Purpose: A learning community has been developing in a distributed environment amongst the members of the Centre for Enhancing of Learning and Teaching (CELT) located in the Bathurst, Goulburn and Orange campuses of Charles Sturt University. This group is known by the acronym of GDMOB, with the purpose of the community to facilitate the…

This qualitative study was intended to explore the roles that an early childhood instructor undertook in a virtual learning environment. Throughout three consecutive semesters, multiple forms of data collection techniques were employed, including: field notes, teacher-student online interaction, the course design, students' online submissions,…

Adolescents recruited from chat rooms were interviewed via instant messaging about their interracial and inter ethnic experiences online. The types of messages participants sent and received about race on the Internet were identified using thematic analysis. Of particular interest within these online exchanges was what and how participants learned…

This study investigated whether providing students with the choice of chat versus threaded discussion boards for online discourse is an effective instructional strategy in terms of student learning and satisfaction. The sample was teacher education students enrolled in face-to-face (FTF) and online sections of one undergraduate foundations course.…

High school teacher Cathie English believes online threaded discussions are "an amazing ally to the teacher who cares about giving voice to every student in the classroom." They offer a forum for quiet students to develop and verbalize ideas; promote in-depth response and reflection; encourage peer affirmation; and provide opportunities for more…

Blogs, wikis, podcasting, social networks... it seems the entire world has gone 2.0 crazy. Among the followers are educators, who, in ever increasing numbers, are integrating these online, interactive tools into their classrooms and even libraries. This article presents profiles of a few of educators who have taken the plunge, launching blogs,…

Interest in virtual groups has focused on attribution biases due to the collocation or distribution of partners. No previous research examines self-attributions in virtual groups, yet self-attributions--the acknowledgment of personal responsibility or its deflection--potentially determines learning and improvement. This study reviews research on…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiential learning e-portfolio's potential to promote connections between academic and workplace learning (Brown, 2000, 2002). Sometimes referred to as the Digital Notebook, the e-portfolio allows learners to trace the development of their thinking and learning over time and to show their competencies…

This study examined the relationships between metacognition, self-regulation and students' critical thinking skills and disposition in online Socratic Seminars for ninth grade World Geography and Culture students. Participants of this study came from six intact pre-AP (Pre-Advanced Placement) classes in a public high school in south central Texas…

There are hundreds of studies that address "no significant difference" in the quality of online versus on-ground instruction, yet it is clearly the instructor who makes the difference. While there is considerable research on student retention practices for university recruitment and enrollment departments, there seems to be little written on…

Malaysia is currently reforming its education system in line with the government's Vision 2020. Key areas such as science and mathematics education are high on the agenda. However, as considerable world knowledge is written in English, Malaysian preservice teachers are being educated to teach these areas using English as the Medium of Instruction…

Background: This study was situated in Singapore, which aims to achieve engaged learning in P-12 schools with the use of educational technology. One of the foci of study among Singaporean educational researchers is a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment that emphasizes collaboration among learners for the coconstruction of…

Wikis, when used as an open editing tool, can have profound and subtle effects on students' collaborative learning process. Hailed as a collaborative learning and writing tool, many questions remain regarding the pedagogical impacts of using wikis in the classroom. Do students feel comfortable editing each others' wiki articles? Do students learn…

The present study aims to determine the impact of blended learning model on student attitudes towards Geography course and their critical thinking dispositions and skills. An experimental pattern with pretest-posttest control group was used in the study. The study group consists of a total of 57 students--28 in the experiment group and 29 in the…

Online dialogic communities have become a ubiquitous tool that transforms student learning and course delivery. Threaded Discussions extend classroom learning by providing an asynchronous method of communication for the exchange of meaningful ideas that promote critical thinking and develop thoughtful reflective learning. Threaded Discussions…