Online education has emerged as an effective and increasingly common alternative to face-to-face instruction in postsecondary education. This article is a summary of effective practices in online instructional methods, including course design, interaction among course participants, and instructor preparation and support.

The purpose of this study was to examine online instructors' experiences and perceptions of online teaching and their communication with students in an online environment. More specifically, the study focused on the questions regarding: (1) instructors' general experiences and perceptions of online teaching; (2) instructors' general experiences…

Quality education may be termed as the primary way that leads to development of nations and can play an exclusive role in maintaining the standards of education. It is understood that using conventional teaching methods, desired products cannot be achieved; making the need for modern approaches to be evolved for sound qualitative work. The target…

The living lab (LL) is an open innovation ecosystem serving to provide opportunities for local stakeholders to practice research and to experiment with meaningful improvements for cities and other organizations. Living labs aim at involving the user as a cocreator. In this article the relationship between the LLs and a variety of stakeholders is…

There is a dramatic shift in the tools that are used in today's technology-based distance education. While distance education is not new, there are new types of socially rich, mobile technologies that empower learners to be more in control of what they learn, when they learn it, and how they learn it. Students are taking more responsibility for…

Changes in engineering practices have spawned changes in engineering education and prompted the use of distributed learning environments. A distributed collaborative engineering design (CED) course was designed to engage engineering students in learning about and solving engineering design problems. The CED incorporated an advanced interactive…

This report presents a cross case analysis involving faculty teaching online from off-site international and interstate locations. The study yielded enabling factors, benefits, communication systems, and challenges in the areas of administration, curriculum, communications, and faculty characteristics. The benefits included the opportunity to be…

This study investigated the differences between Arab and American distance learners' preference in the 2 components of transactional distance (structure and interaction) and their relation to learners' self-efficacy and help seeking. The study sample consisted of 95 cases from each group (N = 190). Study results indicated significant differences…

This study examined whether the jigsaw model might be used in an online higher education course to produce the key characteristics of successful cooperative learning: interdependence, individual accountability, development of social skills, and promotive interaction. The authors employed a qualitative case study design to examine a 6-week online…

The purpose of this study is to determine whether "equivalent learning experiences" ensure equivalency, in the Internet-based and face-to-face interaction methods on learning results and student satisfaction. In the experimental process of this study, the effect of the Internet-based and face-to-face learning on the equivalency in learning…

Online instruction, courses, and degree programs are rising in popularity in higher education and corporations. Novice and experienced instructors face increased demands from administrators and students to teach online, in a higher education environment long noted for face-to-face, residence-based instruction. Viewing the shift from face-to-face…

This article examines the issues and barriers to effective online course design, recent research concerning guidelines for designing effective online courses (Bannan-Ritlan, 2002; Hirumi, 2005; Koszalka & Ganesan, 2004; Northrup, 2001), and research-based instructional design guidelines for course design (Kemp, Morrison, & Ross, 1998). It then…

Online education has become increasingly popular in higher education, which is a trend that will continue as more universities have begun to heavily invest in online teaching due to student demand. While best practices for implementing online instruction are well documented in previous literature, factors identified in this review of literature…

This research brief addresses the quandary that arises when distance learners require both time and place utility, and prefer live interface. The development of the hybrid course, which incorporates elements of time delayed and instantaneous interaction, is seen as a response to instructor and student scheduling conflicts. Faculty and student…

There are many factors that affect the e-learning process. Instructor, assessment and evaluation, communication, and technical support are among the leading factors. It is obvious that these factors influence the effectiveness of e-learning and may be related to different expectations of e-learners. Therefore, this study focuses on examining the…