This study was a phenomenological exploration of five undergraduate students' experiences with clear and unclear instructors in online courses at a large southeastern research university. The specific aim was to privilege the voices of undergraduate students about their experiences communicating with their online instructors, particularly with…

During the first five years of life children are undergoing significant amounts of learning and development that provides the foundation for later school and lifelong learning (Gopnik, Meltzoff, & Kuhl, 2001). Exposing young children to information-rich environments during this crucial time can help to support their learning (Dresang, 2013).…

Challenges in peer interaction are commonly associated with autism, both within research literature and through first-person accounts. Related intervention studies have tended toward a skills-based approach that emphasizes remediating perceived social deficits in the autistic individual, with most of the literature focusing on children who are…

Mobile devices have added new channels for the communication between governments and citizens. The new nature of engagement between government and citizens through mobile devices needs to be studied intensively in order to make it more effective. Thus, this research examines the relationship between mobile government (M-government) and civic…

Communication is a goal-oriented activity where interlocutors use language as a means to achieve an end while taking into account the goals and plans of others. Game theory, being the scientific study of strategically interactive decision-making, provides the mathematical tools for modeling language use among rational decision makers. When we…

Identifying the most effective ways of supporting college students' adjustment and integration, while simultaneously managing parents' desires for engagement, is a central challenge facing university administrators. As a result of exponentially rising college costs that require parents to assume a greater share of their children's education…

Mobile media offer new opportunities for fostering communications between individuals and companies. Corporate websites are being increasingly accessed via smart phones and companies are scrambling to offer a mobile-friendly user experience on their sites. However, very little is known about how interactivity in the mobile context affects user…

Digital communication between organizations and the public is strategically important in shaping mutual understanding and long term relationship. The primary focus of this project was to investigate the relationship between message interactivity and relational maintenance strategy in the email communication process on organization websites. At…

Grounded in sociocultural models of learning, this study explores structures for participation and types of interaction that occur during the performance of technology-assisted tasks in a science classroom to detail some of the opportunities for learning made available to English learners (ELs) and some practices that might constitute effective…

The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was two-fold: 1) to describe, analyze, and interpret the experiences of school principals and superintendents who use multiple social media tools such as blogs, microblogs, social networking sites, podcasts, and online videos with stakeholders as part of their comprehensive communications…

This study examined the nature of communication experienced by ethnically diverse students who participated in an online distance education course. A quantitative survey research design was used to gather data from students enrolled in an online distance education course. The research examined whether the independent variables, (a) instructional…

It is well documented that attrition in the postsecondary settings for students who are deaf or hard of hearing is greatly due to their academic and communication skills, as well as pre-entry attributes. However there is little evidence that indicates why students who are deaf or hard of hearing are successful in the postsecondary setting. This…

The growth of distance education, in its many forms, has had consequences for both online universities as well as more traditional universities. This study examines instructional behaviors and communication strategies used in face-to-face and online educational settings. The purpose of this study is to explore student perceptions of instructor…

In this case study, the researcher observed the social interactions within a Web 2.0 learning environment to examine the nature of the learner social presence. Social presence is essential to facilitate group cooperation and plays a central role in establishing learners' sense of belonging and social cohesion to the group. Social presence is…