Faculty members abruptly transitioned to online course delivery during the COVID-19 public health crisis. Unfortunately, the isolation of learning online had the potential to damage students' well-being during an already stressful pandemic. Furthermore, many faculty members had little experience with online modes of instruction and few effective…

For decades, the number of students enrolling in online courses has been increasing, and this trend toward online education has been further intensified as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The completion rate of online courses is not as high as in-person instruction, and researchers and practitioners have long been invested in identifying ways…

This qualitative case study explored the development of online teaching capacity to incorporate the universal design for learning (UDL) framework in an online graduate program. The participants in the study were purposefully selected from multiple levels at a Canadian university: (1) the program level, (2) the faculty level, and (3) the…

This paper reviewed the factors that make up quality assurance including course design, content, delivery, and institutional support, as well as infrastructure in relationship to professional development impact on teaching practice. Building on the assumption identified in literature is the concept of course design being the most critical…

A sense of community is central to student engagement and satisfaction. However, many students struggle with developing connections in online programs. Drawing on interviews with 13 instructors, this paper explores the strategies that they use to help students develop a sense of community in synchronous virtual classrooms. Four strategies for…

Distance learning enrollments in higher education continue to grow, and academic leaders increasingly use non-designer instructors (NDIs) to meet demand. NDIs have little control over some aspects of teaching presence, including course design through instructional media resources included in a predesigned master course. This study used the…

In this qualitative case study, the researcher followed up on a previous study on community in an online program. Focusing on faculty perspectives, findings suggest that while online students' sense of community was influenced by their interactions in class, in study groups, and at in-person social events, online faculty saw their role in…

The Professional Learning Community (PLC) has been used in higher education to provide a platform for faculty members to discuss challenges and build professional skills. While the virtual PLC (VPLC) is becoming a more acceptable delivery mechanism for faculty professional development, successful practices for designing these learning environments…

A sense of belonging (SoB) is a valued concept in campus-based learning, being firmly linked with improved student attainment, increased learner satisfaction, and reduced attrition rates. Some researchers, echoing the work of Maslow (1962), even assert that learners cannot fulfill the goals of higher education without acquiring SoB. This study…

The purpose of this research study is to shift the focus on Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) research by changing the narrative surrounding MOOC effectiveness from issues of course completion and certification to the impact of these courses on participants' actual practices. The "Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning" or HumanMOOC was…

Online course instructors' perceptions and perspectives regarding their teaching presence as a key presence in online learning environments significantly influence, if not determine, their online teaching practices, which in turn influence the quality of online students' learning experiences. Although gaining deeper insights into online course…

Online instructional design and how to engage students cognitively in online asynchronous courses have been an ongoing question. This case study presents an intentional design of an asynchronous online graduate course to foster cognitive presence. The research questions investigate students' cognitive presence (CP) captured by two measures:…

To fully understand teaching presence and its implications for the intellectual climate of an online classroom it is necessary to explore the phenomenon from the perspective of the instructors who experience it. Informed by the theoretical perspective of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, the actions, intentions and perceptions of instructors…

Online learning has become a major endeavor in U.S. higher education. A 2016 national study of leadership for online learning explored a new leadership role that presidents and provosts at U.S. universities have established to coordinate and direct their efforts in this vital area. A significant portion of online education is offered by two-year…

The State University of New York's "Tools of Engagement Project (TOEP)" is an online professional development model that encourages faculty and instructional support staff to explore and reflect on innovative and creative uses of emerging technologies through hands-on Discovery Learning Activities. "TOEP" is focused on creating…