<p> Despite the rapid growth of online learning and student enrollment at for-profit colleges, previous research has found that employers are wary of job applicants with credentials earned from these sources. This study compared the attitudes of health care recruiters toward four different RN-to-BSN degree options based on the method of instruction (classroom, online) and the type of college (traditional, for-profit). A sample of 116 health care recruiters from across the United States completed an online survey. The study revealed that there were significant differences in the perceived advantage in the hiring process, credibility, concerns about credentials and likelihood to recommend hiring. Applicants with RN-to-BSN degrees from traditional colleges and via classroom instruction were clearly most favored and those with degrees earned through online instruction at for-profit colleges were perceived the least favorably. An online degree from a traditional college was determined to be more acceptable than an online degree from a for-profit college but still less acceptable than a degree earned through classroom instruction at a traditional college. The implication of these findings is that the return on education for students earning college degrees online or from for-profit colleges may be inhibited by employer perceptions regarding the quality of credentials earned in these environments.</p>

<p>ABSTRACT Autism is a complex brain-based developmental disability with unknown etiology. It involves disturbances or delays in communication, social interaction, and play, as well as behavioral abnormalities including; obsessive, ritualistic, rigid, and/or stereotyped behavior. The disorder affects 1 in 68 individuals nationwide. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is recognized by the medical community as the best practice approach to treating autism. Early, intensive, ABA treatment has been attributed to the widespread opinion that autism is now a treatable condition. The effectiveness of ABA, combined with the increasing incidence of autism, has resulted in a high demand for well-trained professionals who are able to effectively work with individuals with this diagnosis. Training programs are not producing ABA trained personnel at a rate that can meet the demand for services. Given the efficiencies which may be realized with online instruction, this study examined a blended approach to training staff by combining online professional training modules with classroom and field based instruction. The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate the efficacy of online instruction in ABA training models. A repeated measures design with the use of a control group was used to evaluate online instruction and compare its efficacy to that of live lecture or classroom based instruction. Results revealed a statistically significant difference in the level of training content learned and retained between the online group and the live lecture group. These results seem to suggest that something other than chance resulted in the online group scoring significantly higher than members in the live lecture group and that the online mode of instruction may have some merits that can be of value to address the demand for highly trained professionals to work in the autism field.

<p> This study examines the effects of humor within an instructional video on student learning and motivation. Humor in education has been shown to improve students' perception of the instructor and learning environment, with mixed results on gains in actual learning. Humor has been suggested as a strategy to gain and maintain attention, improving motivation to learn. With the dramatic increase of online multimedia instruction, research on the use of humor on multimedia instructional materials can help us determine if it can be used to improve learning and motivation. </p><p> In a pretest-posttest controlled design, students viewed a short multimedia instructional video. In the control group, students viewed a non-humorous video explaining three ways to cite sources in a research paper. In the experimental group, students viewed the same video with four humorous additions unrelated to instructional content. After watching the video, students in both groups took a learning and motivational assessment. Learning was assessed with questions related to recall and application. Motivation was measured using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS). </p><p> Results on learning assessments found that overall there was no significant difference between the pretest and posttest between the control and experimental groups, nor was there a significant difference between the control and experimental groups on the motivation assessment. </p><p> However, gender was added as a factor of comparison, results showed that males scored higher on knowledge items on the pretest / posttest gain and were more influenced by humor than females on comprehension and the overall gain scores. In motivation, males perceived the humorous video as more satisfying and were more influenced by the humor than females in perception of confidence in the instruction. Significant correlations were found between perception of humor, learning gains between the pretest and posttest, and perception of motivation overall and in each gender. </p><p> Previous research on instructional humor has found gender to be an important factor in the perception of instructional humor. Because the designer and producer of the instructional video was male, it may be that males who enjoyed the humor were more motivated by, and learned more from, the humorous instructional video. Care should be taken in using humor in instruction to ensure the type of humor is received well by students of either gender in the course.</p>

<p> This qualitative case study explored how principal leadership influenced teacher motivation to seek out professional development opportunities on new technology. Two groups of participants included: 36 middle school teachers, and three principals in an urban area in Arizona. Information was collected for this study in two ways, teacher focus groups and principal interviews. Four research questions were developed: 1) What principal leadership factors motivated teachers to seek out professional development opportunities on the use of new technologies, 2) How did principal leadership influence collaboration among teachers resulting in a "learning" culture to share professional development "best" practices, 3) How did proactive teacher use of new technology result in these teachers modifying their instructional approaches in the classroom, and 4) How did principal leadership style determine what the nature of the process is that will be followed to determine how teacher requirements for professional development on new technology are fully met? This qualitative approach was derived from the theoretical foundation based on the work of Guskey, with more emphasis on principals and their ability to influence and motivate their teachers. The results and implications of this study supported (a) principals as the instructional leaders of their schools, (b) a need for better quality professional development workshops, and (c) motivation of teachers to seek out and share the content of professional development workshops with other teachers However, these results are not generalizable due to the sample size and use of only one school district in urban Arizona. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> Principal leadership, professional development, collaboration, technology, and teacher motivation.</p>

<p> With companies seeking to increase organizational efficiency while promoting prosperous growth, creativity has become one of the most important leadership qualities sought after by employers. This has put a demand on Masters of Business Administration (MBA) graduates to possess creative skills, as well as a dependency for MBA students to acquire a quality MBA education. Although business education has entered into new domains of online learning, the criticism remains that business education does little to foster or strengthen students' creativity skills. Thus, with the evolution of online education arises a need to research the effectiveness of creativity within these new domains. This phenomenological study analyzed MBA alumni's perceptions about the fostering of creativity skills within an online MBA program. A qualitative study was conducted with 25 participants from 3 separate U.S. and internationally based online MBA programs in order to gain insight into the needed improvements and or positive instructional design elements, facilitation practices, and technological media tools that foster creativity in online MBA programs. This study addressed the following research questions through the lens of MBA alumni: 1. What are alumni perceptions regarding facilitation (of instructors) that either enhance and or stifle creativity skills in an online MBA program? 2. What are alumni perceptions regarding instructional design elements (exercises, assignments, and or activities that are built into curriculum) that either enhance and or stifle creativity skills in an online MBA program? 3. What are alumni perceptions regarding technological media that either enhance and or stifle creativity skills in an online MBA program? </p><p> Among the findings of this study was the discovery of several themes that concur with experiences that foster creativity skills in online MBA programs: 1. Informal and flexible instructors and course content equates creative learning opportunities. 2. Various active facilitating methods foster a learning process. 3. Latitude of creative learning is enhanced by the freedom and flexibility of students' choices. 4. Program content and delivery are driving factors in incorporating new knowledge and or creativity skills. 5. Technological media tools and opportunities that are driven by the student lead to the learning and practicing of creativity.</p>

<p> Digital textbooks continue to hold the potential to revolutionize the dissemination of knowledge to anyone, anywhere. The understanding needed to reach a new digital paradigm includes tools that are consistent with the needs of a new generation of educators and students. This qualitative modified Delphi study provides a foundation that defines the function, structure, and role of the textbook in education. The textbook is defined as a basic educational resource that provides definitive knowledge, defines and bounds the scope of discussion and learning, and helps assure that the stated learning goals are met. A textbook is an educational resource and may contain other resources. As such, the textbook functions as an educational workspace; digital textbooks need to function as the principal resource in an online or interactive educational workspace that supports a mix of materials, including and regardless of multiple media formats. As is the role of the best technology, a fully functional digital textbook seamlessly encapsulates the educational materials and resources needed by the specific course. The consideration of linear and nonlinear study functions in terms of existing devices and interfaces played a critical role in understanding textbooks. Current PDF-based digital textbooks do not meet students&rsquo; needs. A list of functional considerations, that need to be part of the next generation of digital textbooks, is included in this study. Students need to be able to tailor the interface to best suit their individual preferences. The importance of reducing costs in the marketplace will ultimately decide which technologies will succeed.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize a list of implementation risk factors and suggested mitigation measures for the development team of the California Community Colleges (CCC) Online Education Initiative (OEI) to improve the probability of successful implementation. This study led to the development of an authoritative and comprehensive prioritized list of risk factors and user-recommended mitigation strategies for the risks of a large-scale shared learning management system (LMS) implementation. The data collected and the conclusions derived from surveying college administrators and faculty are intended to augment the literature as well as advance the understanding of how to successfully implement a new shared LMS of this scale successfully. The participants in the policy Delphi study were 10 administrators, 10 full-time faculty members, and 7 adjunct faculty members from the cohort of the first colleges accepted to adopt the OEI. Two rounds of questionnaires were administered using the online electronic survey program SurveyMonkey. The first round asked participants to prioritize software implementation risk factors and make mitigation suggestions for the highest priority risks. The second round asked participants to rank the mitigation suggestions for the top 10 risks identified in the first round. Only 2 of the top 10 risk factors were statistically significant: underfunding of maintenance and support, and lack of faculty and staff responsibility, ownership, and buy-in for the project. There were no statistically significant differences in risk factor assessments based on job type, length of time in job, legacy LMS, legacy LMS experience, or size of college. OEI leadership and colleges should evaluate and implement the top mitigation suggestions for at least the first 2 risk factors and preferably all of the top 10. Engaging the early adopters in assessing potential implementation risks, prioritizing them, brainstorming mitigation measures, and prioritizing those measures yielded an actionable list the team can use to reduce implementation risks and improve the probability of success of the new OEI system.</p>

<p> Workplace training design has evolved from a task-based systems framework managed by the designer, to a collaborative process of problem-solving that includes stakeholders across the enterprise. Collaborative design models address persistent problems, such as cost efficiency, requirements that change late in development, and aggressive timetables, but perceptions of training effectiveness continue to be pessimistic. Given the substantial role of employees in making training effective, by transferring what they learn to their day-to-day responsibilities, this study proposed an emergent design model in which designers collaborate with employees as partners in solving training design problems. Previous efforts to include employees in training design have faltered, because of time and resource requirements which limit participation or greatly expand timelines. This study investigated the potential of broad employee participation, through the widely-used medium of organizational surveys, in which employees are invited to suggest ways to improve their work environment. The study applied a three-phase, mixed methods approach, to investigate whether survey text responses contain viable input into training design, and to explore the nature of that input in terms of major themes about workplace training, and detailed input reflecting employees' experience of online training. Nearly 90,000 text responses were accepted into the study, from industries that include pharmaceuticals, retail, manufacturing, telecommunications and financial services. Analysis exposed the inherent conflict between the designer's focus on training delivery, and the employees' focus on transferring what they learn to their jobs; and a widespread organizational conflict between leadership compensation tied to short-term financial metrics, and long-term strategies that drive infrastructure programs such as workplace training. Responses across all industry sectors in the study reported limited management support for training, which is nonetheless essential to employees' job performance. Responses described online training that makes only minimal use of the basic functions of computer technology. The study validates earlier research questioning workplace training effectiveness, with evidence suggesting that training programs are constrained by organizational challenges that cannot be solved by designers alone. The study suggests that organizations can involve their employees in addressing the conflicts that limit training effectiveness, through design partnership using survey responses.</p>

<p> This qualitative multi-case study examined the instructional design and development processes utilized by instructional designers and designers by assignment in higher education that created mobile learning for iTunes U delivery. Current research into the instructional design practices for mobile learning delivery leaves a gap in the literature. This study aimed to identify the instructional design and development processes specific to mobile learning delivery within iTunes U. Ten participants from higher education were purposively selected for participation in the study. Each of the 10 participants met the selection criteria; participants designed or served on a design team that created an iTunes U course for a higher education audience. Five of the participants were instructional designers and the other five were instructional designers by assignment. Data was collected from three sources including the participants' iTunes U courses, sample model designs or processes, and in-depth participant interviews. The study identifies instructional strategies, instructional design processes, advantages, and constraints of instructional design and development for mobile learning through iTunes U delivery. Included in the findings is a design and development model for instructional design of mobile learning through iTunes U.</p>

<p> Increased competitive and regulatory pressures are requiring American universities to find new and innovative models to improve student academic success and college value. Previous research has noted that the introduction of mobile or tablet-based devices into education pedagogies can support learning activities if implemented effectively. This study provides an empirical analysis on the relationship between instructor iPad adoption in classroom learning activities and instructor perceived improvement in student retention rates. An adapted version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model was used as the theoretical model to assess this relationship along with regression analysis to estimate the variance. Overall, the findings validate the application of the UTAUT model towards instructor adoption of iPad technologies in classroom learning activities, and support the supposition that instructors who more readily adopt the use of iPads technologies in their classroom activities also perceive that student retention outcomes can improve by doing so. Social influence and performance expectancy were determined to be the largest factors influencing instructor adoption. Furthermore, the personality traits of versatility, creativity and emotional control were found to have no bearing on the relationship between instructor technology adoption and perceived improvement to student retention. Recommendations for further research included: (a) extending this study to other educational institutions, (b) exploring the relationship between instructor adoption of iPad technology and actual, as opposed to perceived, student retention outcomes, and (c) adapting the theoretical framework used in this study to include perceived student retention as a predictor of intent to adopt.</p>