The purpose of this study was to identify the existing level of self-regulated learning (SRL) among Thai online learners, to examine the relationship between SRL and academic achievement based on a) course completion and b) course grades, and to investigate differences in SRL as they correlate to demographic factors. A mixed-methods research design with modified MSLQ online surveys and semi-structured interviews was used during the process of data collection. One hundred eighty-eight of the 580 online learners enrolled in the certificate programs of the Thailand Cyber University Project responded to the surveys; 7 of these also participated in the interview process. The findings indicated that Thai online learners reported high levels of SRL characteristics. Independent sample t-test results revealed that successful learners were higher in SRL learning strategies than those who did not succeed the course. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that critical thinking and time/study environmental management were significant predictors of academic course grade with a small effect size (R2 = .113). Comparison of mean differences revealed that some SRL characteristics were different among demographic subgroups determined by factors including gender, age range, marital status, and Internet use; female reported a significantly higher level of task value than male; younger learners had a significantly higher level of test anxiety than older learners; married learners reported a significantly higher level of self-efficacy and task value than single learners; online learners who had more Internet experience reported a significantly higher level of self-efficacy, metacognitive self-regulation, and time/study environmental management than those who had less Internet experience. In addition, the qualitative findings confirmed that participants reported the use of learning strategies in four categories, with a high number of references to metacognitive self-regulation and elaboration, and a low number of references to critical thinking and time/study environmental management. Furthermore, the qualitative results revealed that Thai online learners used different tools for social and personal activities, communication, and information searching.

Thesis advisor: Joseph Pedulla / The most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, focuses on the continued importance of teacher professional development. There are a great deal of challenges involved with delivering high-quality teacher professional development to all teachers, however, such as time, geography, and available resources. Online professional development is emerging in the literature as a viable alternative to traditional face-to-face online professional development. With the recent emergence of such a trend, however, very little research had been conducted on the quality of the individuals providing the online PD to teachers. The aim of this study was to examine one online facilitator-training program which was designed to train facilitators in the skills and best practices associated with delivering high quality PD to teachers across eight states. Using survey data collected over a two-year period, this dissertation explored the relationship between facilitator trainee ratings of training workshop quality and teacher outcomes of interest through a set of five regression equations. While only three of the relationships were found to be statistically significant, all provided valuable insight nonetheless. Specifically, the significant contributions include; a better insight into the relationship between training facilitators to deliver PD specifically in an online format and teacher perception of course quality, a series of tools to measure this relationship with other facilitator training programs in the future and, a contribution to the sparse literature currently available on this topic. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

The University of Waikato brought the Internet to New Zealand, was one of the first Universities in New Zealand to graduate students who had completed a bachelor's degree online, and recently won an award for innovative use of video software in an online classroom. The video software was created by a company that had its beginnings within the University. However, the use of the Internet for teaching and learning in the University has reached a plateau in the last few years, as measured by the daily page views of the online platform (Moodie, 2004), the number of courses taught online and staff teaching online remaining fairly constant. This thesis sets out to investigate why the use of online teaching at the University has not increased to a point where a majority of staff are using online teaching to at least supplement their classroom teaching. Previous research into online teaching and learning focused heavily on technology barriers and lack of access to computers and the Internet. It is the position of the researcher that this lack of access is no longer a valid reason for academics not to use online environments for teaching and learning in a tertiary environment. This study hypothesized that enhancing their teaching using online technologies may be related to the culture of different subjects, disciplines and Schools of study. Accordingly three groups of lecturers from different Schools within the University were invited to participate in focus group interviews. Questions asked were related to their approach to teaching in their subject areas, the culture of their Schools and the University, as well as their reflections on teaching online. The study found that there was a strong relationship between the use of online technologies and subject areas as well as the culture that exists within the School of study. The influence of University management on the use of online technologies was also highlighted. But more surprising was the relationship between trained teachers in the University, and their uptake and use of online technologies. To take advantage of the changing student population, with their greater awareness and use of computing and new technologies, the University of Waikato, and indeed many other similar institutions, are now at a technological and educational crossroad. Decisions need to be made by senior management regarding the importance of the Internet and emerging media technologies in shaping the teaching and learning environment of tomorrow's University.

Online learning is a wonderful opportunity for students who cannot attend classes at conventional times and places to further their education. However, to some extent, accessing and sharing information is often quite different and potentially more difficult for this particular group (e.g., they may lack access to the campus library). For this reason, it is important to appreciate both how the students are seeking and sharing information in this environment, as well as what drives these information behaviours. Understanding these processes will better enable instructors, librarians, and other relevant parties to facilitate information access to this population (e.g., through in-depth database training and/or better technology tools). With that in mind, this research asked: 1) In what types of information seeking and sharing behaviours do online learning students engage? 2) What motivates online learning students to both seek and share information? 3) Can a theoretical model of students motivational orientations as they apply to their information behaviours be developed? To answer these questions, the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning Program was examined as an in-depth case study. A grounded theory approach was employed to enable the development of the motivational theory. Data were collected exclusively through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, though with two distinct groups of people: 15 students and 3 key informants. The students were asked to reflect on their experiences accessing and sharing information in the online setting as well as what they thought drove their information behaviours, while the key informants provided context around the program itself and offered their insights into how they believe the students interact with information. Overall, this study revealed that both electronic and local resources are key to these students information seeking successes. Furthermore, the results suggest that personally or professionally relevant assignments provide students with the greatest motivation to seek information for their coursework. Students in this online learning environment were inclined to share professional, academic, and personal information with others because they believed that this online learning environment fostered a culture of sharing.

The global economy is undergoing drastic upheavals as Canada enters the 21st century. The key driver of this transformation is the emergence of the digital age. The digital age is impacting all facets of Canadian society, including postsecondary education. The integration of educational technologies into curriculum is spawning a new form of learning commonly referred to as online learning. Online learning has the potential to radically alter the manner in which knowledge is taught and learned in Canadian higher education. This mixed-methods study utilized both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The qualitative phase (n = 16) was developed and built upon the development and analysis of the quantitative phase (n = 279), which is based on Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, permitting the researcher to probe more deeply into the college students’ attitudes and perceptions of their online learning experience. The participating students represented most of the programs offered by this college. After the data analysis and interpretations of the findings, several themes emerged. The participants in the online questionnaire were satisfied with their online learning experiences at this one Ontario college. The participants cited the convenience, flexibility and the ability to control their learning as major benefits associated with online learning. Although the students who participated in the online questionnaire were satisfied with their online learning experiences, the quantitative and qualitative findings of this study provide compelling evidence that, as a matter of preference, students would chose a face-to-face / hybrid course over an online course. The participants in the semi-structured interviews repeatedly discussed how the interaction and physical contact between faculty and student, and between students enhanced the learning experiences, which contributed to their academic success. The socialization that occurred in the classroom was also a contributing factor for the preference for face-to-face / hybrid instruction. The results of this study may inform and guide college leadership and faculty about the complexities associated with implementing an online learning strategy at their college. Implications of the conclusions are presented and discussed on how they may impact Ontario’s colleges.

The global economy is undergoing drastic upheavals as Canada enters the 21st century. The key driver of this transformation is the emergence of the digital age. The digital age is impacting all facets of Canadian society, including postsecondary education. The integration of educational technologies into curriculum is spawning a new form of learning commonly referred to as online learning. Online learning has the potential to radically alter the manner in which knowledge is taught and learned in Canadian higher education. This mixed-methods study utilized both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. The qualitative phase (n = 16) was developed and built upon the development and analysis of the quantitative phase (n = 279), which is based on Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, permitting the researcher to probe more deeply into the college students’ attitudes and perceptions of their online learning experience. The participating students represented most of the programs offered by this college. After the data analysis and interpretations of the findings, several themes emerged. The participants in the online questionnaire were satisfied with their online learning experiences at this one Ontario college. The participants cited the convenience, flexibility and the ability to control their learning as major benefits associated with online learning. Although the students who participated in the online questionnaire were satisfied with their online learning experiences, the quantitative and qualitative findings of this study provide compelling evidence that, as a matter of preference, students would chose a face-to-face / hybrid course over an online course. The participants in the semi-structured interviews repeatedly discussed how the interaction and physical contact between faculty and student, and between students enhanced the learning experiences, which contributed to their academic success. The socialization that occurred in the classroom was also a contributing factor for the preference for face-to-face / hybrid instruction. The results of this study may inform and guide college leadership and faculty about the complexities associated with implementing an online learning strategy at their college. Implications of the conclusions are presented and discussed on how they may impact Ontario’s colleges.

Teaching and learning online has become widespread but for some teachers there are a number of challenges involved.  This study looks at politeness strategies used in teacher-student and student-student interaction, to what extent they are used and what effects these politeness strategies have on the communication as a whole.

As the coming of digital knowledge economic era, knowledge and human resources have become the most important capital of organization. Therefore, how organizations can preserve and develop knowledge is every business¡¦ concern. Because the cost of traditional training is high due to the limitation of time, space and facilities, ¡§e-Learning¡¨ can provide timely, cost-efficient, as well as high-quality lessons if there exists caring and sharing organizational culture to support organizational learning. In this study, the Technology Frame theory suggested by Orlikowski & Gash is adopted to analyze a business that implements an e -Learning system. The analysis shows that three groups, including IT staffs, HR staffs and users, exhibit positive attitude to the e-Learning system although they have different interpretations on this system. A f urther analysis shows that business strategy, culture of organization, government sponsorship, and the human resource quality influence the technology frames of IT staffs, HR staffs and users.

Since its inception, online continuing education programs have experienced great variation in the degree of participation among students. There is a growing body of literature suggesting that a sense of community is a possible predictor of participation in educational programs. Since online instruction is not conducted face-to-face, direct social interaction is missing. However, there exists a variety of online instructional methods that are designed to create social interaction and thus facilitate and foster a sense of community among participants in these programs.This dissertation sought to identify a model that would suggest what variables related to a sense of community might predict participation among students enrolled in an online continuing education program. This investigation included development of an instrument to measure participants' feeling of a sense of community, and examination of the relationship of the instrument scores with three components of participation (overall participation, interactive participation, and non-interactive participation).This investigation was conducted on a two-year online continuing medical education program at a university located in the southwestern United States. The participants were physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician's assistants representing three different cohorts.Item analysis of the instrument to measure sense of community revealed a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .89. A principal components analysis using an orthogonal (varimax) rotation produced four factors (subscales) with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from .70 to .86.The overall sense of community and four subscale scores were then compared to participation scores of participants. Preliminary analyses revealed no gender or cohort differences. A significant correlation was found between communicating for understanding subscale scores and interactive participation scores. Significant positive correlation coefficients were also found between the overall sense of community score and overall participation score as well as interactive participation score.This preliminary investigation indicated that the sense of community instrument developed for this study is a reliable measure including four factors which constitute a definition of sense of community. Further, it revealed that interactive participation in the course may be predicted from communicating for understanding and that sense of community is positively correlated to overall participation and interactive participation, but not to non-interactive participation.

This paper gives an account of themes that emerged from a preliminary analysis of a large corpus of electronic communications in an online, mediated course for intercultural learners. The goals were to test assumptions that electronic communication is internationally standardized, to identify any problematic aspects of such communications, and to construct a framework for the analysis of electronic communications using constructs from intercultural communications theory. We found that cyberspace itself has a culture(s), and is not culture-free. Cultural gaps can exist between individuals, as well as between individuals and the dominant cyberculture, increasing the chances of miscommunication. The lack of elements inherent in face-to-face communication further problematizes intercultural communications online by limiting opportunities to give and save face, and to intuit meaning from non-verbal cues. We conclude that electronic communication across cultures presents distinctive challenges, as well as opportunities to course planners.