Fixed and Manipulated Temporal Frames

The chapter focuses on evaluating the temporal rhythms of written messages on an asynchronous discussion board in a distance learning class, and it provides a blueprint for the analytic process. In order to assess the method, data is drawn from a distance learning course in a graduate institution in the Northeast region of United States. 322 messages written on Blackboard by 41 students were framed by an Aristotelian spatio-temporal terminology (chronos, kairos, chora, and topos). The research identifies different ways to analyze time and points towards the necessity to contextualize it in space/place and content. Mixed methods of analyses are applied: basic descriptive statistical temporal analysis is employed by the use of bar charts, figures, tables; and content analysis (modified version of Practical Inquiry Model) is used for the detection of higher order thinking’s relation to time and space. Finally, the study elaborates on the pedagogical benefits of the analyzed spatio-temporal rhythms through themes such as momentum, dialogic communication, time lags, while making connections between temporal clusters and dialogic communication, critical thinking, and spatial expansion. Students manipulate temporal rhythms, on one hand, they establish their own nonlinear and continuous chronological clusters of time, or on the other hand, they are unwilling to escape imposed temporal structures.

Micro-Analysis of Collaborative Processes that Facilitate Productive Online Discussions

Studying time with statistics can help shed light on cause-effect relationships in large online data sets and address three sets of research questions regarding sequences, time periods, and influences of phenomena across different time-scales. As such studies face many analytic difficulties (related to the data, dependent variables, or explanatory variables), this chapter shows how the method of Statistical Discourse Analysis (SDA) addresses each of them. Then, the authors apply SDA to three online data sets: (a) 183 participants’ 894 messages in a mathematics forum without teacher moderation, (b) 17 students’ 1,330 messages in a 13-week graduate course, and (c) 21 students’ 252 messages across 8 weeks during a hybrid university course. Findings include (a) significant relationships between non-adjacent messages, (b) explanatory models of statistically-identified pivotal messages that distinguish distinct time periods, and (c) effects of larger phenomena on smaller phenomena (e.g., gender on message characteristics) and vice-versa (extensive summary on time periods).

Characterizing Online Learners’ Time Regulation

The importance of the time factor in online learning is starting to be recognized as one of the main factors in the learners’ achievements and drop outs (Barbera, Gros, & Kirshner, 2012; Park & Choi, 2009; Romero, 2010). Despite the recognition of the time factor importance, there is still the need for theorizing temporality in the context of online education. In this chapter, the authors contribute to the advancement of the evaluation of time factors in online learning by adapting the theoretical framework of the Academic Learning Times (Caldwell, Huitt, & Graeber, 1982; Berliner, 1984) for evaluating the online learners’ time regulation. For this purpose, they compare two case studies based on the Academic Learning Times framework. The case studies characterize online learner regulation based on an analysis of online learners at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Spain, and the initiatives taken by the instructional team of the Virtual Campus at the University of Limoges (CVTIC) to support online learner time regulation on this virtual campus in France. After comparing the two case studies, the chapter provides guidelines for improving online learners’ individual and collaborative time regulation and reflects about the need to advance in the theorization of the time factor frameworks in online education.

E-Learning, Mobility, and Time

Psychological theory and research has contributed to the characterisation and resolution of numerous applied problems in educational and technological contexts. In this chapter, the authors consider psychological theory and research concerning time and discuss how it can inform the understanding of the temporal dimension of mobile learning. Mobile learning presents a number of specific psychological challenges to learners (Terras & Ramsay, 2012), and in this chapter, the authors explore those psychological influences that are time-based. Specifically, they highlight the importance of considering the psychological dimension of time (i.e. how it is perceived and experienced) and illustrate how the subjective experience of time influences the mobile learning experience. The authors identify eight important psychological factors that educational developers and technologists alike should seek to manage in the quest for successful mobile learning. In doing so, they characterise the psychological infrastructure that is required to support the temporal aspects of mobile learning. In particular, the authors highlight the importance of time perception and time management skills as learners need to monitor and allocate their time appropriately across the learning task. Mobile learners also require good meta-cognitive awareness, and they require a high degree of meta-cognitive skills in order to effectively monitor and control their environment and thereby their learning. The discussion highlights the psychological challenges that learners, education providers, and software developers need to overcome in order to address the temporal demands of elearning and maximise the potential of mobile learning.

Tracing Online Lecturer Orchestration of Multiple Roles and Scaffolds over Time

The chapter focuses on how time and the temporal aspects of the affordances and constraints of the online environment can be leveraged as a resource in online learning community development. It provides an analytical case study account of the experiences of a lecturer and his students in a fully online research methods Masters level graduate course in a tertiary institution in New Zealand. Although very experienced in teaching the course in face-to-face contexts, the lecturer was a novice with regards to teaching online. Over the period of the course, the lecturer came to realise how the structure or strict linearity of interactions over time, as they are experienced in face-to-face settings, can be disrupted in online settings. The chapter illustrates how the lecturer used time as a resource through the orchestration of multiple roles (pedagogical, managerial, social, and technological) and the introduction and fading of scaffolds focused on nurturing a learning community integral to fostering student learning. Course curriculum and assessment redesign coupled with the lecturer’s orchestration of roles supported students to take more responsibility for their own and the group’s learning as part of deepening their understanding of education research methods.

Capturing Learning over Time for Supporting Pedagogical Decision Making

This chapter aims for a methodological contribution to online learning research and to the practical use of temporal information for pedagogical decision making. The authors address two interconnected concerns: how to describe the temporal features of teaching/learning activities and how to capture learning activities across learning applications and time. The main argument is that the analysis of temporal processes based on student data that can be automatically captured (in log files and through other means) will benefit from an explicit modeling of the teaching process, because in this way, some of the problems associated with a purely inductive approach to process and sequence mining can be overcome. In terms of advancing the state of the art, the authors suggest an approach that is grounded in meta-model architectures for process modeling and demonstrate its advantages with respect to tracking and monitoring students’ learning activities across learning applications. After providing some background on long-term learning, the chapter describes the conceptual as well as several of the implementation solutions developed in the EC-funded NEXT-TELL project.

Temporal Flexibility in Online University Courses in Spain and Australia

Temporal flexibility in learning is one of the main promises and advantages of online learning, as well as one of its most important characteristics. This advantage has been widely exploited by institutions, which offer several degrees online or constitute themselves fully online. Although it is clear that online university courses are able to be more flexible in time than face-to-face courses, it is also true that as formal educational institutions with accreditation responsibilities universities face some time constraints that prevent them from being absolutely flexible. In this chapter, the authors present a study to assess the levels of time flexibility of online courses in two universities in Spain and Australia. To do so, they administrated a Likert-scale questionnaire to 413 students at both universities to assess seven items of time flexibility. The results suggest that in both universities some items of time flexibility are quite high but other items are still low. The authors then discuss these results from the point of view of the nature of higher education institutions and their current role in society.

Temporal Considerations in Analyzing and Designing Online Discussions in Education

Time plays a fundamental role in both the benefits and challenges of using online discussions as a pedagogical tool. This makes temporal considerations critical both for conducting analyses of how learning takes places through online discussions and for designing effective structures to support discussion activity. However, despite the importance of temporal considerations for online discussions, the majority of research on online discussions and guidance for design does not explicitly address issues of time. This chapter provides an initial foundation for researchers, designers, and instructors of online discussions to engage in temporally aware analysis and design. The authors begin with an overview of the general temporal characteristics of online discussions and the analytic considerations they raise in terms of timescales, data aggregation, and units of analysis. They then use the categories of Duration, Sequence, Pace, and Salience as a framework for unpacking the temporal aspects of online discussions in more detail, providing guidance for designers and instructors to manage temporal challenges and harness temporal opportunities. The authors conclude with a call for greater theorization of temporal properties, processes, and their effects on learning to support more informed analysis and design of online discussions.

Supporting Learning Self-Regulation through a PLE

In the knowledge society, autonomous and Self-Directed Learning (SDL) have become particularly important for professional development and lifelong learning. This kind of learning can take place in physical and virtual spaces that may belong to formal institutions but also to extended communities and networks. In virtual spaces, self-directed learning and self-regulation skills and capacities play an important role in learners’ performance. For this reason, it is highly recommended to empower students to design and deploy educational spaces and projects able to fuse formal and informal contexts. The use of Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) can support learners to gain control over their experiences through Web-based tools and a task-orientated environment. It is known that time management is one relevant component of self-regulated learning. There are many Web-based tools that can be used to control time investment and promote planning but little research that takes into account time management in the design and use of PLEs. This chapter describes the results of the Just4me project1, aimed at designing and developing a PLE to support self-regulated learning dealing with time management as an important dimension in lifelong learning. From this perspective, this chapter contributes to the operationalization and analysis of the time factor in online learning regarding time management in self-regulated learning processes supported by PLEs.

Time and the Working Online Learner

This chapter explores the issues surrounding the time use of the internationally located postgraduate distance learner who combines study with a home life and employment. It considers the nature of these students as distinct from other students within higher education and the factors that combine to have an impact on their available time for study. Researching time is challenging, and this chapter considers the techniques used in time use studies to build a holistic view of students’ choices regarding the duration and timing of their everyday activities. These techniques are applied in an investigation of a cohort of students to reveal evidence of their daily time use and decision making that have an impact on effective course design. It summarises apparent trends in time use and pays particular attention to students’ use of technology and their engagement with online activities. Throughout, the chapter emphasises time as the critical factor in the successful delivery of contemporary online studies.