There has been a growing interest in how teaching might be informed by "learning design" (LD), with a promising method for investigating LD being offered by the emerging field of "learning analytics" (LA). In this study, we used a novel LA for LD methodology to investigate the implementation of LD in an online distance learning…

The education of children in public, or Local Authority (LA), care, known in the United Kingdom (UK) as looked-after children (LAC), is supported by government initiatives to reduce the attainment gap that exists between LAC and their non-LAC peers. These children often find remaining in education a challenge, are twice as likely to be permanently…

To assist second language learners in becoming effective, aware, and reflective participants in higher education, support can be provided by integrating structured awareness raising approaches in the language curriculum. Drawing on self-regulation principles, such a structured awareness raising curriculum is most notably sustained by reflective…

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning literature relates high levels of collaboration to enhanced learning outcomes. However, an agreement on what is considered a high level of collaboration is unclear, especially if a qualitative approach is taken. This study describes how methods of Social Network Analysis were used to design a collaboration…

In this paper, we draw on Actor-Network Theories (ANT) to explore how material components functioned to create gateways and barriers to a virtual learning network in the context of a professional development module in higher education. Students were practitioners engaged in family learning in different professional roles and contexts. The data…

By studying the use of a virtual learning environment, many have focused on automatically logged web data in order to detect factors that enhance students' use of the virtual learning environment and that may impact their productive and efficient learning via this means. Following their footsteps, the aim of this research is to examine data…

Cooperative relationships are the foundation of a model of online learning based on communities. The development of a community depends on the interaction between community members. This study is based on the belief that the dynamics of exchange of thought, from a Piagetian perspective, are one possibility for understanding the process of…

In this article I report the findings of a descriptive and interpretative qualitative study carried out in a public school in Bogotá, Colombia. The study aimed at analyzing, describing and exploring teenage students' social identity representation as observed in their participation in a learning community on Facebook. Data were collected from…

This article reports on an online collaborative project between English language teachers pursuing a degree in TESL/TESOL from three universities in Malaysia--Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). A total of 142 teachers were involved in the study and about three to eight…

This paper relates developments in the use of Internet-based communication technologies to contemporary exchanges of geographical ideas and content. A brief history of the Internet provides the basis for a review of uses of broadband Internet in contemporary Geography. Two themes are explored: the first is the concept of virtual communities of…

As many primary pre-service teachers enter teacher education courses with little science background, it is essential in teacher education courses to provide opportunities for them to learn more science independently. The purpose of this study is to investigate an online pedagogical activity that fosters the social construction of science knowledge…

This study examines an alternative function of information sharing--social construction of meaning. Drawing on social construction, social interaction, and task closure theories, we explored the influence of both the media environment in which students are situated and the medium that group members choose to communicate with one another on the…

Introduction: The ToLigado Project--Your School Interactive Newspaper is an interactive virtual learning environment conceived, developed, implemented and supported by researchers at the School of the Future Research Laboratory of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Method: This virtual learning environment aims to motivate trans-disciplinary…

This study investigates students' perceptions of the "effective dimensions of interactive learning" in a hybrid course. A case-study design was used, and 25 students enrolled in "Computer Networks and Communication," a course at a public university in Turkey, formed the sample of this study. The study lasted for 14 weeks. At…

Sophisticated software such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are rapidly being deployed by universities. Despite widespread use of such systems, experience shows that there is frequently poor pedagogic development, leading primarily to use of VLEs as electronic document repositories rather than as online learning systems in which the…