Geographic information systems (GIS) have become more suitable for online delivery. But teaching GIS online is challenging because, without enough interactions with the instructor or among themselves, students may not understand processes, use critical thinking, and collaborate effectively on a team project. This study aims to evaluate two online…

Purpose: Prior to March 4th, 2020 only a handful of MIT courses had ever been delivered exclusively online. The purpose of this paper is to detail how over a 25-day period (March 4th-March 30th) approximately 1,250 spring term courses transitioned to being remote online offerings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout that time five…

This action research study explored attitudes and expectations of faculty at a Midwestern university who taught at least one fully online course during 2014. The study focused on instructor perceptions toward and experiences with web-based instruction, particularly in the critical areas of assessment and feedback; course organization; interaction…

This literature review includes studies from online virtual high schools and colleges in The United States, Canada, and around the world. The focus of these studies is communication practices within diverse virtual school communities. It also includes information regarding a meta-analysis that was performed in order to review experimental studies…

Online learning critically relies upon good communication between engaged parties in order to convey ideas, meanings, and values. Emerging technologies in collaborative virtual environments are providing new affordances in establishing greater online presence and, in turn, greater abilities to communicate and learn. This study examines how…

The purpose of this study was to share the author's experience of using the virtual classroom when teaching online mathematics course. Various softwares including MyMathLab and Wimba are introduced and the teaching methods and tips are provided and analyzed. Results show that the use of the virtual classroom enhance the communication in the online…

This article analyses an experience in collaborative learning in an asynchronous writing environment through discussion forums on a WebCt platform of the University of Huelva's virtual campus, and was part of an innovative teaching project in 2007-08. The main objectives are to describe the processes of collaborative knowledge construction and the…

There are hundreds of studies that address "no significant difference" in the quality of online versus on-ground instruction, yet it is clearly the instructor who makes the difference. While there is considerable research on student retention practices for university recruitment and enrollment departments, there seems to be little written on…

Social construction of understanding has long been a significant underlying principle of learning and teaching, and while there are many models for the design of online activities to promote this, there are considerably fewer models for the facilitation of such dialogue. This paper examines some of these facilitation models from the point of view…

This study explored student-led facilitation strategies used to overcome the challenges of instructor-dominated facilitation, enhance the sense of learning community, and encourage student participation in online discussions. It presents a series of cases of students' facilitation strategies and using qualitative data analysis of discussion…

The effects of three information distribution strategies in a course management system (CMS) on student performance and satisfaction were investigated. Analysis of the data found that the distribution of instructional materials in class resulted in significantly higher student performance on an end-of-the-semester technical knowledge test than…

This qualitative study examines the structure and importance of communication channels in the adoption of Web-based courses by university professors. This study provides insight into the importance of informal communication among peers, the changing nature of communication networks, factors that impede communication, the role of change agents in…

The 9th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2016) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, in the USA. The conference, held June 29-July 2, 2016, follows the eight previous editions (Madrid 2015, London 2014, Memphis…

This paper compares the processes of Face-To-Face (FTF) teams and Online Learning Teams (OLTs) and proposes methods to improve the performance of OLTs. An empirical study reviewed the performance of fifteen FTF teams and OLTs and their communication patterns were coded by the TEMPO system developed by Futoran et al. (1989) in order to develop a…

The authors examined whether Web-based pedagogical tools (WBPT) supported the use of self-regulatory processes with 80 college students enrolled in distributed learning courses. Using an online survey, students were asked to indicate what specific processes of self-regulation (for example, goal setting, self-monitoring, time planning and…