A graduate level Flex Mode course “Introduction to Computers in Education” using online learning concept, which includes the discourse environment and the webinars, was investigated in the current study. Twenty one students enrolled in the course in fall 2010. Since the design of this course is new and in its experimental stage, this study explored how webinar participation predicts students’ behaviours and engagement in online learning, and the experiences and perspectives of students who take this course. Data retrieved from the course database show that webinar participation correlated significantly with the engagement construct (about reading and writing online). Results from the questionnaire suggest that students were satisfied with both the webinar and online discussion components of the course. Interview findings indicate that students credit the webinar with helping them feel more connected to their classmates. Implications for the design of online learning program will be discussed.

A graduate level Flex Mode course “Introduction to Computers in Education” using online learning concept, which includes the discourse environment and the webinars, was investigated in the current study. Twenty one students enrolled in the course in fall 2010. Since the design of this course is new and in its experimental stage, this study explored how webinar participation predicts students’ behaviours and engagement in online learning, and the experiences and perspectives of students who take this course. Data retrieved from the course database show that webinar participation correlated significantly with the engagement construct (about reading and writing online). Results from the questionnaire suggest that students were satisfied with both the webinar and online discussion components of the course. Interview findings indicate that students credit the webinar with helping them feel more connected to their classmates. Implications for the design of online learning program will be discussed.

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As a result of personal computers and broadband Internet connections become very popular, online learning converts asynchronous learning into synchronous learning or blended learning. This implies that synchronous communication becomes an essential part of online learning and learners now are able to see others face-to-face online just like in traditional classrooms. In the past, the major difference between cyber classroom and traditional classroom is that cyber classroom cannot provide face to face interaction. However, a synchronous cyber classroom features real-time and multiple video communication channels can overcome this shortage and even promoted better attention and engagement for learners. Social presence is an indicator to measure the degree of social interaction, determined by the perception of an individual to environments and other individuals. The prior researches have indicated that increasing social presence is helpful to enhancing learning participation and satisfaction in a synchronous cyber classroom. Hence, we argue that promoting social presence in a synchronous cyber classroom would have a positive effect on learners¡¦ learning participation and satisfaction. The aim of this study is to explore the factors affecting social presence in a synchronous cyber classroom. We will apply social learning theory as a basis to verify if social presence does have a positive effect on learning outcome and what factors affect social presence in a synchronous cyber classroom learning environment. Because the perception about social presence is accumulated as time goes by, a questionnaire survey is used in this study. The target population is drawn upon the learners who have had real experiences of participations in learning with synchronous cyber classrooms. The questionnaires were carried out on the Web. The subjects were learners from the National Sun Yan-Sen Cyber University, the K12 digital school and some others from the PTT BBS. The total number of valid questionnaires is 252. The research result indicates that the factors affecting social presence in a synchronous cyber classroom are intimacy, user friendliness, responsiveness, extraversion, and cue richness. Moreover, social presence does have a positive effect on learning participation and satisfaction. The contribution of this study is finding out the factors affecting social presence from the social learning theory perspective. If teachers could pay attention to these factors and try to apply them for enhancing learners¡¦ social presence, learners¡¦ learning outcome is greatly improved in a synchronous cyber classroom environment. This study is concluded by pointing out some suggestions for practice and future research.

This study investigated why and how students, who enrolled in fully-online distance course, participated in online activities external to the formal online course (OAEOC) at any point during or after the online course. For this research, OAEOC is defined as any activity pursued by students within an online environment during or after the course that does not take place within their teacher-sponsored online course “home” (such as a Moodle or Blackboard). This research occurred within a fully-online, five-week course that trained journalists in digital tools. Data included: (a) 144 researcher-generated interpretive memos based on activities within the course’s online discussion forums and student chats and (b) 11 student interviews. Results showed that student interactions in course discussion forums were critically important for developing connections between students, which in turn, supported the initiation of online activities external to the online course. During the course, students posted information about their online identities and created a Facebook group and Twitter list, which facilitated online activities external to the course. Data from interviews showed that those students participating in OAEOC did so for social reasons and to continue conversing with classmates. Students who did not participate in OAEOCs indicated work schedule conflicts, lack of interest, and unawareness of the OAEOCs prevented their participation. During the course, OAEOC participants discussed topics related to the course content. However, once the course concluded, OAEOC participants started discussing more personal and professional topics. The phenomenon studied is new to online distance education and holds the potential to extend the online course experience and support lifelong learning. / text

I Sverige idag är det många som kompletterar sin gymnasieutbildning via kurser inom denkommunala vuxenutbildningen (komvux); och många gör det också på distans. För att synliggöradetta växande utbildningsområde som distansundervisningen utgör, fokuserar denna undersökning påde undervisande lärarnas tankar kring denna form av undervisning vid den kommunalavuxenutbildningen.Frågeställningen tar alltså upp vilka subjektiva teorier lärare inom distansundervisning (vid denkommunala vuxenutbildningen) har om sin distansundervisning; samt hur dessa subjektiva teorierförhåller sig till andra lärteorier. Som teori handlar Forskningsprogrammet ”Subjektive Theorien”om hur man vetenskapligt kan undersöka de teorier som människor har och uttrycker i vardagen.Teorins forskningsansats är inte att undersöka hur människor gör (handlingar), utan hur människortänker om sina handlingar, dvs. om deras kognitiva strukturer.För att undersöka detta valdes sex lärare ut vid en distansskola inom den kommunalavuxenutbildningen. Med dessa sex lärare genomfördes sedan semi-strukturerade narrativa intervjuer.Områden som behandlades var bland annat betygens reliabilitet – plagiat och fusk, elever i klassrumkontra på distans samt mer specifikt om hur lärarna såg på de elever som läser på distans. Ävenlärarnas syn på diskussion/grupparbete togs upp.Det som framkom var subjektiva teorier där lärarna var mycket utförliga, detaljerade ochnyancerade, samtidigt som det också framgick att lärarnas teoretiska kännedom om de olikaformerna av distansundervisning och om kopplingar till lärteorier var svagt utpräglad.

The paper is a review of literature on online learning and how it prepares the digital learners into the future work force. Factors contributing to the growth in online education are linked to changing social and economic structures. The College Board Commission on Access, Admissions and Success issued a call for 55% of America’s youth to obtain a postsecondary education credential by 2025 (Bonk, 2015). This is to support and strengthen the position of the United States to be more competitive in a global economy (Burnette & Conley, 2011). There are current questions about student success, open education, informal learning, online plagiarism and principally whether online learning successfully prepare the online student for the future work skills. Keywords: online learning, workforce, digital learners, future jobs

This paper explores communicative trends in an online, facilitated course for intercultural learners. We examine participation rates and communicative interactivity between culturally diverse learners, and find that participation rates differ by cultural grouping, by gender and by role, and that online interactions are dominated by facilitator- learner exchanges (rather than by peer-to-peer communications). Ongoing case study analysis will examine the ways that differences in facilitator practices, the use of story, identity construction, and facilitator/learner expectations conspire to facilitate or hinder interaction and participation in the online culture of this e-learning environment.

In a world that is increasingly digital, the ability to communicate clearly in writing is of utmost importance. An important part of writing in both professional and academic settings is self-regulation. In academics, the use of video as a teaching tool in online environments is becoming more popular. This thesis investigated whether or not video scribed animation could be used to teach writing self-regulation strategies in an online course. Student perceptions of video scribed animation and its use in education were also examined. Students completed self-report measures of their grade goals, self-efficacy for grade achievement, and self-regulation strategy use on blogging assignments. Results showed that there were statistically significant increases in students’ environmental self-regulation and goal setting. For example, students worked in quieter environments and set more concrete, challenging goals after watching the video scribed animation that modeled self-regulation strategies. Students found the video both entertaining and educational, and indicated that it caught and sustained their attention. Treatment group students that opted not to watch the video scribed animation were more likely to have achieved their grade goals on the previous assignment than the students that watched the video.

The purpose of this study was to describe how assessing interactions in a distance course impact the quality of instruction, student leaning, and satisfaction with the course. This study, further describes how interactions can be enhanced with certain technologies. The population for this research was both undergraduate and graduate students of the college of Agriculture and Natural Resources in National Chung-Hsing University (NCHU), in Taiwan. There are twelve departments under the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources including eleven departments and one graduate institute. Data was collected from students at NCHU (Taiwan) by using Qualtrics (an online survey platform) through the Internet. All data of this research collected via Internet and used SPSS 20.0 to analysis data results. It is an anonymous survey that participants just receive the survey web address from email or academic platforms of each department. There is no any identification information for each participant. According to the findings, there are some relationships between transactional distance theory, technology, and online education. The results of the regression model point out that the learner to the course content interaction is a significant predictor for satisfaction toward online classes. Learner to the course content interaction and learner to the instructor interaction are significant predictors for quality toward online classes. Learner to the course technology interaction and learner to the instructor interaction are significant predictors for learning toward online classes. Learner to the course content interaction and learner to the instructor interaction are significant predictors of enhanced interactions in online classes. However, there is no interaction effect in learner to leaner interaction to enhance the satisfaction, quality, and learning. From the above data, the learner to the instructor interaction and the learner to the course content interaction are two important factors that influence learners’ satisfaction, quality, and learning of online courses. More participants involving in this research recommended increasing the reliability and the diversity of opinions. Besides, using the same instrument for diverse populations such as differences of culture, background, and majors may find more relationships in interactions and technologies in online education. Also, do more researches for enhancing the interaction between learner to learner and learner to the course technology. It is important to find more effective technologies and media for instructors to enhance learners’ satisfaction, quality, and learning of online education.