This action research aims to investigate the determinants of asynchronous interaction among students, interaction between students and instructors, and interaction with course content in an online learning environment. The study involves fifteen graduate students from a state university as participants. The research employed multiple data…

Due to advancements in technology and the demand for flexible instruction, online educational opportunities are increasing. However, instructors still need guidance to teach students effectively in different types of online courses. This article provides context- and delivery-specific guidelines for those teaching asynchronous, synchronous, and…

In February 2020, the author was offered a position as a postdoctoral teaching fellow at a large land-grant college in the American West. A couple weeks later, COVID-19 hit in full force. As the newly hired postdoctoral teaching fellow, the author's department chair tasked the author with a challenging assignment -- to develop an asynchronous…

This paper reports an action research that aimed to examine how the author's weekly use of reflection and questioning instructional methods affected learners' learning in an online graduate class at a midwestern public university in the USA. The author employed the asynchronous online discussion on the discussion board in Blackboard for learners…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is sharing out basic guidelines and examples from an extended collaboration to move educators move online while avoiding synchronous meetings. "gPortfolios" are public (to the class) pages where students write responses to carefully constructed engagement routines. Students then discuss their work with…

Graduate programs for inservice teachers seeking additional credentialing often include a mandatory diversity course. One aim of these types of courses is to help teachers recognize and dismantle their racial biases in hopes that this self-reflection process will enable teachers to use antiracist teaching approaches and create classroom…

In response to COVID-19, students in a first-year general engineering program rapidly transitioned from a highly interactive, hands-on model with large remote-controlled cars in the lobby to an asynchronous, online model without face-to-face student interaction. The instructors designed an assignment to encourage students to creatively express how…

In a classroom setting interaction among students is the norm. How do you replicate that informality, spontaneity, and focus online? This book provides you with a framework to think about the different kinds of engagement you want to foster -- whether participation, collaboration, or quick feedback -- and then introduces you to available online…

Use of learning management systems is prevalent across the continuum of education formats (online, blended, face-to-face). Specific asynchronous tools such as the discussion board are effective for student-instructor and student-student communication [Calderon, Ginsberg, and Ciabocchi (2012); Jorczak, R. L., & Dupuis, D. N. (2014). Differences…

Online instructional design and how to engage students cognitively in online asynchronous courses have been an ongoing question. This case study presents an intentional design of an asynchronous online graduate course to foster cognitive presence. The research questions investigate students' cognitive presence (CP) captured by two measures:…

Distance learning is something many physical educators never thought they would have to do, given the practical and philosophical contradictions inherent in teaching and learning movement-based content through a computer. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced most physical education teachers to transition to distance learning modalities. Questions…

This paper presents the use of a debate in an online asynchronous social policy course. Debate is frequently used as an instructional strategy in higher education, but little is known about the use of this tool in an online learning environment. Participants (N = 36) completed an online debate assignment, and both qualitative (reflection papers)…

The problem of low student completion rates in distance learning courses remains one of the major issues that institutions of higher learning face. Efforts by school administrators to reverse this trend have so far produced mixed results. The rapid expansion of distance learning has encouraged many institutions to move more courses online,…

While a fair amount is known about effective instructional practices for students who are English learners, less is known about how these practices might look different in a distance learning context compared to the classroom. This brief, produced by WestEd as part of a collection of Crisis Response Resources, is designed to help educators make…

Student retention and success are key performance indicators within higher education. One of the key opportunities to address both of these lies with the support offered to students who fail a module but are entitled to resubmit. This study investigates the value of implementing a resubmission intervention to improve the quantity and quality of…