Instructional designers need to be able to assess the level of knowledge construction generated by participants of a virtual learning community (VLC). Such participants include the learners engaged in threaded discussions within online courses. Assessing the level of knowledge construction enables course revisions that scaffold such knowledge…

This study presents a case study of asynchronous online discussions' (AOD) growth patterns in an undergraduate blended course to address the gap in our current understanding of how threads are developed in peer-moderated AODs. Building on a taxonomy of thread pattern proposed by Chan, Hew and Cheung (2009), growth patterns of thirty-six forums…

The article explores how the Internet and email offer space for participants to think and make sense of their experiences in the qualitative research encounter. It draws on a research study that used email interviewing to generate online narratives to understand academic lives and identities through research encounters in virtual space. The…

Connecting with text-weary students can be a challenge in the online instructional environment. Librarians have often developed screencast videos and integrated screenshots into online learning objects to teach students basic research skills. An alternative technology, graphical interchange format (GIF), may prove to be an excellent blend of the…

This paper considers how instructors of asynchronous online courses in the Humanities might integrate intangibles associated with face-to-face instruction into their online environments. It presents a case study of asynchronous online instruction in a philosophy and religion department at a midsize public university in the southeastern United…

This case study investigated the characteristics of computer-mediated synchronous corrective feedback (SCF, provided while students wrote) and asynchronous corrective feedback (ACF, provided after students had finished writing) in an EFL writing task. The task, designed to elicit the use of the hypothetical conditional, was completed by two…

Classroom instruction provides a limited amount of quality speaking practice for language learners. Asynchronous multimedia-based oral communication is one way to provide learners with quality speaking practice outside of class. Asynchronous multimedia-based oral communication helps learners develop presentational speaking skills and raise their…

As enrolment in online courses has grown and LMS data has become accessible for analysis, researchers have begun to examine the link between in-course behaviours and course outcomes. This paper explores the use of readily available LMS data generated by approximately 700 students enrolled in the 12 online courses offered by Pamoja Education, the…

Peer Assisted learning (PAL) in-class is well-established and flourishing in higher education across the globe; nevertheless, interest is growing in online versions and is reflected by a number of pilot schemes. These programs have responded to perceived and actual needs of students and institutions; they have explored the available software…

This study focuses on the relationships established between the elements that compose the community of inquiry (CoI): cognitive, social, and teaching presence. Using three questionnaires, we analyse the students' perception of synchronous and asynchronous virtual in text-based communication (chats, forums and emails). Starting from the high…

The current pilot study tested the effectiveness of an e-learning environment built to enable students to compose music collaboratively. The participants interacted online by using synchronous and asynchronous resources to develop a project in which they composed a new music piece in collaboration. After the learning sessions, individual…

This research addresses the affordances of using Voki avatars to create a sense of social presence in an asynchronous online writing classroom setting. Digital media afford online educators the opportunity to harness different technologies and new ways of being in a digital classroom that can enhance student engagement in ways similar to yet…

This study investigated the effect of scaffolding computer-mediated discussions to improve moral reasoning and argumentation quality in pre-service teachers. Participants of this study were 76 teaching education students at a Turkish university. They were divided into three groups: (1) a computer-supported argumentation group; (2) a…

The objective of achieving a sense of "authenticity" in an educational context is one that might have immediate appeal, though how this is defined, let alone achieved, remains contested. The concept of "authentic discussion" has traditionally been used in the context of classroom English teaching in schools, but this paper…

Drawing on interactionist and socio-cultural theories, tools provided in computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments have long been considered able to create an environment that shares many communicative features with face-to-face communication. Over the past two decades, researchers have employed a variety of strategies to examine the…