With the rise of the internet, work from the of fields of digital sociology, communications/social media studies, and online research methods have become increasingly relevant for music education scholars both investigating and facilitating music teaching and learning in online contexts. While opportunities for online music making, teaching, and…

Empathy is widely perceived and understood as an unquestioned component of Intercultural Competence (IC). The authors see the ability to empathise with others and to see their point of view as an important condition for developing an ethnorelative viewpoint, and therefore consider it important to incorporate activities into the intercultural…

There is growing demand for online learning activities that offer flexibility for students to study anywhere, anytime, as online students fit study around work and family commitments. We designed a series of online activities and evaluated how, where, and with what devices students used the activities, as well as their levels of engagement and…

From the skills needed to adjust for the current mismatch between labor market demands and higher education training, collaboration and the development of communication strategies stand out. To improve communication as a whole, "The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)," constitutes a body of reference which adds…

As more and more library and LIS education migrates to the online environment, college and university faculty are called upon to expand their pedagogy. Interactivity has been cited as one factor in attracting and retaining students in online courses and programs. LIS educators can reach outside the online learning management system (LMS) to…

The objective of this paper was to develop a four dimensions dynamic model for designing instructional activities appropriate to electronic and virtual learning environments. The suggested model is guided by learning principles of cognitivism, constructivism, and connectivism learning theories in order to help online learners to build and acquire…

Online education is often assumed to be synonymous with asynchronous instruction, existing apart from or supplementary to face-to-face instruction in traditional bricks-and-mortar classrooms. However, expanding access to computer-mediated communication technologies now make new models possible, including distance learners synchronous online…

For students, field trips can be the best of both worlds: a welcome and exciting break from day-to-day classroom activities and a memorable, real-world experience that will solidify the curriculum in their minds. Unfortunately, the most desirable trips--those to far-away, enticing destinations--have long been inaccessible to all but a select few,…

Education within Second Life frequently recapitulates the "sage on the stage" as students sit their avatars down in chairs in the virtual world and listen to or read an instructor's lecture while watching a slideshow. This conceptual article explores alternative active learning techniques supporting independent and collaborative learning…

The use of mobile technology can help extend children's learning spaces and enrich the learning experiences in their everyday lives where they move from one context to another, switching locations, social groups, technologies, and topics. When students have ubiquitous access to mobile devices with full connectivity, the in-situ use of the mobile…

The introduction of digital tools to a distance education environment often creates tensions due to students' past educational experiences and can require a shift in their concepts of the lecturers' and learners' responsibilities. The purpose of the study was to determine how well distance education students adapt to interactive online learning…

"Making the Move to eLearning" proposes a radical truth--that online education, when taught using the methodology perfected by successful veterans of distance learning--surpasses traditional face-to-face teaching and learning. The key is for online educators to learn just what those successful methods are and how to emulate them in their…

This paper reports findings of a pilot study that examined the pedagogical potential of "Second Life" (SL), a popular three-dimensional multi-user virtual environment (3-D MUVE) developed by the Linden Lab. The study is part of a 1-year research and development project titled "Modelling of Secondlife Environments"…

Educational researchers and practitioners have paid considerable attention to the use of multiuser virtual environments (MUVEs) in recent years in order to support learning across curricula. Among MUVEs, Second Life (SL) is one of the most popular environments, with over 18 million account-registered users as of May 2008. This paper reports a…

Support is needed to promote problem-based learning (PBL) and to enhance critical thinking skills in discussion-based Internet forums. By advancing the capabilities of chat room and forum software, problem-based discussions for learning can be supported further in online learning environments. In this paper, the authors report on MALESAbrain, an…