Although blogs have been used in online learning environments with optimistic expectations, the distributed nature of blogs can pose some challenges. Currently, we do not have a robust collection of tested blogging strategies to help students interact more effectively with each other when blogs are used as a primary form of engagement in an online…

The purpose of this study was to determine if any theories emerged from self-directed learning, teacher-directed learning, or both combined for better possible results in Japanese adult learners. The study examined second language journals, blogs, and websites for 10 consecutive years (2008-2018) to assess the study. This was a Grounded Theory,…

In this digital age, teachers need to incorporate advanced technology into their classrooms. Digital storytelling (DST) is one such skill that has been shown to be effective for learners. However, not enough teachers have adequate training to implement this strategy and interventions are focused mainly on current teachers. There is a need to train…

Major life transitions often require people to make complicated decisions about how to disclose information about that change to the people in their lives. Social media, and people's online self-presentations and social networks, add complexity to decisions about how to manage information disclosure and changing identities. This dissertation…

The purpose of this research was to understand the perspectives of teachers and students regarding their use of specific e-textbooks in a higher education learning environment. The e-textbooks used by the teachers and students were examined in order to determine functions and features to focus on during the inquiry. This study was particularly…

Young children increasingly encounter digital media on a daily basis (Rideout, 2013). While e-books have been shown to positively influence emergent literacy skills (Neuman & Neuman, 2014; Shamir & Korat, 2015; Takacs, Swart, & Bus, 2015), the connection between specific e-book affordances and emergent literacy skills is muddy…

As Twitter became a popular platform for social networking, educators began to utilize the platform for professional networking. Educators began to utilize the hashtag #edchat to denote their ongoing and growing conversations on education subjects. Educational institutions began to require teachers to participate in the platform or granted…

In this article-style dissertation, I explore how students used digital technologies, specifically three social media platforms, as multimodal writing platforms while creating a digital portfolio in a senior English class. These platforms are 1) Weebly pages: a website building platform, 2) Weebly Blogs: a feature of Weebly, and 3) Instagram: a…

Students who score one or more grade levels below the standard expectations in reading tests are defined as struggling readers. Struggling readers have difficulty in reading and/or comprehending a text, which affects them personally and academically. They will continue to fail in reading assessments conducted by their literacy teachers and state…

Advocating for the laboratory method was a distinguishing feature of textbooks as "physics" displaced "natural philosophy" in American schools during the second half of the nineteenth century as the dominant tradition of teaching physical science. This dissertation examines digital editions of textbooks in common use during the…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for ELA/Literacy, and the standardized assessments that test students on these standards, focus on students' ability to navigate online text and require students to comprehend, analyze, and make inferences about complex texts in both print and digital format. While the ability to read digital text with a high…

The main issue within the case study was the inclusion of instructional design, specifically ADDIE and open technology design principles. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to collaborate and receive subjective opinions of the English faculty and librarians on the development of Open Educational Resources (OER) curriculum…

Sociocultural influences such as family, nation, and personal identity impact undergraduate students' approaches to history in the classroom. In the digital age, social media is an equally powerful force shaping students' perceptions and understandings of history. Social media frames students' reactions to historical content, guides what they pay…

Peer mentoring is a way to help guide and form valuable relationships between two or more students and plays an important role in the success, both academically and socially, of students. At Morehead State University (MSU), the International Peer Mentoring Program (IPMP) was designed and implemented in the Fall of 2016 to assist in the academic…

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine the factors that influence students' intentions to continue to use digital texts. Specifically, the purpose was to investigate what impact the external factors of instructor modeling and instructor expectation to use had on the intention to continue to use digital textbooks as…