The field of instructional design and technology (IDT) has become an alternative career path for many former K-12 classroom teachers who have left the teaching profession. The purpose of this study was to determine the transferable skills, skills gaps, and their impacts on former K-12 educators who have made this career transition. A mixed methods…

Members in online communities of practice (CoPs) take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to exchange practical or work-related knowledge in asynchronous online environments. Practical knowledge represents individuals' mental models allowing them to interact with the environment and perform tasks. With ICTs, practical…

As part of the process for designing an online information technology (IT) course, hands-on activities may be included; however, the literature has not readily revealed the best practices and challenges instructional designers (IDs) face with including hands-on activities in an online IT course. Research has shown that hands-on learning increases…

World language (WL) teachers are often at the forefront of using cutting edge technology for language teaching and learning purposes. However, as technology is ever changing, WL educators often lack adequate professional development (PD) opportunities to ensure effective technology integration while maintaining their technological, pedagogical,…

This evaluative study examined the theory-practice gap between MBA graduate school curricula and business practice in marketing. The findings show that both the practice of marketing and the MBA marketing curricula have been disrupted by pervasiveness of data and information technology requiring changes in how the work is accomplished and how…

A lack of fundamental information literacy skills for college students can be a barrier to academic success. This study sought to investigate how the availability of asynchronous and mobile-friendly learning modules in Canvas impacts students' information literacy learning and to improve students' information literacy skills at a community college…

Access to technology in schools has increased dramatically over the past several years, and in turn teachers have had to think differently about their instructional practice. With ubiquitous computing, students access information, create information, share information, and communicate with peers without the confines of time and space (Glazatov,…

Learner autonomy is a fundamental phenomenon in the teaching and learning of languages. The growth of digital technology and the Internet appears to have changed the manifestation of learner autonomy, particularly in Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to examine the experiences of LCTL…

This instrumental case study examined universal design for learning (UDL) as a digital media design resource for teachers of bilingual Deaf students with special needs. Ten teachers from a school program for bilingual Deaf children with special needs engaged in professional development (PD) provided through the professional teaching and learning…

The description of the self-defined expert instructional technologist is unclear. Technologists in the field are identified in various ways. To determine the characteristics and competencies of self-defined expert instructional technologists, an interpretive field study consisting of interviews was conducted. The results revealed three core…

The steady and consistent growth of online learning and the rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis and blogs have led to innovative methods of training and instruction. As a result, continuing research is needed to develop and validate instructional design theories and models that support teaching and learning in today's…

Advances in the technology available for the design and delivery of online courses, together with the increasingly diverse learning needs of students, have encouraged a stronger focus on instructional design that is more closely aligned to learner requirements and contexts. The 21st century learner is accustomed to acquiring information in a…

Information Scaffolding is a user-centered approach to information design; a method devised to aid "everyday" authors in information composition. Information Scaffolding places a premium on audience-centered documents by emphasizing the information needs and motivations of a multimedia document's intended audience. The aim of this…

American adolescents have experienced growth in their use of online communities; yet, it was unknown whether the current understanding of online-community design applied to the design of communities specific to adolescents. This study bridged this gap, examining (a) How adolescents interact in an online community designed in accordance with…

Increased access to the Internet and online technologies has allowed a growing number of students to take part in college courses online. Participants in these courses tend not to be as motivated to engage in learning with the same thoroughness as they do in a classroom-based course. This study investigates strategies that are perceived as…