This study sought to determine whether there was a difference in subject matter knowledge as measured by a pretest and posttest, a difference in final course grade as a numeric score, and a difference in attitudes toward computers between students in a competency-based ("hands-on") computer applications course taught in an electronically-expanded classroom compared to students taught in a traditional classroom setting. In addition, students taught in the electronically-expanded classroom completed a questionnaire assessing attitudes toward the presentation method. Another purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of applying distance education techniques to teach what was, in essence, an on-campus course. The vehicle for this investigation was an electronically-expanded classroom. The electronically-expanded classroom utilized distance education technology (video, audio, and computer networking) to connect two classrooms in the one building. Students in these two classrooms were the treatment group. Students taking the course in a traditional setting functioned as the comparison group. A total of 109 participants completed the study. Results of the study revealed no significant difference in scores on the subject matter posttest, the final course grade as a numeric score, and attitudes towards computers posttest between students taught the course in an electronically-expanded classroom and students taught the course in the traditional classroom. Results of the survey to measure satisfaction with the presentation method revealed that students in the receive room were slightly more satisfied than students in the send room with the presentation method, but the difference was not significant. The survey indicated that participants in the study were sensitive to technical problems, especially audio-related difficulties. While participants noted some dissatisfaction with audio quality, it had no apparent effect on learning outcomes and attitudes for this study. The study concluded that students taking a course in an electronically-expanded classroom have learning outcomes and attitudes toward computers comparable to those students taking the course in a traditional classroom.

The purposes of this study were to (a) determine graduate students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the delivery system and their level of comfort with the delivery system, (b) determine graduate students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the delivery system and their level of comfort with the teacher, (c) determine graduate students' level of comfort with the delivery system and their level of comfort with the teacher, (d) determine differences in graduate students' ratings of the effectiveness of the delivery system before a distance education session and after a distance education session, and (e) determine differences in graduate students' level of comfort with the teacher before a distance education session and after a distance education session.

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Bakgrund: Revisorers arbete går ut på att granska företag, detta sker delvis på plats hos företaget för att kunna samla in information för att sedan kunna genomföra en bra revision. Granskningen av företag i krissituation ställer högre krav på revisorn menar FAR. År 2020 drabbades världen av en pandemi vilket faller inom ramen för krissituation. Under pandemin rekommenderade folkhälsomyndigheten att alla företag som kan arbeta på distans bör göra det. Problemformulering: Hur har revisorers revisionskvalitet påverkats av distansarbete? Syfte: Studiens syfte är att få kunskap om hur kommunikationskanaler påverkar olika dimensioner av revisionskvaliteten när dessa kommunikationskanaler används. Studien önskar att bidra med kunskap om revisionskvaliteten ändras och i så fall hur den ändras när kommunikationen sker på distans. Metod: Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod. Det är fem revisorer som har intervjuats genom varsitt Zoom-samtal. Intervjupersonerna har valts genom ett strategiskt urval. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visade att revisionskvaliteten har delvis påverkats under pandemin. Dels har revisionskvaliteten försämrats när revisorer valt att föra distanskommunikation med nya klienter. I de fall revisorer haft en längre relation med klienten påverkas inte användningen av distanskommunikation på samma sätt. Kompetensen på revisionsbyrån har även påverkats då kommunikationen mellan medarbetare har minskat på grund av distanskommunikation. Studien redovisar även hur dimensionerna möjligheten att kontrollera processer och storleken på revisionsbyrån har blivit påverkad av distanskommunikation. / Background: Auditor’s work involves auditing companies, this is partly done on site at the company in order to be able to collect information and then be able to do a good audit. The audit of companies in crisis situations places higher demands on the auditor, according to FAR. In 2020, the world was hit by a pandemic, which falls within the framework of a crisis situation. During the pandemic, the public health agency recommended that all companies that can work remotely should do so. Question: How has the auditors audit quality been affected by distance work? Purpose: The purpose of the study is to gain knowledge about how communications channels affect different dimensions of audit quality when these communications channels are used. The study wish to contribute with knowledge about if the audit quality changes and if so how it changes when communication happens through distance. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative method. There are five auditors who have been interviewed through Zoom. The interviewees were chosen through a strategic selection. Results and conclusions: The results of the study showed that the audit quality was partly affected during the pandemic. Partially the audit quality has deteriorated when the auditor has chosen to conduct distance communication with new customers. In cases where the auditor has had a longer relationship with the customer, the use of distance communication has not affected audit quality in the same way. The competence of the audit firm has also been affected as communication between employees has decreased due to distance communication. The study also reports how the ability to control processes and the size of the auditing firm has been affected by distance communication.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many schools were forced to interrupt in-person delivery of educational services and switched to delivery of instruction in a remote setting. The educational impacts of school closures and remote instructional delivery have become a concern for the impact on an entire generation of students. Although delivery of behavioral interventions remotely is a topic that has been reported on in behavior analytic literature for over 15 years before this pandemic, few studies directly compared delivery of equivalent services across in-person and remote settings. Further, no studies included in recent literature reviews included comparative analyses between acquisition of novel instructional objectives across in-person and remote settings. Additionally, no studies are reported using verbal behavior developmental measures to identify potential prerequisites for benefitting from remote instruction. I therefore present a series of experiments to investigate the relative effectiveness of in-person and remote instruction as well as comparing outcomes for students grouped by level of verbal behavior development. In Experiment I, I conducted a carefully controlled experiment to compare rate of learning, rate of instructional presentation, and maintenance of objectives mastered across in-person and remote settings. I used a reversal design across 6 preschool aged participants with disabilities. The results indicate that some participants reliably mastered objectives and completed instruction faster in-person for 3 of 6 participants while the results for the other 3 participants were mixed. Overall, participants mastered objectives and completed instruction faster in-person in approximately half of the comparisons while showing no difference or learning faster remotely in the remaining comparisons. No consistent difference was shown in 14 and 21-day follow up maintenance measures. No consistent difference in the outcomes of students who demonstrated Naming compared to those who did not demonstrate any Naming. In Experiment II, I extend the findings of the previous experiments by comparing system wide educational outcomes of a hybrid in-person and remote educational model to the outcomes of the same model in a pure in-person setting in terms of fidelity of instruction, educational outcomes, and a cost analysis to determine how much the transition to remote provision of instruction costs stakeholders. Further, I compared educational outcomes across students categorized by level of verbal behavior development. The results indicate that the total number of learning opportunities and objectives mastered are significantly higher during a fully in-person model when compared to a hybrid educational model containing a remote instructional component. Further, when comparing educational outcomes across groups of students categorized by level of verbal behavior development, the results indicate that the rate of learning and objectives masted are significantly increased once students demonstrate joining of the listener and speaker repertoires as indicated by the presence of the Naming capability. The implication of the results are discussed in terms of feasibility of remote instruction as an alternative to in-person instruction as well as the importance of identifying and establishing the Naming capability for students to best benefit from remote instruction.Keywords: Telehealth, COVID-19, remote instruction, virtual instruction, verbal behavior development

This paper analyzes the diffusion of internet-based distance education technology (NETDE) among the US associate colleges. The study finds that an institution with experience in using an earlier generation distance education technology is more likely to adopt NETDE than an institution without such an experience. The finding supports the view of Cohen and Levinthal (1990) that an organization's 'absorptive capability' plays a significant role in its innovative activities. Institution size also facilitates the adoption of NETDE. We relate this size effect to market power because the size effect is partly caused by customer switching costs present in the NETDE market. Finally, we find that, among public institutions, the presence of close competitors motivates an institution to adopt NETDE earlier.

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the emerging field of electronic distance education CEDE) so as to improve and enhance the delivery of educational programs utilizing EDE. The study was conducted at Utah State University, using an EDE-method (COM-NET) as the research setting. Thirty-seven instructors taught 45 courses over the COM-NET system from Fall quarter, 1985 through Summer quarter, 1986. The design of this study was based upon simple correlation coefficient matrices and the subsequent prediction models of multiple regression analysis. Contextual data were gathered from a solicited instructor self-reporting instrument. The objective was to identify potential relationships between teaching styles and instructional utilities employed on student satisfaction and student performance in an EDE-based learning system. Teaching style data were gathered using the Gregorc Style Delineator (GSD). Instructional utilities data were gathered using the Instructional Utilities Inventory (IUI). Student satisfaction was measured using the USU course evaluation form and student performance assessments were made by using mean grades for those courses taught via COM-NET during the time period of concern in this study. The Abstract/Random teaching style had an effect on student satisfaction. Discovery techniques had an effect on student performance. The Abstract/Random and the Abstract/Sequential teaching styles utilized abstract devices. Instructors were generally enthusiastic about their COM-NET teaching experience. The need for improved on-campus administrative awareness and support in terms of released time and money were identified as measures to improve the system. Instructional flexibility was stressed as important. The COM-NET students performed as well as on-campus students, due in part to their maturity and experiences. It was concluded that instructional presentations have a significant effect on student outcomes. Given the emerging EDE methods more study is necessary to determine precise instructional procedures which result in improved student performances when learning via an EDE system.

Nous cherchons dans ce travail à qualifier et quantifier les différentes formes d’attrition prévalant dans les MOOC. En sus du retrait volontaire, dont nous détaillons les différentes formes, l’attrition est dominée avant tout par différentes formes de non-participation : la majorité des inscrits ne se connectent jamais à la formation, ou n’y réalisent qu’un nombre minimal d’actions, sans intention de s’y investir. La prépondérance de cette forme d’attrition s’explique en partie par l’existence sur les plates-formes d’hébergement d’une offre abondante, qui incite les utilisateurs à s’inscrire à plus de cours qu’ils n’ont la possibilité de suivre. Un certain nombre de participants s’investissent dans la formation jusqu’à son terme bien qu’ils n’obtiennent pas le certificat. Ils représentent néanmoins une forme d’attrition marginale. Il en va de même pour l’échec académique, compris comme l’incapacité à répondre au niveau d’exigence des activités évaluées. Les MOOC sont le plus souvent de niveau introductif, les participants peuvent le plus souvent recommencer des activités auxquelles ils auraient échoué. La plupart des utilisateurs suivent le cours avec l’intention d’en réinvestir le contenu dans leur vie personnelle ou professionnelle. L’incapacité des dispositifs à répondre à cette logique, qui correspond à certains égards à un projet d’apprentissage, explique vraisemblablement une partie significative du retrait volontaire. La plupart des répondants souhaitent obtenir le certificat de la formation, bien qu’il ne représente que rarement la principale motivation sous-tendant l’inscription. Cet intérêt ne relève pas systématiquement de buts de performance. / We aim at describing, quantifying and understanding the diversity of situations that explain the low completions observed in MOOCs, based on learning analytics, registration data from the French MOOC platform FUN, course structures, surveys and semi-structured interviews. Most of the attrition is explained by different types of non-starts, and to a lesser extent by voluntary withdrawal: most registrants do not show up in the cours, or do a minimal number of actions, with no intention to engage in the course whatsoever. The existence of an abundant catalog in most platforms drives users to register to more courses than they can follow. Some users view most of the videos of the course without engaging in the tasks required to obtain the certificate, but they represent a small part of the attrition. Academic dismissal is likely to be limited given the fact that most MOOCs are of introductory level, most evaluations are automated and multiple attemps are allowed. Most users follow the course with the intention to apply its content in their personal or professionnal life; a MOOC is most often the equivalent of a learning project. The inability to answer the needs of such learning projects may explain a significant proportion of the voluntary withdrawal. Few learners register in order to obtain a certificate, but most of them are interested in it.

Dans cette thèse, on présente une notion de courbure géodésique pour les courbes lisses horizontales dans une variété sous-Riemannienne de contact, qui indique dans quelle mesure une courbe est différente d'une géodésique. Cette courbure géodésique se présente sous la forme de deux fonctions qui sont toutes deux identiquement nulles le long d'une courbe lisse horizontale si et seulement si cette dernière courbe est une géodésique. Le résultat principal de cette thèse réside dans l'interprétation métrique que l'on donne de ces fonctions de courbure. Cette interprétation consiste à extraire la courbure géodésique des premiers termes de correction dans le développement limité de la distance sous-Riemannienne entre deux points proches le long de la courbe. / We present a notion of geodesic curvature for smooth horizontal curves in a contact sub-Riemannian manifold, measuring how far a horizontal curve is from being a geodesic. This geodesic curvature consists in two functions that both vanish along a smooth horizontal curve if and only if this curve is a geodesic. The main result of this thesis is the metric interpretation of these geodesic curvature functions. This interpretation consists in seeing the geodesic curvature functions as the first corrective coefficients in the Taylor expansion of the sub-Riemannian distance between two close points on the curve.

This study focused on opinions of diagnostic medical sonography program directors concerning online education within an allied health field that is clinically based. Although the study is centered around sonography, the findings can be applied to many online programs with clinical aspects. There was limited information concerning online education within a clinically based healthcare field, therefore the literature review focused on distance or online education in general. The participating program directors used online/distance learning terms interchangeably. The objective of this study was to identify factors that attributed to or hindered the progress of an online program in diagnostic medical sonography. The question that guided this research was: What are the program directors’ perception of face-to-face versus online program delivery in a clinically based subject? Individual interviews were conducted with three directors of online sonography programs. The responses showed that these directors saw improved overall outcomes in their online programs. This was ultimately attributed to a supportive staff and ease of access to resources. Resources and communication are easily accessed due to the improved technology seen in today’s online classroom.