Online professional development (OPD) for teachers is an increasingly popular and viable alternative to face-to-face professional development. While OPD can be effective, little is known about OPD's design and implementation features that maximize its impact. Using data from a large-scale OPD initiative, this correlational study (N = 1231)…

Online education is a steadily growing industry, and financial pressure at institutions, combined with the rising demand for online education, have caused many universities and colleges to rely on adjunct faculty to staff their online courses For instructors, the transition to teaching online can pose a variety of barriers not the least of which…

The purpose of this report was to gather lessons on research-based best practices in blended learning for use by K-12 practitioners, a study commissioned by planning council members of the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC). After interviewing representatives from participating school divisions, questions driving the inquiry were…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental static-group comparison study was to test the theory of transactional distance that relates the inclusion of synchronous class sessions into an online introductory computer course to students' levels of satisfaction and academic achievement at a post-secondary technical college. This study specifically looked…

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the impact of instructor interaction on the facilitation of spiritual development in an online environment for undergraduate non-religion majors attending a distinctively evangelical university. The qualitative case study shadows and evaluates three sections of a required introductory…

In this short paper, we present some initial work on Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) undertaken by the ATLAS research group. ATLAS embraced this multidisciplinary field cutting across Mobile Learning and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as a natural step in their quest to find learning formulas for professional English that…

The concept of mobile technologies is now an emergency theme in educational research, yet the playing of these edutainment applications and their impact on early childhood learning needs to be fully explored. This study highlights current research and explores how iPads improve student learning. It also examines how the introduction of iPads,…

Results of a collaborative, quasi-experimental, research and development project partnering university professors with a seventh grade science teacher are reported. The study proposed to test the academic effectiveness of innovative digitally-inspired instruction using commonly available digital tools on 33 North Texas public school students…

Mobile learning (m-Learning) is one of the major developing areas of research in the field of education. Increased power and reduced cost of computers, laptops as well as mobile devices have paved way to new ways of learning such as e-Learning and m-Learning. This paper presents findings of the first phase of a project which intends to seek the…

Mobile learning is a cognitively demanding application and more frequently the ubiquitous nature of mobile computing means that mobile devices are used in cognitively demanding environments. This paper examines the nature of this use of mobile devices from a Learning, Usability and Cognitive Load Theory perspective. It suggests scenarios where…

In 2006, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned a report called, "Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education", asking educators to, "...test new teaching methods, content deliveries, and innovative pedagogies using technology-based collaborative applications" (p. 6). Fittingly, technology-based collaborative…

Today's students are often called "digital-age learners"--reflecting their technological savvy and free-agent approach to learning. With their iPods, iPhones, computer games, social media pages, and text messaging, these digital-age students have access to resources and knowledge beyond traditional school structures and practices. These…

Apex Learning is the largest provider of secondary digital curriculum in Houston Independent School District (HISD). Introduced in January 2010 through Graduation Laboratories (Grad Labs) located at each high school, the program has grown from providing seniors with opportunities to recover credits required for graduation to providing secondary…

Although K-12 online learning has experienced exceptional growth, research in the area has lagged behind. This dissertation addressed this gap in the literature using a multiple article dissertation format. The first article used survey data from two online English courses at the Open High School of Utah (OHSU) to examine students' reported…

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the challenges and rewards of revisualising and designing an innovative online space for a first-year Bachelor of Education Early Childhood Education course, Visual Arts in the Early Years. The perspectives offered are drawn from a design project involving collaboration between the course lecturer and…