Within the overall framework of design-based research, this paper reports on a study that focused on evaluating an online training course for online instructors. This intervention was designed as a possible solution to the problem facing some higher education institutions of how to provide quality, accessible training for mostly part-time instructors who are making the transition to teaching online. More...

This paper describes a survey of online learning which attempts to determine online learning providers’ awareness of potential security risks and the protection measures that will diminish them. The authors use a combination of two methods: blog mining and a traditional literature search. The findings indicate that, while scholars have identified diverse security risks and have proposed solutions to mitigate the security threats in online learning, bloggers have not discussed security in online learning with great frequency. More...

M-learning will play an increasingly significant role in the development of teaching and learning methods for higher education. However, the successful implementation of m-learning in higher education will be based on users’ acceptance of this technology. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to study the factors that affect university students’ intentions to accept m-learning. More...

Table of Contents

Editorial

Research Articles

Full Issue

IRRODL Volume 14, Number 5

PDF 1-303

This study assesses the effectiveness of internet-based distance learning (IBDL) through the VClass live e-education platform. The research examines (1) the effectiveness of IBDL for regular and distance students and (2) the distance students’ experience of VClass in the IBDL course entitled Computer Programming 1. The study employed the common definitions of evaluation to attain useful statistical results. More...

The purpose of this research study was to explore the influence of Confucian-heritage culture on Chinese learners’ online learning and engagement in online discussion in U.S. higher education. More specifically, this research studied Chinese learners’ perceptions of power distance and its impact on their interactions with instructors and peers in an online setting. More...

Our study explores the influence of e-learning on individual and collective empowerment by using data collected from e-learning class participants of Korea’s Cyber-Education Center. For the survey, a questionnaire was sent to each of the 41 central ministries’ education and training officers (ETO) via email. More...

This research explored how educators with limited programming experiences learned to design mobile apps through peer support and instructor guidance. Educators were positive about the sense of community in this online course. They also considered App Inventor a great web-based visual programming tool for developing useful and fully functioning mobile apps. More...

Online distance learners are in a particularly complex relationship with the educational institutions they belong to (Bayne, Gallagher, & Lamb, 2012). For part-time distance students, arrivals and departures can be multiple and invisible as students take courses, take breaks, move into independent study phases of a programme, find work or family commitments overtaking their study time, experience personal upheaval or loss, and find alignments between their professional and academic work. More...

This article reviews the discourse of mission in large distance teaching and open universities, in order to analyse the theories of development and social justice that are claimed or may be inherent in them. It is suggested that in a number of cases the claims are unsupported or naive. More...