Online Study Program Research Articles

Les origines du terme enseignement à distance et les racines de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage numériques

By no means is the digitalization of learning and teaching a new phenomenon (cf. Inglis, et al., 1999). Since the 1960s and 70s, open and distance teaching universities have spearheaded new and emerging technologies to bridge the distance between students and teachers. Since the turn of the millennium, online learning has spread worldwide, particularly in countries with a long tradition of distance education (e.g., Canada, Australia, India, or South Africa, see Qayyum & Zawacki-Richter, 2018; Zawacki-Richter & Qayyum, 2018). Online study programs have also been increasingly established at campus-based universities. In 1999, Alan Tait observed that the boundaries between distance teaching and conventional campus-based universities were blurring: "The secret garden of open and distance learning has become public, and many institutions are moving from single conventional mode activity to dual mode activity" (Tait, 1999, p. 141).

The TPACK level of in-service EFL teacher online professional training: The perspectives of teachers, students, and trainers

Many studies have investigated the TPACK level of competence of teachers as part of their incidental online conferences, seminars, or study programs using the educational TPACK framework through a single perspective. However, limited attention has been given to the in-service EFL teachers’ TPACK in CALL literature using a specific TPACK framework for EFL teaching involving teachers, students, and trainers in a single study. This mixed-method research explored a comprehensive perspective of in-service teachers’ TPACK while attending two semesters of online professional training funded by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Indonesia. A total of 120 senior high school EFL teachers, 360 students, and five EFL trainers with doctoral (PhD) degrees participated in the study. Quantitative and qualitative data showed divergence or convergence in the research outcomes. Quantitative findings indicated different perceptions among students, teachers and trainers regarding in-service teachers’ CK, TPK, PCK, and TPACK level of competence. In addition, qualitative results claimed that familiarity with basic computer hardware, research in ELT, intercultural awareness, authentic language problem-solving, learners’ engagement and adaptability to various cultural events and environments were required to foster forthcoming TPACK practices and support the language learning process of learners.

Initial training of teachers for the education of students from social welfare institutions in an inclusive school

Students from social care institutions are a sensitive subgroup whose inclusive needs often diverse the average student’s needs and for which specific teachers’ competencies are expected. The paper presents the special educational needs of this heterogeneous group of school children explaining the frequent occurrence of learning difficulties, behavioral, emotional, and other developmental problems conditioned by unfavorable educational, social, economic, and cultural factors. The valid available online study programs of faculties for future teachers for mandatory elementary school subjects and classroom teachers at the faculties of two universities in the Republic of Croatia were analyzed. The goal of the research was to determine the number of subjects aimed at teaching students with disabilities during the initial future teachers’ education and the occurrence of topics of students with disabilities education in the subjects that form the basis of future teacher practice, subjects for the acquisition of didactic-methodical, psychological, pedagogical, social, and practical teaching competencies. The obtained results can serve as a predictor for future research and the basis for creating programs for professional development in inclusive teaching based on the objective needs of individual teaching professions.

Landscape of e-Learning during Covid-19: Case Study of Economic Disciplines in Croatia

Abstract Background: The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the digitalisation level of education. Many institutions had some knowledge and practical background in delivering lectures online. Some countries apply a top-down digitalisation approach driven by policy or strategy and externally impacted by the government. Some other countries rather initiate digitalisation internally by teachers and universities. Objectives: The main goal is to investigate the digitalisation level of the higher education system in Croatia, exploring the digitalisation of economic disciplines compared to other scientific fields. Methods/Approach: We assess the digitalisation level of higher education based on the regulatory framework, applied approach of digitalisation, the agility of transition to online teaching and the existing number of courses and online study programs. Education digitalisation in different countries is compared with the Croatian experience. Results: Although the satisfactory level of higher education institutions’ agility to switch online exist, there hasn’t been a centralised project led by the government and supported by proper funds to increase digitalisation in Croatia. Even before the pandemic, many e-courses from economics and business had been offered to students, but online study programs were exceptions, covering mainly the economics and business field. Conclusions: The Covid-19 pandemic has improved the digitalisation process in the Croatian education system. A general framework for the digitalisation of education should be developed containing the detailed administrative processes and appropriate funds to be implemented.

Critical events and pivotal factors as tools for analyzing the sustainability of online study programs

A critical aspect of designing and running online study programs is the identification of factors and elements that could potentially threaten the continuation of studies. In this study, we first identified a set of critical events that occurred in the running of a Finnish online doctoral study program over 16 years. Next, we analyzed the events using a four-pillar sustainability model, which consisted of the economic, social, environmental, and ethical pillars. We detected several contextually relevant and dynamic pivotal factors related to each of the pillars, which had effects on the sustainability of the program at the time of the critical events. The analysis revealed that positive pivotal factors in one sustainability pillar can be used to compensate for negative pivotal factors in the other pillars. Two aspects that were crucial for the sustainability of the online doctoral study program were the resilience and shared commitment of the community involved in its activities, which helped in overcoming any challenges encountered. Based on this study, we recommended that future research should design novel solutions that help online study programs to proactively identify potential critical events and related pivotal factors. Furthermore, studies should find creative approaches for constructively coping with critical events that have been identified.

Online teaching and learning in higher education: Lessons learned in crisis situations

In the year 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic turned both private and public life upside down. Teaching and learning at higher education institutions worldwide had to move online on very short notice. This Special Issue focuses on the academic practice of online teaching and learning in higher education in the current time of crisis. Online teaching and learning has been a prominent research topic for the last three decades, but online study programs at universities are still scarce. In this synthesis article, our considerations about online teaching and learning in higher education are positioned in the broad framework of communities of practice (CoPs). We establish a relationship between CoP-concepts and the integrative framework for learning activities involving technology in higher education (the C♭ model), as proposed by Sailer and colleagues in this Special Issue. We continue with some initial thoughts on online teaching and learning in higher education in general, and emergency online teaching and learning more specifically. After an overview of the international research compiled in this Special Issue, we derive a number of general insights on online teaching and learning in higher education, emphasizing, for instance, scaffolding of regulation processes or communication platforms as potential artifacts of an online teaching and learning CoP.

Fuzzy-Expert System for Indicator and Quality Evaluation of Teaching and Learning Processes Online Study Programs

The quality of education is essential so that it needs to be improved. This study aims to design and realize an information system for monitoring and evaluating the quality of the online teaching and learning process using the fuzzy-expert system algorithm. By using the fuzzy-expert system model, the Tsukamoto method can monitor the online teaching and learning process. The tsukamoto method is used because it is very flexible. Fuzzy-expert system can process a lot of data and get better results than using the excel application. The assessment parameters in this study were the presence of lecturers and students, the suitability of the lecture material, the development of an academic atmosphere, the assessment of student skills, the suitability of learning support facilities and infrastructure, the performance of education personnel in the learning process, assessment of student attitudes, student knowledge, lecturers’ role models, and lecturer performance in teaching. The fuzzy stages used in the system are the process of fuzzification, rules, and defuzzification. This study concludes that fuzzy assessment can be carried out by producing good evaluations for the value range of 80-100, enough for the range of values of 54-79, and less in the range of values 0-55.

Integrating refugees into higher education – the impact of a new online education program for policies and practices

ABSTRACTGaining access to higher education (HE) is a serious concern for refugees. Although studies on the integration and success of refugees in HE are scarce, the challenges associated with this issue as well as its international relevance are becoming apparent. The Success and Opportunities for Refugees in Higher Education (SUCCESS) project was launched to investigate the effectiveness of new online study programs offered through the Kiron Open Higher Education (Kiron) platform, the aim of which is to provide refugees worldwide with the opportunity to access HE. The results of the first project phase based on data from the enrolment process present an extremely heterogeneous sample. The students come from 54 countries around the world and are currently located in over 66 countries; their educational biographies and their language proficiency vary greatly. The described diversity, especially between the different current places of residence, and possible implications for practice and politics are discussed. The evidence from the SUCCESS project indicates that refugee students exhibit significant differences in level of education, and internal and external (pre)conditions and that the successful integration of refugees into HE worldwide requires new approaches to designing effective instructional and assessment methods.

Demands on a continuing education online-study program for physicians

Physicians have an intense and irregular workday life. Thus, they need to use their time for continuing education in the most efficient way. This presents a major challenge to suppliers of continuing study programs. Our online master program Physico-Technical Medicine (PTM) addresses working physicians who want to acquire knowledge in the fields of biomedical engineering and medical physics [1]. We attach great importance to the special needs of our participants. Therefore, we investigated which general conditions are most important for the working physician regarding qualifying continuing education.

"Computer Engineering Online" using the novel eLearning 3.0 platform Wiki-Learnia

To counter the growing lack of experts in the IT sector, and to give at the same time a possibility for lifelong learning, a consortium of north German universities has initiated the project â??Computer Engineering Onlineâ??. The goal is to develop an online study program for computer engineering in 2013. Referred to the blended learning strategy, the bigger part of the Bachelorâ??s program is offered by an online portal. Here, the open source platform ILIAS is used which is optimized for the use in academic environments. Due to other qualifications of the target group, the Masterâ??s program is realized by a further education mechanism embedded in a completely novel eLearning 3.0 platform called â??Wiki-Learniaâ? which combines formal and informal learning.

Websites of note

Websites of note

The pipeline problem: where do we go from here?

The pipeline problem: where do we go from here?

The Contribution of Financial Management Training and Knowledge to Dairy Farm Financial Performance

Cooperative Extension and other institutions (e.g., technical colleges, on-line self study programs, university short courses, etc.) frequently stress the importance of financial management education for successful farming operations. The research reported in this paper attempts to quantify the contributions of such training to the financial performance of dairy farms in Wisconsin. Our results suggest a link between a deeper understanding of financial concepts and greater financial returns but that it is a relatively weak one. Moreover, simple exposure to farm management training programs and self-confidence in farm financial decision-making ability are not significantly related to farm financial outcomes.