In the short history of online education research, researchers studying teacher experiences regularly relied on anecdotal examples or small samples. In this research, we sought to support and enhance previous findings concerning the best practices in online education by performing randomly sampled, nationwide survey of online and blended course…

The need for skilled teachers in online learning environments is presently evident and projected to grow into the future. A survey of education practitioners (N = 127) about their knowledge and competencies in online teaching of students with and without disabilities found that they generally recognized the importance of online learning and the…

Quality assurance conventions are being challenged by emerging business scenarios with alluring economies. This paper analyses shaping contexts, resulting hybridised forms of higher education, and consequences for quality assurance. It devotes sustained attention to unpacking what, as a result of contemporary reconfigurations, would appear to be…

This study examines the presence of transactional distance among students, the factors affecting it, as well as the way it influences the learning process of students in a blended distance learning setting in Greece. The present study involved 12 postgraduate students of the Hellenic Open University (HOU). A qualitative research was conducted,…

In this paper we introduce the methodology that we have followed to convert traditional notes into interactive online materials. The idea behind this has been to make self-consistent and interactive online materials capable of motivating the students to get involved in the learning process. For this purpose, we have used the e-learning environment…

This paper serves several purposes. First and foremost, it is devoted to developing a better understanding of the effectiveness of blended learning (BL) in higher education. This is achieved through a meta-analysis of a sub-collection of comparative studies of BL and classroom instruction (CI) from a larger systematic review of technology…

Sustaining success in higher education within an ever-changing landscape largely depends on academics' motivation to cope with it. Essentially, this study aims to explore the interpersonal and contextual factors that govern the introduction of blended learning in a Saudi context. A collective case study approach was employed with Self-…

Online instruction is quickly gaining in importance in U.S. higher education, but little rigorous evidence exists as to its effect on student learning. We measure the effect on learning outcomes of a prototypical interactive learning online statistics course by randomly assigning students on six public university campuses to take the course in a…

Critical thinking (CT) and English literacy are two essential 21st century competencies that are a priority for teaching and learning in an increasingly digital learning environment. Taking advantage of innovations in educational technology, this study empirically investigates the effectiveness of CT-infused adaptive English literacy instruction…

Purpose: An increasingly diverse student population coupled with rapid technological change makes it paramount to examine how technology is being employed in multicultural teacher preparation (MTP) to prepare US teachers to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to foster globally minded, twenty-first century world citizens. The paper…

This paper reports design and implementation outcomes at middle development advance of an educative program based on use and construction of widgets on Wolfram Alpha platform at higher education level for engineering and sciences areas. Widgets were based on Physics and Mathematics curricula under Project Oriented Learning and Blended Learning…

The combination of the process of pedagogical planning within the Blended (b-) learning environment with the users' quality of interaction ("QoI") with the Learning Management System (LMS) is explored here. The required "QoI" (both for professors and students) is estimated by adopting a fuzzy logic-based modeling approach,…

For several years, the University of MONS (UMONS) has been organising a trip to a Flemish city, either Leuven, Ghent, or Antwerp, for the students on the Masters programmes at the Faculty of Engineering who attend Dutch courses. This project has been combining blended learning and task-based learning for several years, but for the most recent…

Individual faculty and institutions regularly develop novel educational materials that could benefit others, but these innovations often fail to gain traction outside the developers' circle as barriers to adoption are numerous. We present evidence that development targeting adaptation, rather than complete adoption, of innovative materials and…

To maximize the quality of the online experience and actualize the potential of alternative learning environments at their institutions, administrators must explore the perceived experiences of the members of their online learning communities. The overall purpose of the study was to identify factors that would enhance student and instructor…