Role-plays in a virtual world hold tremendous potential for higher education because they allow synchronous, immersive participation by students located across the globe. They also have the added advantage of allowing students to adopt roles and carry out tasks that are not possible in the real world. In this article, a project that involved…

Animated agents have the potential to increase engagement and learning during online training by acting as personalized tutors. However, little is known about the conditions that make these agents most effective. In this study, 183 e-learners completed a Microsoft Excel training course. Approximately half were assigned an agent with predetermined…

The learner's acceptance of e-learning systems has received extensive attention in prior studies, but how their experience of using e-learning systems impacts on their behavioural intention to reuse those systems has attracted limited research. As the applications of e-learning are still gaining momentum in developing countries, such as China,…

This paper discusses students' experiences with the use of identification codes in a graduate course delivered asynchronously via the Internet. While teaching an introductory masters level graduate course in distance learning, the authors discovered that the learning management system, Moodle, was programmed to display identification codes rather…

Blended learning is the convergence between traditional face-to-face learning typically seen in a university setting and a computer-mediated learning environment, and is increasingly being seen as a viable alternative for learning instruction. Pharmaceutical calculations (PC) is a course taken by students in the first year in the school of…

This two-phase exploratory study examined department chairs' perspectives of online learning in a California community college district and examined if differences existed in This two-phase exploratory study examined department chairs' perspectives of online learning in a California community college district and examined if differences existed in…

This paper describes some of the principles for building a freely available web-based university with open content. The "tutor-web" is an international project for web-assisted education, including such free and open access. This project was initiated by the University of Iceland in partnership with many universities around the world,…

Dialogue is "at the heart of the e-learning experience" (Littleton & Whitelock 2004, p.173). It is the means to building mutual understanding, encouraging the construction of personal meaning and ensuring engagement. Inquiry requires dialogue. If we value processes of inquiry, then it is at our peril that we ignore the complex issues and aspects…

Environmental change is ideally taught through field observations; however, leaving the classroom is often unrealistic due to financial and logistical constraints. The Internet offers several feasible alternatives using webcams that instructors can use to illustrate a variety of geographic examples and exercises for students. This article explores…

Literacy skills honed from reading books and writing papers has long been recognized as invaluable to building and sustaining intellect. Educators are charged with strengthening literacy programs, and they typically rely on conventional practices and increased time focusing on text-based media to do so, yet their efforts have not significantly…

Education in the 21st century is diverse not only in content and discipline but also in format and delivery. Today's students have access to a broad range of information, knowledge, ideas, and opinions well beyond their classroom. Never before have learners been able to interact so closely with instructors, mentors, subject-matter experts, and…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the availability and effectiveness of administrative support elements for online teaching faculty, and introduce a faculty validated Matrix for use as a guide in development of administrative support for online programs. When administrators make decisions about the infrastructure support needs of a current…

E-learning has been a hot topic for academics, technical researches, and practices because there is a need to employ advancements in technologies to support the education process and help academics and universities. E-learning, together with classical learning, can further enhance the learning process through the benefits of the new technologies.…

As distance education continues to expand within the United States so does the amount of faculty concern in regard to student cheating. The purpose of this paper was to explore the concept of eCheating in web-based course environments and review the need for and the types of alternative assessments found in these environments. This paper will also…

This paper argues with evidence that conditions for teacher professional development can be enhanced for mentor teachers through a Learning Centre (LC) project which has been introduced in Hong Kong as a collaborative project between the government, a primary school, a secondary school, and the Hong Kong Institute of Education. The LC teachers…