This study describes an investigation of the intellectual property policies of a stratified random sample of public and private Carnegie Doctoral Research-Extensive Universities. University policies were examined to determine whether or not they included provisions for distance education materials or courseware, what provisions were made for…

Distance education has been at the forefront of forging unique partnerships to facilitate learning. The purpose of this case study was to describe a business-education collaboration between General Nutrition Corporation, Inc. and the University of Florida, involving a series of online courses in introductory nutrition. Utilizing a competency-based…

With online education continuing its meteoric rise, some educators continue to debate the efficacy of the medium--in particular, the ability to discuss complex subjects online. However, the online asynchronous discussion environment seems to offer some advantages over the traditional classroom including increased time for students to research and…

This study was designed to measure instructional design competencies as a result of participation in a 9-month Web-based training program called "Roadmap to Effective Distance Education Instructional Design." The researchers used a self-assessment pre- and posttest to determine participant initial and final competence in 12 areas: adult learning,…

This study was designed primarily to examine how synchronous communication facilitated graduate students' online collaboration and their perceptions of synchronous communication. Thirty online graduate students were required to use instant messenger (IM) to discuss their group projects and later post their reflections on their collaboration. The…

Using a social cognitive framework, the present study investigated the relations between two motivational constructs, prior experience, and several adaptive outcomes. Participants (n = 204) completed a survey that assessed their perceived task value, self-efficacy, prior experience, and a collection of outcomes that included their satisfaction,…

The Internet, coupled with technology, has enabled institutions of higher learning to offer online distance education classes to a worldwide student body at an increasing rate. In the next 5 years it is estimated that nearly 90% of universities will offer online classes. Unfortunately, the news is not all that good. Students are now cheating at an…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there are differences between different age and gender groups of adult learners when they are compared simultaneously on the number of messages they post, self-efficacy improvement and academic performance in an online learning environment. A two-way MANOVA revealed significant main and…

It is synthesized that advance organizers (AOs)--an effective orienting device in traditional classroom instruction--may enhance students' information literacy in self-directed online classes. The current study investigated 2 types of advance organizers, graphic and text, in a fully Web-based undergraduate course of health care ethics. Both the…

This article provides guidance for meeting the educational needs of "learners on the periphery"--those learners who traditionally have been disenfranchised by formal education because of the structure and nature of face-to-face courses but who now may be returning to higher education due to the promises of the online classroom. The guidance comes…

This study explores the effects of immediate and delayed feedback for 2 noncohort groups of high school students enrolled in distance learning courses at Brigham Young University. One group received immediate feedback while the second group received delayed feedback. Those students receiving immediate feedback performed significantly better on…

Tutor training for distance education is still necessary and through a face-to-face mode despite advances in digital delivery mechanism. A questionnaire records the before, during, and after training perceptions and feedback of tutors on the training conducted over 1 day. Tutors become aware of the uniqueness of the course materials and the…

Virtual communities are quickly becoming the standard mode of interaction in educational and professional contexts. However, the literature fails to accurately address the possibility of differences in the perceptions of these communities related to sex. Two-hundred and twenty-six students from a medium-sized university in the Mid-Atlantic United…

This study explores the relationship between online learners and the Web-based learning environments they study within. The extent to which the online learning environment constitutes a cultural influence on the learners, and the manner in which different individuals within the group influence the emergence of a particular cultural identity were…

Widespread availability of computers and the Internet provide considerable enrichment in terms of variety of material and formats for presentation over what was possible with the old correspondence courses. As a result, a large number of universities have begun to offer an extensive list of online courses in various programs. We set out to answer…