Higher education institutions continue to invest in online learning, yet research indicates instructors often lack experience, preparation, and guidance for teaching online. While instructor leadership is essential for meaningful online learning, few studies have investigated online instructors' leadership behaviors. This study offers new insights…

The global pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus brought about a true revolution in the predominant teaching-learning processes (i.e., face-to-face environment) that had been implemented up to that point. In this regard, virtual teaching-learning environments (VTLEs) have gained unprecedented significance. The main objectives of our research…

Increasingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having an impact on distance-based higher education, where it is revealing multiple ethical issues. However, to date, there has been limited research addressing the perspectives of key stakeholders about these developments. The study presented in this paper sought to address this gap by investigating…

The pandemic transformed higher education, making it clear that the future of education lies in the use of technology. Recognizing this development, this study examined the blended learning experiences of students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to propose targeted strategies for the evolving "phygital" (physical +…

Much research in face-to-face contexts outlines the importance of early adjustment on students' higher education experiences. However, few studies have replicated this research in distance learning contexts to unpack the early multifaceted adjustments associated with studying in absence of a physical campus. This is particularly needed from a…

Videoconferencing as a learning tool has been widely used among educators and learners in order to induce effective communication between learners and teachers or learners and their peers, especially when face-to-face means are not possible. Different types of videoconferencing platforms or systems have emerged for use in today's higher education…

Rapid development of communication tools has brought about contentious issues in communication management in distance learning (DL) programs. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between communication management indicators, namely, communication practices, communication tools, and students' cognitive engagement in distance…

While ubiquitous in everyday use, in reality, social media usage within higher education teaching has expanded quite slowly. Analysis of social media usage of students and instructors for teaching, learning, and research purposes across four countries (Russia, Turkey, Germany, and Switzerland) showed that many higher education instructors actively…

Use of mobile technology is widespread, particularly among the younger generation. There is a huge potential for utilizing such technology in lecture classes with large numbers of students, serving as an interaction tool between the students and lecturers. The challenge is to identify significant adoption factors to ensure effective adoption of…

"Open Educational Resources" (OER) have the potential to replace traditional textbooks in higher education. Previous studies indicate that use of OER results in high student and faculty satisfaction, lower costs, and similar or better educational outcomes. In this case study, we compared students using traditional textbooks with those…

Distributed Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are based on the premise that online learning occurs through a network of interconnected learners. The teachers' role in distributed courses extends to forming such a network by facilitating communication that connects learners and their separate personal learning environments scattered around the…

This study explored whether learning-related anxiety would negatively affect intention to persist with e-learning among students with visual impairment, and examined the roles of three online interactions in the relationship between learning-related anxiety and intention to persist with e-learning. For this study, a convenience sample of…

As freely adoptable digital resources, OpenCourseWare (OCW) have become a prominent form of Open Educational Resources (OER). More than 275 institutions in the worldwide OCW consortium have committed to creating free access open course materials. Despite the resources and efforts to create OCW worldwide, little understanding of its use exists.…

M-learning is learning delivered via mobile devices and mobile technology. The research indicates that this medium of learning has potential to enhance formal as well as informal learning. However, acceptance of m-learning greatly depends upon the personal attitude of students towards this medium; therefore this study focuses only on the…

The creation of online platforms that establish new learning environments has led to the proliferation of institutions offering online learning programmes. However, the use of technologies for teaching and learning requires sound content specialization, as well as grounding in pedagogy. While gains made by constructivism and observational learning…