ISSN 1546-8992
Volume 3
Volume 2
Volume 1
Volume 3, Issue 1
Studies have compared and found similar student success for online versus on-campus introductory business courses. This paper extends these studies by comparing student success in an online versus on-campus strategic management course, which is traditionally the capstone undergraduate business course.
by Larry Chasteen and Susan Jennings — Stephen F. Austin University
The purpose of this project was to determine if traditional class standards/outcomes could be maintained while delivering the instruction via an Internet based instructional protocol.
by Edward Kahler — West Texas A&M University
Volume 2, Issue 2
Summer online courses are a recent product of universities seeking a profitable niche in the brave new world of distance education and students in search of challenging and convenient courses that fit into their already packed schedules. As the literature of online learning continues to mature, serious study is now needed to address the unique concerns of summer online programs, including how course duration affects best practices and how the model might affect student populations. This paper considers how a private, residential university confronted the principal challenges of designing a reading-intensive summer online course for an abbreviated semester aimed at first-time online students.
by Kyle Dickson — Abilene Christian University
This paper sought to provide a theoretical framework for the design of an interactive, online distance learning system that would enhance interpersonal communication, information exchange, and student learning. The paper argues that the theory of hyperpersonal online communication (Walther, 1996, 1997, 2001) and its theoretical predecessor, social information processing theory (Walther, 1992a, 1992b), both provide a strong framework capable of guiding the development of such an online learning system. Research findings from the field of computer-mediated communication are used to demonstrate the usefulness of these two frameworks.
by Corinne Weisgerber — Rice University
and Shannan H. Butler — Prairie View A&M University
Much of the current research in web-based learning has focused on student satisfaction and student success in the online learning environment. Ultimately the findings suggest that facilitators and instructors may have a strong impact on the degree of satisfaction and success perceived by students in web-based courses through working to develop community. This paper will review the current literature and discuss the opportunities facilitators and instructors may provide to encourage human interaction and community in web-based learning environments.
by Sherion H. Jackson — Texas A&M University &mdash Commerce
The Technology Mentor Fellowship Program (TMFP) Professional Development Model was designed to match technologically-proficient pre-service teachers with teacher education faculty to apply technology as an instructional tool in K-12 classrooms and college classrooms. Undergraduate student mentors and a web-based resource bank were established to support campus and school-based teacher preparation faculty involved in professional development. The Technology Fellow-faculty dyads collaboratively developed learning objects across a wide range of content areas with the expectation that many of these digital learning objects would be integrated into on-line courses.
by Jon Denton, Trina Davis, Ben Smith & Arlen Strader — Texas A&M University
Volume 2, Issue 1
by Bernard Robin, Executive Editor
This research involves designing, developing and validating the Distance Education Learning Environments Survey for students in distance education-delivered subjects in higher education. This study is unique in that only one other similar instrument, the Distance and Open Learning Environment Scale, which focuses on science education, currently exists. Globally governments and institutions are calling for meaningful research on distance education. This research has yielded a widely-applicable learning environment survey suitable for use in higher education in research applications and in practitioners' attempts to improve their classrooms.
by Scott L. Walker — Texas State University-San Marcos
The University of Houston (UH) has undertaken an ambitious initiative in the use of hybrid instruction. From a pilot of three courses delivered using this instructional mode during the Spring 2004 semester, UH deployed 29 hybrid courses in Fall semester of 2004, and 47 hybrid courses in the Spring of 2005. Nationally, colleges and universities have found that the use of hybrids can reduce costs while improving student performance, retention, and course satisfaction. In this document, a review of the literature is provided and initial experiences with hybrids at UH are discussed.
by Michael Chamberlain, Linda Davis, and Madhuri Kumar — University of Houston
Responding to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Boards' goal for greater access to higher education as well as the chronic problem of teacher shortages in Texas, Dr. Gene Mueller, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Education at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, proposed offering two four year degree programs on the campus of Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC), a seventy to ninety minute drive west of Texarkana. The school districts in the counties served by NTCC (Camp, Titus, and Morris Counties) have difficulties retaining teachers, and were hoping that residents in Northeast Texas who are "place bound" would take advantage of a four degree program on the campus of NTCC.
by Gene Mueller — Texas A&M Texarkana University
In recent years there has been a sharp surge in the number of children identified with autism. This has caused an increase in the demand for access to expertise in the field. This article outlines how one institution of higher education with a high Hispanic population collaborated with a non-profit private organization by using interactive video technology to enhance professional preparation, diagnostics, and research.
Cheryl Fielding — University of Texas Pan American
Volume 1, Issue 2
Copyright infringement is one of the most talked about, yet most misunderstood topics in the curriculum and instructional development areas. The field of copyright protection is fraught with gray areas that undermine an individual's honest ability to discern what might be lawful uses of copyrighted materials. This article begins with a brief history of copyright law in the U.S. and provides examples, references, and discussion of "fair use."
by Jeff M. Allen, Karen E. Clem, Russell K. Elleven, Charles G. Andrews, and Lynne S. Cagle — University of North Texas
Volume 1, Issue 1
“The challenges facing today’s instructors and administrators are dizzying and it is our hope that the articles found in this journal may help us not only make sense of these new developments but also guide us in our future decision making.”
by Executive Editor, Bernard Robin.
“This study compared female and male students’ progress through an asynchronously delivered Web-based course. Female students engaged earlier, male students remained engaged longer, and female students completed the course sooner than male students.”
by James R. Lindner, Kim E. Dooley, and James W. Hynes — Texas A&M University
“Those of us working in the field of distance learning cannot help but wonder what the future will bring and what new knowledge is needed in this upcoming millennium ... yet the field of distance learning has many voices suggesting what issues to study ... how can we discern which issues are fundamental to best practice and which issues need more exploration in order to encourage productive research?”
Kathy J. Schmidt and Michael J. Sullivan — University of Texas
“Any viable recording procedure would have to be simple, so as to add as little as possible to the pre- and post-class routine of the instructor, be transparent to the students to avoid distraction, need no studio or "crew" and be digitally based so the media produced could be prepared for web dissemination with a minimal amount of effort.”
by Russell Geanangel, Salvadore Baez-Franchesci, John Hazelrigg, and Quang Doan — University of Houston