Concept maps can be used as a cognitive tool to assist learners' knowledge construction. However, in a concept map-based online discussion environment, studies that take into consideration learners' manipulative actions of composing concept maps, cognitive process among learners' discussion, and social knowledge construction at the same time are…

Online classroom discussion is ubiquitous in higher education today, with both online and hybrid courses. As a result, tools need to be created that enable an in-depth assessment of this medium, thereby facilitating the establishment and support of best practices in education. Such an assessment requires tools for consistent, efficient analysis of…

Understanding the relationship between social presence and critical thinking is useful for gaining insight into the interaction and discourse of learners online. Further study of how these two presences interact is important because research has shown a wide variety of relationships, both positive and negative, between social presence and critical…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has steadily increased in prevalence in recent years, with a current estimate of 1 in every 68 children eligible for such a diagnosis. Prevalence within the general population is reflected in the growing number of college and university students with ASD, with more students registering for services than ever before;…

Private online language tutoring is growing in popularity. An important prerequisite for development of effective pedagogies in this context is a good understanding of how different modalities can be combined. This study provides a detailed account of how several experienced private online teachers use text chat in their Skype-based English…

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…

Numerous studies have recognized collaboration as an effective way of learning. When collaboration involves students from different cultural backgrounds, a question arises: "Will cultural differences influence the manner in which roles are adopted within collaborative learning?" In this study, a correlation analysis was used to explore…

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…

In Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), struggling learners often seek help by posting questions in discussion forums. Unfortunately, given the large volume of discussion in MOOCs, instructors may overlook these learners' posts, detrimentally impacting the learning process and exacerbating attrition. In this paper, we present YouEDU, an…

Educational practitioners have attempted to use online technology such as Facebook (FB) in recent years to incorporate learning into students' daily social media usage. Past studies have explored FB affordances for informal learning, with a lack of investigations on interactive patterns among course participants, especially for learners in East…

Technology is becoming increasingly popular in higher education in the way students are asked to communicate and collaborate. The student teaching experience is an integral part of developing critical thinking skills in pre-service teachers. During this experience, it is important that student teachers practice the theory they have been taught in…

A considerable body of research has examined the association between self-presentation on social networking sites and personality in adults. Yet, there is a lack of corresponding research on adolescents as well as studies on alternative measures of personality traits of the self. The current study investigates, using a cross-sectional multi-method…

A synchronous blend of online learning and "face-to-face" teaching is becoming a feasible instructional approach in higher education with the advent of technology. Although this learning mode is not new in higher education, little research has been done to contextualise social presence experiences in which effects of interactions were…

There is evidence for co-occurrence of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and communication/language difficulties in children. Our research investigated the feasibility of vocalisation technology, its combination with observational software and the efficacy of a novel coding scheme and assessment technique. It aimed to…

This study investigated the impact of discussion forum design and facilitative strategies on student participation and cognitive levels of student dialogue. A multiple-case study design was used. Three online classes taught by the same instructor participated (n = 55). Data were collected from observations, discussion transcripts, and teacher…