This conceptual paper sets out the community-of-inquiry framework from a distributed perspective. It proposes that considering teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence from a distributed perspective allows the broadening of the presences to consider the way in which participants, content and tools maintain and advance these…

This is the last in a series of six papers by the Center on Education Policy exploring issues related to students' motivation to learn. This paper explores ways in which schools, teachers, and communities are using nontraditional methods to try to motivate students who don't respond to more traditional strategies. The paper focuses on three such…

Understanding what hybrid space is, much less understanding what happens in that virtual realm, can raise difficult questions. For example, our campus's question "How do we define hybrid?" has kept us busy and guessing for over a year now. In this article, we offer a few suggestions on how to proceed with hybrid issues, including how to deal with…

In May 2012 the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) conducted a national teacher survey on the theme of "Teachers’ Aspirations" as part of a joint research project with the Canadian Education Association (CEA). The research project involved extensive input from over 200 teachers who participated in CEA focus groups across the country and…

With the proliferation of online courses nowadays, it is necessary to ask what defines the success of teaching and learning in these new learning environments exactly. This paper identifies and critically discusses a number of factors for successful implementation of online delivery, particularly as far as online language learning is concerned.…

Effective teaching in schools requires flexibility, energy and commitment. Successful teaching also requires that teachers are able to address learner's needs and understand the variations in learner's styles and approaches. Teachers can accomplish these requirements while creating an optimal teaching-learning environment by utilizing a variety of…

Design is a discipline which involves many domains, skills and professions. Design practice in Technology education in the Irish second level (high school) context is not a representation of the professional realm of design. Design education in the Irish second level system is generally structured on a linear design process and associated…

This research considers how professional participants in a non-formal self-directed learning environment (NFSDL) made use of self-directed learning activities in a blended face-to-face and on line learning professional development course. The learning environment for the study was a professional development seminar on teaching in higher education…

Differences in curriculum and teaching styles across disciplines in higher education courses are also evident in online courses. This study used two widely available sources of data, CMS tool usage logs and course evaluations, to analyze differences between online courses in disciplinary quadrants (hard-pure, hard-applied, soft-pure, soft-applied)…

A one year project was started in the school year 2003/04 to test the use of symbolic calculators (SC)--the TIVoyage 200--in six 10th grade classes of three grammar schools in Bavaria (Germany). The project was repeated in school year 2004/05. The evaluation of the project was intended to give answers to the following questions: how basic…

An emerging technology, classroom communication systems (CCSs), has the potential to transform the way we teach science in large-lecture settings. CCSs can serve as catalysts for creating a more interactive, student-centered classroom in the lecture hall, thereby allowing students to become more actively involved in constructing and using…

This paper assesses the construct validity of the dimensions of teaching presence, one of three types of presence articulated in Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's [Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T., and Archer, W. (2000). "Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education." "The Internet and higher education", 2,…

This research review examines recent developments in computer-mediated communication (CMC) research for educational applications. The review draws on 170 recent research articles selected from 78 journals representing a wide range of disciplines. The review focuses on peer-reviewed empirical studies, but is open to a variety of methodologies. The…

This paper reemphasizes the purpose of teaching, which is to help students learn how to learn. Attention is focused on two areas: leadership in the classroom and appropriate use of technology. The right leadership style will motivate students to give extra effort in the course. Specific examples are provided. Building on the concept of teacher…

A new classroom is emerging as teaching styles influence the use of instructional technology across a distance. This paper discusses interactive technology from the instructors' point of view, in the context of a course design joining Iowa State University and the University of Virginia. The course was created through the combined vision and time…