As education has evolved towards online learning, the availability of learning materials has expanded and consequently, learners' behavior in choosing resources has changed. The need to offer personalized learning experiences and content has never been greater. Research has explored methods to personalize learning paths and match learning…

High dropout rates constitute a major concern for higher education institutions, due to their economic and academic impact. The problem is particularly relevant for institutions offering online courses, where withdrawal ratios are reported to be higher. Both the impact and these high rates motivate the implementation of interventions oriented to…

This study explored the complex dynamics of student engagement, community of inquiry, and transactional distance in online learning environments. The study analyzed 1,281 participants' responses to identify the factors contributing to online learning outcomes. The research highlighted the crucial role that transactional distance and community of…

In recent decades, there has been a steady growth in the population who enter higher education in both brick-and-mortar and, in particular, online universities. This has led to an increase in heterogeneous student profiles in a relatively short period of time. The purpose of this paper was to explore the student profiles at a university that gives…

This paper focuses on the experiences of Indigenous learners at Athabasca University. Having access to online education provided a sense of normalcy for students during the global pandemic while many post-secondary institutions and Indigenous communities were closed. The purpose of the research was two-fold: (1) to determine the dynamics of…

The relationship between pricing and learning behavior is an important topic in research on massive open online courses (MOOCs). We report on two case studies where cohorts of learners were offered coupons for free certificates to explore how price reductions might influence behavior in MOOC-based online learning settings. In Case Study 1, we…

The spread of COVID-19 presents an opportunity for many educational institutions to implement distance learning and ensure the provision of educational resources and services, secure income and revenues, and contribute to the control and prevention of the coronavirus. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of demographic…

Technology-mediated distance education (TDE) has become part of the new normal in the range of teaching strategies used in universities in Zimbabwe. Contemporary literature abounds with studies that highlight challenges associated with access to education in universities, yet very little is highlighted about how TDE can be used to enhance access…

This study explores whether a range of socio-demographical factors predict adult learner self-directedness in the context of South African open and distance e-learning higher education (ODeLHE). We observe significant differences between socio-demographical groups in the sub-dimensions of the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale. The study…

This paper reports on a literature review of the concept of "Digital Natives" and related terms. More specifically, it reports on the idea of a homogeneous generation of prolific and skilled users of digital technology born between 1980 and 1994. In all, 127 articles published between 1991 and 2014 were reviewed. On the basis of the…

This article examines the effect of two Open Educational Resources (OER)--Khan Academy Collection and a teacher-authored open textbook--on mathematical course performance and attendance amongst first-year higher education Chilean students. It also aims to find out about teachers' and students' views on the use of OER in order to understand how…

There is a substantial increase in the use of learning management systems (LMSs) to support e-learning in higher education institutions, particularly in developing countries. This has been done with some measures of success and failure as well. There is evidence from literature that the provision of e-learning faces several quality issues relating…

A total of 2,338 students at German universities participated in a survey, which investigated media usage patterns of so-called traditional and non-traditional students (Schuetze & Wolter, 2003). The students provided information on the digital devices that they own or have access to, and on their usage of media and e-learning tools and…

M-learning is learning delivered via mobile devices and mobile technology. The research indicates that this medium of learning has potential to enhance formal as well as informal learning. However, acceptance of m-learning greatly depends upon the personal attitude of students towards this medium; therefore this study focuses only on the…