome (success) factors of Learner Satisfaction, Knowledge Acquisition and Knowledge Transfer have two primary inputs: Learner factors and Institutional factors. The Learner factors are student based and they include general self-efficacy, online self-efficacy, motivation, prior knowledge and course expectation. The Institutional factors include learner support, social presence, direct instruction, learning platform, instructor interaction, learner interaction, learning content and course design. Using the results of a questionnaire adapted from Barbera and Linder-Vanberschot (2011), multiple regression analysis was utilised to determine the factors that had the greatest influence on Learner Satisfaction, Knowledge Acquisition and Knowledge Transfer to students of the University of the West Indies (UWI). In adapting the questionnaire, additional factors of bandwidth and the use of English as the primary teaching language were included. The 226 student responses and 32 lecturer responses were also utilised to draw a comparison between the Caribbean-based university and universities based in China, Mexico, the United States of America and Spain using Hofstede’s (2001) cultural dimension framework. It is hoped that by utilising this study, designers and implementers of online learning programmes will be better able to address the cultural differences that exist, especially those in the Caribbean, to deliver a successful online learning programme.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the field of IS, integrated circuits, computers, internet have seen the impact of technological advancement. And these advancements have revolutionised the learning delivery mechanism via online learning. Since then the internet has been able to penetrate our lives through a wide variety of ubiquitous technologies (UT) like hand held devices, social media platforms, software’s that are able to create/share contents in multi-modal formats. These UT have enabled users to become creators of contents that could be easily shared and corroborated. UT has empowered us to perform manual day-to-day activities through the click of a button online thereby highlighting the level of penetration into our lives. Online learning is composed of different forms of ICTs that allows its users to develop learning constructs, gather information, disseminate knowledge and all of this has been possible because of the technological advancements that started decades ago. Online learning is conducted at the Universities with the help of a learning management system (LMS) commonly known as the virtual learning environment (VLE) and it is used by all the UK based Universities in some shape or form. The Higher Education (HE) Industry is facing a difficult time due to changing parameters like Government regulations, intense competition, demand from students for more contact hours, increase in Tuition fees to name a few. At times like these, Universities are looking to develop online learning environment that would provide learners with more accessibility, usability and a level of personalization. But even then the currently used LMS is used as data repository and among the users of the LMS there are reduced adoption rates. This is attributed to different reasons, but the point is there are different users of the LE, and each of these users will have their own reasons. This creates a level of complexity, which already exists within the LE, making it even messier. There is no straight answer to the questions raised about technology and education. Even then such an environment needs to be studied because Universities are not only the place where learning takes place but it is also the establishment that develops the competency of learners to make them problem solvers and next generation leaders. Arguably technology has the ability to do just that, technology has the ability to adapt itself to varying needs and requirements of the users to create what is called as a Personalized Learning Environment (PLE) but in order to do that it is essential to a) evaluate the existing learning environment the ‘As Is’, b) know the underlying principles of the design of the learning systems, i.e. knowing the thought process of how LMS are developed and what is the rationale for its development c) identifying different stakeholders of the learning environment and getting to know their perceptions about how the learning environment could be transformed using UT and at the same rate as the technological advancements happening around them d) within the current learning environment users come from different walks of lives and from all around the world, if technology is not implemented well then it could broaden the divide that exist among its users, and finally e) if any technology is to be integrated into the learning environment different factors have to considered, what those factors are, should be clearly defined along with the various processes taking place and how each of these processes are systemically inter-related. The literature for this research is drawn out through the PRETSeLS framework that looks at the theoretical analysis of the current eLearning practices at the University and what role could the UT play within the LE taking into consideration the different stakeholders who do play a role and should play a role when it comes to considering the factors of design and develop the LE. The research design strategy proposed is qualitative in nature supported by the research method in-depth interviews. The interviewees of this research are the students (UG/PG), lecturers, senior management (department level), L&T services (faculty level) and learning technologist (department and Central). Each of these interviews was fed into NVIVO to carry out thematic analysis to derive the different nodes that would lead to the 25 factors that should be considered for the design and development of the learning environment. With the help of PRETSeLS framework (contribution 1) and the 25 factors (contribution 2) drawn out of data analysis led to the formation of SFIT (Systemic Factors for Integrating Technology) model (contribution 3) for University LE which has the ability to enable the practitioners to find out the disparity between what is implemented and what is expected from the LE (contribution 4), ways to engage stakeholders in the LE using a Stakeholder Engagement Matrix (contribution 5), such that it allows practitioners to identify the different factors that should be considered for the transcendence of technological innovations to happen throughout the University learning environment under the guidance of a valid and a systemically thought-out process.

This study investigates the construction of culture in a remote-accessed virtual class with learners who have been recruited globally. Having reviewed the literature of the field it concludes that using a framework of ideas which equates culture with nationality is problematic, as it tends to emphasise dissonance and difference in classes which are nonetheless functional. Instead the study proposes that culture should be regarded as a process of ongoing negotiation between the different elements involved in the learning context. In the online class this involves not only students, tutors and course materials but also the technology being used. In negotiation, human elements draw on understandings they have previously developed through prior experience of other cultural contexts (including nationality), whilst the understandings of designers and developers are reflected in the structure and functionality of the technology and the course materials provided for the class. Using a methodological framework based on grounded theory a picture of the practice of negotiation of culture in an online class is developed. Posting messages to class discussion forums is found to be the primary means of negotiation of culture. Examples of discussions, and learners' subsequent reflections on them in interviews, demonstrate how issues are presented, and how and what authorities are drawn on to validate or dispute the positions presented. Core themes of technology, time, authority and control are identified as arising across different instances of negotiation. These are seen to introduce contradictions and uncertainties into the negotiation process, and thus potentially impede its effectiveness. Overall, the study argues that the construction of culture in the online class is neither the product of essential attributes of the learners, nor a fixed linear process but, rather, an iterative process of multiple incidents of negotiation. Lessons learned over time provide material for future negotiation but cannot in themselves act as predictive tools. Some suggestions are made for the direction of future research aimed at giving participants more control over this process. Finally, suggestions are offered as to how this view of culture as negotiation can assist the facilitation of interaction and learning in the online class.

Distance education is an integral part of many universities worldwide, aiming to offer students opportunities for life-long learning and equitable access. Distant learners face many barriers and as a result, they drop out more frequently than on-campus students. Educatorsseem to be equally affected by the ‘transactional distance’ and the new digital skills neededfor teaching online. The purpose of this study is to explore the educators’ perspective on how synchronous video communication (SVC) could offer alternative educational forms for distance learning. Specifically the study aims to fill gaps in the existing research literature: to describe synchronous teaching approaches that are used worldwide to support e-learners, to investigate the role of the educator, to discover how learning and subject content are affected by SVC, to see if it enhances the sense of togetherness (immediacy and intimacy) to specify the contextual factors influencing teaching and learning synchronously, and to formulate a theory. The Informed Grounded Theory (Thornberg, 2012) and the Community of Inquiry model ( Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) provided a scaffolding framework for designing interview questions and analysing findings. The findings of the study illustrate the empirical evidence of the value of SVC, its potential forms (teaching approaches), possibilities ( linking educational purposes to the medium) and contextual factors (University policy, time zones, technologies, learning objectives, educator and student identities). Specifically, audiovisual cues have an impact on educators, the learning process and immediacy. The theory of Tele-proximity formulated to explain how educators and students are connected in synchronous networked environment via tele-operations. The study aims at helping educators/instructional designers, and administrators to face the difficulties of transactional distance and make informed decisions about synchronous video enhanced communication. Researchers may use Tele-proximity as a heuristic tool to continue the scientific dialogue on the potential of synchronous video-enhanced technologies in distance education.