Survey data from 174 university students are presented, on a scale designed to measure preference for absolute knowledge and perspective in instruction, including online discussions. Results demonstrate a strong effect of class level such that students in lower grade levels reported a greater preference for instruction involving unambiguous…

This paper reports the findings of a case study in which audio feedback replaced text-based feedback in asynchronous courses. Previous research has demonstrated that participants in online courses can build effective learning communities through text based communication alone. Similarly, it has been demonstrated that instructors for online courses…

This action research case study examines evidence of deeper learning principles as purposefully designed and evidenced in an online course and corroborated by the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey instrument. Findings indicate that even when deeper learning principles are used to design learning activities, other factors interact…

This study sought to understand how an online cohort in a master's program, comprised of teachers from the same school district, constructed knowledge about instructional theories and practices. Participants in this descriptive study included 10 teachers from the same rural school district. Data collection consisted of a focus group and written…

This article sets out to compare and contrast two different projects, aimed to get primary teachers collaborating online, with respect to advice from research on how to engage participants. The first project tried to encourage teachers in small rural schools to share ideas for the implementation of the National Numeracy Strategy. The second was…

Sixty-eight college students enrolled in a French course listened to a multimedia-based French passage in one of four groups to which they were randomly assigned: the listening text (a) alone, with no annotations; (b) in pairs, with no annotations; (c) alone, with written and pictorial annotations; and (d) in pairs, with written and pictorial…

The effectiveness of blended learning is dependent upon the combination of learning activities, complemented by information communication technologies and the availability of opportunities for face-to-face communication. This paper proposes a filtering approach to assist lecturers in combining learning activities within a blended learning…

In this paper, we advance that there are several issues pertaining to the design of research in instructional technology. It is our view that much of the current research taking place may suffer from poor quality, inappropriate design, and lack of social responsibility. We contend that the most appropriate way to research the effectiveness of…

This paper reports on a survey of faculty perceptions of the role of the library in online distance education. The study is second in a series of related studies exploring The Pennsylvania State University's library services to patrons at a distance. In 2004, faculty of the World Campus (Penn State's online distance education program) were…

The big question for many researchers in the area of educational systems now is what is the next step in the evolution of e-learning? Are we finally moving from a scattered intelligence to a coherent space of collaborative intelligence? How close we are to the vision of the Educational Semantic Web and what do we need to do in order to realize it?…

This article reports on a project which involved enabling teachers in Hong Kong primary schools to use an online integrated learning environment (ILE) to design lesson plans to cater for students with different learning abilities. Teachers explored ways of using technology to enhance student learning. A case-study approach was used to collect data…

The aim of this research was to establish effective e-learning practice in higher education. This was achieved by looking at examples of different pedagogic techniques employed in several cases. The effectiveness of these techniques was established by looking at the students' outcomes on these courses. This study has adopted a sequential mixed…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an online professional development course for inservice teachers in the area of information and communication technology (ICT) and concurrently explore the factors that influence online professional development. The study integrated quantitative and qualitative methods including survey, focus group and…

This paper discusses our experiences in moving to student centred learning. It describes the action research approach and the context for the module at Masters level in systems analysis and design. It discusses the learning materials provided as an alternative to lectures, including a book, a set of videos, courseware and a web site. The initial…

This paper reports on an investigation into learning through discussions by undergraduate social work students. Second-year students studying psychology for social work experienced discussions began with face-to-face tutorials, and then continued for some time after online. This study used closed-ended questionnaires to investigate what students…