In her keynote presentation, Dr. Christine Sorensen, Dean of the College of Education a the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, discusses potential challenges to the current educational system posed by learners who have only known a digital world.

In this keynote presentation, Sue Waters will guide you on a tour of how educators, from different educational sectors, utilize web technologies with their learners to collaborate on global projects. It will provide you with greater understanding of why educators are engaging in the projects while increasing your skills for empowering your students’ learning.

Networking and collaboration through various social media and platforms are increasingly being promoted in education. They promise to boost participation and create opportunities for learners and educators. While these promises appear desirable, they are not always easy to fulfill. In this keynote presentation, Barbara Dieu will try to identify the most common pitfalls when interacting in these environments and suggest ways to avoid or overcome them.

Frustrated while using a new tool like Second Life? Join us as we take a humorous look, seeing how others have survived their first days with dignity and good humor intact! Share your insights while having fun. Everyone is welcome!

This study was grounded on the assumptions that (a) Instructor and Learners Discourse (ILD) in Threaded Discussions (TDs) in online courses is of great importance to both MBA and MA learners; (b) there is a correlation between instructor and learners discourse; and (c) there is a difference in the frequency of postings between MBA and MA learners. This researcher recognized the importance of ILD for both learners taking online courses and the vitality of the online university.

Web 2.0 is taking a 100 year-old organization to the next level. Learn how we are using innovative technology to connect more than 35,000 members worldwide. Traditional methods used to share ideas and connect with one another were too costly and time consuming. Now members have the ability to collaborate and share information in real time, using tools such as instant messaging, discussion forums, and blogs.

The QM process will be reviewed including the 8-standard QM rubric used to provide the faculty member feedback on course design. Dr. Patti, associate professor at California University of Pennsylvania, had six of her online courses in Educational Leadership reviewed and approved for QM recognition. Both Dr. Kallis, Professor at California University of PA, and Dr. Patti have been trained as peer reviewers in the QM process.

The isolation of online learning often makes it difficult for students to articulate when they may be having difficulties in a course. The online instructor may not learn until the course is over that student satisfaction was low. Therefore, a collaborative assessment process integrated in online learning improves students and instructor relationships and unifies the online community by clearly identifying silimarities and differences in course satisfaction and engagement.

Studies indicate that computer-based programs using audio-based instructions are as effective as the traditional class formats (Hollandsworth, 2007). Normally, online courses will be packed and loaded with text which might make students feel bored and uncomfortable. Audio can be used as an additional element to support and enhance online contents and activities in number of ways.

The learners of today are not the same as the learners of days passed. The advancement of technology allows information to flow quickly, almost instantly. Many learners now are are more digitally inclined then the learners of the past because it is all around them. These digital natives, as they are called, like, even embrace new ways of learning.

Micro-blogging applications give people the opportunity to share short updates about themselves, their lives, and their whereabouts online. Users post messages about their status, their mood, their location; and recommend information and resources to others and generally anything else that comes to mind.

The goal of educators is becoming increasingly focused on preparing students for future success in a vocational oriented society. Providing students with opportunities to learn in “communities” allows experiences that parallel real-life situations. This module is designed to inform Middle School teachers of a growing trend toward Collaborative Learning (CL). Though unstructured in approach, the success of CL lay grounded on the foundation.

The primary instructional objective for this learning object is provide teachers with enough tools and information to plan their first Project Based Learning assignment after completing the object. A secondary objective is that teachers would be able to list several key concepts that are foundational to PBL.

Beginning instrumentalists are often unmotivated to practice. The researcher conducted an action research project to determine if GarageBand, a music recording software, could be used to motivate eighth grade music students to practice independently. Students completed three 25-minute practice sessions and at random intervals self-recorded if they were on task

This survey research study explored teacher-learner interactions in online education at the Center for Online and Distance Training (CODT), Travinh University, Vietnam. The research focused on how teachers and learners could interact in the online setting, how teachers could incorporate collaboration and communication in online learning environments, and how the teacher encouraged student interactivity. Research findings indicated that teachers and learners recognized the importance and effectiveness of teacher-learner interactions in online education.

The purpose of this study was to examine and identify how social networking technologies are currently being used in college classrooms. Furthermore, the study sought to identify ways in which such technologies, and more specifically, Social Networking Sites (SNS), can be used to contribute to teaching and learning.

Math classes are usually boring and distant to most students. The solution seems to be to pull away from traditional teaching practices and move towards learning styles. Every student does not learn in the same exact way. Enabling learners to approach something as complex as a mathematical word problem though graphing helps the learner process the data calculated, and integrating technology to ensure accuracy and a clearer picture of the data should increase student success.

Today’s classroom model is based on a 19th century industrial model that is not designed to serve the needs of the current 21st century students. This paper details the design and creation of a two-dimensional, side-scrolling video game on cell structure and function of the typical animal cell for seventh grade science students in an intermediate school in Hawaii.

Colleges today are requiring students to conduct more and more administrative business as well as academic tasks using computers and the Internet. Despite this, research shows there are still students entering college without these computer skills. This is particularly true at the community college level. This study examines the effects of a pre-semester basic computer skills workshop for students entering Hawaii Community College with little or no computer experience.

In the last few years there has been a marked increase in the number of educational and cultural institutions worldwide which are in the process of developing institutional repositories. Though there is a dramatic increase in the development of institutional repositories, it is, therefore, a curious phenomenon that developers of these institutional repositories often struggle with populating the repositories with content.

The purpose of this project is to develop and assess the effectiveness of multimedia modules assisting the learning of file management (FM) skills for adults at least 50 years of age. Older adults are capable of learning modern technologies but experience anxiety and physiological issues that may interfere with their learning of new skills. The incorporation of multimedia in lessons will provide multiple cues for adults to grasp information.

The number of older Americans is rapidly increasing and these individuals have unprecedented opportunities to improve their quality of life. However, one valuable option, the Internet, is passing many seniors by. The Internet can provide older adults with many valuable services, but in particular it can provide increased social interaction, which can relieve some of the isolation that many seniors feel.

The purpose of this study is to identify and implement functional parameters of non-interactive and interactive Web sites. The results of this study indicated what enhancements would better suit a Web designer’s choice for online media. By determining whether a Web site is functional, a sense of students’ online experiences such as engagement and motivation can be better understood.

Many special education teachers have not received adequate training to make informed decisions when implementing assistive technology tools to enhance the learning of their special needs students. Yet, schools are mandated to provide special education students appropriate assistive technology interventions to support their learning needs. For this study, a web-based instructional module on using switch-activated toys and devices for preschool children with motor impairments was developed to provide special educators a free on-demand informational resource.

Blended learning is increasingly being used within K-12 environments to deliver instruction. Some research suggests digital natives are efficient multitaskers who work collaboratively. For this study, a blending online learning module within a face-to-face computer-aided drafting course was offered as a “warming up period” for high school students. This approach provided students the opportunity to acquire online skills with greater learning flexibility to study its effect.

Online learning has become an increasingly popular mode of delivery in higher education. Many working adults and individuals living in rural areas depend on Distance education courses and programs to further their educational goals. There is however a fear factor for inexperienced technology users and people returning back to school after a long absence.

Many college students are misled into making uninformed choices about what to disclose online and avoid taking the necessary precautions to protect their privacy on social networking sites. This study was aimed at developing and evaluating a multimedia, Web-based, instructional module to educate college students about protecting privacy on social networking sites.

Virtual Campus Tour is an instructional design project, which delivers video campus tours for international students while they are still in their home countries. These students should be able to know the universities, facilities, and services before their arrival on campus. Two pilot episodes of the Virtual Campus Tour have been designed and delivered using Blogger, YouTube, Google Docs, and Google Form, to allow new international students to take virtual campus tours of the University of Hawaii at Manoa at their convenience.

New faculty are faced with unraveling a myriad of information; from university structure and values to expectations for performance and responsibilities. Traditional face-to-face orientations however do not always sufficiently address new faculty concerns. Time constraints and a lack of collegial relations are cited as predominant sources of stress for new faculty. And while new faculty express a desire for guidance, they also want autonomy to figure things out on their own. The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate online video as a method of delivering advice and policy information from current to newly-hired faculty at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s College of Education (COE).

On the island of Moloka’i where hands-on ‘Ike Ku’una (traditional learning) is still the norm for teaching most cultural knowledge, a group of eight students in the 4th grade at a local elementary school participated in a Hawaiian garden project. Their work was gathered and preserved through video they created. The study results indicate the benefits and issues that arise when incorporating technology into traditionally hands-on instructional methods.

Video mashing, game modding, Youtube, wikis, blogs, and the communities that rise up around them are becoming yet another facet of our communication landscape. But how effective are these expressions in communicating meaning? What is their potential role in learning? This preliminary study uses examples of digital user-generated content, specifically digital stories and movies, to examine the types of information that appear to convey effectively.

Graduate students in a bereavement studies course used an e-journal for the duration of the 16-week semester. These graduated students benefited both in the short-term and in the long-term, from keeping a weekly e-Journal and completing a series of assignments on journaling.

This conference paper documents the experience for virtual learners in a Visual Learning Environment. A story-board walk-thru illustrates eCollege and Elluminate revealing components of an online learning environment for students at National University. This paper explores how synchronized lessons can support problem solving in information age using two case studies illuatrating on-line high tech courses previous taught in the classroom.

In schools across our country, we are surrounded by natives—digital natives—those born after 1980 who seamlessly integrate technology into many aspects of their lives. This paper will investigate one particular method of communication referred to as text-messaging. More specifically, this paper will focus on Twitter, a relatively new form of text-messaging called microblogging, and its implications for education.

Debates rage about the appropriateness of using social networking in teaching, with arguments ranging from waste of time and distraction from academic goals to needed to reach net generation student. This paper explores the range of current social networking choices and argues that like any tool, it should carefully evaluated in terms of affordances and course goals.

In this paper I will connect the dots from Freire through Lappé then into online learning theory and practice through Communities of Inquiry research. I will delve into the transformational pedagogies of empowerment which are coming together into what I am designating a pedagogy of the connected. In the process of connecting all these dots, I hope to bring into focus the promise and power of the 21st century e-Educative revolution which I propose this pedagogy of the connected facilitates.

Virtual professional communities of practice are may provide important opportunities, communication, and supports for participants in the online world. Within the field of education, for teachers and faculty specifically, such communal participation may greatly benefit professional practice and student learning.

During the past few years the number of courses offered online has greatly increased as technology has made delivery of such courses more feasible. Blended learning environment amalgamates the advantages of distance education with the effective aspects of traditional education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of blended learning instruction in terms of students’ satisfaction.

Communication Technologies have immersed themselves in our everyday lives reshaping communities and expanding boundaries creating virtual communities of practice. The Deaf community is no exception. Short messaging service (SMS), instant messaging, email, and chat are included in activities manipulated through technological devices that are used in creating communities.

The online CMS has become popular in recent years in higher education institutions due to the implementation of distance education in Greece. The purpose of this study was to examine the students’ perceptions toward physical education courses using the online CMS, e-Class at Democritus University of Thrace.

This paper looks at strategies and the technology used by current on line instructors to create a sense of community in their classes and technological advances that will be present in future class practices. This paper is an investigation of community building among the students and between students and their instructors in online courses.

Working parents strive to achieve the delicate balance of succeeding in the workplace along with caring for those who depend upon them the most: their children. A sense of pride can come from finding professional success in a rewarding career path just as personal pride can develop as working parents spend quality time with and watch their children grow and evolve into well-rounded individuals.

School districts in Colorado are required to have an induction program for new teachers that lasts at least one year. The University of Colorado at Denver (UCD) and Denver Public Schools (DPS) attempted to develop and sustain an online community of practice to support the teacher induction process. Providing a virtual space and paying for teacher participation proved to be less popular than meeting face to face.

This paper presents a pilot study conducted to begin learning how digital storytelling is manifesting on YouTube, which is currently the most widely used of all video-sharing services. A relevance sample of 100 digital stories was obtained from YouTube. The videos were analyzed to determine how closely they match published characteristics of digital stories and to what extent interactive features of YouTube were utilized.

The Math Forum is an enduring virtual community. The aliveness of this community was measured using seven principles derived by Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder (2002) as design principles for communities of practice. The principles proved to be good measure of aliveness in an existing community. As a point of discussion, a conjecture was made that the principles are necessary but not sufficient for a community to be alive.

The aim of this paper is to point out the achievements and the drawbacks of the integration of Open Source Technology and Web 2.0 tools with traditional classroom teaching through the account of a supplementary course that took place in an Italian secondary high school last summer holidays.

This paper will discuss an ongoing project at Bryant & Stratton College to prepare metadata within the DotNetNuke content management system for link-level bibliographic description on the College’s Virtual Library. Specifically, the paper will discuss the creation of metadata according to the best practices recommendations of the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative and established library cataloging standards.

This paper summarized findings from an empirical study that evaluated the effectiveness of a technology incentive project, MEET, on facilitating the adoption of a web technology CCC Confer among college instructors. Results show that teachers’ technology adoption can be facilitated by providing certain incentives.

Educational systems have historically led the way for freely sharing knowledge. As the costs of education rise many are curtailed from continuing their pursuit of knowledge. To be successful as a student or educator, we rely upon our computers and our word processing and office suite program. Popular belief is there is only one choice, the priority software, Microsoft Office. However, there is a viable alternative office productivity suite, by Sun Microsystems.

Two groups of freshman students learning English as a foreign language participated in the study. Before instruction, pretest results showed no significant differences between both groups in their English proficiency level. Then both groups received the same traditional in-class instruction that depended on the textbook only.

Online teaching raises a different perspective on communication and the positive aspects of emotional labor. It defies any concept of being impersonal and “distant” from the student. Online teaching is a “ministry,” if the faculty understand the emotions, the pathos, and the anxieties, both personal and professional, of his or her students.

According to Warner (1996), “for nearly one hundred years Hawaiian has been a severely repressed minority language in its homeland” (p. 1). With less than 1,000 native speakers left, it was up to the Hawaiian community to perpetuate the language. The Hawaiian Language Immersion Program (HLIP) was established in 1987 by a grassroots effort of parents and Hawaiian Language advocates. Students in grades K-12 are taught the Hawaii Content & Performance Standards through the medium of the Hawaiian Language

This article traces the main five phases needed in order to integrate a social network successfully in an online graduate classroom: familiarization, utilization, integration, reorientation, and evolution. Social networks support students to be involved with an online classroom’s activities that enhance the sense of community and help them to have better achievements because of the regular interaction.

Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) has been in the education industry for more than 18 years. It is well known for quality course delivery. However, IIT has only been using face to face course delivery. This paper discusses the change management procedures that have taken place in the institute to deliver courses innovatively with the use of e-learning.

The overall focus of this paper is an examination of the concept of community and how it can facilitate a community of practice through the use of a computer mediated discussion tool called a listserv. This paper will discuss communities of practice that develop within a working or social environment and more specifically how listserv technology can facilitate the exchange of knowledge within a community.

Health care will continue to experience significant growth because of an aging population and longer life expectancies; therefore, demand for doctors and health care workers will equally increase to keep up with current population growth rates. Educators need to teach the next generation of doctors and health care workers, effective web-based communication practices for the sharing of ideas and knowledge in order to meet the challenges by such growth.

The concept of wellness must be acknowledged, developed and infused in all areas of an online community in order to provide students, faculty, and staff with information and suggestions for maintaining healthy, well balanced lives, thus encouraging better student and faculty participation and retention.

This presentation reviews the many stress factors that both faculty and students face while working in the online environment: stressful conditions including caring for family or friends who are stricken with Alzheimer’s Disease, autism and/or other physically and mentally challenging handicaps.

Virtual worlds can enable graduate students to move beyond traditional face-to-face learning activities to more immersive virtual learning environments. Applications based on an interactive technology offer the potential for students to substantively increase their knowledge, participate in immediate problem solving applications, and interact in a learning environment that involves peer review as well as synchronous instructor feedback.

This presentation highlights the work of two universities’ work with Second Life: The M3 Project at the University of Southampton in the UK focused on international students coming to the UK to study; The Chinese Tea House project at the University of Melboune focused on students who would be going to study in China.

Topics for this session cover: the inclusion of Web 2.0 features for learner access in various countries; the purchase of options related to course fees and the purchasing of texts, and, the challenge of how to navigate the use of such services within challenging geo-political boundaries.

Among the Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, social networks, etc.) wikis are apparently suitable for collaborative writing tasks to construct knowledge with others and increase students’ writing motivation and proficiency in EFL settings. The features of wikis allow users to post contents, edit pages, discuss contents, and view the history of the revised activities on wiki pages.

The purpose of this presentation is to describe the use of Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theory when studying information literacy in nursing. Understanding information literacy through a DoI theoretical lens helps bridge the gap between research and practice in a high-tech industry that is becoming increasingly reliant on credible Internet resources for dissemination of research and information.

The presenters will briefly review the literature in Web 2.0 use in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). A growing body of research by English as a Second and Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teachers and teacher educators demonstrates that rich cross-cultural, computer-mediated learning environments employing Web 2.0 tools are transforming language learning and professional development practices around the US and the world.

The addition of new interactive tools such as live classroom and audio discussions through the online delivery platforms allows participants to interact verbally and visually. This session will discuss the use of the live classroom and audio discussions technologies from a student perspective. Students’ feedback from three online sections in regards to their experience of using those technologies will be discussed.

This review explores: a) what knowledge is and where authority rests, b) the relationship of reacculturative conversation facilitated by knowledge communities, c) the role of transition communities, and d) the critical criteria of “language.” The focus here, therefore, is theory over practice because Bruffee (1999) makes repeatedly clear a non-foundational understanding of knowledge building leads to distributed authority which is imperative to implementing sophisticated levels of collaborative engagement.

The Punahou Summer Technology Lab School is an ongoing program with the goal of providing opportunities for all teachers to explore the use of technology in the classroom and expand one’s understanding of frameworks in instructional technology. In the summer of 2008, the Lab School embarked on a change to its traditional classroom-only format by creating a learning community using the popular social networking tool, Ning.

This session will share ideas of how to create a culture of learning in an online class at the university level so that it will impact the vision and use of technology at the K-12 level. Regardless of age, individuals learn differently. Creating an online learning environment that utilizes differentiated strategies to meet the needs of a diverse student population will be addressed.

This paper deals with a new paradigm of learning which takes account of reticular relationships among people and considers knowledge as a fluid running through ties within a global network. In particular it seeks to evidence the relationship between informal learning dynamics, which can be observed in virtual contexts, and Web social software that people use everyday.

This paper provides practical guidance for linking tests to learning objectives and associated rubrics. These methods were developed in the context of developing course level assessments and associated training for an online university

This session will demonstrate the use and abuse of using video and audio in online environments. It will address the pedagogy and strategies for implementing various video elements. Portions of this program will use full-screen live streaming video.

The changes in technology over the past years have resulted in more tools available. The more complex the software, systems, and the upgrades, the more I look for creative projects to assign. I aim to guide graduate students into experiences that will enhance their learning and will suggest ideas for how they can use similar projects in their own teaching

This ongoing, small-scale, mixed methodology study seeks to examine the Online Faculty Learning Community (OFLC) model of professional development and how effectively it works in a fully online environment with mainly adjunct instructors (approximately 97%).

This forum will demonstrate the use of a Google docs spreadsheet to incorporate all the data collected by my 100-level introductory biology students. I use this format to involve students in the data entry, data presentation, and validity checking process of science. Participants in this forum will be encouraged to share their ideas on how they currently are or might incorporate Google docs into their teaching repertoires.

Second Life has been a popular topic in TCC in the past few years. Virtual reality is something more and more students are making an active part of their lives. To fully reach our students and tap into the technological skills they have developed through their previous technological experiences, educators need to seek ways they can use the virtual world to make our students’ learning experiences ones they can use to their fullest potential.

Anonymity provides a sense of safety and cover for both the online student and the instructor. It also generates a feeling of belonging that comes from being evaluated solely on the basis of one’s work since cultural beliefs, sex, race, religion, sexual preference, economic class, age, and physical ability are not easily “read” and responded/reacted to.

Blended learning is increasing in popularity in institutions around the world, but what about the workplace learning sector? This workshop will detail a blended learning program that has been running in some New Zealand workplaces for five years, discuss the intersections between workplace and blended learning theories, and provide ample opportunities for participants to discuss their own experiences and formulate new ideas.

Distance learning provides a unique challenge for educators within fields that require competency in the performance of specific skills, such as those required of a healthcare professional. This presentation will discuss the challenges and benefits of incorporating hands-on experiences and explore the process of establishing such a program.

While the potential for educational organizations planning for educational activities in virtual environments is being recognized, less emphasis has been placed on the potential for these environments for self-directed and/or informal learning. Work that is currently being done in the creation of an environmental and conceptual landscape for informal learning will be explored in this presentation.

Participants will explore a Second Life build aimed at helping new Second Life users learn how to communicate. The environment is modeled loosely on a Victorian pleasure garden, applying principles of environmental psychology, constructivism and transformative learning.

We have built an online dental hygiene degree completion program from the ground up in the last two years. This program is extremely interactive – it relies heavily on student-student collaboration and interaction as well as extensive involvement of one or more instructors per course.

This forum will demonstrate and discuss two examples of scenario-based learning (SBL) in an online environment.

Working with writers online promises to be egalitarian, democratic, and collaborative, but it is not necessarily so. This presentation will examine the ways that technology can potentially disempower students and how tutor training and careful writing center practice can keep technology in its place as a vehicle for meeting our pedagogical goals rather than as a determiner of practice.

Librarians have been exploring and experimenting with the use of Web 2.0 tools including social networking tools such as Facebook, blogs, wikis, and virtual worlds to reach patrons, for professional development and to network with other professionals in the field. This session will explore some of the innovative uses of social networks by librarians with special attention to librarians and professional networking on the virtual world Second Life.

Two academic measurements of program success used in university settings have been the scholarship of the faculty and the scholar of the students. Faculty scholarship is defined as published research, participation in workshops, facilitating conferences and representation in media archival (newsprint, radio or television) opportunities. Scholarship is any peer-reviewed activity or effort in which faculty participate that furthers the body of knowledge in a given industry.

Recent research (Johnson 2006) has shown that the kind of critical thinking used when playing video games is the same kind of thinking which college instructors seek to encourage. An effective freshman composition course could be set up using video game strategies: finding and gathering materials to build a magic object, developing techniques to avoid “bosses” and other obstacles, solving puzzles to move from level to level, etc., with the final goal of the “game” being a college-level essay.

Many schools are implementing online instructor evaluation mechanisms (peer or administrative evaluation). Depending upon the school and design of the distance education division, online instructor evaluation seems to vary between two extremes – adherence to policy or adherence to best practices. Attendees of this session will be encouraged to share their lessons learned with online instructor evaluation.

This paper presents some insight into the author’s experience in teaching and assessing students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Teaching online is more complex than many faculty think. The mentality of taking an on-campus course and simply putting the same materials online is a technique that doesn’t work.

This session addresses the benefits of online libraries through the use of an embedded librarian. The embedded librarian is a part of an online course to assist students with their library needs and to help faculty answer questions related to library services and resources.

In this session, we will share a collaborative wiki created by a self-organized, self-managed group of online graduate students. We will discuss our observations and recommendations for using wikis as a collaborative learning tool.

This session presents a three-phase model for online advisement. In an online environment, it is essential to build and sustain learning communities. Collaboration among faculty advisers, students, and mentors from the field are necessary in developing these communities. The online advisement model provides a three-phase approach to advisement.

This presentation will discuss how we train students and faculty in the use of Smarthinking online tutoring services at the Bryant & Stratton College Cleveland Downtown Campus Library. The presentation will address the problems we have encountered with students’ trying to access this online resource.

This is an analysis of online MBA student persistence and performance as it relates to gender. This sample of convenience consists of 150 students taking various sections of an introductory course for management students. In an effort to sample a population from which some generalizable conclusions could be drawn, these data were gathered from spring, summer and fall sections of the same course at the same university.

One way to promote faculty retention is to connect them to those they have the most in common with, giving them a sense of belonging and an opportunity to contribute. This General Session will demonstrate the need and value of an online faculty community and offer suggestions and tips for create one.

This game was first tested over the Internet with online classes and replicated in a face-to-face classroom. The extensive field testing has shown that the Judge Jimmy game is an excellent tool for educators to use when teaching critical thinking and writing skills. Participants in the forum will tour the online game, view students performing in a sample “mock trial,” and end with an opportunity to ask questions.