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Canadian Initiative for Distance Education Research - CIDER
The CIDER Sessions Series includes monthly sessions running from September 2018 to June 2019. These sessions feature presentations by leading researchers in distance, distributed, and online learning.
OPEN CALL: Do you have research to share with our CIDER audience? To suggest a session or nominate a speaker, contact the Sessions host and manager. Download our full call.
See below for our full 2017-18 Season.
Technical note
Note that Adobe Connect uses Flash. If you have not used Adobe Connect with your computer, you can take a moment now to pre-visit our presentation room to make sure all necessary software is downloaded ahead of time.
Please log onto the CIDER sessions - https://athabascau.adobeconnect.com/cider/ - as a "guest". You will then be prompted for your name, and you could add your location or institution as well, if you wish.
| June 6, 2018 State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada Michael Barbour, Touro University Mare Island Randy LaBonte, Canadian eLearning Network (CANeLearn) The 2017 issue of the State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada report marks its 10th year, and the fifth year of the Canadian eLearning Network's (CANeLearn) support of this research. The report continues to be Canada's own benchmark for the expanding use of technology-supported blended and online learning in Canada. The anniversary report continues the traditional incisive analysis of the state of K-12 e-learning in Canada as well as an expanded collection of research briefs and a description of several vignettes providing considerable insight about innovation and new approaches emerging in online and blended practices in K-12 programs across Canada. Full results of the research and work undertaken in this study, including all annual reports and associated papers, are published on the State of the Nation: K-12 E-Learning in Canada project website (http://k12sotn.ca/). This session will provide a synopsis and overview of the latest version of this annual report. |
| May 2, 2018 Social Presence in Online Learning: A Scoping Study David Mykota, University of Saskatchewan This presentation reports the findings of a scoping review of the construct social presence. The methodology follows the design for scoping reviews as advocated by Arksey and O'Malley (2005). A scoping study is desirable because by synthesizing the research literature the opportunity to identify practical guidelines for the development of social presence is facilitated. A two-stage screening process resulted in 105 studies identified for inclusion with data extracted using a standardized form. A descriptive numerical analysis and qualitative content analysis for those studies included was undertaken. Results from the manuscripts, screened for inclusion and synthesized from the data extracted in the scoping review, provide strategies for the structuring of social presence; the potential benefits of effective affective communication in an online environ; and an overview of the evolution of the construct social presence. Future research that links both the theoretical and empirical frameworks that validate social presence across a variety of online and e-learning environs is recommended so that best practices for excellence in higher education can continue to be made possible. |
| April 4, 2018 Panel Session: Implementation of Universal Design for Learning in Online Learning at Alberta Postsecondary Institutions UDL Committee, eCampus Alberta Universal design for learning (UDL) provides educational institutions and developers with a set of principles to use to ensure that the learning environment and instructional materials support the needs of the diverse range of students attending postsecondary education in traditional, blended and online courses. In the winter and spring of 2015 a set of UDL modules was developed by eCampus AB based on a proposal submitted by the UDL Advisory Committee of that organization. Committee members included individuals from Alberta colleges, a university and Polytechnic. In the fall of 2015 the modules were released to the Alberta PSE sector under a Creative Commons license. Advisory committee members continued to meet to discuss the roll out and promotion of the modules as well as the various uses to which the modules were being put at their institutions. The panel for this session has representation from a variety of the provinces PSI's (Keyano College, Red Deer College, NAIT and Athabasca University) and will provide an overview of the modules, the various ways in which the modules are being used at the four Alberta PSI's and the user perspective (faculty, advisors, students) on the implementation of the modules. |
| March 21, 2018 Breaking Barriers in Home Study Science: Home Labs and Science Distance Education Martin Connors, Athabasca University Farook Al-Shamali, Athabasca University Home labs have had fundamental practical impact on science distance education, yet may not well known to distance education researchers as it has mainly been of a practical nature. This session will examine how the traditional requirement that science freshman courses have an experimental component was met through home labs and other innovations in distance education. |
| March 7, 2018 Presentation Design and Video Production for Education and Teaching Online: A User Guide Jonas Thorén, KTH Royal Institute of Technology The development of online education is running fast, driven by organizations and platforms like edX and a number of universities around the world at the forefront. This global digital transformation in education comes with great challenges. Universities need to provide a support service and encourage their teachers to spend time on learning how to adapt their presentations for online education. This presentation will introduce a user guide designed for teachers but which can also serve as a source of inspiration for media teams helping teachers to produce online material. The focus is on presentation design and video production, providing an overview of what it really means to go online with education.
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| February 7, 2018 The Open Educators Factory Project: In Search for the Open Educator Fabio Nascimbeni, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja (UNIR) Daniel Burgos, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja (UNIR) The Open Educators Factory (OEF) project stems from the assumption that true progress in terms of openness in higher education (as well as in other educational sectors) requires a major cultural change in the mindset of all stakeholders from public policy makers to institutional leaders, to teachers and researchers, to students and parents. The aim of the Open Educators Factory project is to explore how to transform university teachers from "agents of resistance" into "agents of change" for openness in education. This presentation will discuss results based on data collected from more than 400 HE teachers. |
| January 17, 2018 LOOCs: Sustainable Open Education for a Small University Kathy Snow, Cape Breton University M. Tanya Brann-Barrett, Cape Breton University In 2014 CBU launched its first formal test of the Open education through a course called "Learning from the knowledge Keepers". This course surpassed all of our expectations, going viral and within a few weeks of opening had over 10,000 enrolled participants. We learned from this experience that Massive education is not an area we are ready to participate in because of the impact on learning experience as well as internal resources. Moving forward we developed a different approach based on the same model as the knowledge keepers but with the intention of maintaining the personal connection to the university. |
| November 1, 2017 Conceptualizing Formal and Informal Learning in MOOCs as Activity Systems Kathlyn Bradshaw, Algonquin College This CIDER session considers formal and informal learning activities in massive open online courses (MOOCs). MOOCs are often broadly positioned as either cMOOCs (based on connectivistic pedagogies) or xMOOCs (based on cognitivistic/behaviouristic pedagogies). This presentation provides findings from an in situ case study - examining an emergent, hybrid MOOC design - focused on establishing the presence of both formal and informal learning activities in a network-based hybrid approach to MOOC design. The establishment of these two activity systems extended to include opportunities for boundary crossings between them. An outcome is a cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)-informed model that extends commonly used and recognized MOOC typologies. |
| October 4, 2017 Social Presence in Two Massive Open Online Courses: Results from a Doctoral Study Dr. Matthew Stranach, University of Ontario Institute of Technology In this session, the author will share research from his 2017 doctoral study on social presence in two MOOCs. The purpose of this study was to explore the role social presence plays within two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by two American institutions of higher education through the Canvas and Ed.X learning software consortia. Descriptive multiple case study methodology was used for the study, with data collected through surveys, individual interviews, focus group interviews, and discussion board postings. The author will discuss participation in the study, study results, and implications for theory and practice - for the design and facilitation of MOOCs, and for future CoI research in relation to these courses. |
