Group items tagged

The sense of belonging in online learning community is an important index to measure learners' degree of emotional participation. In this paper., the influencing factors on the sense of belonging in online learning community are analyzed and its model for learners' sense of belonging is constructed. Text mining., collaborative filtering., visualization and other technologies will be used to mine learning characteristics of learner in the model. Furthermore., the model will recommend learning resources., guide learning path to learner and so on.

Anecdotal accounts from teachers have long suggested the possibility that virtual teaching experiences have a positive impact on face-to-face teaching practices, a so-called "reverse impact" phenomenon. Survey and focus group data collected as part of a statewide evaluation of a virtual school offered an opportunity to explore this impact. Findings from a study of teacher perceptions indicate that three quarters of teachers who teach in both virtual and traditional environments felt that virtual experiences improved their practice in face-to-face classrooms. The authors discuss three types of impact reflected in teacher comments and discuss tentative implications for teacher preparation programs and for bolstering the rationale for using technology in education. (

Interesting article exploring why people reject new technologies. This article explores the relationship between users' interpretations of a new technology and failure of organizational change. I suggest that people form interpretations of a new technology not only based on their conversations with others, but also through their use of technology's material features directly.

Horizon thinking from 2012, useful from a strategy and policy perspective.

Using survey responses from more than 2,800 colleges and universities and IPEDS data for 4,891, this study is aimed at answering fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education some of which include: Who Offers Online (Distance) Courses? How Many Students are Learning Online (at a Distance)? Is Online Learning Strategic? Are Learning Outcomes in Online Offerings Comparable to Face-to-Face? Do Students Require More Discipline to Complete Online Courses? Is Retention of Students Harder in Online Courses? and What Will Drive the Future of Higher Education? The survey analysis is based on a comprehensive sample of active, degree-granting institutions of higher education in the United States.

learning scientists have found that they must develop technological tools, curriculum, and especially theories that help them systematically understand and predict how learning occurs. Such design research offers several benefits: research results that consider the role of social context and have better potential for influencing educational practice, tangible products, and programs that can be adopted elsewhere; and research results that are validated through the consequences of their use, providing consequential evidence or validity (Messick, 1992).

Research findings in recent years provide compelling evidence of the importance of encouraging student control over the learning process as a whole. The socially based tools and technologies of the Web 2.0 movement are capable of supporting informal conversation, reflexive dialogue and collaborative content generation, enabling access to a wide raft of ideas and representations.

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an online to a face-to-face condition, (b) measured student learning outcomes, (c) used a rigorous research design, and (d) provided adequate information to calculate an effect size. As a result of this screening, 50 independent effects were identified that could be subjected to meta-analysis.

This study focused on nursing student perceptions of sense of community in the online classroom. Using qualitative analysis of data gathered from five student focus groups, themes related to the affective domain in online learning were identified: aloneness, anonymity, nonverbal communication, trepidations, and unknowns. This article provides detailed examples of student experiences under each theme and suggests that greater attention to the affective domain is needed, particularly in asynchronous online learning. Pedagogical strategies that foster a sense of community in online courses between students and faculty enhance cognition through affective engagement of students. Strategies for instructors are given.

Gilly Salmon talks about the Carpe Diem process. University of Derby is used as one of the casestudies.