AutismSpeaks.org estimated that a total of 1.1 million teens with autism will enter adulthood in the next decade (Autism Speaks, n.d.). Unfortunately, research shows many of those individuals will have bleak outcomes in life postsecondary (Lake et al., 2014; Posar & Visconti, 2018). This issue will compound without proper resources and…

It is vital for online educators to know whether the strategies they use help students gain 21st-century skills. One skill that has been identified as important in the 21st century is creativity; however, a gap existed in the literature concerning whether online courses could help students to develop creativity. Thus, the purpose of this study was…

Current web technologies are changing the landscape of education. Today's students communicate and learn differently than those of previous generations, yet a gap still exists between available technology and teacher use of technology for instruction. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to examine teachers' perceptions of…

In this multiple-case study, the author investigated fully online students' perceptions of and experiences with asynchronous and synchronous writing support options of an institutional writing center and a commercial tutoring service. This dissertation used a multiple-case study design (Merriam, 1998, 2009; Yin, 2009) to ascertain which features…

This dissertation is comprised of three linked studies investigating integrating online feedback practices into traditional classrooms. It focuses on one innovative practice, that of online peer-to-peer feedback, and highlights aspects of the process of developing this practice in each article. Each article relies on separate but connected…

Purpose: This study sought to (1) identify and describe the experiences of international students participating in U.S. cohort- and text-based asynchronous online courses and to 2) analyze perceptions of belonging/isolation within online environments through group and organizational socialization theory. Research Methods: Data from interviews with…

The ongoing popularity and increased availability of online college courses and programs has attracted a greater diversity of students. Along with continued female-majority enrollment, increasing numbers of students of traditional college age and students from a variety of ethnicity groups are taking online courses. The prevailing guiding…

This dissertation examined how an asynchronous video reflection tool impacted learners' perception of social presence and their feeling of community in an online learning environment. More than ever before learning in postsecondary education takes place online through computer mediated communication, as almost all colleges and universities offer…

More and more educational institutions have been moving towards delivering courses and programs at a distance. Although asynchronous online courses overcome the constraints of time, students feel isolated due to the lack of real-time communications. One possible solution to overcome this isolation been suggested that learner's online behavior and…

An increasing number of university programs, particularly at the graduate level, are moving to an accelerated, time-compressed model for online degree offerings. However, the literature revealed that research in distance education effectiveness is still confounded by many variables, including course design and student approach to learning.…

Through analysis of a qualitative online ethnography in an Internet text-based website message board database called "WidowNet" (http://www.widownet.org/wnbb3), I studied online text conversations of adults who lost their life partners to death. This online autoethnographical research investigates how and why online widows/widowers perform their…

In order to prepare new online students to be successful in the virtual classroom, many institutions opt to provide them with an orientation course. Academic institutions must understand the needs of their students in order to develop an orientation course that is best suited to prepare their students for success. In this study, online graduate…

The evidence is overwhelming; affective factors, in particular anxiety, do affect students who are learning a second or foreign language. Foreign language anxiety can affect students' achievement and desire to continue their studies. Instructors want their students to succeed and want them to continue. Therefore, finding ways to reduce this…

This dissertation study chronicles the creation of a computer-based, asynchronously delivered diversity training course for a state agency. The course format enabled efficient delivery of a mandatory curriculum to the Massachusetts Department of State Police workforce. However, the asynchronous format posed a challenge to achieving the learning…

Research into teaching practices and strategies has been performed separately in AP Statistics and in K-12 online learning (Garfield, 2002; Ferdig, DiPietro, Black & Dawson, 2009). This study seeks combine the two and build on the need for more investigation into online teaching and learning in specific content (Ferdig et al, 2009; DiPietro,…