Rising costs, perceived declining value, and weak evidence of quality outcomes bedevil contemporary higher education. One innovation intended to address these problems is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This article recommends that the educational technology community and others get REAL about MOOCs by focusing more serious effort on…

The increasing availability of digital data in higher education provides an extraordinary resource for researchers to undertake educational research, targeted at understanding challenges facing the sector. Big data can stimulate new ways to transform processes relating to learning and teaching, and helps identify useful data, sources of evidence…

The authors examined articles published in the "Journal of Computing in Higher Education" between 2003 and 2012 with the purpose of determining the main themes of these articles, the types of research published, the major contributing authors, and the most-cited articles. An analysis was made of 129 original papers published by…

Learning technologies are now commonplace in education, and generate large volumes of educational data. Scholars have argued that analytics can and should be employed to optimize learning and learning environments. This article explores what is really meant by "analytics", describes the current best-known examples of institutional…

Jan Herrington is a Professor of Education at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, where she teaches educational technology in the School of Education, including a compulsory first year unit called "Living and Learning with Technology." She has been active in the promotion and support of the effective use of educational…

This article analyzes articles published in "The Internet and Higher Education" from 2001-2010. The researchers analyzed the frequency of author-provided keywords and common abstract words, type and frequency of authorship, the type of research method employed, and the number of citations the journal and specific articles received. Words…

Through ongoing rapid-fire changes in the nature of communications, the social, professional, and political landscapes of our time are rapidly transforming. But the prevailing paradigm in most schools and school systems is a relic of the industrial revolution. Schools and school systems must adopt a new paradigm for learning if they are to remain…

Discusses the role of semiotics in instructional systems research, and examines the implications that a semiotic perspective yields for the research training provided to students in instructional systems. Research perspectives and methodologies are described, including differences in qualitative and quantitative research, and data analysis is…

Presents 17 research paradigms students might employ for doctoral dissertations on instructional design, makes suggestions for students evaluating the literature and developing a conceptual framework for research, and summarizes dissertations developed by University of Florida doctoral students, classifying them into three research paradigms which…

Discusses course development activities and program of a research practicum instituted at Florida State University to provide doctoral students in the instructional systems program with instruction and practice in (1) planning and conducting an experimental research study; (2) writing manuscript describing study; (3) giving oral presentation.…

Discussion of the implications of expert systems technology for decision support in special education uses examples from a programmatic line of research and development at Utah State University. Topics discussed include an explanation of expert systems, their effectiveness, and their roles in training, knowledge clarification, and progressive…

This article reports on the activities of some specialized programs for instructional technology at the higher education level" in New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Florida. (AA)

Gives an overview of the development of educational technology in Japan evident in the increase of publications, the diffusion of technological innovations, and the organization of research pertaining to the field. (Author/MER)

Discusses the relevance of behavior analysis to higher education, including undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty, based on a three-contingency model of performance management. Natural contingencies, performance management contingencies, and theoretical contingencies are described, and applications of the model are discussed. (Contains 13…

Discussion of library automation and changes in research methodology focuses on computer-assisted research curricula. Topics addressed include public access to government information; the information superhighway; commercialization of government documents that may restrict public access; computer literacy; and a proposed curriculum plan for a…