Este trabalho traz os resultados de uma investigação de caráter qualitativo, apoiada em descrições provenientes de um curso online de capacitação baseado na abordagem colaborativa de aprendizagem. Esta investigação comprova a tese de que a didática realizada em cursos a distância online, orientados pela abordagem colaborativa, favorece a participação, comunicação e interação entre os participantes, e, desta forma, possibilita maior aprendizado. As referências teóricas buscaram situar os conceitos centrais que envolviam a proposta. A prática observada no curso trouxe elementos que aprofundaram a reflexão sobre os novos caminhos da didática, viabilizadas pelas atividades colaborativas desenvolvidas em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem. A proposta do curso desafiou os conhecimentos e conceitos já assumidos pela didática, e orientou a ação para a incorporação de novos conceitos e pressupostos, na fronteira entre comunicação e educação. As inovações tecnológicas, no entanto, mostraram novos aspectos e possibilidades que vão além da comunicação didática, no sentido apresentado pelos teóricos estudados. As possibilidades oferecidas pelos ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem, para interação e comunicação entre todos os participantes dos cursos online, a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar, mudam significativamente o potencial das estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem que podem ser utilizadas. A escolha das abordagens colaborativas como orientação metodológica, para o desenvolvimento das estratégias e procedimentos desencadeados no curso estudado, agregou aos aspectos tecnológicos as condições ideais para que o processo didático de aprendizagem baseado na interação e comunicação fosse ampliado. Em termos de resultados - no que diz respeito aos objetivos de aprendizagem desejados pelo curso e os almejados pela pesquisa - a proposta do curso alcançou suas finalidades. Para a pesquisa, a vivência, a participação, a interação e a comunicação dos alunos no curso validaram e superaram as hipóteses mais audaciosas em relação ao fazer didático em cursos online colaborativos, postas pela investigação. / This work brings the results of an investigation of qualitative character, supported by descriptions from an online training course based on the collaborative approach of learning. This investigation proves the thesis that the didactic held in distance online courses, guided by the collaborative approach, favors the participation, communication and interaction among the participants, and this way enables higher learning. The theoretical references looked for to place the centrals that involved the proposal. The practice observed in the course brought elements that deepened the reflection on the new ways of the didacticism, made by the collaborative activities developed in virtual atmospheres of learning. The proposal of the course challenged the knowledge and concepts already assumed by the didacticism and it guided the action for the incorporation of new concepts and presupposed on the border between communication and education. The technological innovations, however, showed new aspects and possibilities that are going besides the didactic communication in the sense presented by the theoretical ones studied. The possibilities offered by the virtual atmospheres of learning for interaction and communication among all the participants of the courses online, at any time and in any place, change significantly the potential of the strategies of teaching-learning that can be used. The choice of collaborative approaches as methodological guidance for the development of strategies and procedures unchained in the studied course, joined to the technological aspects the ideal conditions for the teaching-learning process based on interaction and communication were expanded. In terms of results - with regard to the learning objectives desired by current and desired by the research - the proposal of the course has achieved its purposes. For the research, the experience, participation, interaction and students\' communication in the course validated and outperformed the hypotheses in relation to do the didactic in collaborative online courses, putted by the investigation.

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar as potencialidades das redes sociais a partir de atividades didáticas em ambiente online com alunos do segundo ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola particular do município de Lajeado/RS. Dessa forma: (a) reviso o histórico das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação no Brasil e sua utilização pela educação básica; (b) analiso os Objetos de Aprendizagem como uma das possibilidades da educação digital; (c) verifico os Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem como formadores de espaços de autoria e colaboração na web, (d) utilizo a rede social Facebook e avalio seu potencial educacional, considerando alunos do 2º ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola particular do município de Lajeado; e (e) reflito sobre o uso das tecnologias online como elemento estruturante para construção do conhecimento. Como resultados, encontrei nas redes sociais um Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem que contempla as necessidades desta pesquisa e doravante da educação, mostrando que o professor deve estar atento a tecnologias recentes, plataformas existentes, novas relações sociais e dizeres culturais para adaptar sua aula e se aproximar da realidade de seu aluno, tornando o processo de ensino e aprendizagem uma experiência de vida, não um acumulado de informações analógico. Também é necessário que a escola estabeleça metas para acompanhar as mudanças na educação, bem como o governo arquitete políticas que possibilitem a evolução da educação online. / This research is to analyze the potential of social networks from learning activities in the online environment to students in the second year of high school from a private school in the municipality of Lajeado/RS. The specific objectives: (a) review the history of ICT in Brazil and its use for basic education, (b) analyze the Learning Objects as one of the possibilities of digital education, (c) check the Virtual Learning Environments as forming spaces authoring and collaboration on the web, (d) use the social network Facebook and evaluate their educator potential with students of 2nd year high school students in a private school in the municipality of Paved and (e) reflect on the use of online technologies as part structuring knowledge-building. As a result, I found an social networking Virtual Learning Environment that complete the education process, showing that the teacher must be aware of the latest technologies, existing online spaces, new social and cultural relationships to adapt your lesson and closer to the reality of their students, making the process of teaching and learning experience of life, not an accumulation of analog information. It is also necessary that the school set goals to track changes in education, as well as the government plan policies that enable the development of online education.

Esta pesquisa tem como tema central investigar como ocorre a cooperação intelectual entre os discentes na Educação Online, em um curso de especialização na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Parte-se do pressuposto que a cooperação, como método, pode ocorrer na educação, na modalidade à distância, e busca-se compreender como ocorre este processo. A fundamentação teórica que se elegeu para este trabalho foi a Epistemologia Genética de Jean Piaget e autores contemporâneos, tais como Morin, Silva, Campos, Anderson, Drown entre outros. A metodologia utilizada é a pesquisa qualitativa, na forma de Estudo de Caso único, de acordo com Yin (2010) e, para a análise dos dados empregou-se a Análise de Conteúdo de Bardin (1988). Os instrumentos utilizados foram três fóruns do curso, questionários realizados com os discentes e rotas, que foram traçadas a partir de sequências das trocas realizadas nos fóruns. Construíram-se três categorias de análise a partir dos dados e à luz da teoria piagetiana: (1) Escalas de Valores; (2) Conservação dos Acordos e (3) Reciprocidade entre os sujeitos. Os participantes deste estudo foram os discentes e docentes integrantes do curso de especialização. Como resultados deste estudo, obteve-se a compreensão do método de cooperação entre os discentes neste curso de especialização na educação online que permite refletir-se sobre as equações de valores estabelecidas por Piaget (1973) no contexto da Cibercultura. A pesquisa também acrescenta instrumentos, que foram constituídos neste processo, denominados aqui de ‘mapas intelectuais’, que podem servir como norteadores para outros estudos na Educação Online. Apresenta implicações educacionais para outros cursos que operam na modalidade à distância. Destaca-se que as contribuições que advém deste trabalho podem ser ampliadas para a educação como um todo, possibilitando a cooperação entre os integrantes do processo de ensino-aprendizagem, favorecendo a formação de sujeitos autônomos. / The main objective of this research is to investigate how the intellectual cooperation among students, on Online Education, occurs in a specialization course at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). We imply that cooperation, as a method, may happen on a distance mode education and try to understand such process. The Genetic Epistemology from Jean Piaget and contemporary authors as Morin, Silva, Campos, Anderson, Drown and many others are the theoretical reference used to fundament this paper. The methodology is a qualitative research, presented as a Single Case Study, according to Yin (2010), and a Bardin’s Content Analysis (1988) used to examine data. As instruments, we must mention three forums, questionnaires that are applied with students and routes set from the exchange in the forums. Based on the Piagetian Theory, three categories of analyses can be identified: (1) Scale of values, (2) Maintenance of Agreements and (3) Reciprocity between people involved, i.e., students and professors of the specialization course. As a result of this study, we achieve comprehension of the cooperation method among students of specialization, on a distance mode education, which allows pondering over the equations of values established by Piaget (1973) on the Cyber culture context. The paper adds instruments, intellectual maps, which are created during the process and may be used as guidelines for further studies on Online Education. It also presents educational implications to other courses that work on a distance mode basis. We emphasize that any contribution obtained from this paper, may be enlarged to education as a whole to make possible the cooperation among participants of a teaching-learning process and making easier the creation of autonomous citizens.

Approximately 30% of Florida’s college system (FCS) students are enrolled in distance learning courses (FLDOE, 2015). As FCS institutions continue to grow their online programs to meet demand, a lack of support from, and consensus among administrator and faculty stakeholders could undermine institutional efforts to sustain growth and quality standards in these programs. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine administrator and faculty perceptions of institutional support for online education in Florida’s College System. Differences in perceptions between these groups were also investigated. Additionally, this study explored if perceptions differed based on role and level of experience with online education. For this study, Administrators were operationally defined as administrators of online education and instructional technology staff, and Faculty were operationally defined as full-time and adjunct faculty. The sample included 25 Administrators, 25 Instructional Technology Staff, 131 Full Time Faculty, and 92 Adjunct Faculty. A total of 273 administrators and faculty employed in the Florida College System consented to participate in the study. To confirm the latent constructs underlying the survey questions, a factor analysis was conducted. Six scales were identified: Faculty Teaching and Technology Support (FTTS), Student Readiness for Online Learning (SROL), Institutional Commitment to Online Learning (ICOL), Student Services and Technology Infrastructure (SSTI), Online Learning Access and Administration (OLAA), and Online Learning Evaluation and Assessment (OLEA). A survey consisting of a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 4 where 1= Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Agree, and 4 = Strongly Agree, was used to measure perceptions of institutional support for online education. Findings from this study indicate that in the areas of Faculty Teaching and Technology Support (FTTS), Student Services and Technology Infrastructure (SSTI), and Online Learning Access and Administration (OLAA), administrators, instructional technology staff, full time faculty, and adjunct faculty agreed that their institutions were providing the necessary institutional support for online education. However, in the areas of Student Readiness for Online Learning (SROL), Institutional Commitment to Online Learning (ICOL), and Online Learning Evaluation and Assessment (OLEA), these institutional stakeholders differed in their views regarding institutional support for online education. As it relates to Student Readiness for Online Learning (SROL), administrators (M = 2.32, SD = 0.72), instructional technology staff (M = 2.23, SD = 0.69), and full time faculty (M = 2.33, SD = 0.79) all agree that institutions need to do more to address students’ readiness for online learning, while adjunct faculty (M = 2.80, SD = 0.82) perceive that institutions are providing the necessary support in this area. This finding signals a call for action in two areas. First, because institutional stakeholders agree this is an area of concern, institutions need to do more to address student readiness for online learning. Second, institutions need to ensure that adjunct faculty are aware of the technology preparedness screening that is available, or not available, to students enrolled in online courses and programs. In the area of Institutional Commitment to Online Learning (ICOL), administrators (M = 2.76, SD = 0.64), instructional technology staff (M = 2.66, SD = 0.85), and full time faculty (M = 2.88, SD = 0.63), perceive a need for more institutional commitment to online education, while adjunct faculty (M = 3.17, SD = 0.59) perceive that institutions are sufficiently demonstrating their commitment to online education. Differences in perceptions in this area signal that institutions need to gather information from these stakeholders in order to work towards consensus related to institutional commitment to online education. As it relates to Online Learning Evaluation and Assessment (OLEA), administrators (M = 2.87, SD = 0.79), instructional technology staff (M = 2.69, SD = 0.80), and full time faculty (M = 2.85, SD = 0.76) perceive that institutions need to do more to address online learning evaluation and assessment while adjunct faculty (M = 3.18, SD = 0.61) perceive that institutions are providing appropriate support in this area. Differences in perceptions in this area also signal that institutions need to gather information from these stakeholders to work towards consensus related to online learning evaluation and assessment. It is imperative that institutions in the Florida College System address issues that negatively impact student success in distance education. Findings from this study indicate that to enhance the quality of online education, and positively impact online retention efforts, FCS institutions should endeavor to gain support and solicit consensus from administrator and faculty stakeholders regarding efforts to sustain and grow their online programs.

Online courses have increased in enrollments over the past few decades. As the number of students taking online courses have increased, so has the number of students who have dropped or failed an online course. According to the literature, online courses may have higher drop rates than traditional, face-to-face courses. The number of students who fail an online course is, also, of concern. As online courses may continue to grow over the next few decades, studies on persistence in online courses may benefit students, administrators, instructional designers, educators, and researchers. Although previous research studies have addressed persistence in online courses, very few examine it from the perspectives of students who were unsuccessful in their courses. These students may have unique insights about the online experience that may have related to their lack of success. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of university students who have failed or dropped an online course through the lenses of transactional distance theory and Kember’s model of dropout in distance education. Transactional distance theory discusses the dialog, structure, and learner autonomy involved in an online course, while, Kember’s model presents categories that may relate to dropping an online course. Together, the theory and model may help in understanding the experiences of students who have dropped or failed an online course. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants from a large Southeastern university in the United States. Based on the participants’ responses, the data was sorted and ranked according to the amount of transactional distance in their courses, as well as the categories of Kember’s model. Many of the participants who experienced low or high transactional distance have, also, expressed an issue with the goal commitment category of Kember’s model. Additionally, there were important differences in the student characteristics of those who dropped or failed an online course. Furthermore, suggestions for improving online courses were given by the participants. Some of these suggestions included more student-instructor interactions, the use of more technology tools in their online course, and for orientations to the online environment to be offered.

The competitiveness of the graduate business education market; concerns over graduate program relevance; and decreased provincial funding are placing destabilizing pressures on the current graduate business program offerings in business schools promoting the possibility of institutional change. Despite most academic institutions embracing online education as an option to respond, Canadian AACSB accredited business schools have not moved in this direction. The purpose of this research study was to explore the reasons for the limited adoption of online education in Canadian AACSB accredited business schools. The theoretical lens framing this research study was Institutional theory. A qualitative multiple case study research design was carried out with four Canadian AACSB accredited business schools participating. The main data collection method was semi-structured interviews with senior administration and faculty. This study revealed that the constraining forces were stronger than the enabling forces towards adoption, ultimately leading to limited adoption. The enabling forces identified were: market expansion opportunities; cost and infrastructure savings; and student demand for more online education. The constraining forces identified were: the lack of face-to-face interaction; and development and delivery cost. An examination of stakeholder influence found faculty resistance, to hold the strongest influence on organizational decision making in these business schools. Faculty resistance was concentrated mainly towards fully online graduate programs with greater acceptance for the hybrid format. The Institutional theory lens helped to understand that institutional change in academic institutions is difficult, due to the isomorphic forces acting as constraining forces to institutional change. This rendered the finding that the lack of legitimacy of this delivery medium was the main reason for the limited adoption of online education. A number of significant contributions to research in the areas of online education and institutional change in academic institutions; practical implications; and suggestions for future research in this area were also provided.

Im Flipped Classroom werden die traditionell im Klassenraum durchgeführten Aktivitäten, i. d. R. die Inhaltsvermittlung, zuhause durch Videoaufzeichnungen des Vortrages durch den Lehrenden vollzogen (Vorbereitungsphase). Dem gegenüber werden die Aktivitäten der traditionellen Hausarbeit, i. d. R. die Vertiefung der Inhalte, in den Klassenraum verlagert (Präsenzphase) ([La00]). Während die Lernenden dabei Inhalte in Diskussionen, Experimenten, Fallstudien etc. vertiefen, agiert der Lehrende als Moderator oder Lernbegleiter. Das Flipped Classroom Model, im deutschen Raum insb. unter dem Synonym des Inverted Classroom Models bekannt, findet zunehmend Anwendung in der US-amerikanischen (siehe dazu z. B. [Ber12]) und britischen Sekundärbildung sowie in der deutschen Tertiärbildung (siehe dazu z. B. [Ha12], [Ha13], [Gro14]). Darüber hinaus gibt es derzeit vielfach Forschungsbestrebungen, welche z. B. die Evaluation des Modells ggü. traditionellen Lehrformen untersuchen, die pädagogische sowie technische Aufbereitung der Videos vorantreiben, den Einsatz in verschiedenen Fachdisziplinen beleuchten oder Erfahrungsberichte und Best Practices kommunizieren (z. B. [Sch12], [Lo12], [Ta13], [Sah14], [Ko14]). Es gibt mehrere Gründe, warum das Model diese Popularität in der Forschung erlangt hat und vielfach Anwendung in der Lehre findet. Studierende werden angesprochen, indem Medien genutzt werden, die sie gewöhnt sind. Dazu gehören Mobile Endgeräte und Plattformen wie Youtube ([Ber12]). Hinzu kommt, dass Videos in der Vorbereitungsphase auf die individuelle Lerngeschwindigkeit angepasst werden können: Schwierige Stellen können wiederholt angeschaut und Einfache übersprungen werden ([Ber12]). Darüber hinaus sind Studierende flexibler in der Entscheidung, wann sie sich der Vorbereitungsphase widmen, was einen nachweislich wichtigen Faktor für Studierende darstellt ([All11], [Cal12], [Mui02], [Oca12]). Aus Sicht der Hochschulen macht das Flipped Classroom Model ein überregionales bis nationales Angebot von Kursen möglich ([All11], [Bet09]). Weiterhin können operative Kosten sowie solche für Räumlichkeiten gespart werden ([Hus14]). 39 Der Lehrstuhl Informationsmanagement der TU Dresden folgt dem innovativen Trend und arbeitet seit 2013 an den Vorbereitungen eines Kurses im Flipped Classroom Format. Ziel ist die Durchführung des Flipped Classrooms im Wintersemester 2015/16. Als ein noch andauerndes Lehrprojekt, werden nachfolgend bereits erreichte und noch ausstehende Meilensteine beschrieben. Dadurch sollen Erfahrungen weitergegeben und Anknüpfungspunkte für einen Austausch gegeben werden.

The last fifty years have seen rapid growth in student enrollment in online courses. However, few systematic investigations have been utilized to identify best practices in online education experimentally. Skinner (1958) laid out a science of teaching derived from the principles of operant conditioning, and methods for adopting programmed instruction into the evolving technology of his time. In what he termed a "Teaching Machine," automated instruction programmed contingencies for the student with self-paced, carefully designed sequences towards mastery of the material. This series of investigations evaluated the efficacy of programmed instruction in online courses, as measured by quiz performance, the frequency of discussion posts, instructor time commitment, generalization, maintenance, and student perceptions of the online modalities used. The online classrooms were all conducted through Adobe Connect Meeting Software (2017) to include both asynchronous and synchronous online arrangements. Experiment 1 compared the effects of on-campus delivered lectures and online delivered lectures on weekly quiz performance, percentage correct on within assessments forms, the frequency of questions asked, participant preference, and generalization measures. Experiment 2 compared the effects of lectures delivered exclusively online and module packets, designed with components of Skinnerian programmed instruction, on weekly quiz performance, instructor time commitment, participant preference of both experimental conditions, and generalization measures. Experiment 3 compared the effects of online lectures + discussion and module packets + chat on weekly quiz performance, participant preference, and generalization measures. With the increasing demand for university courses delivered exclusively online, results are discussed on the viability of automated, programmed instruction to teach course material exclusively online.

Instructional communication research clearly indicates that instructor immediacy contributes significantly to effective instruction. However, the majority of immediacy studies have been conducted in traditional (face-to-face) classroom environments. More recently, instructional communication research has focused on assessing the impact of immediacy in online classroom environments. Again, immediacy appears to significantly contribute to effective instruction. The challenge is that most recent immediacy studies use immediacy measurements developed to test immediacy behaviors in face-to-face settings. Considering the lack of nonverbal communication and limited or absent synchronous or verbal communication in online instructional settings, the behaviors contributing most significantly to perceived immediacy, researchers need to reassess the immediacy construct in online environments. The present research explores and identifies behaviors reported by instructors to establish psychological closeness (i.e., immediacy) in online learning environments and assesses to what extent these behaviors are similar to or different from face-to-face immediacy-producing behaviors.

Online education is the fastest growing form of course delivery of higher education in the United States. It has revolutionized how students and instructors interact in the educational process. Yet students in online courses continue to experience higher attrition rates than their counterparts in traditional face-to-face classes despite the advantages offered by the technology. This study examined the impact that institutional policies and practices at community colleges in the state of Texas have had on student persistence in online courses. It also examined how institutions collect and use data in addressing students' attrition. The findings were used to identify the most effective institutional practices to share with community college systems in Texas in an effort to improve student persistence in online courses across the state. The population for the study consisted of the 50 public two-year community college and the technical college systems in the state of Texas. The study used a mixed method. A theoretical model of institutional impact on online persistence was drawn from the literature review. This model's five categories were then used to construct a survey to collect data on institutional practices and measure the effectiveness in addressing student persistence. Four college systems were identified using the survey data that best met the five categories. Interviews were then conducted at these four college systems to produce case studies of these institutions' practices and experiences with online persistence. The results highlighted the roles that institutions play in promoting student persistence in online programs. They revealed differences in the ways institutions define and track student success in online programs and the difficulty these differences pose in comparatively evaluating various institutions' programs. Results lent support to the theoretical model of institutional impact on online persistence that was developed for this study, and results yielded a proposed list of promising practices to enhance student persistence in online programs in public two-year community and technical colleges.