What does it mean to be a citizen in a digital world where technology has facilitated global connections? The children of today are immersed in a digital age, and as increasing numbers of students go online, they require skills to securely and responsibly take full advantage of computers and the Internet. Despite the natural enthusiasm that many…

The provision of a professional development programme for distance tutors can be problematic because of the need for flexibility to cater for a variety of working practices, or to overcome the hurdles imposed by geographical remoteness. At the UK Open University, online networks are widely in use for teaching and learning, and we are actively…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect that participating in online literature discussions would have on the discourse and learning of adult students. Would electronic literature (e-lit) discussions promote grand conversations? Would students feel that e-lit discussions enhanced their understanding of what they read, and, if so,…

Tools for measuring cognitive engagement within online groups have been concerned only with measuring an individual participant's cognitive engagement, without any concern for measuring cognitive engagement within groups. There remains a serious need for a scheme that measures cognitive engagement of groups and the validation of such a scheme…

In lecture halls, in secondary school classrooms, during training workshops, and at research conferences, PowerPoint is becoming a preferred method of communicating, presenting, and sharing knowledge. Questions have been raised about the implications of the use of this new medium for knowledge dissemination. It is suggested PowerPoint supports a…

Where learner discourse has been the focus of much recent research on asynchonous online instruction, the specific forms of instructional discourse used by online educators has yet to be examined. Indeed, the majority of work in the area of foreign language and telecommunications has concentrated on student-student, student-peer interaction, and…

There is a tremendous amount of pressure on educators to incorporate highly advanced computer-mediated communication (CMC) into the classroom, but the research shows that this is not an easy task. Part of the difficulty learners experience within current network applications is a lack of support from the design of the software for the development…

Purpose: To explore the use of asynchronous and synchronous text-based communication using the internet as a means of promoting discussion among a knowledge-building community of school students carrying out a science investigation. Design/methodology/approach: Activity theory is used to bring together the various theories associated with the…

Where the role of instructor discourse has been the focus of much recent research on asynchronous online instruction, the anatomy of effective instructional discourse of foreign language educators has yet to be examined. Indeed, the majority of work in the area of foreign language and telecommunications has concentrated on student-student,…

Staff involved in pedagogic innovations are often presented with challenges that take them outside their customary spheres of expertise and disciplinary identities. This paper presents an analysis of data collected from staff involved in a "bottom up" pedagogic innovation introducing inquiry-based learning to a cohort of first year social science…

There is a body of evidence supporting the claim that informal interactions in educational environments have positive effects on learning. In order to increase the opportunities of informal interaction in online courses, an instant messaging tool, called CENTERS, was developed and integrated into online learning environments. This tool provides…

This study involved fourteen semistructured interviews with teaching staff at a Brazilian university. These interviews were aimed at unveiling possible transformations caused by distance education in classroom teaching and in medical assistance practices. The discourses collected were analyzed using qualitative methods and divided into groups with…

Researchers studying socialization in online learning note that definitions are quite broad, suggesting that "Socialization is about people being able to mingle and establish connections on one or more levels. They speak[with] one another; share ideas and information and confirm the connections made through an agreed upon means." More broadly,…

This research started with the design and implementation of an online digital video database, followed by a study of how three student teachers used it in building a virtual learning community that enabled the sharing of teaching practices during their first teaching practicum in the teacher education program. The student teachers made use of…

Online discussion boards are being used increasingly by tertiary educators as a tool for encouraging greater student interaction and developing learning communities. In particular, educators who have adopted a learner centered, socio-constructivist approach to teaching have sought to facilitate collaborative learning in which students reflect upon…