This study explored the capacity of Web-based, group communication systems to support case-based teaching and learning. Eleven graduate students studying at a distance were divided into three groups to collaborate on a case study using either a synchronous voice, an asynchronous voice, or a synchronous text communication system. More...

This article reports on an exploratory research effort in which the extent of MBA student learning on twelve specific competencies relevant to effective business performance was assessed. The article focuses on the extent to which differences in student learning outcomes may be influenced by one of three different types of instructional delivery: on-campus, distance, and executive MBA. It affirms the high quality of learning that can occur via distance education and proposes a strategy to conduct summative, program-level assessment. More...

Most institutions of postsecondary and higher education are creating or adopting quality statements, standards, and criteria regarding their niche of the “eLearning enterprise.” In doing so, they have a tendency to reinvent the wheel. This article summarizes current published quality standards in the US, and analyzes and organizes them into a nine-cell matrix. It concludes with discussion of emerging issues with respect to the nine standards-areas. More...

Good tutoring requires appropriate interpersonal and pedagogical skills. Tutor personality is a major factor affecting how tutors communicate and deals with students, and yet it is a largely unexplored context of distance education. Using the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI)* this paper examines how the personality of tutors’ affects their teaching effectiveness at a distance learning institution in Hong Kong. The results are compared to those reported by Chan (2001) in a similar study using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The results indicate that certain scales on the Chinese Tradition factor of the CPAI are significantly related to tutors’ teaching performance, and that the MBTI could not subsume all the CPAI scales. More...

This article presents a comparative study of online education systems in Norwegian, Swedish, and Australian universities. The online education systems discussed comprise content creation tools and systems for learning management, student management, and accounting. The author of this article arrives at the conclusion that there seems to be a general lack of integration between theses systems in all three countries. Further, there seems to be little focus on standards specifications such as IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS) and Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) in higher education in all three countries. More...

The future of any region’s higher education infrastructure cannot be a matter of guesswork; instead it must be built upon a solid foundation that is both rationally and soundly constructed. This postulate is especially important for regions such as Latin America experiencing problems associated with underdevelopment. Universities, particularly those specializing the area of science and technology, can and do play a constructive role in the advancement and improvement of modern society. However, the current Latin American educational context, which is less than optimal, can be compared with other similarly developing countries around the world, many of which have produced high quality university and scientific systems. Why is Latin America lagging behind? This is a good question that deserves closer examination. More...

This paper describes and quantifies the role of group facilitation in an experiential, real-time, online, university level credit course entitled eAHSC/230 Interpersonal Communications and Relations. A new and unique group interaction pattern called parallel communication, as well as classical elements of group interaction are described and quantified. New measures of online group facilitation attributes with analogous face-to-face (F2F) counterparts are presented. Specifically, the impact of effective group facilitation on Attentiveness, on Interaction, on Involvement, and on Participation is explored. More...

As the educational use of computer mediated communication (CMC) increases there is growing interest among researchers as to social processes evolving within the varied models of group work using Internet, e.g., special interest groups, topical discussion groups, discussion forums attached to virtual courses, and learning communities. In this paper we present a synthetic summary of five studies that explored social climate issues in synchronous and asynchronous online activities in academic courses, focusing on the following questions: Does a social atmosphere develop in online learning discussion groups? What are the different modes of social interaction are manifest in online learning discussion groups? What is the role of the virtual teacher with regards to the social climate in online learning discussion groups? Discussed are the implications of these five studies' on the design of virtual-learning-discussion-groups, and the results for the characterization of teacher moderation functions. More...

Créé par la loi du 7 mars 2014, l’entretien professionnel est un droit de chaque salarié et doit être réalisé tous les deux ans, soit au plus tard le 7 mars 2016 pour les salariés embauchés avant la loi.
Cet entretien est une obligation, mais surtout une opportunité de dialogue sur les perspectives professionnelles et de formation de chaque salarié, ainsi que sur les évolutions de son emploi. C’est aussi un moment de partage d’information sur la stratégie de l’établissement et sur les dispositifs de développement des compétences et de formation (Compte personnel de formation, validation des acquis de l’expérience, certification CléA sur les compétences clés...). Voir l'article...