As COVID-19 continues to impact various business sectors, university administrators have steadily pushed for all academic units to resume on campus operations and activities; conversely, faculty and students have expressed increased interest in continuing online teaching/learning. We aim to mitigate this "tug-of-war" between…

Due to COVID-19, all courses at a regional comprehensive university in the southeastern United States transitioned online and were delivered remotely in the latter half of the spring semester of 2020. In this study, students' performance data from four graduate programs in social sciences and two graduate mathematics programs for the spring…

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in 2020 resulting in a public health caseload surge precipitating deployment of military and federal medical units, states issuing emergency orders to engage retired medical professionals, and novice or inadequately trained healthcare workers thrust into service to meet the pressing need. The novelty and…

Transition from face-to-face to the online classroom is an enlightening journey. This is the cutting edge of a paradigm shift in K-12 education, and it is important for teachers to understand it. Many teachers may not receive a formal training program and should realize that it is not always an easy transition. Anything can happen, and never…

Online learning has steadily become a more integral strategy for schools and districts in their efforts to offer students greater access to the courses they need. Where in the past, much of the online learning activity happened at the state level or regional level, more and more schools are exercising greater control over their online and digital…

This special report, the final installment of a three-part series on e-learning, examines how schools are working to create high-quality digital curricula and online courses. It covers the influence the common-core standards are likely to have on building the online curricula of the future, the growing emphasis on teaching social skills to virtual…

The purpose of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) is to help learning organizations continually improve the quality, scale, and breadth of online programs according to their own distinctive missions, so that education will become a part of everyday life, accessible and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time, in a wide variety of disciplines.…

The Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) 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. ASCUE has a strong tradition of bringing its members together to pool their…

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…

As community colleges move beyond traditional ideals of quality instruction and attempt to improve student learning experiences and student success, they increasingly turn to the use of Internet technology and tools. The use of the Internet for instruction has expanded the possibilities of teaching and learning to blended, hybrid, Web-enhanced,…

Many of today's colleges and universities are venturing into online education, with distance education enrollments in the United States having increased from 1.6 million students in 1998 to over 3.9 million in 2007. However, concerns over student frustrations and high attrition rates in online learning have led many educators to research and…

A fully online graduate program that was developed at the UWF (University of West Florida) has been successfully implemented using synchronous instruction since fall 2009. The hybrid nature of the developed model has proven to be of benefit to both face-to-face and distance students. Aside from the robustness of students' discussions and…

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation this month promoting the growth of virtual schools. The new law requires the state to develop policies for approving and monitoring a wide array of private and nonprofit online education providers. The legislative action in Virginia is the most recent major policy move by a state to expand the…

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University--Worldwide serves more than 36,000 online students across the globe, many of whom are military and other non-traditional students, offering 34 undergraduate, graduate, and professional education/workforce certificate programs, presented both online and via blended delivery modes. The centralized model of online…

Online teaching is a complex professional practice. In addition to their content knowledge and pedagogical skill, online teachers must be qualified in methods of teaching the content online and have experience in online learning. This document examines some of the aspects of online teaching, specifically those related to communication and…