Virtual universities have developed considerably over the past decade, particularly on the African continent. They provide a way to deal with the considerable need to educate a large young population, but the lack of physical space can be a drawback that prevents students from succeeding and increasing dropout compared to a more traditional…

In an era of shifting social and communication norms, where 76% of Americans surveyed reported they reached for tablets to check online communication before saying "good morning" to partners (Kensington.com, 2014), online education's increased popularity as a "lifestyle" choice is unsurprising (Ragusa, 2007). Qualitative…

In the last decade, an important debate about the characteristics of today's students has arisen due to their intensive experience as users of ICT. The main belief is that frequent use of technologies in everyday life implies competent users able to transfer their digital skills to learning activities. However, empirical studies developed in…

This article provides an update of the Digital Learners in Higher Education Research project. In Phase 1 of the project, concluded that there is no empirically-sound basis for most of the claims that have been made about the net generation. It also found there are no meaningful differences between net generation and non-net generation students at…

This study investigated the use of online after-hours eMentoring as a nontraditional student support and retention strategy. The term eMentoring describes online support delivered to students electronically and through Learning Management Systems. An online university providing eMentors for student support was compared with a traditionally modeled…

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…