Recently, attempts have been made to use Weblog and other personal webpublishing technologies to support individual and social reflection in higher education. Due to Weblog's highly individual and reflective nature, students' experiences and perceptions of the technology and practice is of primary importance in furthering its educational use. In…

The current study investigated the sources of motivation for learning in a hybrid course. The subjects of the study were 25 students taking a hybrid course that was designed and developed covering computer networks topics. An interview form that revealed answers about the motivation source of the students was developed and used in the study. One…

The purpose of this exploratory experimental study was to examine how online cognitive facilitation that promotes cognitive presence, while keeping facilitator's social presence constant, affects student learning and satisfaction in an online community of inquiry. In this context, we explored the following questions: (1) Does online high cognitive…

This study provides an in-depth description of adult learners' perceptions and experiences using laptop computers in higher education institutions. The study also examines the influence on human beings' cognitive activity by using laptops. The results are organized into seven themes and four classifications: usage, benefits, limitations, and…

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 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…

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…

An exploratory study was conducted with faculty and administrators at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) to determine the level of reported knowledge and experience with policies that govern Web-based instruction (WBI). Result indicated that faculty had little experience with the policies and many had not participated in policy…

Online learning has become a new paradigm in education, but very few research-based studies have addressed the multicultural aspects of online learning. Using interviews and observations, this study examines the perceptions of Asian students while taking synchronous online courses in the United States. The specific questions explored in this study…

This study explored teacher educators' pedagogical beliefs and technology uses in relation to preservice teachers' pedagogical beliefs and attitudes toward technology. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to answer the research questions. The results revealed some relationships between the teacher educators' beliefs and their uses of…

This study identifies and posits guidelines for assessing the skills and knowledge of online distance ducators. Findings derived from Cooper?s (1998) synthesis research method reveal sixteen skills that may be grouped into six areas that are thought to be essential for educators to teach successfully online. The study also shows that factors, like…

This report describes an evaluation of Computer Literacy, which is an undergraduate general studies course, offered by College of Education at a large southwestern university. The purpose of this course is to provide knowledge about computer and computing, and application skills in using Microsoft Office software. The course is coordinated by a…

It has been suggested in the existing literature that the use of constructivist approaches in the educational setting contributes to active learning and knowledge transfer for students. This paper provides an overview of constructivist approaches used in a graduate-level instructional media production course at a midwestern comprehensive…

The purpose of this study was to test the principle of modality by using audio to deliver verbal information when that information is designed to support non-verbal information such as animations in a computer-based lesson. This was done by comparing the effect of two types of audio support mechanisms- a simple support mechanism consisting of…

A team consisting of three faculty members from Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness management, and Food Science with two research assistants at Penn State University has been working for three years on creating a food product case library for a problem-based learning and case-based instruction course. With the assistance of experts from the food…