Faculty and students evaluate the curriculum design and delivery of a synchronous online PhD program in social work that prepares scholar-practitioners in social work research, education, and organizational practice. The designers envision a collaborative community of scholars and leaders nurtured by a cohort-based, sequenced curriculum, and…

In a North Texas school district, students taking online courses in a variety of subject areas were not successfully completing courses at the district's expected levels. The district pays for courses and student support while remaining financially responsible to the community and programmatically to students' online success. Students'…

This work focuses on the importance of teacher leadership in the virtual environment and the role of managers in the workforce. It depicts student expectations of the virtual classroom, specifically the professor's role in this environment. The study on teachers in the virtual environment is compared and contrasted with generational differences in…

This article is to report an action research conducted in two sections of a course called Second Language Acquisition and Development during the fall semester of 2011 and the spring semester of 2012. By focusing on a three-way blended learning (BL) environment--face-to-face (F2F), eLearning, and Second Life (SL, a virtual-world environment), this…

This study at a large midwestern university evaluated the use of a web-based simulated classroom, simSchool, with pre-service and in-service special education students, to determine if use of the simulated classroom influences students' perceptions of inclusion and teacher preparation. The project used a nonequivalent comparison group,…

The demand for online learning has never been greater. For faculty, teaching in the virtual classroom requires a new set of skills and practices. Online instructors must prepare for the increased written communication demands that accompany online education, such as the large amount of time needed to respond to student inquiries and to provide…

We investigated variables that affect learning and satisfaction in Web-based and lecture versions of introductory psychology courses. Student characteristics, including year in college, college major, and personality characteristics, predicted performance equally well in Web-based and lecture courses. Differences among instructors predicted…

For the thirty-third year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. This is Volume #2 of the 33rd "Annual Proceedings of Selected Papers on the Practice of Educational Communications and Technology." This volume includes…