States are grappling with policy strategies to determine attendance in the era of COVID-19 school closures and remote learning. Allowing districts and schools to develop an attendance policy using a combination of options to determine attendance can offer maximum flexibility. These options include, but are not limited to: (1) time on task (task…

In this article, the author shares her story of teaching in New York City, the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. First, the initial plan to successfully provide online instruction and avoid anticipated barriers that may have occurred is shared. Next, student reactions to intervention strategies and observations related to student…

In this article, the author shares her story of teaching in the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. First, the initial plan to successfully provide online instruction and avoid anticipated barriers that may have occurred is shared. Next, student reactions intervention strategies and observations related to student performance during…

Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. Autism does not discriminate; it occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. It can impair a person's ability to communicate and relate to others, and symptoms can range from very mild to…

The academic credit hour, developed over 100 years ago, does not accommodate online and other instructional innovations. The academic credit hour is an Industrial Age metric based on seat-time, or contact time that faculty and students spend together in a classroom. Online education does not require that students and faculty be in the same place…

The primary role of designing Learning Communities is to promote collaborative teaching and learning that connects individual courses from separate academic disciplines to enrich the intellectual life and sense of community for students and participating faculty. From both an epistemological and pedagogical perspective, Learning Communities are an…

Traces the origin of the Carnegie Unit (that measures seat time in the classroom) and its application to educational equivalency, suggests that technology has changed equivalency, proposes Capabilities-Based Educational Equivalency Units as an alternative, and illustrates its use in a graduate program at a university that offers distance education…

Proposes a model for the transformation of academic equivalency in distance education, shifting from a unit of measurement that relies on time in the classroom to one that focuses on learner achievement. Explains how the Capabilities-Based Educational Equivalency (CBEE) model permits the comparison of student achievement in face-to-face and…

Discussion of computer-mediated communication in open and distance learning focuses on how learner support of online-intensive and interactive forms of learning and teaching are conceptualized. Topics include virtual learning environments; collaborative learning; interpersonal response; identity; interaction; time and duration; institutional…

This paper proposes a model of learning dynamics and learning energy, one that analyzes learning systems scientifically. This model makes response to the learner action by means of some equations relating to learning dynamics, learning energy, learning speed, learning force, and learning acceleration, which is analogous to the notion of Newtonian…

Discusses the effectiveness of computer mediated communication (CMC) in higher education. Highlights include a review of pertinent literature; factors associated with successful CMC resources; activity theory; helping users establish a shared purpose; methodological problems; evaluation methods; a conferencing system; and the patterns and content…