This study examines mass-market applications for some of the many theories of eLearning and blended learning, focusing most closely on a period from 2000-2010. It establishes a state of the union for K-12 immersive eLearning environments by using in-depth cases studies of five major mass-market, educational, and community-education based products—Gaia Online, Poptropica, Quest Atlantis, Dimenxian/Dimension U, and Folkvine. Investigating these models calls into play not only the voices of traditional academic and usability research, but also the ad hoc voices of the players, commentators, developers, and bloggers. These are the people who speak to the community of these sites, and their lived experiences fall somewhere in the interstices between in-site play, beta development, and external commentary (both academic and informal.) The works of experimental academic theorists play an acknowledged and fundamental role in this study, including those of Ulmer, Barab, Gee, and McLuhan. These visionary voices of academia are balanced with a consideration of both the political and financial constraints surrounding immersive educational game development. This secondary level of analysis focuses on how issues around equity of access, delivery platforms, and target disciplines can and should inform strategic goals. While this dissertation alone is unlikely to solve issues of access, emergent groups including the OLPC hold exciting promises for worldwide connectivity. My conclusion forms a synthesis of all these competing forces and proposes a pragmatic and conceptual rule-set for the development of a forward-looking and immersive educational MMORPG

This thesis explored the application of Media Synchronicity Theory and its potential for translating Critical Pedagogy (specifically Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed) into a computersupported collaborative work (CSCW) environment. It introduces the Maquina dos Oprimidos (Mados) prototype, a CSCW supplement to traditional asynchronous learning networks. Mados operates as a role-playing debate game, in which students debate a pre-selected prompt while performing assigned character roles. The study explores the prototype's potential to affect student's identification with their assigned character and personal attitude toward the prompt, as well as examining the effect of presence on students' performances. The study was performed with 38 8th grade students. Subjects debated a prompt which proposed a banning cell phones from classrooms. Results show that subjects collaboratively constructed solutions that compromised between both positions, while slightly favoring the antiban position. Results also show that subjects experienced gains in character identification after participating in the task regardless of assigned character, hinting at a separation between perceived similarity to characters and affinity for characters' position. The ability of subjects to defend their assigned character's position while inhabiting their own perspective, that of an 8th grade student, also hints at this separation. Additionally, results indicated correlations between subjects' control factors, a subset measure for presence, and total change in prompt agreement. Other positive correlation exist between subject's reprocessing attempts and task performance, as well as total presence and task performance

The purpose of this study is to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of two kinds of advance organizers (AOs), a visual concept map and a text outline. The AOs were administered in a fully Web-based course in health care ethics. The outcome measures are students' knowledge acquisition and application in two posttests. This study was conducted through a post-test only control group design with a random assignment. The population of the study involved 166 college students who participated in this online class in their junior or senior year. The voluntary research participants were randomly assigned into the two treatment groups and one control group. The treatment of AO was administered as an integral part of a one-week-long online module on the topic of patient-physician relationships. Students of the two treatment groups were presented with one of the two AOs, while the control group was instructed to proceed to textbook reading without an AO. Then, students were tested on the subject matter with two parallel posttests. Both posttests were composed of a multiple-choice question quiz and a set of scenario-based essay questions. The students took posttest I at the end of the instructional week, and posttest II four weeks after. A survey and interviews were also conducted to supplement the quantitative results with contextual information. The findings do not demonstrate a statistically significant AO effect among the treatment groups and the control group. However, in agreement with the previous research, this study shows a positive but inconclusive benefit of using AOs for students' short-term knowledge acquisition. The students using a concept map consistently obtained higher learning achievements than individuals using a text outline. More importantly, this study reiterated the proposition that students of lower-learning abilities benefit more from using an AO for online learning than those of higher-learning abilities. The current study extends our knowledge on the use of AOs in fully Web-based educational environments. The results indicated that although AOs more often than not have small facilitative effects for learners, they are not equally effective for all learners in all learning situations. The incorporation of the instructional strategies, such as AOs, in Web-based courses and programs might benefit online learners, especially those students of lower verbal and analytical abilities, or of lower prior knowledge of the material-to-be-learned.

This dissertation examines distance learning within a local, particular context: UCF's English department. In order to fully examine distance learning in this specific environment, I employ institutional critique as my methodology, a rhetorical and spatial approach that allows me to map distance learning within UCF's English department. Drawing upon the work of David Harvey, I examine the experienced, perceived, and imagined spaces of distance learning in our department. Through an examination of the history of naming UCF, rhetorical analyses of institutional documents that reference technologies, analysis of survey results noting faculty attitudes and perceptions of online learning, and postmodern mapping of faculty members' perceived and ideal spaces, we can find local solutions for local problems related to distance learning.

This dissertation uses a three-article dissertation, including a literature review and two research articles, related to the understanding and development of self-regulation (SR). Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), the literature review examined 22 articles researching a self-regulation intervention used in an online, higher education context. The articles included interventions specific to a unique context, interventions used in a specific context but could be easily adapted to other contexts, and generic interventions that could be applied in any context. Important themes revealed in the analysis include the importance of feedback in developing SR, the interaction of SR and autonomy, the contribution of qualitative data, and the effectiveness of SR interventions. The second article investigated an intervention introduced to a higher education, preservice teacher course on teaching in online and blended courses. Participants included 30 students from two sections of the course. Each week students set an SR goal, and then reported on their success in a weekly self-report. Using the results from a pre and posttest SR survey, as well as students' weekly self-reports, final exam reflection data, and student interviews, we conducted limited quantitative analysis and thematic qualitative analysis. The findings indicate that although student progress varied from week to week, students generally felt the process helped them increase in SR. In their weekly self-reflections, students revealed that the process of reflection increased their self-awareness of how to adapt SR principles to their specific needs. They found that increased SR resulted in more positive affect toward their learning and increased their ability to learn effectively. They also indicated that their SR skills carried over into other courses during the semester as well as into the next semester. All but one student felt that the goal setting and self-evaluation process increased their ability to self-regulate and improved their learning. The third article explored the state of student SR in an online secondary school. The data included a survey of student perceptions of their SR in five SR dimensions. It also included interviews with 12 students, 12 parents, and 12 teachers. Analysis of this data revealed that students generally concentrated on the help-seeking and time management SR dimensions, corresponding with the purpose and structure of the school, which emphasizes these two dimensions. Findings also indicated an inaccurate understanding of motivation and poor mental health depressed their ability to work. Finally, all participants noted that students with positive character traits were more likely to have the will to act in a self-regulated manner and progress in their schoolwork and their learning.

This study examined the perceptions of law enforcements officers employed by rural and small law enforcement agencies on the effectiveness of the use of distance education technology as a delivery system for training programs. Four research questions were designed to assess officers’ perceptions. This study used both quantitative and qualitative analysis of data to assess these questions. Quantitative data were collected through the use of a pretest and post-test, and a survey. Qualitative data were collected through observations of subjects’ interaction with the treatment, interviews with participants, reviews of survey comments, and analyses of budget documents. The results of this study suggested that officers found the use of distance education technology as a means for delivering training courses to be effective. Agencies should ensure that their technology is compatible with the modality in which the course is presented and that their officers are trained in the use of this technology. Course material should include core information and supplemental material similar to that found in traditional face-toace courses. Online courses should contain the same structure as found in traditional face-toace courses. The environment in which the learning occurs should be comfortable, distractionree, and suitable for engaging in online learning.

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