Social exploration is the key to spreading ideas through networks (Pentland, 2014). When people talk with others outside their immediate group, they can bring fresh ideas into the group--leading to improved outcomes. So, to improve educational practice, we should increase communication in our professional communities and encourage communication…

This study examined students' internal management of their cognitive processing in an interactive online class. A mixed methods approach was used to explore students' strategy use in online discussions. The focus is on examining individual knowledge construction through active cognitive engagement, rather than the social interactions, in the…

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of federal probation officers' perceived value of different distance education formats, the learning strategies they used to facilitate their learning, and the degree to which learner autonomy varied among the probation officers. This comparative case study sought to answer the following three…

Over the last decade, most studies in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) have highlighted how online synchronous learning environments implement a new literacy related to multimodal communication. The environment used in our experiment is based on a synchronous audio-graphic conferencing tool. This study concerns false beginners in an English…

Studies have shown that videoconferencing is an effective medium for facilitating communication between parties who are separated by distance, particularly when learners are engaged in complex collaborative learning tasks. However, as in face-to-face communication, learners benefit most when they receive additional support for such learning tasks.…

This article focuses on facilitating learners' collaborative knowledge construction in case-based learning scenarios. The article first describes how case-based learning can promote knowledge acquisition and then discusses the characteristics of videoconferencing in such scenarios. Then we focus our attention on the process and outcomes of the…

Despite improvements in educational indicators, such as enrolment, significant challenges remain with regard to the delivery of quality education in developing countries, particularly in rural and remote regions. In the attempt to find viable solutions to these challenges, much hope has been placed in new information and communication technologies…