This article analyses the pilot of an anonymous question and answer mobile application with a large cohort of undergraduate students (460) enrolled on an Operations Strategy Management module. The mobile application allowed students to pose anonymous questions to both peers and staff, create replies and vote on questions posted by other users. The…

Past MOOC research has tended to focus on learning outcomes valued in traditional higher education settings, such as achievement and retention. This study recognises that student ratings are an important alternative outcome measure in MOOCs. This paper adopted a semiautomatic text mining approach to collect and analyse 8475 ratings and reviews…

The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest turned education on its head this quarter. To keep students engaged, a plethora of techniques were employed, ranging from synchronous lectures and activities via the Zoom platform to the asynchronous online discussion board Piazza. Consideration of students' nonacademic struggles also…

The disadvantage to students of beginning a module with no prior knowledge or inaccurate knowledge is well documented. For learners, the development of the necessary prior knowledge to facilitate their learning is essential. The use of screencasts, whether prior to or during class, is becoming more widespread. There is a need, however, to better…

While American students increasingly choose to study online, most professors remain skeptical of its quality. This paper explores the perspectives of history professors at a liberal arts institution regarding their general education classes taught face-to-face (F2F) and online, focusing on interactive communication with students between the two…

Microblogs, with their interactive nature, can engage students in community building and sensemaking. Using Weick's model of organizing as a framework, we integrated the use of micromessaging to increase student engagement in the large-lecture classroom. Students asked significantly more questions and asked a greater diversity of questions…

This paper proposes a method for seamless interaction between students and their professor using Twitter, one of the typical social network service (SNS) platforms, in large lectures. During the lecture, the professor poses surprise questions in the form of a quiz on an overhead screen at unexpected moments, and students submit their answers…

This article recounts the experiences of a team of faculty, graduate students, and instructional technologists facilitating Rhetorical Composing, a writing-focused Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). When first offering the MOOC, we recognized quickly that we needed to emphasize the global makeup of our learning cohort to foster a stronger sense of…

Backchannel technology can be used to allow students in large lecture courses to communicate with each other and the instructor during the delivery of lecture content and class discussions. It can also be utilized by instructors to capture, summarize, and integrate student questions, ideas, and needs into course content both immediately and…

"Circuits and Electronics" (6.002x), which began in March 2012, was the first MOOC developed by edX, the consortium led by MIT and Harvard. Over 155,000 students initially registered for 6.002x, which was composed of video lectures, interactive problems, online laboratories, and a discussion forum. As the course ended in June 2012,…

This article employs a mixed-method approach to examine the outcomes produced by using "Twitter" in a large-lecture course as a means to assess the pedagogical impact and potential of "Twitter's" contribution to large-lecture course dynamics. In doing so, it seeks also to explore the broader relationship between methodologies and outcomes.…

Blogs have the potential to increase reflection, sense of community and collaboration in undergraduate classrooms. Studies of their effectiveness are still limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of blogs in a large lecture class would enhance students' perceived learning. Students in an undergraduate nutrition course…

In large lecture courses, it can be challenging for instructors to address student misconceptions, supplement background knowledge, and identify ways to motivate the various interests of all students during the allotted class time. Instructors can harness instructional technology such as screencasts, recordings that capture audio narration along…

From 3rd to 5th March 2008 the International Association of Technology, Education and Development organised its International Technology, Education and Development Conference in Valencia, Spain. Over a hundred papers were presented by participants from a great variety of countries. Summarising, this book provides a kaleidoscopic view of work that…

This article provides a discussion of issues confronting institutions of higher education in their efforts to reduce costs and improve the quality of instruction for large classes. Blended learning is described with examples of technology applications referenced to existing courses at various universities. A discussion of cost reduction strategies…