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Educators are faced with the rapid influx of online courses in the K-12 educational setting. The majority of research conducted to date has been in the area of higher education. Research and publications suggest that many factors control the success or failure of students enrolled in online courses. These factors include student characteristics, mentoring, and teacher/student interaction. Other factors affect the implementation of successful online courses and virtual schools. These factors include policies, funding, student support, technology, curriculum, access, equity, staff development, and administration. Currently, the absence of appropriate research suggest the need to identify the necessary components of a staff development program to prepare teachers to teach secondary online classes in a local school system. In the development of a staff development program, measures need to be undertaken to assess and address the individual needs of the teachers. This study was designed to identify the necessary components of a staff development program for the purpose of training teachers to teach secondary online courses in a local school system and collect recommendations for differentiating staff development to meet the individual needs of teachers. Using a three-round Delphi technique, panelists, representing successful secondary public and corporate online schools, developed a common consensus on the necessary components. The panelists identified the components needed for teacher training and ways in which a staff development program could be structured to address the individual needs of teachers. The panelists were provided an opportunity to scale the components as to their degree of importance. By working through the rounds and providing statistical feedback, a consensus was obtained. Each panelist was provided the frequency, mean, and standard deviation for each criterion. The components agreed upon by 80% of the panelists as either very important or important were used to develop an outline of a staff development program that can be used to train teachers to teach secondary online courses. / Ed. D.

La presente investigación basado en el “Prototipo de los conceptos de Massive Open Online Course MOOC y el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de la I.E. Salesiano “Don Bosco”; tuvo como objetivo general determinar la influencia del prototipo de los conceptos de Massive Open Online Course MOOC en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes, para mejorar las competencias interpretativas, argumentativas y propositivas; comprobando la hipótesis que el prototipo de los conceptos de Massive Open Online Course influye positivamente en el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes. La implementación de la aplicación basado en el prototipo de los conceptos de Massive Open Online Course es una tecnología que incrementa la información virtual sobre diversas temáticas en las que los estudiantes participan activamente en desarrollar sus competencias y lo puedan realizar desde sus hogares.

Traditional methods for teaching negotiation have required both instructor and student to be physically present in the same location. With the advent of the Internet and associated technological advances, however, instructors may now transcend geographical barriers and effectively deliver the same content virtually. In this article, we present an exploratory study comparing two masters-level negotiation courses: one taught using a traditional in-person method and the other taught online. Results showed no significant difference in knowledge acquisition as quantified by objective measures, including mean grades. In addition, self-report data indicate that, although students' skill and mastery of negotiation improved in both courses, online students reported that they experienced less interaction and social engagement with their classmates and instructor. Several course development strategies and best practices are discussed.

Through distance learning, the community college system has moved beyond geographical boundaries to serve all students and provide educational opportunities at a distance to individuals previously out of reach of the college community. With the inception of the Mississippi Virtual Community College (MSVCC) in January 2000, Mississippi’s public community colleges have experienced unprecedented growth in online enrollments and online course offerings to include the laboratory sciences; however, transfer of online lab science courses are problematic for individuals who wish to gain admittance to Medical, Dental, and Pharmacy schools in Mississippi. Currently online lab science courses are not accepted for transfer for students seeking admission to Mississippi Medical, Dental, or Pharmacy schools. The need for this study, the statement of the problem, and the purpose of the study address transfer issues related to the transfer of online lab science courses in Mississippi and the impact of such on the student and community college. The study also addresses existing doubts regarding online course delivery as a viable method of lab science delivery. The purpose of the study was to investigate differences between online instructional delivery as compared to traditional face-toace delivery with the following research questions to: 1. Investigate the perception of quality of online courses as compared to traditional face-toace courses. 2. Investigate the difference in student performance in online transfer lab science courses as compared to student performance in traditional face-toace lab science courses. The results of this 13 semester study show significant differences in both perception of quality and student performance between online instructional delivery as compared to traditional face-toace delivery. The findings demonstrate a need for Mississippi Dental, Medical, and Pharmacy schools to re-examine the articulation agreement between IHL and Community and Junior Colleges and consider accepting online lab sciences courses taken at the community college as transfer for admission to Medical, Dental, and Pharmacy schools. Conclusions are included in the study; however, additional studies are needed to address the issue of student performance in the online lab science classroom.

Massive Open Online Courses, sogenannte MOOCs sind offene und über das Internet für jeden kostenfrei zugängliche Kurse, die hierdurch oft eine Vielzahl an Teilnehmenden erreichen. Alle Beteiligten lernen gemeinsam, jedoch mit verschiedensten persönlichen Zielen. Die Inhalte werden nicht ausschließlich von den Veranstalter/inne/n vorgegeben, sondern können zudem auch von den Teilnehmenden erweitert und geteilt werden. Mit dem SOOC13, dem Saxon Open Online Course, wurde einer der aktuellsten und vieldiskutierten Trends [1] im E-Learning im Sommersemester 2013 von den Technischen Universitäten in Chemnitz und Dresden sowie der Universität Siegen aufgegriffen, praktisch erprobt und evaluiert. Der Kreis der Teilnehmenden bestand dabei nicht nur aus Studierenden, vielmehr waren mit dem Kurs explizit auch Lehrende sowie andere Hochschulmitarbeiter/innen angesprochen. Als konnektivistischer Open Online Course war der SOOC13 zudem offen für alle Interessierten innerhalb der Netz-Community. Als Methode der Leistungserbringung und -bewertung kamen E-Portfolios zum Einsatz, welche formative Feedback- und Beurteilungsprozesse zulassen. Lernende erstellen Lernprodukte (Artefakte), reflektieren über Lernziele, -verhalten und -fortschritte und teilen die Ergebnisse mit anderen Teilnehmenden in Form von Blogeinträgen, Tweets oder Facebook-Posts. Gegenseitiges Feedback und Hinweise durch die Veranstalter/innen führen zu ausgiebigen Diskussionen und kritischen Auseinandersetzungen.

This qualitative study examines an asynchronous online course from a private university utilizing a template model for all online courses to provide students with consistent navigation and course structure throughout their degree program. The asynchronous online courses are purposely created using three criteria of quality course design: navigation is intuitive, information is chunked, and instructions are written clearly. A two-part usability test was conducted with three internal and three external participants. The two-part usability test focused on course navigation and examined the signaling, segmenting, and coherence principles applied to course content page layouts. Transcripts from the usability tests and observational field notes were coded through an iterative process in Nvivo. Through emic and etic coding, seven main categories were identified: user experience, cognitive load, multimedia learning principles, page design and layout attributes, course navigational attributes, course attributes and information, and participant navigational behavior. The findings for first-day navigation, general navigational behaviors, and perceptions of design elements used to implement the signaling, segmenting, and coherence principle are discussed. Course design recommendations for creating a positive usability experience and suggestions for future research are provided.

Massive Open Online Courses, sogenannte MOOCs sind offene und über das Internet für jeden kostenfrei zugängliche Kurse, die hierdurch oft eine Vielzahl an Teilnehmenden erreichen. Alle Beteiligten lernen gemeinsam, jedoch mit verschiedensten persönlichen Zielen. Die Inhalte werden nicht ausschließlich von den Veranstalter/inne/n vorgegeben, sondern können zudem auch von den Teilnehmenden erweitert und geteilt werden. Mit dem SOOC13, dem Saxon Open Online Course, wurde einer der aktuellsten und vieldiskutierten Trends [1] im E-Learning im Sommersemester 2013 von den Technischen Universitäten in Chemnitz und Dresden sowie der Universität Siegen aufgegriffen, praktisch erprobt und evaluiert. Der Kreis der Teilnehmenden bestand dabei nicht nur aus Studierenden, vielmehr waren mit dem Kurs explizit auch Lehrende sowie andere Hochschulmitarbeiter/innen angesprochen. Als konnektivistischer Open Online Course war der SOOC13 zudem offen für alle Interessierten innerhalb der Netz-Community. Als Methode der Leistungserbringung und -bewertung kamen E-Portfolios zum Einsatz, welche formative Feedback- und Beurteilungsprozesse zulassen. Lernende erstellen Lernprodukte (Artefakte), reflektieren über Lernziele, -verhalten und -fortschritte und teilen die Ergebnisse mit anderen Teilnehmenden in Form von Blogeinträgen, Tweets oder Facebook-Posts. Gegenseitiges Feedback und Hinweise durch die Veranstalter/innen führen zu ausgiebigen Diskussionen und kritischen Auseinandersetzungen.

Master of Science / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Doris Wright Carroll / This study reviews the development of distance education, adult students and specifically looks at the reasons for online course withdrawal. The study specifically examines personal and course-related reasons distance students withdraw from courses. Online students who withdrew from a course were invited to complete a course withdrawal survey to provide additional information about why they withdrew. Students reported balance between coursework and work/family commitments most frequently as the primary reason for course withdrawal. Results indicated that students withdrawing because of work/family reasons have higher intentions of re-enrolling in the future. Faculty and staff response time was another reason reported for course withdrawal. A perceived delay in communication was related to course withdrawal. Results are discussed further and implications are addressed.

Auch nach Jahren stetiger Förderung sind digitale Lernangebote an deutschen Hochschulen noch immer nicht so etabliert wie klassische Formate der Hochschullehre. Während die Bedeutung bspw. von Didaktik oder institutioneller Verankerung für die Akzeptanz dieser Angebote häufig diskutiert wird, wird der Gebrauchstauglichkeit bisher kaum Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Der Beitrag untersucht deshalb die Usability und den wahrgenommenen Nutzen eines modulbegleitenden Onlinekurses aus Sicht der Studierenden und stellt hierbei einen bedeutsamen Zusammenhang fest.