Recent advances in computational linguistics and the social sciences have created new opportunities for the education research community to analyze relevant large-scale text data. However, the take-up of these advances in education research is still nascent. In this article, we review the recent automated text methods relevant to educational…

Recent advances in computational linguistics and the social sciences have created new opportunities for the education research community to analyze relevant large-scale text data. However, the take-up of these advances in education research is still nascent. In this article, we review the recent automated text methods relevant to educational…

As online coursework become more popular, students with disabilities that need vocabulary support for reading comprehension will be among the increase in cyber school students. Researchers have some evidence that certain types of vocabulary support strategies are more efficacious for students with disabilities. The purpose of this article is…

Dual-layer MOOCs are an educational framework designed to create customizable modality pathways through a learning experience. The basic premise is to design two framework choices through a course: one that is instructor centered and the other that is student determined and open. Learners have the option to create their own customized pathway by…

After presenting a brief overview of the key elements that underpin Etienne Wenger's communities of practice (CoP) theoretical framework, one of the most widely cited and influential conceptions of social learning, this paper reviews extant empirical work grounded in this framework to investigate online/blended learning in higher education and in…

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of scripted roles on students' level of cognitive presence in asynchronous online threaded discussions. A quantitative content analysis was used to investigate: (1) what level of cognitive presence is achieved by students' assigned roles in asynchronous online discussions; (2) differences…

Online courses play an increasing role in professional development of environmental educators, yet little information is available on the interactive processes involved in online learning. We examined the relationship of three types of interactions in an urban environmental education online course--participant-participant, participant-instructor,…

Participation in online communities is an increasing need for future language teachers and their professional development. Through such participation, they can experience and develop an awareness of the behaviors required to facilitate their future learners' participation in online learning. This article investigates participation, interaction…

This case study examined an authentic online learning phenomenon where social conflict, including harsh critique and negative tone, weaved throughout peer-moderated online discussions in an online class. Opening coding and content analysis were performed on 1306 message units and course artifacts. The results revealed that a model of social…

The researchers in this study examined the influence of questions designed with the Practical Inquiry Model (PIM), compared with the regular (playground) questions, on students' levels of cognitive presence in online discussions. Students' discussion postings were collected and categorized according to the four levels of cognitive presence:…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to introduce a virtual collaborative learning setting called "Net Economy", which we established as part of an international learning network of currently six universities, and present our approach to continuously improve the course in each cycle. Design/ Methodology/Approach: Using the community of…

The purposes of the research were to (1) examine the relationships between faculty behaviors that promote critical thinking and the resulting critical thinking within peer interaction and (2) identify specific faculty behaviors that result in the highest levels of critical thinking within peer interactions. Using a concurrent embedded mixed…

As the pivotal role of self-regulation has been widely accepted in online learning literature, much interest is focused on identifying pedagogical strategies to help foster regulatory behaviors in online learners. The authors of this article argue that the learning presence (LP) construct, a recently proposed addition to the Community of Inquiry…

This paper reports the findings of a one-year research project focused on a series of structured interventions aimed at enhancing task instruction to develop students' understanding of higher assessment practices, and encouraging higher order learning. It describes the nature and iterations of the interventions, made into a large-enrolment online…

cMOOCs, which are based on connectivist learning theory, bring challenges for learners as well as opportunities for self-inquiry. Previous studies have shown that learners in cMOOCs may have difficulties learning, but these studies do not provide any in-depth, empirical explorations of student difficulties or support strategies. This paper…