Students' perceptions towards synchronous and asynchronous online delivery modes of three engineering courses, in a large UK university is conceptualised, inspired by the Community of Inquiry theoretical framework. Using a qualitative methodology, 76 written student narratives were analysed. An overwhelming focus on the elements that helped them…

This instrumental case study explored 10 English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors' perceptions and experiences of participating in an asynchronous online professional development (OPD) program. The study aimed to explore instructors' professional development (PD) needs, the factors influencing their participation in OPD, and the perceived…

Online programs are growing exponentially; the structure, program design, and instructional strategies used determine learner success and the viability of online programs. Instructors are expected to demonstrate competence as online facilitators, creating an educational experience that meets the demands of 21st-century teaching and learning. In…

As part of a large exercise physiology laboratory (lab) reform project, we used blended learning to support graduate teaching assistants and lab technicians in developing their pedagogical knowledge and create an entry point to reflective conversations about teaching and learning. Because self-paced asynchronous online modules can enable…

Establishment of online communities in distance education has been linked to improved engagement, retention, and learning outcomes. This study investigates how online community building was fostered in the text-based Discussion Board (DB) and multimodal VoiceThread (VT) in one of the postgraduate units offered by Open Universities Australia.…

The role of motivation in online learning has been explored mostly as a predictor of course retention or satisfaction, rather than as an adaptive outcome in itself. We thus aimed to investigate how the features of motivation develop in online courses during the semester and how students' perceived teaching and social presences influence their…

This current study investigates the use of online role-playing, in an online discussion forum, in learning the community of inquiry framework -- an area of learning covered in the Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI) course, an elective course for Computer Science undergraduate students at Universitas Indonesia. The participants were divided into…

Effective employment of information and communication technology (ICT) in foreign language teaching and learning has become imperative as a means to support second language development when traditional face-to-face instruction and interaction is not possible. Using a design-based research approach and a theoretical framework that integrates…

This descriptive case study explored the presence of a community of inquiry among 4492 secondary learners enrolled in four asynchronous online discussion forums over a full year. The forums (Ethics and Philosophy, Reading, Astronomy and Space, and General Debates, among others not studied) were external to the students' schools across England. The…

This study aims to explore how gamification elements influence the development of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) in an online project-based programming course conducted on Facebook. We formed student groups by using a quasi-experimental design from students studying in the computer science department. While both courses were project-based, the…

The importance of making online and distance education successful has been dramatically prioritized due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student retention is a key performance indicator in online higher education. Evidence suggests that within online distance education the key to retaining students is to encourage an engaging and supportive online…

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the imposition of home restriction or quarantine led to the use of emergency remote teaching for education purposes. Adolescent students faced a challenge while trying to maintain a school experience and receive reliable information about the pandemic. This study presents the results for students' perceptions of…

Online learning communities (OLCs) enable their learner to access different types of information through internet based structures anywhere anytime. OLCs are among the strategies used for the production and repost of information by learners interested in a specific area to support asynchronous learning. In this respect, learners become members of…

By participating in asynchronous course discussion forums, students can work together to refine their ideas and construct knowledge collaboratively. Typically, some messages simply repeat or paraphrase course content, while others bring in new material, demonstrate reasoning, integrate concepts, and develop solutions. Through the messages they…

Growing interest in online learning has instructors looking for new ways to engage learners in asynchronous discussions. Building on experiences with hashtag use to connect on social media platforms, the purpose of this study is to investigate the contexts of hashtag use and its associated impact on learner engagement in asynchronous online…