My dissertation seeks to explore opportunities for disruptions--moments of learning in (digitally) networked spaces that seek to challenge, subvert, and reimagine our worlds. Drawing primarily on sociocultural theories of literacy and learning, I explore the ways that learning, mediated by digital technologies, takes place in formal and informal…

Secondary students from a mid-sized school district in the rural Midwest who had chosen an asynchronous learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed to determine predictors of academic achievement and perceptions of their learning during the pandemic. An explanatory, mixed methods case study was conducted to sequentially analyze…

This document introduces a research study that aimed to gain insight into the perspectives of newly qualified teachers, mentor teachers, and administrators during their participation in a technology-enhanced teacher induction program while assigned within a rural school district in southeastern Colorado. The qualitative case study took a deeper…

After spreading quickly around the world and causing the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, COVID-19 has also forced educational institutions into lockdown around the world. They had to continue their activities through distance learning and online courses to cope with this pandemic outbreak. One of the…

In the past decades, online course enrollment has steadily increased in popularity. In 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic suddenly shifted most teaching and learning into the virtual world. The entire education system tried to quickly learn how to cope in this environment. Given the clear benefits of online learning, such as flexibility and…

This dissertation explores the theme of applying video-based instruction on employment skill acquisition among secondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It consists of an introduction, three stand-alone papers, and a research statement. Chapter 1 presents the overview of the current competitive integrated…

This mixed-methods research study explored the experiences of Native American college students in fully online degree programs. Eight research questions guided the investigation into the experiences of Native American college students in fully online degree programs. The findings suggested that the learner-instructor interaction was the most…

In the spring of 2020, when faced with emergency school closures teachers had to switch from teaching face-to-face in brick-and-mortar classrooms to virtual meetings and online classrooms. To make changes quickly, teachers used the technology skills they already practiced and acquired others to engage and instruct their students online. This…

In 2020, many organizations moved their formal training programs to an online learning context due to COVID-19. Informal learning, which refers to activities that are self-guided and occur independently outside of formal learning contexts has gained significant interest among researchers and practitioners in the past two decades as it has been…

This study used a quasi-experimental approach with a nonequivalent control group posttest-only design to examine the effectiveness of a virtual escape room on the acquisition of nursing students' knowledge related to leadership nursing content. Additionally, the study measured the students' perceptions of the escape room activity as an effective…

As online learning platforms become more ubiquitous throughout various curricula, there is a growing need to evaluate the effectiveness of these platforms and the different methods used to structure online education and tutoring. Towards this endeavor, some platforms have performed randomized controlled experiments to compare different user…

As online learning platforms become more ubiquitous throughout various curricula, there is a growing need to evaluate the effectiveness of these platforms and the different methods used to structure online education and tutoring. Towards this endeavor, some platforms have performed randomized controlled experiments to compare different user…

In the ongoing pandemic context, short-term study abroad opportunities remain limited for many students. As a result, there has been a need for universities to develop educational innovations for home context learning to meet institutional intercultural learning aims. The purpose of this action research paper is to outline how a small-scale…

Fieldwork is an integral portion of occupational therapy education that ensures students have the opportunity to develop basic competencies in real world practice settings. The national shortage of fieldwork placements, particularly in the area of mental health, in combination with the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to the adoption of increasingly…

Leadership has been established as a key competency for occupational therapists, however the literature on how occupational therapists conceptualize leadership is limited. Additionally, there is a dearth of literature on best practices to develop occupational therapists' leadership skills and there is yet to be an evaluation of an online…