Access and equity have long been fundamental concepts underpinning transformation in higher education. Increased student enrolments necessitated the implementation of support structures to bolster student success. However, support provision for academic staff is often overlooked when prioritising student success. In this article, we examine the…

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…

This study explores the "language repair strategies" (aimed at repairing communication problems) of two bilingual speakers during mathematics word problem tutoring sessions. Bilingual repair was shown to gradually shift from a linguistic to an epistemic focus during problem solving (i.e., communication became more conceptually focused…

The importance of making online and distance education successful has been dramatically prioritized due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student retention is a key performance indicator in online higher education. Evidence suggests that within online distance education the key to retaining students is to encourage an engaging and supportive online…

This paper presents a study of the use of wikis to support online group projects in two courses at the UK Open University. The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a wiki in supporting (i) student collaboration and (ii) tutors' marking of the students' collaborative work. The paper uses the main factors previously identified by the…

This paper describes a work-in-progress action research project to investigate how technology-enabled learning networks may achieve practical organisational improvement outcomes in the author's own institution, a UK distance learning higher education (HE) context. Collaborative learning technology, typically used for academic learning or…

Emotions are part of human life, and they are present on several occasions, like decision making and in social interactions. Computational identification of emotions in texts can be useful in many applications, especially in distance learning courses. This research introduces an animated pedagogic agent, integrated to a Moodle virtual learning…

Feedback is central to pedagogic theory, and if feedback is to be effective, students need to engage with it and apply it at some point in the future. However, student dissatisfaction with feedback--as evidenced in the National Student Survey--suggests that there are problems which limit student engagement with feedback, such as their perception…

The University of South Africa (UNISA) is one of the distance education universities that is shifting from open distance learning (ODL) to open distance e-learning (ODeL). UNISA started as a correspondence institution in the 1950s and it has since evolved into an ODeL university. The aim of this research was to assess and determine the maturity…

We aimed at investigating knowledge revealed by the tutors of a continuing education course for mathematics teachers offered at a distance. Initially, we observed the work of 32 tutors over a year, in order to typify their interventions in discussion forums with course participants. From the results, we offered training to a new group of tutors,…

Researchers of after-school tutoring primarily focus on educational outcomes with little attention to the social dynamics of such programs. In our qualitative case study, we examined the nature of interactions among tutors in a tutoring program at a homeless shelter for families. Employing Bourdieu's concepts of "social capital" and…

Recent research on problem-based learning (PBL) has shown that students need support when dealing with conflicting ideas in PBL-tutorial discussions. In the present study, we examined tutor facilitation during tutorial discussions, and particularly how the facilitation helped students to collaboratively resolve conflicts on knowledge. The study…

Experiences of small group tutorials in biology courses with the leader acting as participant rather than leader are summarized showing that the material used must stimulate discussion and be at the correct level for the group. Other significant factors include skills of the tutor, physical surroundings, and student preparation. (JMF)

Individualized conferencing, a situation where instructors and tutors work individually with students, is one traditional way in which students whose first language is not English (ESOL) can receive help as they learn and practice their English speaking and writing skills. This article is a demonstration of some of the practical strategies common…

This collaborative research project sought to determine the attributes, skills and expertise/knowledge needed by distance language teachers. The first phase of the project explored tutor perspectives using discussion groups, questionnaires, interviews and a yoked-subject technique. Statements and categories of expertise were identified, elaborated…