The H.E.R.O.s of Online Education: What makes students succeed despite the odds?

The study of psychological capital (PsyCap) is prevalent in organizations globally and is part of the movement towards attaining positive organizational behavior. This concept is slowly being transferred to the education realm with teachers becoming more mindful of students’ inner H. E. R. O. (Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism). Little research, however, has been conducted upon the PsyCap of university students in fully online programs. The purpose of this study was to determine what aspects of students’ psychological capital lead to success despite adversity. An exploratory qualitative methodology was used to interview five participants from the United States, Canada, Africa, France, and Serbia in order to determine whether or not PsyCap influenced their drive to complete their online graduate programs of study at the University of Liverpool. This convenience sample yielded compelling results for future research and indicated similarities in hope and efficacy as well as differences in gender regarding participant resilience and approach to challenges. Further research is needed to determine whether gender does play a critical role in online students’ PsyCap, especially resilience. Another revealing result was that the participants credited their online instructors for motivating and discouraging them based on their feedback, grading, and overall communication. This points to a possible relationship between the students’ PsyCap and the three online teaching presences in communities of inquiry (cognitive, teaching, and social).

An Investigation of the Factors that Predict University Instructors’ Intentions to Adopt Social Media into Their Teaching

This study identifies the factors that affect faculty members’ intentions to use social media tools in their teaching activities at the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU). Based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) model, which was designed on a quantitative approach, the study indicates that attitude and subjective norms are significant predictors for faculty members’ intentions to integrate social media into their teaching, but the perceived behavior control is not a significant factor. The results also show that there was no significant difference in faculty members’ intention to adopt social media for teaching purposes that could be attributed to their gender, nationality, or academic ranks. However, there was a significant difference in faculty intentions between those who teach in Arts and Education colleges and faculty members who teach in Health colleges. Specifically, faculty in the Arts and Education colleges show more significantly intentions to use social media than those in the Health colleges.

Creating a Framework for Understanding and Defining Flipped Learning

Although flipped instruction is becoming increasingly common, there is still discussion and debate regarding how to define it and distinguish it from other forms of instruction. This article proposes a framework with which to visualize the constituent parts of blended learning and to define what makes a course “flipped.” The definition of flipped instruction provided by this framework can be summarized as instruction that provides large amounts of information online along with face-to-face (F2F) engagement but provides little information during F2F meetings and has relatively low online interaction. This article also presents the results of an empirical study (n = 54) in which students in a flipped scientific writing course participated in an online discussion forum, and a correlation was found between posting discussion topics and scores on in-class group writing assignments. A further connection was found between scores on these group writing assignments and student performance on individual writing assignments. Based on these results, the study recommends that online discussion forums can be used to better connect the online and F2F components of a flipped course.

USING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND LIBRARY OPERATIONS IN SUPPORT OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

This paper argues that the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and library operations has become inevitable to sustain higher education institutions (HEIs). The deteriorating state of educational standards in Africa, amidst other prevalent factors of nonpolicy formulation and implementation; increasing student enrolment; competition among HEIs for academic excellence; poor technological tools for teaching and learning; inadequate skills among professionals (academics and non-academics); and the changing nature of best practices in the teaching profession are all reasons for this. Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were applied in this study of Delta State, Nigeria IHEs. The qualitative approach made use of interpretive content analysis of documents harvested from the databases of Scopus and Web of Science, while the quantitative approach applied the survey research method through a questionnaire for data collection. The findings revealed that different types of ICTs and library operations were key pillars in the sustainability of higher education institutions in Delta State and that the scientific value of available ICTs and library operations was embedded in transitioning from a traditional to a virtual platform for efficient and effective service delivery, restructuring the library environment, and unending accessibility. The study recommends continuous acquisition of recent digital technological tools to sustain and enhance library operations and quality service delivery in HEIs, since ICTs and library operations are the bedrock of HEIs.

THE PROTOTYPE OF 4CS-BASED BLENDED LEARNING CONTENT

This research intended to produce a valid and practical 4Cs-based blended learning content prototype for higher education. This study employed a research and development (R&D) model with a subject validity trial by experts and a practicality trial by lecturers and students of informatics in a computer engineering education program. The trial data were collected through a questionnaire developed from the 4Cs of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, as well as observations that were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. The validity results of blended learning content for all 4Cs indicators, especially the collaboration indicator, were in the very valid categories. The practicality results of blended learning content for all indicators of 4Cs were in the very practical category, especially the critical thinking indicator from the lecturers and the communication indicator from students. The total results of practicality from lecturers and students showed that a communication indicator was in the very practical category and the highest when compared to the other three indicators. Separated from lecturers and students, the collaboration indicator was in the very practical category, but it was the lowest compared to the other three indicators. Although the results of evaluating the blended learning content for each indicator of 4Cs tended to be different, all indicators met validity and practicality. The results of this research have significant implications for the development of content, the presentation of sources, and the use of blended learning activities to meet the demand to develop 21st century skills as demonstrated by 4Cs.

PERCEPTIONS OF READINESS FOR ONLINE LEARNING FOLLOWING PARTICIPATION IN A MULTIPARTICIPANT ONLINE COURSE

Since online lessons lack a physical presence, different technological means are needed to create an environment for various teaching, learning, and evaluation methods and for creating a sense of belonging for students. This study investigated student-teachers’ attitudes, approaches, and willingness to engage with computer-assisted teaching and online teaching after they had participated in a multiparticipant online course. A mixed methods research paradigm combined both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. The research findings indicate that the course goals were attained in terms of student-teachers’ acquiring the contents and attitudes, and that the careful design and organization of the course site, learning materials, and methods all contributed to the students’ acquisition of the contents and ability to cope with online learning and form positive attitudes regarding online teaching and learning. Although student-teachers felt that the online learning style was not suitable for them, they underwent a personal process, overcame difficulties, and developed positive attitudes towards ICT and its implementation. Hopefully, the research findings can inform the preparation of an optimal teaching-learning process for online teaching.

IMPROVING ONLINE INSTRUCTION: A STUDY OF ONLINE COURSE DELIVERY METHODS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate student perceptions of different online course delivery methods. In order to develop the experimental course delivery method, the researchers used universal design for learning (UDL) guidelines as a theoretical framework. Responses to pre- and postsurvey items provided data to examine whether an online course developed using UDL principles afforded a more positive learning experience. This study provides online student perceptions that indicate the online learning environment developed with the UDL framework is preferred by students.

An Investigation of the Factors that Predict University Instructors’ Intentions to Adopt Social Media into Their Teaching

This study identifies the factors that affect faculty members’ intentions to use social media tools in their teaching activities at the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU). Based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) model, which was designed on a quantitative approach, the study indicates that attitude and subjective norms are significant predictors for faculty members’ intentions to integrate social media into their teaching, but the perceived behavior control is not a significant factor. The results also show that there was no significant difference in faculty members’ intention to adopt social media for teaching purposes that could be attributed to their gender, nationality, or academic ranks. However, there was a significant difference in faculty intentions between those who teach in Arts and Education colleges and faculty members who teach in Health colleges. Specifically, faculty in the Arts and Education colleges show more significantly intentions to use social media than those in the Health colleges.

AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS OF APPS FOR STUDENT LEARNING

Cell phone usage, particularly app usage, is pervasive among today’s college students. Utilizing the uses and gratifications theory, the current study explores students’ perceptions of the utility of smartphone apps in an educational context. The findings highlight the various types of apps that students use for academic purposes, which apps they perceive to be most important to their success in the classroom, and the apparent usefulness of these apps in both individual and group contexts. Implications of the study for both faculty and students are discussed.

INTERDISCIPLINARITY IN ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING RESEARCH: A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY

This study examines the interdisciplinarity of the field of online teaching and learning research using a framework for the bibliometric assessment of the interdisciplinarity of scholarly journals, adapted from the work of Imad Al-Sabbagh, as captured in the journal The Internet and Higher Education, a top-cited journal in this field. It analyzed the citations (n = 21854) for all articles published in the history of the journal and presents findings for the complete history of the journal and trends throughout the history of the journal. The findings indicate that online learning and teaching research is a highly interdisciplinary field that builds on research from dozens of disciplines.