Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Dale Courtney. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-54). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)(Information Technology)--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Title from opening screen (viewed Apr. 19, 2004).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-113).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-106). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-106). Also available on the Internet.

This study focuses on solutions for the specific issues experienced by the distance learning program at the Lone Star College System (LSCS), a multi-college community college district located north of the Houston metro area. Utilizing practical action research methodology, the purpose of this study is to explore options for improving the LSCS distance learning program to better meet the needs of current and future distance learning students. This study combines a review of literature, local insights concerning the LSCS distance learning program, and discussions with other community college distance learning practitioners around the country for the purpose of developing an administrative proposal for the LSCS distance learning program. The study involves an exploration of the administrative and governance structure, a review of services provided to distance learning faculty and students, and an examination of quality standards for online courses and services. / text

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Computer Science and Information Systems / Master / Master of Philosophy

Despite the growth in the size and acceptance of distance education, there have been persistent criticisms of this form of education because it often fails to provide for interaction among students and between students and instructors. Without this, it is suggested, distance education can only be an inferior imitation of the best face-to-face education because learners are unable to clarify and challenge assumptions and to construct meaning through dialogue. Some critics believe distance education's inability to reproduce a critical dialogue among students and between students and instructor can be addressed through the use of two-way communication technologies such as text-based, asynchronous (i.e., not in real time) computer conferencing. Appropriately-designed computer conferencing, it is argued, will facilitate interaction among students and between the instructor and students thus making distance education more appropriate for the higher-level cognitive goals of college and university education. At the same time, using this' technology will retain the flexibility of time and place-independence that is characteristic of distance education. The literature on educational computer conferencing is replete with references to its potential to create a new paradigm of education characterized by interactive group knowledge-building and critical thinking, but there are few empirical studies that have substantiated this view. Little is known about how and why learners participate and what factors may affect their participation. Similarly there has been little empirical study of the quality of computer conferencing interaction. This case study of a university-level course delivered by computer conferencing was designed to address these issues. It was guided by two purposes: 1) to determine whether the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of participation in this online course were consistent with key aspects of the new paradigm of networked learning as articulated in the literature, that is, if students were actively participating, building on each others contributions and thinking critically about the discussion topics; and 2) to determine what factors affected student participation and critical thinking. The results of this study suggest that some of the claims about the potential of this technology to transform conventional and distance education may be overstated. The emergence of a dynamic and interactive educational process that facilitates critical thinking was shown to be contingent on a variety of factors. The results suggest, however, that with the appropriate course design, instructor interventions, content, and students, computer conferencing can be used for these purposes and should be given serious consideration by distance educators as a way of facilitating interaction and critical thinking in distance education.

Education methodology of people with disabilities is not very well developed and it is the reason why disabled people are facing problems in using of unadapted educational materials. More and more disabled people are choosing distance learning due to its convenience and possibility to learn from home. In most cases materials are presented in hypertext format. There are no sufficient tools for adaptation of hypertext documents for disabled people usage and it makes work with those documents very hard or even impossible. Due to the fact, that preparation of teachers and professors for work with hypertext may be very time consuming and difficult, this thesis’s where trying to use different approach - find a solution for non HTML literate person to adapt HTML documents for disabled people. Set of rules was created and flexible tool lets effectively adapt hypertext materials for disabled.