Traditional school districts do not have a lot of experience with virtual schools and have lost students to state and charter virtual schools. To retain students and offer alternative learning opportunities, more public districts are starting their own virtual schools. This study was an examination of foundational processes at three California…

Purpose: This research aims to compare the preference of social media sites and institutional communication channels of a higher education institution by confronting elements that form perceived usefulness and user satisfaction with the system. Social media technologies are a part of the routine of the modern society in many diverse ways,…

Individualised video screencasts with accompanying narration were used to provide assessment feedback to a large number (n = 299) of first-year Bachelor of Education students at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. An anonymous online survey revealed that nearly three times as many respondents (61%) preferred video feedback to written…

In 2015, the Maine State Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs commissioned the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI) to study the state's Essential Program and Services (EPS) K-12 education funding model in relationship to the funding for Maine's two virtual charter schools. The study was initiated…

This paper reports a descriptive research study on the integration of ICT and pedagogy in the colleges of the Royal University of Bhutan. It investigates whether ICT is integrated into the pedagogy and, if so, in what way. The study identifies the use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as the key technology, which is used as part of…

Enabling distant individuals to assemble in one virtual environment, synchronous distance learning appeals to researchers and practitioners alike because of its unique educational opportunities. One of the vital components of successful synchronous distance learning is interactivity. In virtual environments, interactivity is limited by the…

This paper focuses on institutionally powered personal learning environments (iPLEs). The concept of the iPLE can be seen as a way universities can incorporate learner-centred approach into the architecture of their technology-enhanced learning environments. The aim of this paper is to pose that there are other ways to learn complementary to…

This paper presents findings from a large-scale study which explored the socio-political impact of teaching and learning in virtual worlds on UK higher education. Three key themes emerged with regard to constructing curricula for virtual world teaching and learning, namely designing courses, framing practice and locating specific student needs.…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of students in an audio-enhanced online classroom. Online students who had participated in such a classroom experience were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed to explain the students' experiences with the technology online and show how each student perceived the…

This article reports an action research that intended to study to what extent students shape their writing skill in English through the use of a virtual room. As the study, we randomly selected six ninth graders in high school from thirty two students at a Colombian private institution. Three instruments were used, namely, interviews, students'…

Online tools, such as forums, wikis, and blogs lend themselves to learners negotiating meaning and co-constructing knowledge through interaction. However, not enough is known about how tasks need to be designed to make best use of the possibilities of complex virtual learning environments (VLEs) to motivate and support learners, foster…

Online learning environments can offer learners opportunities for flexibility, interaction and collaboration distinctly different from face-to-face learning environments. However, the integration of educational technologies also presents challenges and concerns in relation to students' learning. This article attempts to develop a better…

Distance education is not a new phenomenon, distance education had its beginning with correspondence education through postal services in the 19th century (Daniel, 2000) and progressed into the 21st century with the use of computer-mediated instruction. Even with all of its convenience and portability, the online classroom is still seen by many as…

In mathematical problem solving, American students are falling behind their global peers because of a lack of foundational and reasoning skills. A specific area of difficulty with problem solving is working non-routine, heuristic-based problems. Many students are not provided with effective instruction and often grow frustrated and dislike math.…

This is a case study of faculty adoption and use of Horizon Wimba Virtual Classroom in online courses at a Southeastern University in the United States. The purpose of this case study was to explore faculty adoption and use of Horizon Wimba in their online courses. This inquiry is based on Yen et al. (2010) adoption factors (organizational,…