This study examined the teaching styles of online instructors at Florida's 28 community colleges in an effort to determine if the instructors had adopted the learner-centered model touted in the literature. The Principles of Adult Learning Scale was the primary instrument used to collect data from 292 online instructors. The study revealed that…

Although difficulties that characterize distance learning (DL) clearly have differential effects on different learners, links between barrier research and individual differences remain relatively unexplored. This study examined the relationship between cognitive style, based on Jung's (1971) theory, and achievement levels among 77 university…

This study focused on the effects of peer moderation on meaningful interactions in online discussions. A meaningful interaction was defined as a message relating to a discussion topic, responding to a previous message, and adding substance to the discussion. A randomized-subject, posttest-only control group design was used to test the first…

This study examined the impacts of online graduate students categorizing their online discussion contributions according to an instructor's criteria. Student messages before and after this categorizing activity were unitized by terminal punctuation; classified for function, skill, and level; and analyzed based on Henri and Rigault's (1996) content…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the instructional and assessment strategies that are most effective in the online learning environment. Faculty and students identified several strategies for maintaining instructional quality in the online environment, including the importance of using a variety of instructional methods to appeal…

This article presents an interview with Dr. Susan C. Aldridge, the president of University of Maryland University College (UMUC) in the United States. Founded in 1947, UMUC is an accredited institution dedicated to providing working adults, military personnel, and students worldwide the opportunity to achieve their academic goals through online…

This study examines data from focus group discussions with parents, students, and teachers at an online charter school. Standardized achievement test scores of children at the online charter school are compared with those in a similar school and across the state. Overall, the constituents involved in the online charter school were satisfied with…

This article presents an interview with Dr. James Johnson Duderstadt, founder of the Millennium Project, the president emeritus and university professor of science and engineering at the University of Michigan. In this interview, Duderstadt talks about how he became an educator and how he decided to specialize in technology and distance education.…

This article introduces a new computer conferencing metric called Scan Rate, which is a measure of students' and instructors' online reading speed. The term "scan" refers to the practice of either skimming through a message at an unusually rapid pace or reading a message partially and then stopping before the end is reached. It is proposed that…

This study examined Algebra students' achievement and perceptions of their classroom environments in both online and traditional face-to-face learning contexts using two validated assessments, the Assessment of Algebraic Understanding (AAU) test and the What is Happening in this Class? (WIHIC) classroom perceptions instrument. Three virtual and…

The telephone has a long history as a distance learning technology. This study investigated its impact on the satisfaction and achievement of online students. To measure satisfaction, the expectancy disconfirmation paradigm was used. Online students completed an instrument based on this paradigm at the beginning and end of the semester. A randomly…

The purpose of this study was to develop a culturally sensitive instrument to assess the quality of distance education courses offered at a university in the southern United States through evaluation of student attitudes, opinions, and perceptions of distance education. Quality indicators, identified in a systematic literature review, coupled with…

Online courses continue to gain popularity at colleges and universities, with a primary tool for demonstrating critical thinking and interaction being the discussion forum. Instructors and students of online courses are faced with the dilemma of sifting through potentially hundreds of postings when all students are placed within a forum. The…

Using a case study approach, this study explored the participants' perceptions of building learning communities in online courses in an online MBA program. The findings suggested that students felt a sense of belonging to a learning community when they took online courses in this program. The study found positive relationships between sense of…

This study compared the implementation of a person-centered model of instruction to non person-centered instruction in Web-based courses. Three questions were posed regarding the outcomes of the person-centered model of instruction: Is it possible to increase the self actualization, or striving for individual achievement from learners in a…