This dissertation explores the utilization of internet-connected devices to address the accessibility challenges associated with microscopy in the field of biology. Traditional microscopy devices are often costly, limiting their widespread adoption in laboratories. To overcome this barrier, we developed a cost-effective multi-well imaging device…

Emoji are commonly used in social media to convey attitudes and emotions. While popular, their use in educational contexts has been sparsely studied. This paper reports on the students' use of emoji in an online course forum in which students annotate and discuss course material in the margins of the online textbook. For this study, instructors…

Transnational youth use digital media to affiliate with diverse cultural and linguistic practices, as demonstrated through the use of multiple languages and hybrid linguistic codes, media genres and multimodal expressions in the youths' online communication and writing (Black, 2009; Domingo, 2014; Kim, 2016). This study introduces a learning…

With the rise of Web 2.0, microblogging has become a widely accepted phenomenon for sharing information. Moreover, the Twitter platform has become the tool of choice for universities looking to increase their digital footprint. However, scant research addresses the viability of microblogging as a tool to facilitate knowledge creation practices…

ASCUE, the Association Supporting Computer Users in Education, is a group of people interested in small college computing issues. It is a blend of people from all over the country who use computers in their teaching, academic support, and administrative support functions. Begun in 1968 as CUETUG, the College and University Eleven-Thirty Users'…

In this paper, we describe and investigate small group discussions of assigned readings in an online version of a "triple-entry activity" in a blended course used an annotation tool, "Marginalia". We wondered if students would interact in this structured, critical, reflective reading activity as effectively online as they had…

Students in the digital era are habitual of using digital devices not only for playing and interacting with their friends and peers, but also as a tool for education and learning. These digital natives are highly obsessed with the internet driven portable devices and always demand for a multimedia rich content. This specific demand needs to be…

Patterns of technology ownership and usage, as well as skills with and preferences for various technologies, affect the college experience (Educause 2012). Students at a commuter campus of a large Midwestern public university were surveyed about technology and the learning process: 94% of the respondents believed that technology had the potential…

Student engagement is critical to student learning, especially in the online environment, where students can often feel isolated and disconnected. Therefore, teachers and researchers need to be able to measure student engagement. This study provides validation of the Online Student Engagement scale (OSE) by correlating student self-reports of…

This study investigates students' involvement in Facebook® as a course management system (CMS), Facebook acceptance, and the relationships between the two. The study used Facebook as a CMS in two freshman courses and employed mixed method as part of an action-research approach. Forty-two students participated in the study, and 12 of those students…

Learning object repositories are a shared, open and public space; however, the possibility and ability of personal expression in an open, global, public space is crucial. The aim of this study is to explore personal spaces in a big learning object repository as a facilitator for adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) into teaching practices…

As higher education embraces the ideologies of the market, educators are being asked to teach evermore students with fewer resources. Running counter to the trend of marketization, a decentralized group of educators are taking advantage of Web 2.0 technologies (including Facebook, Twitter, and blogging platforms such as Wordpress, etc.) to…

The use of large online discussion forums within online and distance learning continues to grow. Recent innovations in online learning such as the MOOC (massive open online course) and concomitant growth in the use of online media for the delivery of courses in traditional campus based universities provide both opportunity and challenge for online…

Purpose: This paper aims to report on an externally-funded project and forms part of its dissemination. Design/methodology/approach: The objectives are achieved through a theoretical framing of the project and an alignment of these with the contexts for the project--namely the Professional Standards Framework of the HEA, its use in postgraduate…

This article addresses the question of understanding more about networked universities by looking at open source software developers working in academic contexts. It sketches their identities and work as an emerging professional community that both relies upon and develops digitally mediated networks and contributes to the progress of academic…