In educational development, much focus is put on the use of computers and other digital tools to enhance teaching and learning. One of the most used digital communication forms is one-to-one communication using text, images, and video. One-to-one communication for educational purposes has, however, so far received only modest attention in research. The purpose of this thesis is to explore inquiry-based one-to-one online education. An additional purpose is to explore opportunities and limitations with the Community of Inquiry framework, one of the most used models for analysis of online learning, when analyzing one-to-one online education. A particular interest is put on the role of emotions in the analyses. The empirical case used in the thesis is the Math Coach program who employs one-to-one education for k-12 students in mathematics via chat and a shared digital whiteboard. The thesis consists of an introduction and four papers. First, in Paper I online coaching is defined, explained, and discussed through a review of previous research and a study of the establishment and operation of the Math Coach program. Secondly, the Community of Inquiry framework is adapted for use in one-to-one settings forming the Relationship of Inquiry framework. Paper II initiates the adaption using a survey study, Paper III evaluates the role of emotions in the framework, and Paper IV consolidates the Relationship of Inquiry framework with a comprehensive description of its components and a transcript coding procedure. The findings indicate that inquiry-based one-to-one online education can be explored utilizing Online coaching as a Relationship of Inquiry. Online coaching is theoretically grounded in collaborative constructivism, critical thinking, and proximal development. It is defined as an inquiry-based learning activity where a person gets support on a specific subject matter from a more knowledgeable person using the Internet. The Relationship of Inquiry is a conceptual connection that is built between two persons that engage in a critical discourse in order resolve an educational issue. Central for the framework is the elements of cognitive presence, teaching presence, social presence, and emotional presence. Emotional presence is especially examined and confirmed as a critical interdependent element of the framework. / En stor del av det utvecklingsarbete som idag bedrivs inom utbildningsväsendet handlar om hur datorer och annan digital teknik kan användas för att förbättra undervisning och lärande. Digital kommunikation mellan två individer – en-till-en-kommunikation – i form av text, bilder och video har fått stort genomslag i samhället, men det finns begränsat med forskning om dess användning och användbarhet i utbildningssammanhang. Det primära syftet med denna avhandling är att utforska nätbaserad en-till-en-utbildning. Ett ytterligare syfte är att undersöka möjligheter och begränsningar med användandet av ramverket "Community of Inquiry" vid analys av nätbaserad utbildning. I avhandlingen studeras särskilt den emotionella dimensionen av ramverket. Som studieobjekt används Mattecoach på nätet, en verksamhet där grundskole- och gymnasieelever får stöd – coachas – i sina matematikstudier genom att chatta med lärarstudenter via textmeddelanden och en delad digital skrivtavla. Avhandlingen är skriven på engelska och består av en inledning och fyra vetenskapliga artiklar. I artikel I definieras, förklaras och diskuteras läraktiviteten nätcoachning. I artikel II introduceras ramverket "Relationship of Inquiry". Detta bygger på ''Community of Inquiry'', som är ett väletablerat hjälpmedel för att analysera kommunikation inom större grupper, men har anpassats för en-till-en-kommunikation. I artikel III utvecklas ramverket vidare genom att speciellt studera den emotionella aspekten av lärande. I artikel IV bekräftas ramverket genom en fullständig beskrivning av dess ingående delar och en transkriptionsanalys. Studien indikerar att nätbaserad en-till-en-utbildning kan utforskas utifrån läraktiviteten nätcoachning och ramverket ''Relationship of Inquiry'' (Online coaching as a Relationship of Inquiry). Nätcoachning definieras som en undersökande läraktivitet där en person via Internet får stöd i sin kunskapsutveckling från en annan individ som är mer kunnig inom området. Dess teoretiska grund bygger på kollaborativ konstruktivism, kritiskt tänkande och proximal utveckling. I avhandlingen studeras den relation som bildas mellan coach och elev som genom en kritisk och reflekterande dialog löser elevens matematikproblem. Ramverket är uppbyggt kring fyra delar: det kognitiva elementet, lärarelementet, det sociala elementet samt det emotionella elementet. Det emotionella elementet har särskilt studerats och visade sig vara ett viktigt element. – / <p>QC 20150513</p>

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The perceptions of Southern and East African learners of their experience in a continuing education were examined using select dimensions of Khan’s e-learning evaluation framework as a theoretical one. This framework provided an evaluative frame in which to examine attributes of e-learning in the context of globalization, internationalization, and massification of education. This research provided a baseline of student perception about the utility and suitability of online education to meet the growing international demands for education. Technology has played a role in the delivery of education, such as that of recent emerging technologies, notably social media. Data included learner reflections and survey responses. A qualitative analysis methodology was used to analyze responses to the research questions. The findings from this research provided insight about student perceptions, engagement, and acceptance of social media as complementary tools in the delivery of educational programming for Southern and East African learners taking blended learning courses from Canadian universities with a proficient African facilitator. These findings permitted some understanding of the technological, social, cultural, and motivational challenges (Dimensions of Kahn’s framework) associated with distance education for African adult learners to permit more nuanced course design and delivery.

This dissertation argues that a diversity of epistemology within the field of rhetoric and composition can encourage Imagining as a strategy to negotiate the conundrums and binaries of the post-everything era, especially in negotiating the social presence of online learning. I trace Imagination from Enlightenment Pedagogy, which privileged the individual, unteacheable genius, to the conflation of invention and Imagination and the disappearance of both in current-traditional, modern, and postmodern pedagogy. Underlying this disappearance seems to be a distrust of Imagination, as exemplified by Kenneth Burke. I suggest that strategy of Imagining, rather than the faculty of Imagination, is needed—a move that is congruent with the active agency suggested by Marilyn Cooper. I also suggest that the theoretical basis for Imagining as a bridge can be found in the “Thirdness” of Charles Sanders Pierce. Following Coleridge, I suggest that four means of knowing serve as foundations for Imagining: the group, the text, knowledgeable others, and the spirit. These four means can give the field of rhetoric and composition a diversity of epistemologies, and these terms provide the means to more fully describe our complex, partial, and recursive ways of knowing in the twenty-first century. These ways of knowing are especially necessary in online learning where teachers and students may only “see” each other through their words. I argue that these means of knowing enhance Imagining and that a unsyllabus is a way to implement Imagining.

Multilingualism is a reality in South African classrooms. The Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) and the national language policy recognize language rights and aims at supporting, promoting and developing the official languages. However, despite the advantages of mother tongue education, English is often chosen as language of learning and teaching at the cost of the African official languages. This study proposes the accommodation and promotion of multilingualism through blended learning. Blended learning refers to the blending of traditional instruction methods, such as face-to-face instruction, with other forms of instruction such as online learning and teaching. Through a discussion of asynchronous and synchronous learning tools it was established that wikis would be used for this study. In terms of blended learning and learning theories the main emphasis in this study is on socio-constructivism as well as communal constructivism. The empirical research in this study focused on the establishment and testing of a conceptual model for the accommodation and promotion of multilingualism through blended learning in the subject IT. The research took the form of a sequential embedded mixed methods design. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. A questionnaire was used with IT teachers to investigate the language and blended learning context. This was followed up with qualitative research in the form of interviews aimed at provincial and national experts in terms of the subject IT and e-learning. Based on the literature and these two investigations, a conceptual model was developed. The conceptual model’s effectiveness was tested through a quasi-experimental study. A questionnaire was also completed by the respondents at the schools after the completion of the study. Through the testing of the effectiveness of the conceptual model it was found that multilingualism could successfully be accommodated and promoted through this conceptual model. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

Multilingualism is a reality in South African classrooms. The Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) and the national language policy recognize language rights and aims at supporting, promoting and developing the official languages. However, despite the advantages of mother tongue education, English is often chosen as language of learning and teaching at the cost of the African official languages. This study proposes the accommodation and promotion of multilingualism through blended learning. Blended learning refers to the blending of traditional instruction methods, such as face-to-face instruction, with other forms of instruction such as online learning and teaching. Through a discussion of asynchronous and synchronous learning tools it was established that wikis would be used for this study. In terms of blended learning and learning theories the main emphasis in this study is on socio-constructivism as well as communal constructivism. The empirical research in this study focused on the establishment and testing of a conceptual model for the accommodation and promotion of multilingualism through blended learning in the subject IT. The research took the form of a sequential embedded mixed methods design. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used. A questionnaire was used with IT teachers to investigate the language and blended learning context. This was followed up with qualitative research in the form of interviews aimed at provincial and national experts in terms of the subject IT and e-learning. Based on the literature and these two investigations, a conceptual model was developed. The conceptual model’s effectiveness was tested through a quasi-experimental study. A questionnaire was also completed by the respondents at the schools after the completion of the study. Through the testing of the effectiveness of the conceptual model it was found that multilingualism could successfully be accommodated and promoted through this conceptual model. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

The impact of Internet technology on critical thinking is of growing interest among researchers. However, there still remains much to explore in terms of how critical thinking can be fostered through online environments for higher education. Ten years ago, Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) published an article describing the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework which provided an outline of three core elements that were able to describe and measure a collaborative and positive educational experience in an online learning environment, namely teaching presence (design, facilitation, and direct instruction), social presence (the ability of learners to project themselves socially and emotionally), and cognitive presence (the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse). This dissertation extends the body of research surrounding the CoI framework and also the literature on developing critical thinking in online environments by examining and exploring the extent to which teaching and social presence contribute to cognitive presence. The researcher was able to do this by offering 189 learners enrolled in 10 research methods courses and educational research courses an opportunity to use an innovative online resource (Research Design Learning Resource – RDLR) to assist them in learning about educational research and developing research proposals. By exploring how participants used this resource the researcher was able to gain insight into what factors contributed to a successful online learning experience and fostered cognitive presence. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches (mixed methods) were used in this study. The quantitative results indicated that both social and teaching presence had a strong positive relationship with cognitive presence and that learners generally perceived to have a positive learning experience using the RDLR. The qualitative findings helped elaborate the significant quantitative results and were organised into the following themes: making connections, multiple perspectives, resource design, being a self-directed learner, learning strategies, learning preferences, and barriers to cognitive presence. Future directions for critical thinking in online environments are discussed.

The perceptions of Southern and East African learners of their experience in a continuing education were examined using select dimensions of Khan’s e-learning evaluation framework as a theoretical one. This framework provided an evaluative frame in which to examine attributes of e-learning in the context of globalization, internationalization, and massification of education. This research provided a baseline of student perception about the utility and suitability of online education to meet the growing international demands for education. Technology has played a role in the delivery of education, such as that of recent emerging technologies, notably social media. Data included learner reflections and survey responses. A qualitative analysis methodology was used to analyze responses to the research questions. The findings from this research provided insight about student perceptions, engagement, and acceptance of social media as complementary tools in the delivery of educational programming for Southern and East African learners taking blended learning courses from Canadian universities with a proficient African facilitator. These findings permitted some understanding of the technological, social, cultural, and motivational challenges (Dimensions of Kahn’s framework) associated with distance education for African adult learners to permit more nuanced course design and delivery.

Building and maintaining trust is a necessary condition for group cohesion. In order to successful collaborative group process in online learning environment, development of trust must be understood in online teams. Difference communication behaviors in the online teams with different trust levels were investigated in this research. Participants were 61 students in an undergraduate level who enrolled in the online course. In this research, online teams&amp / #8217 / collaborative communication behaviors were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the factors that facilitate and deepen trust. Data were obtained from questionnaires and online class discussion archives. One of the findings of the study was that trust is built and maintained in online teams. Another finding was that online trust can be fragile and certain communication behaviors should be presented by members to deepen and maintain the trust level. The results of the study showed that there must be social interaction, enthusiasm, task oriented interaction, equal and predictable communication, and feedback among the member of online teams to built and maintain trust.

Higher education institutions, with their mandate of preparing students in view of the requirements, knowledge and skills of the 21st century citizens, are the institutions where the latest information and communication technologies will put into use both for administrative and for instructional purposes within a well-designed framework. Turkish higher education institutions, as well, are in a process of adapting themselves to the recent advancements in information and communication technologies, particularly to provide better services to their on-campus students through these technologies but also for reaching out to more through Internet-based distance education tools. This study, through an in-depth exploration of three graduate degree programs offered online by three pioneer universities in Turkey from conception to implementation, has aimed to provide guidance for other Turkish higher education institutions to launch and implement web-based distance education programs successfully. The study, through interviews and documentary analysis, has traced how the idea of offering an online degree program has been formed, what administrative and managerial steps have been taken, what cooperative and collaborative relationships have been embraced, what challenges have been encountered, how these challenges have been overcome, what instructional factors have been considered, how faculty have been involved in the process, what lessons have been learned, and what role has been attained to e-learning in the future of higher education in Turkey. Findings of the study have been incorporated within a model for Turkish higher education institutions to realize an e-learning initiative.