This study investigates the influence of social media on academic performance and social interactions among master's students at the University of Yaoundé I (UY1). Using a mixed-methods approach, the research includes a sample of 384 students across four faculties. Quantitative data was collected through a structured questionnaire, while…

The purpose of this research was to identify students' views on the use of WhatsApp in an online postgraduate course at a South African Open Distance eLearning institution during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, lecturers and students relied on their mobile devices to communicate using different tools, including WhatsApp. Although it is a…

The escalation in online learning post-COVID has created a pressing need to consider faculty-student interactions in a virtual environment. A sequential explanatory, mixed-method design was used to investigate university students' perceptions of faculty caring online following the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 46 undergraduate and graduate…

Sense of belonging is associated with postsecondary student success outcomes and has largely been studied within face-to-face course contexts. The increasing demand for online courses after the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates identifying ways instructors can foster belonging in their online courses. This study experimentally tested the effect of…

Online courses include the design for student interaction to support effective learning. Studies have shown that online discussion boards are a useful option to engage students. However, with new emerging digital technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), the question remains to what extent or in what ways these immersive technologies can be used…

Messaging platforms are applications, generally mediated by an app, desktop program or the web, mainly used for synchronous communication among users. As such, they have been widely adopted officially by higher education establishments, after little or no study of their impact and perception by the teachers. We think that the introduction of these…

This qualitative case study examines the concept of 'internationalisation at a distance (IaD)' by investigating the learning and academic socialising experiences of international students in online higher education (HE). Amid the evolving landscape of global HE, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of distance education, creating a…

There are pedagogical challenges for the ideal balance of online community building and interaction among students and instructors for HyFlex learning. One of the challenges focuses on how instructors can effectively select and design an online discussion modality to promote positive, vigorous, and encouraging online asynchronous discussion to…

Using an exploratory multi-case study approach, we examined student perceptions of leadership through analysis of introductory discussion board forums in online undergraduate and graduate leadership courses to formulate leadership student personas. A review of related literature reveals that leadership's broad application results in a vast array…

In recent years, the world of education has become increasingly hybrid (online/on location) and flexible (synchronous/asynchronous), frequently referred to as HyFlex. One of the risks of these mixed environments is the distance between teacher and students that can make interaction, a crucial component of the teaching/learning process, more…

Graduate school experience is regarded as a "period of professional infancy" in which graduate students rely on a successful socialization process to help them develop a professional identity within the profession. Unfortunately, the socialization process has also emerged as a hotbed of academic bullying. In this study, 621 online public…

This paper reports on an innovation of allowing higher education students to select their preferred mode of feedback. The aim was to investigate how a sample of 35 postgraduate students perceived and experienced self-selected feedback mode (audio, video or written) as part of an online research subject. Participants were invited to complete a…

This study discusses MBA students' perceptions of challenges and attitudes toward using a unified communication and collaboration software, that is, Microsoft Teams (MST) in a Canadian university during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey of students' perceptions of relevant issues was conducted. One hundred thirty-nine (139)…

Understanding best practices in online learning environments has become an important area of research in recent years, both before and during the pandemic. Video feedback has been studied as a way to enhance instructor social presence and create classroom community, though more research is needed to understand these constructs in various contexts.…

There appears to be an increasing acceptance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across society. As people become more comfortable with AI's use in advertising, basic services and other areas of day-to-day life, the question arises will students also be willing to accept AI in learning situations. Furthermore, what are the impacts on both the student…