Owner: Terry Anderson
Group members: 54
The Canadian Initiative for Distance Education Research (CIDER) is a research initiative of the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL) and Centre for Distance Education (CDE), Canada's largest graduate and professional distance education programming provider, at Athabasca University, Canada's Open University.
CIDER sponsors a variety of professional development activities designed to increase the quantity and quality of distance education research. CIDER's professional development scope is broad, ranging from learning and teaching application, issues of finance and access, the strategic use of technology in distance education settings, and other factors that influence distance education in Canada.
To receive notices and Session invitations, please join our mailing list.
CIDER receives support from Athabasca University and UNESCO.
This study aims to understand factors that affect the behavioural intention of manufacturing engineers in Malaysia to use e-learning in the workplace. Two hundred usable online questionnaires were collected from respondents who were engineers in Malaysian manufacturing companies. The data were analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS version 3.2.6. Results supported all direct relationships except for the influence of prior experience in perceived ease of use. Interestingly, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use fully mediated between computer self-efficacy and behavioural intention to adopt. The study provides theoretical implication to the technology acceptance model by confirming the mediating role of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in the context of a manufacturing setting in an emerging market. In practical terms, the study provides insights to guide organizations in designing e-learning systems that are well-received by employees at the workplace.
Education dashboards are a means to present various stakeholders with information about learners, most commonly regarding the learners’ activity in online learning environments. Typically, an education dashboard for teachers will include some type of visual aids that encourage teachers to reflect upon learner behavior patterns and to act in accordance to it. In practice, this tool can assist teachers to make data-driven decisions, thus supporting their professional growth, however, so far, the use of education dashboards by teachers has been greatly understudied. In this research we report on two studies related to the associations between the use of education dashboards by elementary school teachers and the teachers’ professional growth. We used the framework defined by the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) Standards for Educators. In the first study, we took a quantitative approach (N=52 teachers), using an online self-report questionnaire, and found that the use of dashboards is positively associated with professional growth in the dimensions of facilitator, analyst, designer, and citizen. In the second study, we took a qualitative approach (N=9 teachers), using semi-structured interviews, to shed light on the mechanisms through which teachers benefit from the use of education dashboards.
As the adoption of open educational resources (OER) continues to increase, instructors have started using these resources for more than simply delivering content. Open pedagogy is a term used to describe a range of instructional practices that often incorporate OER into the learning process. This study examined student perceptions of two approaches to open pedagogy—student creation of multiple-choice questions and student creation of the syllabus and corresponding course assignments. The sample included responses from 84 students at two colleges in the United States. Results showed that students who created the syllabus and assignments had a more positive experience and were more likely to enroll in a future course that implements this strategy. Those in the multiple-choice course felt that the approach was less conducive to learning than traditional learning activities. The significant differences in student feedback on two different approaches, both of which could be termed open pedagogy, indicate that more research is needed to examine the efficacy of the wide variety of approaches to open pedagogy. Moreover, the perceived efficacy of one instantiation of open pedagogy does not equal the effectiveness of open pedagogy, broadly defined.
As instructors are forced to move their courses online, they are confronted by a sense of isolation and distance from their learners. Research has shown that feelings of loneliness are mitigated when presence is created in the online environment. An interpretive phenomenological analysis was conducted at a public university in the United States to answer the question: What are the determinants of presence for instructors in online teaching? Twenty-five online instructors from various disciplines, with diverse levels of experience teaching online, were recruited for the study. Interviews, analysis of course syllabi, and observations of course sites revealed five determinants of presence for online instructors: content, format, strategies, technology, and students. The crucial factor in deciding an instructor’s experience of presence was the degree of agency instructors had over these determinants. This paper introduces the Zones of Agency for Online Instructors model and describes how the model can be used to enhance instructors’ experiences of presence.
Post-Pandemic Future: Implications for Privacy The time has come for privacy to expand beyond compliance to include determinations about what should be protected and consideration of ethical implications, balancing institutional priorities with the rights of individuals. The intersection of issues including COVID-19, student success, and the emergence of the chief privacy officer (CPO) role highlights […]
The post Download Reports first appeared on Distance-Educator.com.The study examines the effectiveness of adaptive learning technology as a supplemental component in online precalculus courses using data from vendor software and a public university system in the southeastern United States. Outcomes examined include final exam score and course completion with a passing grade. The results highlight that not all students utilize the technology […]
The post The Effectiveness of Adaptive Learning Software on Exam and Course Outcomes in Online Precalculus Courses first appeared on Distance-Educator.com.This article presents a work-based learning and research approach to professional postgraduate education specifically in the case of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) programs. It highlights a prototype of the Cohort-based Advisory Team (CAT) model as a useful strategy. The authors propose that a design thinking approach that empathises with the student experience as the […]
The post The higher degree by research student as ‘master’: Utilising a design thinking approach to improve learner experience in higher degree research supervision first appeared on Distance-Educator.com.The University of Southern Queensland’s online study environment continues to grow with over 16,000 students studying online. Pre-Covid-19, online enrolments typically represent around 67% of all students studying at USQ. This article usefully analyses quantitative data in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot of an online peer-assisted learning program for first-year Law students. […]
The post Using Peer Assisted Learning to improve academic engagement and progression of first year online law students first appeared on Distance-Educator.com.
You are on a group profile page, the entry point into a group.
Groups can be open or closed. In a closed group, you must either receive an invitation or ask permission to join. Open groups can be joined by anyone just by clicking the 'join group' button. Joining a group usually allows you to make posts and participate in discussions within that group. Many groups have content that is visible to non members as well as content only available to members.
Group owners have a lot of control over the appearance and available tools in a group. If you are a group owner, do explore the group widgets that let you present the group exactly as you wish to whoever you wish, as well as providing tools to add group wire posts, discussion posts and so on, and do explore the 'edit group' options as there are many ways to tweak a group to look and behave exactly as you wish.
We welcome comments on public posts from members of the public. Please note, however, that all comments made on public posts must be moderated by their owners before they become visible on the site. The owner of the post (and no one else) has to do that.
If you want the full range of features and you have a login ID, log in using the links at the top of the page or at https://landing.athabascau.ca/login (logins are secure and encrypted)
Posts made here are the responsibility of their owners and may not reflect the views of Athabasca University.
We block sites that track your web browsing without your permission. If a link is greyed out, click once to enable sharing, once more to share.