Devry University, a private for-profit higher education institution, generates its revenue exclusively by students* tuition. In addition, DeVry University offers courses via two modalities: blended and online. Unfortunately, Devry University has seen its student enrollments decline over the last few years. Because of lower student enrollment levels, DeVry University has had to limit its course offerings. The problem of practice addressed in this dissertation is an insufficient number of blended course offerings for current DeVry students. To remedy this problem, an initiative was started at DeVry University to address the insufficient number of blended course offerings and to pilot a new course modality, cross-listed (C-L) courses, in the March 2014 session at four campus locations. More specifically, this initiative involved offering several sections of CIS115 (Logic and Design with Lab) in its C-L modality. C-L courses combine students registered in more than one modality: in this case, blended and online modalities. Upon completion of the pilot offering of C-L courses, an evaluation was conducted to determine if the new C-L modality had a positive impact on addressing the stated problem of practice. This evaluation used an outcome-oriented post-test only design with non-equivalent groups (quasi-experiment) coupled with qualitative components. The quasi-experiment compares outcomes of students enrolled in C-L courses (the treatment group) with students enrolled in blended and online courses (comparison groups) using post-achievement data. The results of the evaluation revealed that students who completed the C-L CIS115 courses performed as well as students who completed blended or online CIS115 courses, considering their course satisfaction levels and course outcomes. Professors* perceptions of the C-L modality were also analyzed; results indicate that professors are willing to endorse the new modality but not without suggesting some improvements. The evaluation also revealed that there was an increase in the number of blended courses offered at DeVry University campuses, suggesting that the problem of practice may be addressed by this initiative. Recommendations for further studies include repeating the pilot offering in the C-L modality, with the inclusion of professors* suggestions for improvement identified in this study. These improvements include providing campus-based professors with an ability to broadcast and record their classroom lectures for the benefit of all students enrolled in C-L courses.

Lecture recording has become an essential tool for educational institutions to enhance the student learning experience and offer online courses for remote learning programs. Highresolution 4K cameras have gained popularity in these systems due to their affordability and clarity of written content on boards/screens. Unfortunately, at 4K resolution, a typical 45- minute lecture video easily exceeds 2GB. Many video files of this size place a financial burden on institutions and students, especially in developing countries where financial resources are limited. Institutions require costly high-end equipment to capture, store and distribute this ever-increasing collection of videos. Students require a fast internet connection with a large data quota for off-campus viewing, which can be too expensive for many, especially if they use mobile data. This project designs and implements a low-cost presenter and writing detection front-end that can integrate with an external Virtual Cinematographer (VC). Gesture detection was also explored; however, the frame differencing approach used for presenter detection was not sufficiently robust for gesture detection. Our front-end is carefully designed to run on commodity computers without requiring expensive Graphics Processing Units (GPU) or servers. An external VC can use our contextual information to segment a smaller cropping window from the 4K frame, only containing the presenter and relevant boards, drastically reducing the file size of the resultant videos while preserving writing clarity. The software developed as part of this project will be available as open source. Our results show that the front-end module is fit for purpose and sufficiently robust across several challenging lecture venue types. On average, a 2-minute video clip is processed by the front-end in under 60 seconds (or approximately half of the input video duration). The majority (89%) of this time is used for reading and decoding frames from storage. Additionally, our low-cost presenter detection achieves an overall F1-Score of 0.76, while our writing detection achieves an overall F1-Score of 0.55. We also demonstrate a mean reduction of 81.3% in file size from the original 4K video to a cropped 720p video when using our front-end in a full pipeline with an external VC.

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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) sind darauf ausgelegt, im tertiären Bildungsbereich den Wissenserwerb zu fördern, ohne dass die formalen Strukturen einer Ausbildungseinrichtung relevant sind. Dazu werden die Teilnehmer nicht persönlich von Dozenten betreut, sondern sind selbstgesteuert, oder werden durch kollaborative Lernmethoden aktiviert. Der Leistungszwang ist daher geringer, die Anzahl derjenigen, die Kurse abbrechen, jedoch ungleich höher. Durchschnittlich schließen maximal 10% der Teilnehmer ihren MOOC-Kurs ab.

O rápido desenvolvimento da tecnologia da informação traz oportunidades para área da educação, colocando a educação a distância e aprendizagem online como opções para o modelo tradicional, sobretudo os Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), os quais, no contexto do movimento de educação aberta, são apresentados como meio para aumentar o acesso e a qualidade da educação, proporcionando redução dos custos e da desigualdade educacional, sobretudo nos países em desenvolvimento. A revisão sistemática de 74 artigos evidenciou que as IES estão incorporando os MOOCs às suas práticas - em parte, produzindo seus próprios MOOCs, mas também os integrando a seus currículos, tanto para revisar conteúdo do Ensino Médio com alunos ingressantes no Ensino Superior quanto para melhorar seus cursos.Assim, considerando que as pesquisas que avaliam a incorporação dos MOOCs aos currículos das IES investigam, sobretudo, o desempenho e o nível de satisfação dos alunos, o objetivo principal desse estudo foi compreender como os MOOCs estão sendo incorporados aos cursos presenciais de graduação e qual o valor funcional percebido pelos alunos com relação a essa prática. Para tal, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura e um estudo de caso de caráter exploratório e descritivo, que integra os enfoques qualitativo e quantitativo. A unidade de análise do estudo de caso foi a disciplina de Fundamentos de Administração, lecionada no primeiro ano do curso bacharelado em Administração, e quatro fontes de evidências foram utilizadas: documentos sobre o MOOC, documentação sobre a disciplina que utilizou o MOOC, entrevistas com o Chefe de Departamento e os professores responsáveis pela disciplina e levantamento (survey) com 101 alunos. As evidências obtidas nas etapas de investigação documental e entrevistas foram analisadas baseando-se nas questões de pesquisas, enquanto o levantamento com os alunos valeu-se da técnica de análise estatística de modelagem de equações estruturais, utilizando o software R. Os resultados do estudo permitiram identificar que, assim como sugerido pela literatura, o MOOC foi utilizado como recurso online no método blended learning em uma disciplina introdutória e substituindo parte da carga horária presencial, possibilitando o aumento do número de alunos por professor, além de tornar a disciplina mais atrativa para o alunado. Além disso, que o MOOC foi usado como recurso online para apresentação do conteúdo, enquanto os exercícios de fixação, as avaliações e as atividades complementares foram desenvolvidos pelos professores. As hipóteses propostas no estudo foram validadas: valor funcional percebido tem efeito positivo (r=0,801) na intenção de recompra (R2=64,15%), a qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning e a qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC têm efeitos positivos (r=0,22e r=0,2929, respectivamente) no valor funcional percebido pelo aluno (R2=20,46%); a preferência e autodisciplina para realização de cursos a distância têm efeito positivo na qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning (r=0,2636 e R2=6,95%) e com relação ao MOOC (r=0,347 e R2=12,04%). Conclui-se que o valor funcional percebido pelo aluno é favorável, com escore de 4,53 (escala de 7 pontos), e é influenciado pela qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC e ao processo de blended learning. / The rapid development of information technology brings opportunities for education, putting distance education and online learning as options for the traditional model of education, especially the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which in the context of the open education are presented as a means to increase access and quality of education, proportionate educational costs and inequality, especially in developing countries. The systematic review of 74 articles showed that HEIs are incorporating MOOCs into their practices. In part, by producing their own MOOCs, but also integrating them into their curricula, both to revise high school content with incoming higher education students and to improve their courses. Thus, considering that research evaluating the incorporation of MOOCs into The main objectives of this study were to understand how the MOOCs are being incorporated into undergraduate courses and what functional value students perceive in relation to this practice. For such, a systematic review of the literature and an exploratory and descriptive case study were carried out, integrating the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The unit of analysis of the case study was the Fundamentals of Administration discipline taught in the first year of the baccalaureate course in Administration and four sources of evidence were used: documents about the MOOC, documentation about the discipline that used the MOOC, interviews with teachers responsible for discipline and survey with the students. The evidence obtained in the documentary analysis and interviews were analyzed based on the research questions while the student lifting was based on the technique of statistical analysis modeling of structural equations using software R. The results of the study allowed to identify, that as suggested by the literature, the MOOC was used as an online resource in the blendedlearning method in an introductory discipline and replacing part of the classroom workload, making it possible to increase the number of students per teacher, in addition to making the course more attractive for the student. The MOOC was used as an online resource for content presentation, while the attachment exercises, assessments, and complementary activities were developed by teachers. The hypotheses proposed in the study were validated: perceived functional value has a positive effect (r = 0.801) on the intention to buy back (R2 = 64.15%), the quality perceived in relation to the blended learning process and perceived quality in relation to the MOOC have positive effects (r = 0.22 and r = 0.2929, respectively) on the functional value perceived by the student (R2 = 20.46%); (r = 0.2636 and R2 = 6.95%) and in relation to the MOOC (r = 0.347 and R 2 = 12), the preference and self-discipline for distance courses have a positive effect on the perceived quality of the blended learning process , 04%).It is concluded that the functional value perceived by the student is favorable, obtaining a score of 4.53 on a 7-point scale, and that this is influenced by the perceived quality in relation to the MOOC and in relation to the process of blended learning.

O rápido desenvolvimento da tecnologia da informação traz oportunidades para área da educação, colocando a educação a distância e aprendizagem online como opções para o modelo tradicional, sobretudo os Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), os quais, no contexto do movimento de educação aberta, são apresentados como meio para aumentar o acesso e a qualidade da educação, proporcionando redução dos custos e da desigualdade educacional, sobretudo nos países em desenvolvimento. A revisão sistemática de 74 artigos evidenciou que as IES estão incorporando os MOOCs às suas práticas - em parte, produzindo seus próprios MOOCs, mas também os integrando a seus currículos, tanto para revisar conteúdo do Ensino Médio com alunos ingressantes no Ensino Superior quanto para melhorar seus cursos.Assim, considerando que as pesquisas que avaliam a incorporação dos MOOCs aos currículos das IES investigam, sobretudo, o desempenho e o nível de satisfação dos alunos, o objetivo principal desse estudo foi compreender como os MOOCs estão sendo incorporados aos cursos presenciais de graduação e qual o valor funcional percebido pelos alunos com relação a essa prática. Para tal, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura e um estudo de caso de caráter exploratório e descritivo, que integra os enfoques qualitativo e quantitativo. A unidade de análise do estudo de caso foi a disciplina de Fundamentos de Administração, lecionada no primeiro ano do curso bacharelado em Administração, e quatro fontes de evidências foram utilizadas: documentos sobre o MOOC, documentação sobre a disciplina que utilizou o MOOC, entrevistas com o Chefe de Departamento e os professores responsáveis pela disciplina e levantamento (survey) com 101 alunos. As evidências obtidas nas etapas de investigação documental e entrevistas foram analisadas baseando-se nas questões de pesquisas, enquanto o levantamento com os alunos valeu-se da técnica de análise estatística de modelagem de equações estruturais, utilizando o software R. Os resultados do estudo permitiram identificar que, assim como sugerido pela literatura, o MOOC foi utilizado como recurso online no método blended learning em uma disciplina introdutória e substituindo parte da carga horária presencial, possibilitando o aumento do número de alunos por professor, além de tornar a disciplina mais atrativa para o alunado. Além disso, que o MOOC foi usado como recurso online para apresentação do conteúdo, enquanto os exercícios de fixação, as avaliações e as atividades complementares foram desenvolvidos pelos professores. As hipóteses propostas no estudo foram validadas: valor funcional percebido tem efeito positivo (r=0,801) na intenção de recompra (R2=64,15%), a qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning e a qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC têm efeitos positivos (r=0,22e r=0,2929, respectivamente) no valor funcional percebido pelo aluno (R2=20,46%); a preferência e autodisciplina para realização de cursos a distância têm efeito positivo na qualidade percebida com relação ao processo de blended learning (r=0,2636 e R2=6,95%) e com relação ao MOOC (r=0,347 e R2=12,04%). Conclui-se que o valor funcional percebido pelo aluno é favorável, com escore de 4,53 (escala de 7 pontos), e é influenciado pela qualidade percebida com relação ao MOOC e ao processo de blended learning. / The rapid development of information technology brings opportunities for education, putting distance education and online learning as options for the traditional model of education, especially the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which in the context of the open education are presented as a means to increase access and quality of education, proportionate educational costs and inequality, especially in developing countries. The systematic review of 74 articles showed that HEIs are incorporating MOOCs into their practices. In part, by producing their own MOOCs, but also integrating them into their curricula, both to revise high school content with incoming higher education students and to improve their courses. Thus, considering that research evaluating the incorporation of MOOCs into The main objectives of this study were to understand how the MOOCs are being incorporated into undergraduate courses and what functional value students perceive in relation to this practice. For such, a systematic review of the literature and an exploratory and descriptive case study were carried out, integrating the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The unit of analysis of the case study was the Fundamentals of Administration discipline taught in the first year of the baccalaureate course in Administration and four sources of evidence were used: documents about the MOOC, documentation about the discipline that used the MOOC, interviews with teachers responsible for discipline and survey with the students. The evidence obtained in the documentary analysis and interviews were analyzed based on the research questions while the student lifting was based on the technique of statistical analysis modeling of structural equations using software R. The results of the study allowed to identify, that as suggested by the literature, the MOOC was used as an online resource in the blendedlearning method in an introductory discipline and replacing part of the classroom workload, making it possible to increase the number of students per teacher, in addition to making the course more attractive for the student. The MOOC was used as an online resource for content presentation, while the attachment exercises, assessments, and complementary activities were developed by teachers. The hypotheses proposed in the study were validated: perceived functional value has a positive effect (r = 0.801) on the intention to buy back (R2 = 64.15%), the quality perceived in relation to the blended learning process and perceived quality in relation to the MOOC have positive effects (r = 0.22 and r = 0.2929, respectively) on the functional value perceived by the student (R2 = 20.46%); (r = 0.2636 and R2 = 6.95%) and in relation to the MOOC (r = 0.347 and R 2 = 12), the preference and self-discipline for distance courses have a positive effect on the perceived quality of the blended learning process , 04%).It is concluded that the functional value perceived by the student is favorable, obtaining a score of 4.53 on a 7-point scale, and that this is influenced by the perceived quality in relation to the MOOC and in relation to the process of blended learning.

To improve online learning pedagogy within the field of paralegal education, this study investigated how paralegal students and paralegal instructors perceived the effectiveness of synchronous and asynchronous online paralegal courses. Survey results were analyzed using independent samples t-test and correlational analysis, and indicated that overall, paralegal students and paralegal instructors positively perceived synchronous and asynchronous online paralegal courses. Paralegal instructors reported statistically significant higher perceptions than paralegal students: (1) of instructional design and course content in synchronous online paralegal courses; and (2) of technical assistance, communication, and course content in asynchronous online paralegal courses. Instructors also reported higher perceptions of the effectiveness of universal design, online instructional design, and course content in synchronous online paralegal courses than in asynchronous online paralegal courses. Paralegal students reported higher perceptions of asynchronous online paralegal course effectiveness regarding universal design than paralegal instructors. No statistically significant differences existed between paralegal students' perceptions of the effectiveness of synchronous and asynchronous online paralegal courses. A strong, negative relationship existed between paralegal students' age and their perceptions of effective synchronous paralegal courses, which were statistically and practically significant. Statistically significant relationships existed between paralegal instructors' perceptions of effective synchronous online paralegal course and the number of courses taught by the paralegal instructor. Lastly, this study provided practical applicability and opportunities for future research.

В работе исследуются мнения отечественных и зарубежных ученых об определении и классификации онлайн-курсов и массовых открытых онлайн-курсов. Проведен анализ сорок одного русскоязычного и англоязычного массового открытого онлайн-курса по издательскому делу. Рассмотрены платформы, где размещены курсы, темы, цели курсов, язык и методы обучения, продолжительность, доступ к курсам. На основе анализа выявлены специфические черты онлайн-курсов по книгоизданию. Также в работе подробно описывается концепция авторского онлайн-курса по следующим параметрам: платформа для размещения, тема, цель курса, язык и методы обучения, продолжительность и доступ к курсу. Предлагается план-конспект для первого урока курса, включающий тему урока, цели, содержание урока и практические задания. / The dissertation examines the opinions of domestic and foreign scientists on the definition and classification of online courses and massive open online courses. The analyzed of forty-one Russian-language and English-language massive open online courses on publishing. The platforms where courses are located, topics, course objectives, language and teaching methods, duration, access to courses are considered. Based on the analysis, the specific features of online book publishing courses have been identified. The dissertation also describes in detail the concept of the author's online course in the following parameters: platform for placement, topic, course purpose, language and teaching methods, duration and access to the course. An outline for the first lesson of the course is proposed, including the topic of the lesson, objectives, lesson content and practical tasks.

This dissertation provides initial empirical evidence for Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources and generates design recommendations for online courses based on the newfound understanding between theory and student behavior. My high-level research goals are pursued in the context of help seeking in the presence of reputation systems in MOOC discussion forums. Educational technology can be intentionally designed and introduced in such a way as to maintain the benefits of existing technology while reducing negative impact on learning-relevant behaviors. I do this through the lens of student expectancy and values for the help source, and costs of pursuing that help. Within this thesis I present three online survey experiments, one is intended to provide empirical evidence for the connection between Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources and student help seeking outcomes. The remaining two survey experiments are designed to further investigate the results of a system for help exchange through the lens of Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources. The first survey supports the existence of beliefs for help sources, although careful design of value manipulations is necessary to isolate value beliefs from expectancy beliefs for the help source. In a field experiment investigating the design of a help exchange system, I explore the connection between common reputation system features and Expectancy Value Theory for Help Sources. This provides support for the theory outside of a controlled laboratory setting. This Quick Helper MOOC Experiment and the supporting Quick Helper Theory Survey Experiment show that voting within a reputation system context decreases the number of peers invited to be helpers possibly through an increase in evaluation anxiety. Help giver badges ca reduce this evaluation anxiety and mitigate the negative impact of voting. I performed a final field experiment in a small private online course to examine these issues in a more naturalistic setting outside of the Quick Helper help exchange system. I explored learning expectancy-emphasizing email prompts and voting in the course discussion forum, and how these manipulations impacted larger, more nuanced dependent variables such as help seeking and learning. Results from this experiment are not as strong as the more tightly controlled survey experiments and Quick Helper MOOC field experiment, but we still see support in the general direction of our original hypotheses. From these experiments I generate a series of design recommendations for instructors of online courses implementing discussion forums: (1) reputation systems can have a positive effect on student engagement in discussion forums, but there may be a negative effect on help seeking and other vulnerable learning-relevant behaviors, (2) The negative impact of evaluation anxiety from voting can be mitigated through the use of either help giver badges or using only upvoting instead of up/downvoting which may reduce evaluation anxiety, and (4) Email prompts with dilute implementation have questionable impact on student contributions in discussion forums.

This study investigated the practices, perceptions, and time expenditures of post-secondary instructors in American institutions as they prepared for, taught, and reflected on the tasks involved in teaching a one-semester course. The participants either taught in a traditional face-to-face setting or in an all-online context. This study compares and contrasts the experiences of the participants. Although research in the business field includes models for improving productivity, the world of education rarely looks at these subjects, especially in the context of what leads to a successful course. The few studies there have been on similar topics in education have generally failed to provide consensus on amount of time the delivery of an online course requires and on the factors that contribute to that time difference. A clear trend in higher education is the growing use of instructional technology tools that can help instructors meet the needs of students and facilitate the teaching process. However, these changes also bring about challenges for faculty, challenges that must be examined, understood, and addressed in order to ensure the best possible learning environment for everyone involved. This study was designed to examine faculty teaching practices and gain insight into the experiences of faculty teaching classroom-based courses and faculty teaching online or Web-based courses. A qualitative, case study approach was used to conduct an in-depth investigation that focused on the tools and methods that faculty members employ to help them optimize the time they devote to course activities. The study also revealed a set of good practices used by these faculty members. Data included semi-structured interviews, faculty profile questionnaires, and teaching journals. Findings revealed that faculty teaching online recorded an average of one hour per week more on their courses than did faculty teaching in the classroom. There was minimal difference in time commitment between online and classroom-based faculty participants when considering factors such as gender, type of higher education institution, and experience level. Overall, perceptions of faculty workload averaged three hours more than the actual time recorded during the journaling phase of the study, with all of the face-to-face instructors perceiving that they would work more hours than they actually logged on their journals. Only half of the online instructors perceived that they would work more hours than they actually logged. Significant issues brought to light for faculty in both delivery formats included (1) lack of adequate or sufficient preparation for teaching, (2) limited availability of faculty training, and (3) lack of sufficient time to teach. The study also revealed the variation of instructional strategies used for comparison, and a set of common good practices that apply to both online and face-to-face courses. / text