This exploratory research documents the use of the web conference technology WebEx™ to expand the variety of focus group data collection methods. Drawn from four synchronous online focus groups with older adults from across Canada, who create and use online personal learning networks to enhance and support their informal self-directed learning…

This design-based research aims to improve the quality of graduate supervision using a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The Quality Graduate Supervision MOOC brings interdisciplinary faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and expert supervisors together in an online learning community to discuss and consider effective supervision practice, strategies…

This report offers an initial overview of the available information regarding the circumstances, nature and outcomes of the education of schoolchildren during the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns of March-April 2020. Its purpose is primarily descriptive: it presents information from high quality quantitative studies on the experience of learning…

Videoconferencing tools, like Skype, etc., are being increasingly used in language education worldwide. Despite assumed socio-affective and pedagogical benefits of using webcams in synchronous online language lessons, such as the feeling of co-presence or the possibilities of non-verbal communication, little is known about attitudes held by…

The purpose of this paper is to use collaborative self-study to analyze and describe our experiences of teaching about teaching in a digital, online environment. Data were gathered from reflective journal entries, emails and monthly Skype calls. Our findings indicate that the perceived disembodiment of teaching and learning online affected how we…

Academic continuity planning is an emerging tool for dealing with class cancellation associated with natural disasters, acts of violence and the threat of pandemics. However, academic continuity can also be an issue with respect to less dramatic events, such as power outages, inclement weather, or the temporary unavailability of an instructor,…

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…

One of the major influences on university education in Ontario is the growing use of Internet technologies. These new technologies have led faculty and learning experts at universities to talk about online and technology-enhanced learning with a fervour not often found on most campuses. Among other things, these discussions have challenged…

This study investigated Turkish and Canadian primary school students' ways of expressing their perception of cultural understanding through video conferencing and that of cultural interaction through video conferencing. The qualitative research data were collected in the form of interviews. The results obtained were analyzed and interpreted based…

The purpose of this study was to examine the progress of a class of third- and fourth-year undergraduate science students as they attempted to create a knowledge building community in a blended or hybrid science education class. The research sought to examine this process through analyses of the frequency of their note postings and responses, and…

The development of computer-mediated communication enables teaching and learning to take place across geographical boundaries. An online synchronous learning environment with cyber face-to-face features affords students the sense of learning together online. This study reports a novel design of organizing a 16-week seminar for doctoral students…

This paper theorizes issues involved with conflicts between participation in on-line settings and real-world social commitments, such as has recently happened in schools with students using public discussion forums for classes. We problematize how real-world social commitments negatively affect participation in online learning environments…

This paper updates earlier work in which we defined three generations of distance education pedagogy. We then describe emerging technologies that are most conducive to instructional designs that evolve with each generation. Finally we discuss matching the pedagogies with learning outcomes. (Contains 3 figures.)

An e-learning discussion forum, an essential component of today's e-learning systems, offers a platform for social learning activities. However, as learners participate in the discussion forum, privacy emerges as a major concern. Privacy concerns in social learning activities originate from one learner's inability to convey a desired presentation…

This paper discusses students' experiences with the use of identification codes in a graduate course delivered asynchronously via the Internet. While teaching an introductory masters level graduate course in distance learning, the authors discovered that the learning management system, Moodle, was programmed to display identification codes rather…