This research brief comprises three articles published in the three-article dissertation at the University of Missouri (MU) in February 2023. The three-article dissertation, "An Exploration of Online Information Spaces That Support Instructional Design and Teacher Professional Development," examined three online communities of practice…

Many online learners have frustrations and concerns regarding the online experience. These concerns include institutional complaints, course-room and professor complaints, personal concerns about academic ability and time management skills, and more. This article examines the online learning experience from the student's perspective. Seven…

The purpose of this study was to examine student-to-student interactions in an asynchronous online undergraduate course in higher education. Respondents (N = 228) were students enrolled in an undergraduate course taught by one of the authors. Regression analyses were conducted to measure students' (a) perceived ability to learn, (b) feeling of a…

Designing a course of academic English for 94 teachers to teach 1,200 students based in different parts of the world might present a challenge to any course development team. Add into that mix the transformation of a program from traditional face-to-face delivery, to a course delivered fully online, with teachers in different time zones using…

Rigorous interaction between peers has been an elusive goal in online asynchronous discussions. Intersubjectivity, the goal of peer-to-peer interaction, is a representation of a higher quality of synthesis. It is the representation of knowledge construction achieved through a synergistic progression from individual contributions to sequences of…

Online discussion is becoming more widespread as online classes move to the forefront of education. However, information for teachers about effective use of the online method of instruction is not readily available. This article identifies three models of discussion, extracts the elements from those models that will work well online, and combines…

For novice and experienced instructors alike, facilitating online discussions can seem like a daunting prospect. Many ask themselves how to do so in an effective and meaningful way that actually adds to the course experience rather than seeming like mere busywork. The MANIC discussion strategy is one that promotes deeper student interaction with…

The purpose of this study was to examine online instructors' experiences and perceptions of online teaching and their communication with students in an online environment. More specifically, the study focused on the questions regarding: (1) instructors' general experiences and perceptions of online teaching; (2) instructors' general experiences…

This study sought to discover what motivates undergraduate residential students to enroll in online courses. By exploring this question, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of why students would sign up for courses online which are offered right down the street from their residence. The present study revealed that students tend to enroll in…

This study was designed primarily to examine how synchronous communication facilitated graduate students' online collaboration and their perceptions of synchronous communication. Thirty online graduate students were required to use instant messenger (IM) to discuss their group projects and later post their reflections on their collaboration. The…

In this article we describe the MentorBlog project, which facilitated the mentoring of trainee teachers in the postcompulsory education sector through the use of blogs. In an experimental design, the study compared their experiences with students who received traditional mentoring. Blogs were used by the trainees to communicate with their mentors…

This investigation reviews published empirical studies that attempted to support or to validate transactional distance theory (Moore, 1993). It was found that either data only partially supported the theory or, that if they apparently did so, the studies lacked reliability, construct validity, or both. It was concluded that the basic propositions…