This article reports the results of a study conducted to examine the use of small group learning strategies in an online college course. The study examined the effect of four types of positive interdependence and the affiliation motive on learning and attitude in an asynchronous, collaborative learning environment. Results indicated no significant…

This research intends to explore students' aspect and impact on forming virtual learning communities within online courses. A formal online course that is on the process of building virtual community is closely examined to discover students' perceptions of learning community approach, their online performances, and how these perceptions and…

This study articulates the construct of social presence and develops a social presence questionnaire for examining online collaborative learning with tests for reliability and validity. Questionnaire items were developed by revising the social presence questionnaire developed by Picciano in 2002 as well as eviewing research in the literature of…

Classic research methods are ineffective in capturing the dynamic relationships among users, technology, and outcomes for technology integration research. Cognitive research attempts to eliminate environmental variability and test for recall and transferability of knowledge representations. Such approaches lead to arguably ineffective measures…

The complexities of digital age pose challenge to existing instruction technology theory as it applies to a distance learning environment. Through the lens of Activity Theory, this study takes a broad picture of an online course and examines the socio-cultural factors affecting the success of a distance course as well as their complex…

This research is to articulate a learning process in resource-based well-structured instruction in webbased distance learning environment. To explore the learning process, a web resource-based self-learning program, which is highly structured with structuring elements from literature review, was developed as a college level course. Sixty-seven…

The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) defines human performance technology (HPT) as "a systematic approach to analyzing, improving, and managing performance in the workplace through the use of appropriate and varied interventions." The first step in this approach is the performance analysis (Gilbert, 1978). In this step, the…

The presentation describes the revisions to a course and the resulting student attitudes and learning. Learning Tools was revised in 2003 from oncampus only to both oncampus and online delivery. Revisions were made by standardizing the two versions, updating the technology applications presented, and modifying the instructional strategies used.…

There's no keeping up with what teenagers think is in or out; status changes by the minute. But when you develop computer-based instruction (CBI) for that population of users, you'd like to know with some reliability that the program is in. At the least, you'd like to know that users won't respond by rolling their eyes. Such was the case with a…

Four fifth grade classrooms embarked on a modified ubiquitous computing initiative in Fall 2003. Two 15-computer wireless laptop carts were shared among the four classrooms in an effort to integrate technology across the curriculum and affect change in student learning and teacher pedagogy. This initiative?in contrast to other 1:1 programs and…

Interactive activities offer innumerable possibilities within eLearning environments. As such, one possibility within the interactive activity realm is netconferencing, so as to support the learning objectives. Enhancements within the eLearning environment support the learner?s focus upon knowledge and conceptual framework of understanding.…

Problem solving is of critical importance in many disciplines. In medicine, the clinician's ability to arrive at the correct diagnosis often means the difference between life and death. Despite its importance and a significant amount of research regarding how to improve problem solving, few unambiguous answers have emerged for promoting problem…

The research team identified and tested six criteria that operationalize cultural responsiveness as a factor for evaluating school district Websites: cultural utility, representation of diverse cultures of target populations in graphics, percentage of website topics translated into Spanish, the content of topics translated, the level on which…

The results of a citation pattern analysis on the journal Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) for the period 1990-99 are presented. Reference lists for the 260 articles published during that period were compiled along with over 1,600 citations of those articles in other social science journals. Breakdowns of most commonly cited…

How to ensure the quality of online learning in institutions of higher education has been a growing concern during the past several years. While several studies have focused on the perceptions of faculty and administrators, there has been a paucity of research conducted on students? perceptions toward the quality of online education. This study…