The rapid growth of online and blended learning environments in both higher education and K-12, along with the development of innovative game based, narrative driven, problem-based learning (PBL) systems known as Alternate Reality Games (AltRG), has led to the need to understand student’s abilities to self-regulate their learning behaviors and practices in these novel environments. This study examines student reflections and e-mails related to self-regulatory practices for learning across two different course designs for an Internet-based course in computer applications. Both designs leverage PBL but apply different levels of abstraction related to content and the need to self-regulate. The study looked specifically at how students communicated about learning across these environments, what student communications indicated about student readiness for university online learning and how instructional design and methods of instruction shaped student expressions of learning and self-regulation. The research design follows an ethnographic and case study approach as two designs and four sections are examined. Data was collected from student blog posts, email messages and semi-structured interviews. Atlas.TI was used to code the data using constant comparative analysis. A sequential analysis was applied using an a priori structure for self-regulation and post hoc analysis for emergent codes that resulted in the following categories: distraction, group experience, motivation, emotion, prior experiences, and time. Results indicated qualitative differences between the two designs related to student communications for learning and self-regulation. Findings were reported for both the a priori and post hoc analysis. Additionally, two major findings are reported as emerging themes. These are presented and discussed as The Expectation Gap and Different Designs, Different Outcomes.

This multiple-article dissertation explores K-12 blended teacher preparation. A literature review describes research trends from 88 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. It reports that current K-12 blended teacher preparation research focuses on explorations of blended teaching literature; professional development and coursework used for blended teacher preparation; defining, developing, and implementing blended teaching competencies; and measuring blended teaching readiness. The literature review suggests that additional work is needed to uncover specific practices that K-12 blended teachers are using across disciplines and grade levels, as well as whether there are specific pedagogies that seem to be effective within specific disciplines and grade levels. The second article provides insight into these K-12 blended pedagogies. Researchers gathered more than 1500 examples of K-12 blended teaching practices, strategies, resources, and school profiles from The Learning Accelerator (TLA) to uncover how practices of blended teachers relate to proposed competencies for blended teacher preparation. Coding a representative sample of resources (372 of the 959 relevant resources, providing a confidence interval of 95% +/- 4) revealed that some technology skills seen as foundational to blended teaching readiness and some blended teaching competencies may be less important for K-12 blended teachers than others. Future research should address whether the skills that appear to be less emphasized from the artifact analysis are less used in practice or seek to identify specific pedagogical practices around the skills and competencies that this analysis identified as important to K-12 blended teaching. The final article presents best practices and experiences within the blended competency area of personalization. Researchers conducted interviews with 62 blended teachers with various levels of blended teaching experience across 10 different content areas and all K-12 grade levels. Researchers found that teachers provide students with personalization across students' time, place, pace, path, and goals for learning within their classes' learning objectives, assessments, and instructional activities. These findings provide a foundational framework for describing the ways in which blended learning can facilitate personalization.

Actualmente la incorporación de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación (TIC) en los programas educativos ha cobrado especial relevancia, bajo el supuesto de que estas herramientas pueden promover una mejor calidad educativa y facilitar el aprendizaje, además de contribuir a reducir la brecha digital. Con la presente tesis se logró demostrar cual es nivel de comunicación que tienen los niños antes y después de aplicar el sistema tutorial multimedia. Asimismo se presenta un marco teórico e investigaciones anteriores en los que se basó la innovación que propone esta investigación para sistemas de aprendizaje. A continuación se detalla la metodología de Brian Blum propuesta para el desarrollo del sistema tutorial multimedia abarcando el análisis, diseño educativo e interactivo, desarrollo, producción y pruebas del sistema. Esta metodología permitió el desarrollo de un sistema más interactivo y entretenido para los niños; así como una herramienta esencial para el docente al momento de impartir sus clases. Finalmente se concluye que el sistema tutorial multimedia basado en tecnología b-learning, es un sistema de aprendizaje que en relación a las estrategias de enseñanza tradicional contribuyó a mejorar el proceso de comunicación de los niños especiales del Colegio de Educación Especial Nº2 Niño Jesús de Praga.

Under den rådande situationen med pandemin Covid-19 skedde en digitalisering i snabb takt. Denna typ av tvångsdigitalisering har förändrat arbetsmarknaden och genomförandet av utbildningar. Marknaden är enligt tidigare forskning ofta negativt inställd till digital undervisning. Hur väl stämmer företags behov överens med digitala utbildningars utbildningsplan? Syftet är att undersöka hur digitala utbildningar på universitetsnivå riktade mot praktiska yrken kan optimeras för att digitala studenter ska nå högre studieresultat och samtidigt möta marknadens uppleva behov. För att uppfylla syftet genomförs en tvådelad empirisk undersökning det vill säga semistrukturerade intervjuer med praktiskt inriktat företagsunderlag, dess upplevda behov vid nyanställning och genom kartläggning av olika utbildningsplaner analyseras hur digitala utbildningar kan utvecklas.  Det finns utbildningsformer som bättre lämpar sig för digitala studier och det finns utbildningsformer som är bättre lämpade för skolsalsundervisning. Den mest lämpliga utbildningsformen utifrån resultatet av datainsamlingen är ett mellanting mellan digital och skolsalsundervisning, så kallad blended learning som kan skapa förutsättningar för ett mer utvecklat lärande i framtiden. Blended learning innebär att det finns både inslag av digital och fysisk närvaro, där det går att anpassa vilken form som väljs till de olika momenten som ska genomföras. Samhället som utvecklas idag kräver en större digital kompetens vilket resulterar i en större digital mognad, därför är en viktig aspekt att diskutera hur framtidens utbildning ska utformas för att på så sätt uppnå de modifierade kunskapskraven som krävs. / During the current situation with the pandemic Covid-19, digitization took place at a rapid pace. This type of forced digitization has changed the labor market and how to conduct education. According to previous research, the market is often negative about digital education. How well do companies' requirements match the digital education curriculum? The purpose is to investigate how digital education at university level aimed at practical professions can be optimized for digital students to achieve higher study results and at the same time meet the market's perceived needs. To fulfill the purpose, a two-part empirical study is conducted, semi-structured interviews with a practically oriented business basis regarding its perceived needs and through mapping of curriculum, digital education and how it can be developed is analyzed. There are forms of education that are better suited for digital studies and there are forms of education that are better suited for classroom teaching. The most suitable form of education based on the results of data collection is something in between digital and classroom teaching, so-called blended learning, which can create conditions for more developed learning in the future. Blended learning means that there are elements of both digital and physical presence, where it is possible to adapt which form is chosen to the various steps to be carried out. The society that is developing today requires a greater digital competence, which results in a greater digital maturity, therefore an important aspect is to discuss how the education of the future should be designed in order in this way to achieve the modified knowledge requirements required.

The study considers whether blended finance helps scale up private investment in southern Africa's community-based conservation. It examines what are stakeholder's perspectives on the opportunities, barriers and risks of using blended finance to help scale up private investment in this context. Further, it delves into which, if any, of the revenue- generating activities available to communities from conservation are most viable to upscale with blended finance, and via which blended finance tools. The questions were answered via an exploratory sequential mixed methods design, utilising interviews in Phase 1 and a survey completed by 104 respondents in Phase 2. The output from the research is a publicly available inventory of blended investment options for community-based conservation, including seven types of non-tourism, conservation-related revenue streams. Five of these are ranked positively for scalability, wildlife economy, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in carbon and restoration, and forestry and agriculture related supply chains. The study suggests some viable space between demand and supply for conservation finance at the community level and provides insight into how to overcome the barriers to these; particularly in the context of communal land, which is a common arrangement for southern African conservation. There are limited first-hand examples of blended finance being used for community-based conservation. The research points to a gap in using insurance and guarantees as blended finance tools to address the challenges of credit risk for investors on communal land; such tools could be catalytic in unlocking private investment in conservation that returns environmental and development benefits in this region. The study addresses the missed opportunity for communities to benefit from conservation at a much greater scale than presently experienced. It also serves to update the working theory of conservation finance to the context of community-based conservation.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / The COVID-19 pandemic challenged higher education institutions to close their campuses for the purpose of managing and controlling the spread of the coronavirus during the national lockdown. Institutions had to migrate from blended learning and teaching to emergency online learning and teaching only, posing challenges to the learning experiences of student social workers. This study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of student social workers and educators regarding online learning and teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the influence of socioeconomic factors on student social workers’ academic experiences.

Social interaction is key to students' learning in blending learning discussions. Although there is research on interactions in online courses and traditional classes, there is little on whether blended learning discussions are meeting students' social interaction and educational development needs. The purpose of this multicase study was to examine attitudes of first-year and final-year business and technology students and faculty members for patterns of interaction and knowledge construction. The study was conducted in the northeastern United States. Piaget's cognitive constructivism, Vygotsky's social constructivism, and Knowles's andragogy constituted the conceptual framework. Using maximum variation sampling, participants were 8 students and 4 faculty for 2 first-year and 2 final-year classes. Data sources were interviews and discussion responses coded using Straus and Corbin's open, axial, and selective coding procedures. Coded data were analyzed using Merriam's cross-case analysis method. The business students displayed the first three phases of knowledge construction: (a) sharing and comparing (b) discovery and exploration, and (c) negotiation of meaning; the technical students progressed to the fourth phase: testing and modification of proposed synthesis. Knowledge construction often occurred in a positive, challenging form of interaction. The professors expressed that gender, VoiceThread media, and discussion content influenced students' learning. These findings contribute to positive social change by informing stronger learning processes that students and teachers can use in their blended learning classes to facilitate collective knowledge construction.

This descriptive study sought to understand the instructional potential of a new course design for teaching adults in higher education. Increasingly referred to as a hybrid course format, it entails dividing a course into both online and face-to-face sessions that are separately calendared. A primary focus of the study was to identify teaching principles that are recommended by established adult education models and to describe how they have been incorporated by hybrid course designers. Also studied was how combining the online and face-to-face instructional modes provides structural opportunities for improving communication and teacher/learner dynamics. The adult education models analyzed were the andragogy model, the self-directed learning model, the transformative learning model, and the experiential learning model. The structural opportunities investigated included content delivery choices such as the use of lecture- and learner-centered activities and the best practices recommendations previously published for hybrid instruction. An online survey was administered to 267 hybrid course instructors at Utah Valley University, where 20,667 students have participated in a hybrid course. This university was actively engaged in developing the hybrid course design into a quality instructional option. The online survey provided descriptive data about how hybrid course instructors at the university perceive their understanding and use of adult education theories and how they utilize the online and face-to-face modes.

This applied dissertation was designed to provide better access to current information for best practices in kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) online learning. Virtual schooling is becoming a mainstream option for high school students, especially when some courses are not offered in every traditional school. Despite its increased popularity, very few studies had been conducted in K-12 virtual schooling. There was a need for more research based on the perspectives of adolescent students to understand the importance of quality interactions that can bridge the psychological and communications gap that may result when the learner and teacher are separated by time and distance. A quantitative study was conducted at a district-level high school located in the southeastern area of Florida to understand the relationship between adolescent students’ perceptions of the quality and level of learner-teacher, learner-learner, and learner-content interactions; academic achievement; and satisfaction in an online course. Transactional distance theory was used to explain if the quality interactions utilizing synchronous and asynchronous tools have the potential to increase the dialogue within this online course, thereby, reducing the transactional distance. Data was gathered by using a nonexperimental, self-reported, Web-based interaction preferences survey of approximately 50 high school students. Descriptive and nonparametric inferential statistical methods were used to guide, interpret, and analyze students’ responses from this survey.

This applied dissertation compared traditional peer feedback activities, where students comment and edit a peer’s work using red pen on the document, with learner derived feedback critiques based on the task requirements provided by the instructor. The feedback rubrics were created using a Web 2.0 application wiki. Framed by the experiential learning theory in an anagogical learning setting, this task-based approach focused on instructing students how to self-correct and edit their work in English language classes at the university level in Japan. The objective of the investigation was to also identify learner preference for the approach they attempted, to how they conducted peer feedback, and whether or not student preferences were demonstrated in their efforts to meet the required outcomes. No specific preferences for the type of feedback could be clearly identified based in a quantitative survey of the participants. The results for the assigned task did show significance in learner performance: vocabulary, F(1, 85) = 4.055, p = .047; grammar, F(1, 85) = 7.720, p = .009. For content, the p = .143 was not significant; however, scores for the treatment group were stronger than those shown by the control group. The flipped assessment or peer derived feedback/critique approach to peer feedback activities, based on this research, is recommended in second language English writing classes and is a suggested activity in other educational disciplines.