Many students who enroll in online universities will never graduate. Attrition in higher education is accepted and expected; however, in exclusively online programs, it is prolific, with more than 80% of those students who begin an online program leaving before graduating. It is well known in the academic literature that isolation is related to…

The emergency school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students and teachers across the globe. This study explored how the Global Educator Collaborative Facebook group, with over 125,000 members, supported teachers as they adapted to distance learning instruction amid emergency school closures. Through the Facebook group, teachers…

This study examined teacher perceptions of pedagogical change while using 1:1 Chromebooks in their classrooms. With effective professional development and implementation of 1:1 Chromebooks to meet the needs of 21st century learners, technology was integrated to allow students to collaborate, explore, inquire, and supply opportunities for students…

To what extent are farmers in Illinois using the social networking platform Facebook and for what purpose? Do they use it to seek information related to farming? If so, what types of farming-related information are they looking for? This study aims to examine farmers' acceptance, use of, and information seeking behaviors as they engage with others…

Members in online communities of practice (CoPs) take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to exchange practical or work-related knowledge in asynchronous online environments. Practical knowledge represents individuals' mental models allowing them to interact with the environment and perform tasks. With ICTs, practical…

This doctoral thesis afforded parents with the opportunity to have a collective voice about classroom teachers using social media, specifically Facebook, to build communication and rapport with parents and guardians. This qualitative research study focused upon the notion that social media communication is generally accepted by parents, not only…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to know if and to what extent there was a relationship between self-determination and the dimensions of online learner readiness (motivation for learning, online communication self-efficacy, self-directed learning, learner control, and computer/internet self-efficacy) with online academic…

This qualitative research investigated 15 teachers' learning in a Facebook online community of practice. The purpose of this study was to determine if learning in a teacher Facebook online community of practice was consistent with Wenger's community of practice framework, utilizing a constant comparison analysis. It was not known whether a…

The focus of this study was to answer the following overarching question: How does a Twitter discussion format compare to a Facebook discussion format in terms of promoting collaborative argumentative discourse? Data analysis focused on the difference in amount of arguments, counter-arguments, reasons, and elaborations generated by participants…

The study examined students' perceptions of Facebook, Twitter and blogs as tools for learning in a classroom environment. The population of the research was of 109 students from a four-year college located in the southern region of the US. The results showed that most of the students were undecided in their perception of Facebook, Twitter and…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how peer mentors make meaning out of using Facebook as a virtual learning community. With the prevalence of Facebook usage by college students, and the introduction of Facebook into academic settings by educators, program facilitators, administrators, and recruiters, researchers have begun…

The primary grade levels traditionally consist of highly kinesthetic and tactile activities supporting learning and student engagement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers urgently transitioned these learning activities to virtual settings. However, research shows a need for more literature on primary teacher experiences and their move toward…

This qualitative study explored how people define and respond to threatening language that is posted in Facebook. Basic Interpretive Qualitative Research was used to see how the 16 participants made meaning of threats that were posted in Facebook and how they responded to the posted threats. The data was collected through personal interviews with…

This dissertation explored the effect of Gagne's nine events of instruction on student academic achievement and satisfaction during an online English class for French speakers. A group of 30 Facebook users from French-speaking countries in North and Sub-Saharan Africa participated in the research. They were divided randomly into two groups: one…

This dissertation is a multi-sited ethnographic case study of three displaced Syrian students living in Mexico who were undergoing their university studies. Drawing upon "thirdspace" and language ideology theories this study examined how three Syrian displaced students in Mexico created spaces where they used language to construct and…