Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to positively disrupt higher education in South Africa, but at present, only a few institutions in South Africa offer MOOCs. The aim of the study is to investigate why South African citizens would enrol in MOOCs to further their education. The purpose of the study is to understand the various…

Undergraduate students often indicate they prefer a flexible course schedule and pace when completing asynchronous online courses, often in an effort to balance their academic commitments with their personal and professional obligations. While students must focus on their time management skills when taking an online course, faculty often have…

University degrees are usually delivered in defined sessions--by term, semester, or in week-based blocks--whereby students are required to complete their studies by the due date. Term or session-based schedules that require students to complete the study within set timeframes are, however, potentially restrictive. Temporal challenges associated…

This paper contributes to understanding opportunities to use social media to identify the priorities and challenges of students from different countries in digital and face-to-face learning and networking during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the new reality after this crisis. The COVID-19 crisis resulted in intensive new e-learning and hybrid…

This paper examines the impact of using mobile devices, the pivotal element of a student-centered ecosystem, on the learning process and learning outcomes from a system's view in which mobile technologies are considered a critical success factor to facilitate the dialogue and self-regulatory learning processes, thereby enhancing e-learning…

As COVID-19 continues to impact various business sectors, university administrators have steadily pushed for all academic units to resume on campus operations and activities; conversely, faculty and students have expressed increased interest in continuing online teaching/learning. We aim to mitigate this "tug-of-war" between…

This paper examines the adoption and outcomes of shortened parts of term--referred to as SPOT--across nine diverse higher education institutions, drawing on insights from a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders involved in SPOT implementation. The white paper explores the motivations behind the adoption of SPOTs, along with the strategies…

As educators increase their use of digital technologies across learning modalities, some schools are experimenting with highly flexible models of learning that maximize opportunities to support learner preferences. The perceptions of these programs by teachers, parents, and students are crucial for building and maintaining community support and…

In this paper, we report the major themes we identified in the literature surrounding flexible learning that has been published in "Distance Education" over the last 40 years. We identified six themes: the qualities of flexibility as affording "anytime, anyplace" learning; flexibility as pedagogy; liberatory or service-oriented…

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to explore the effect of the school closures due to COVID-19 on the delivery of FAPE in school districts who utilized their FID day models for the delivery of instruction. Education, as we know it, was forever changed in March of 2020. In the age of increasing natural disasters and…

Hyflex describes a course format that combines both online and in-person elements, allowing students the flexibility to attend class in person, participate remotely in real-time (synchronously), or complete all coursework at their own pace (asynchronously). This study was conducted to explore student and instructor experiences with Hyflex…

One Australian public university is radically changing the way it delivers higher education, introducing a 6-week immersive scheduling delivery model across all units and courses. Despite the emerging success of block and immersive models for raising the performance of diverse student cohorts, the design factors underpinning positive outcomes are…

Purpose: The objective of this study is to determine Education in the Digital World: from the lens of millennial learners. This also identifies the cybergogical implications of the issue with digital education as seen through the lens of the outlier. Method: This study uses a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. A quantitative method was…

This article identifies factors that help Generation Z students succeed in a fully online learning environment for communication skills. Out of a diverse number of learner characteristics, the learners' home institutions significantly impacted their preference for instructional delivery modality. The participants described a flexible schedule and…

Research into MOOCs--massive, open, online courses--is proliferating as they become increasingly popular in the UK. The study reported here sought in-depth accounts of learning on a MOOC from ten people who completed one of the University of Southampton's first two such courses during 2014. Its goal is to better understand their motivations for…