A course design question for self-paced courses includes whether or not technological measures should be used in course design to force students to follow the sequence intended by the course author. This study examined learner behavior to understand whether the sequence of student assignment submissions in a self-paced distance course is related…

The number of candidates seeking and completing online courses and programs in teacher education continues to increase in order to meet the licensing flexibility demands of adults pursuing teacher certification. Using the theoretical constructs of learner-centered instruction and zones of proximal development, this paper provides an overview of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how to design a web-based course in the context of China for self-directed learning from four perspectives--i.e. pedagogical, psychological, social and technological--and also to summarize the design principles for the web-based course. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reviews literature…

This study empirically examines the instructional value of online video lectures--videos that a course's instructor prepares to supplement classroom or online-broadcast lectures. The study examines data from a classroom course, where the videos have a slower, more step-by-step lecture style than the classroom lectures; student use of videos is…

This article suggests that peer interaction is most effective when orchestrated around a progression of problems. Problem-centered learning is enhanced by carefully structured peer interactions. Problem-centered instruction is a form of direct instruction wherein instructional components are taught in the context of problems. An effective…

Research findings in recent years provide compelling evidence of the importance of encouraging student control over the learning process as a whole. The socially based tools and technologies of the Web 2.0 movement are capable of supporting informal conversation, reflexive dialogue and collaborative content generation, enabling access to a wide…

This study examines the influence of instructional design and management style on student achievement and satisfaction in a web-based distance learning environment. From the literature review, two major instructional design and management styles in web-based distance education were conceptualized as structure and interpersonal interaction. To…

In 2006 and 2008, two large trans-national residential summer schools on conservation science were organized as intensive programs. Learners were not only second/third cycle students in both exact sciences and humanities, but further practicing restorers; consequently their educational background, and even their way of approaching scientific…

Presents a method for flexible instructional development which aims at assisting the educational designers in the development of modules that are easily adaptable to different learners' needs and allow learners' choices and different delivery platforms, including distance education. (AEF)

A person-centered model of instruction has been developed for use in designing instruction in virtual, Web-based environments. This model, based on the work of Carl Rogers, attempts to address several issues raised in the literature regarding: (1) the changing role of instructors and students; (2) the broadening of the notion of learning outcomes;…

E-Learning systems that produce personalized course offerings for the learner are often expensive, both from a time and financial perspective, to develop and maintain. Learning content personalized to a learners' cognitive preferences has been shown to produce more effective learning, however many approaches to realizing this form of…

The LearningByDoing eClassroom[C] is a highly structured synchronous application for teaching and doing research on medium to large sized groups over the Internet and is an open system for content delivery. Forty students, four facilitators, and a principle instructor can successfully co-create an environment which processes interactions similar…

Companies and universities are increasingly moving to online delivery for much of their training and education needs, and designing and building quality distance education is a challenge facing many organizations. Option Six is an independent company that is building customized e-learning solutions. Over the last 2 years, the instructional…

This paper reports on two key elements of successful online teaching: learner-centric design and harmonization of content and facilities. The paper shows how these two crucial requirements could be fulfilled with great success in a project that involves a non-computing related subject matter (civil engineering) and 31 educators from five European…

Discusses three factors that have particular relevance for the designers of instruction for adult distance learners: (1) support for learner control; (2) access to different levels of interaction; and (3) availability and ease of use of different technology platforms. Topics include motivation for change and the design of courseware. (Author/LRW)