Richard West

So much depends on online course participants’ ability to communicate in ways so that others can perceive their personalities and know that they are <i>real people</i>. However, the line between the <i>real</i> and the <i>artificial</i> has been blurred with the rise of generative AI and guidance is needed for integrating generative AI into online learning without harming the sense of presence and community that students rely on. Building on previous research conducted by us and others for more than a decade on asynchronous video communication, we argue that establishing social presence using asynchronous video is especially important when teaching and learning with generative AI. In this article, we discuss generative AI’s potential impact on online instructors and students’ social presence. We then share a framework for strategically combining AI-generated text and instructor- and student-created video communication to strengthen social presence in online learning environments.

In this literature synthesis, we reviewed qualitative research studies that captured rich descriptions of instructors’ experiences in higher education (HE) as they transitioned from traditional in-person classrooms to online learning environments. We identified articles for review by conducting an ERIC database search that targeted qualitative research since 2010, using terms related to online education, higher education, teacher experience, qualitative research, and change. A careful screening with exclusion/inclusion criteria resulted in 31 articles. The sample represents the lived experiences of more than 200 instructors across various articles representing HE disciplines and contexts. The articles were analyzed for emerging themes in their reported challenges and successes, especially with respect to teachers’ interactions with learners and content. The instructor-participants in the research literature experienced varying levels of satisfaction in designing and facilitating online classes and navigating available technology, with most finding the transition process time consuming and effort intensive. They likewise experienced a range of success in their interactions with their online classes and individual students. Some instructors found opportunities for rich connections in online discussions and one-to-one communication while others struggled to feel a sense of community or perceive students’ needs. These faculty experiences, though collected from many bounded qualitative studies, suggest that teachers new to online classrooms share many challenges in their interactions with students and content. This synthesis offers recommendations for research and practice in higher education, emphasizing how potential online instructors and their institutions can deepen their understanding of the faculty transition to online teaching and collaborate to provide meaningful support.

This research seeks to understand parental support for online students. Using a survey, this study examined perceptions from 567 parents from eight online K-12 programs in a Midwestern state regarding their support for students’ online affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. Guided by the Academic Communities of Engagement Framework, our analysis identified eight main challenges parents faced when supporting their online student: (a) focus; (b) keeping on pace; (c) lack of motivation; (d) lack of organization, learning materials, live sessions, and support from online schools; (e) lack of feedback, support, and communication from teachers; (f) parents in need of additional skills in supporting students’ online engagement; (g) schedule issues at home and (h) parents’ unawareness of students’ online learning. Practical recommendations to help parents are shared at the end of the study.

This study investigates student attitudes towards open badges after earning them as part of coursework or through library workshops. Previous research has presented conflicting evidence about the effects of open badges on student motivation, often focusing on students with no prior badge experience. However, badges remain relatively unfamiliar to many learners, which may affect initial motivation. For this reason, the study examined how prior exposure to open badges influences students’ attitudes. The findings show that students’ motivation to earn additional badges increases with prior exposure and is influenced by badge design, implementation, and students’ understanding of how badges work. Notably, students who earned badges through the library software training programme showed the highest motivation, followed by students in Ed Tech courses.

This study reviewed 31 articles on parental support and parent-school relationships of K–12 online students. Under the guidance of the Academic Communities of Engagement framework, this literature review explored existing studies on the interactions between online students’ personal, course, and school community support. The challenges faced by parents and teachers are described in the discussion. By systematically analyzing the current research on recommended practices for online schools in supporting parents, the authors proposed five themes: (a) Strengthening school-parent communication by keeping parents updated on students’ learning progress, (b) Collaborating with parents to help them become more knowledgeable about the content, technology, teaching, and parenting skills they need, (c) Increasing parental involvement in students’ coursework and the school community, (d) Seeking for researcher-practitioner collaboration, and (e) Helping parents understand their new roles in supporting online students.

This research seeks to understand parental support for online students. Using a survey, this study examined perceptions from 567 parents from eight online K-12 programs in a Midwestern state regarding their support for students’ online affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. Guided by the Academic Communities of Engagement Framework, our analysis identified eight main challenges parents faced when supporting their online student: (a) focus; (b) keeping on pace; (c) lack of motivation; (d) lack of organization, learning materials, live sessions, and support from online schools; (e) lack of feedback, support, and communication from teachers; (f) parents in need of additional skills in supporting students’ online engagement; (g) schedule issues at home and (h) parents’ unawareness of students’ online learning. Practical recommendations to help parents are shared at the end of the study.

In this article we propose a taxonomy describing various types of literature review or theoretical/conceptual articles. We distinguish each article type based on how well they address
the summary and advocacy arguments inherent in all secondary scholarship. Understanding this taxonomy of review/theory scholarship is critical because our feld encompasses
theory, research, and design, and thus needs to be expansive in our understanding of scholarship, including secondary research. Some scholars conduct comprehensive/systematic
reviews that answer the summary question of what we know. Meanwhile, other scholars
develop conceptual frameworks that guide our future design and research by answering the
advocacy question of what we should do. Many do not understand the diferences between
these diferent types of review scholarship, their roles, and the process and quality criteria
for writing them. This limits our ability to teach students, review the variety of review and
theory scholarship submitted to our journals, and propel our feld forward. The taxonomy,
scholarship process, and quality criteria presented in this article proposes a way forward in
understanding the role of secondary scholarship in developing knowledge in our feld.

Despite increased interest in K–12 online education, student engagement deficits and the resulting student attrition remain widespread issues. The Academic Communities of Engagement (ACE) framework theorizes that two groups support online student engagement: the personal community of support and the course community of support. However, more evidence is needed to understand how members of these communities, especially parents, support students in various contexts. Using insights gleaned from 14 semi-structured interviews of parents with students enrolled in online secondary school, this study adds support to the roles identified in the ACE framework by presenting real examples of parents supporting their online students’ affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. Findings also confirm patterns found in previous research that are not explained using the ACE framework, such as parental advocacy, communication with teachers, and self-teaching. We discuss how a systems approach to conceptualizing the ACE communities allows the framework to more accurately capture parents' perceived experiences within the personal community of support. We also discuss implications for both practitioners and members of students’ support structures.<br><br>Published in Spanish as Hanny, C. N., Graham, C. R., & West, R. E. (2023). “Alguien en su rincón”: apoyo para padres en el bachillerato en línea. Revista Mexicana de Bachillerato a Distancia, 15(30), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.22201/cuaieed.20074751e.2023.30.86530

In this article we share the Academic Communities of Engagement (ACE) framework, which describes a students ability to engage affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively in an online or blended course independently and with support. Based on Vygotskys (Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1978) zone of proximal development, the framework examines how a students ability to engage in online or blended courses increases with support from two types of communities. The course community is organized and facilitated by those associated with the course or program. The personal community is comprised of actors not officially associated with the course who have typically formed relationships with the student before the course or program began and may extend well beyond its boundaries. Actors within each community have varying skills and abilities to support student engagement, and a student is most likely to reach the necessary engagement for academic success with active support from both. The framework identifies the community actors most likely to provide specific support elements, aligning them to the different types of student engagement. The article outlines implications for practice and research, concluding with illustrative examples.

In this article, we examined school leaders’ perceptions of open badges for teacher candidates. We emailed one of two forms of a survey to principals and assistant principals in five school districts in the United States. Form A used wording about digital badges while form B used the term microcredentials. Both forms included open-ended questions. We compared the results of the surveys and examined the results of the open-ended questions. We found that using the term microcredential instead of the term digital badge did not have a significant effect on employers’ perceptions on open badges. However, providing a small amount of instruction regarding the affordances of open badges did produce a statistically significant difference in the perceived value of open badges. Employers saw the most value in achievement and capability badges. The evidence link and endorsements from established professional organisations were identified as important tools to employers. Most employers believed badges would be useful in the hiring process, but many worried about the challenge of having too much data.

Technology integration models are theoretical constructs that guide researchers, educators, and other stakeholders in conceptualizing the messy, complex, and unstructured phenomenon of technology integration. Building on critiques and theoretical work in this area, the authors report on their analysis of the needs, benefits, and limitations of technology integration models in teacher preparation and propose a new model: PICRAT. PIC (passive, interactive, creative) refers to the students relationship to a technology in a particular educational scenario. RAT (replacement, amplification, transformation) describes the impact of the technology on a teachers previous practice. PICRAT can be a useful model for teaching technology integration, because it (a) is clear, compatible, and fruitful, (b) emphasizes technology as a means to an end, (c) balances parsimony and comprehensiveness, and (d) focuses on students.

Open educational resources (OER) have the potential to significantly impact the landscape of higher education. However, many users of OER find it difficult to adopt programmatically due to the barriers of awareness, quality assurance, institutional culture, and sustainability. This case study of the successful OER adoption of OER in an education department serves as a look into the conditions and practices that allowed for the promotion, continued use, and significant production of open educational resources. Six faculty members in the department were interviewed about their experiences with OER. The results indicate that the climate, technology, and opportunity costs surrounding tenure and promotion were key factors in the faculty’s experience with acting on their inclinations toward openness.

Qualitative researchers have evolved their methods continually, often due to technological breakthroughs that have enabled them to collect, analyze or present data in novel ways or to obtain a stronger authenticity or reflection of participant perspectives. In examining historical situations that have led to methodological shifts, we assert that the qualitative research community is currently on the precipice of another such change, specifically in the transcription of audio and visual data. We advocate for the benefits afforded by emerging technologies to collect, analyze, and embed in research reports actual multimedia data, thus avoiding the loss of meaning and unavoidable interpretation bias inherent in transcription. Working with data in its original multimedia (audio or video) state, instead of a transcription, can allow for greater trustworthiness and accuracy, as well as thicker descriptions and more informative reporting. We discuss the challenges still present with this approach, along with suggestions for improving future methodologies.

This article reviews the key ideas related to increasing student learning and support described in selected chapters from the second edition of the Handbook of Distance Education (Moore 2007). These chapters described research findings related to the impact of distance education on learners in general (student autonomy, cognition, social learning, and satisfaction) as well as specific subgroups of distance students and instructors (K12, female, and disabled students as well as academic advising and library services). This article concludes with brief recommendations for future research in each of these areas.

Creativity researchers have drawn on cognitive principles to characterize individual innovation. However, few comprehensive frameworks have been developed to relate social innovation to social cognition research. This article introduces the Communities of Innovation (COI) framework and examines its applications in a culture designed to promote collaborative creativity. Findings included evidence for some aspects of the COI model (flow and hacker ethic, entrepreneurship, collaboration and mentoring, sense of community, and learning through design criticism), moderate support for others (dynamic expertise and idea prototyping), but no evidence for other components (developing adaptable knowledge and expertise, symmetrical expertise within the community, community reflection, shifting interpersonal roles, or benefiting from cultural/educational/skill/other diversity). The majority of the new ideas identified and shared by participants were developed through interaction with others. Implications for refinement of the COI framework and future research are discussed.

Students usually have plenty of experience with online social technologies, but they lack understanding about how to use these tools and methods for course learning. This article is designed to help college students who are anxious about participating in an online learning community or do not know how to build one effectively. With ideas derived from research and practice, this guide has been written to inform online students about learning communities, the benefits they offer, and how students can assist in building a successful online community.

This chapter discusses the importance of evaluating quality in Learning and Instructional Design Technology (LIDT) scholarship. The authors propose a framework that recognizes multiple forms of scholarship, including empirical research, applied and practical research, situated work, and theoretical work. They argue that LIDT is a complex field with diverse methods and indicators of quality, and that there is no single right way to do scholarship. The chapter also discusses the importance of evaluating journal quality and proposes three components of quality: rigor, impact, and prestige. The authors provide guidance and frameworks for interpreting and evaluating scholarship, and suggest indicators of quality that can be used to make judgments about what to read and where to publish.

In this study, we used qualitative methods to help us better understand the experiences of instructors as they are persuaded to adopt a course management system and integrate it into their teaching. We discuss several
patterns explaining how instructors implemented Blackboard, a CMS, by experimenting with individual features, facing both technical and integration
challenges, and attempting to adapt Blackboard features to match their goals and practices. We also give explanations for why instructors either (a) embraced
the tool and grew more dependent on it, (b) reduced their use of the tool to only some features, or (c) discontinued the tool and actively sought replacement options. In this paper we explain why instructors fell into any one of these three areas and what implications this may have for training and support needs.

The twenty-first century economy often requires the innovative production of conceptual and physical artifacts. These innovations frequently are developed collaboratively within communities of workers. Previous theories about the nature of work and learning within communities have emphasized shared meaning or shared practice, but now
shared innovation is required. In this paper, I describe the development of a model for conceptualizing and studying shared innovation within communities. This model was
created from merging elements of social learning and creativity/innovation theories. I explain that at an intersection of these two domains is a unique kind of social structure, called a Community of Innovation, or COI. I conclude by describing the characteristics of a
COI and its implications for design and research.

In this paper, we review findings from an analysis of the past decade (2001–10) of research in 10 major journals in the field of instructional design and technology. Each research paper published in these journals during this decade was categorized according to its focus or methodology, topical keywords, authorship and citation trends; and the findings were aggregated across all of the journals to show trends over the last decade. We found there is a strong emphasis on technology-related issues, distance education, communication strategies and instructional methods over cognitive-related topics and learning issues. There is a strong history of theoretical inquiry and a fairly even balance of qualitative and quantitative research being published, with other research methods emerging. However, there are distinct differences in methodological stances among the journals. We also found some evidence that the Institute for Scientific Information Impact Factor may not be the best indicator of impact quality for journals in our field.

Open recognition is the use of open technologies and practices to recognize all learning, including learning not formally recognized by traditional degrees and certificates. It encompasses similar concepts such as microcredentials, open/digital badges, blockcerts, verifiable credentials, and comprehensive learner records. The goal of open recognition is to recognize all learning, whether in formal educational settings or in non-formal or informal learning practices, and to create technologies for collecting, sharing, and displaying these learning recognitions. In this article I discuss the important role that credentials and learning recognition plays in society, and then contrast an open recognition approach with more traditional approaches to recognizing and credentialing learning. I discuss various new technologies to emerge to promote microlearning and credentialing, but argue for open recognition as a more expansive view, enabling us to recognize all learning from formal, non-formal, and informal settings.

!e argue that an open education framework, which can support extremely rapid, low cost experimentation and innovation, must be comprised of at least these five parts:<br>Open Competencies that articulate what learners should be achieving.<br>Open Content that teaches about and assesses those competencies<br>Open Customs that utilize these resources, recognition practices, etc.<br>Open Credentials that helps students, teachers, and others know what has been accomplished<br>Open Co-intelligence that supports efforts across all aspects of education<br>This interconnected set of components provides a foundation that will greatly decrease the time, cost, and complexity of the search for more effective models of education.

This chapter explores the concept of open recognition, badges, and microcredentials in education. The author argues that traditional credentialing systems fail to recognize learners' skills and abilities, leading to wasted learning opportunities. These digital credentials are data-rich, open-standard-based, micro-focused, and flexible, representing learning from both formal and informal situations. The chapter reviews the role of credentials in society, discusses technological innovations, and examines research findings on when and how these technologies are helpful. It also relies on a 3M model to understand how educational credential systems interface at micro, meso, and macro levels.

In this chapter, we introduce the concept of open badges, microcredentials, and related alternative credentials. Situated within a historical context of exploration of these ideas over the past decade, we examine how open badges fit within a popular model for examining the adoption of new technologies – the Gartner Hype Cycle. Within this Hype Cycle framework, we discuss the problems that often arise when institutions attempt to implement open badges. We follow by discussing the promise and potential of open badges and how they may benefit the learner, teachers, institutions, and society.

This study reviewed 31 articles on parental support and parent-school relationships of K–12 online students. Under the guidance of the Academic Communities of Engagement framework, this literature review explored existing studies on the interactions between online students’ personal, course, and school community support. The challenges faced by parents and teachers are described in the discussion. By systematically analyzing the current research on recommended practices for online schools in supporting parents, the authors proposed five themes: (a) Strengthening school-parent communication by keeping parents updated on students’ learning progress, (b) Collaborating with parents to help them become more knowledgeable about the content, technology, teaching, and parenting skills they need, (c) Increasing parental involvement in students’ coursework and the school community, (d) Seeking for researcher-practitioner collaboration, and (e) Helping parents understand their new roles in supporting online students.

In this chapter, we discuss open recognition as a key part of the digital learning/open education revolution, and open microcredentials a method for open recognition to disrupt traditional educational practices surrounding how we recognize and certify learning. We begin with definitions of open microcredentials, badges, verifiable credentials, and similar concepts. Then, we discuss the potential of open microcredentials to impact teaching and learning at the micro-, meso-, and macrolevels. We then conclude with recommendations for practice and the suggestion of a framework to guide research.

This paper describes the design, development, and implementation of Open Badges into a secondary education preservice course on instructional technology. Open Badges provide a new way of issuing credentials to individuals who demonstrate knowledge, skill, or ability in a particular domain. Badges provide a simple system for communicating a skill along with specific information about the evidence connected with earning the badge. In this paper, we describe the course in detail along with the several iterations of design that resulted in the development of the badge system, along with the challenges faced and lessons learned for future design and use of Open Badges.

Our purpose in this book is twofold. First, we introduce the basic skill set and knowledge base used by practicing instructional designers. We do this through chapters contributed by experts in the field who have either academic, research-based backgrounds, or practical, on-the-job experience (or both). Our goal is that students in introductory instructional design courses will be able to use this book as a guide for completing a basic instructional design project. We also hope the book is useful as a ready resource for more advanced students or others seeking to develop their instructional design knowledge and skills.

This article describes the implementation of an interdisciplinary design studio as a means to teach creative problem-solving through project-based learning. "Learning and Innovation Skills" has been designated as a core skill that students need to be successful in today's world, and project-based learning is one approach to helping students develop these skills. After describing the early genesis and development of the interdisciplinary design studio, the article describes results of initial research into the students experiences in studio courses. Students described courses as flexible and reported high levels of motivation stemming from the authenticity of the problems. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the studio, some students described deepening disciplinary skills while at the same time being exposed to cross-disciplinary skills. They believed the courses helped develop interdisciplinary collaboration, creativity, and communication skills.

This case explores the creation of an open badge student-employee training program. Utilizing competency-based learning, we created nearly 40 digital credentials for technical skills related to various software products. We specifically share the decisions we made related to the process of defining competencies, formatting badge criteria, and building a flexible learning system. We also discuss various challenges, including how we motivated employees to participate in the program and unforeseen challenges related to selecting a badge issuing tool.

The papers in this special issue comprise important contributions to their individual domains of research and practice. Beyond their individual contributions, the collection of papers presented in this special issue contributes to the evolution of the field by providing examples of and arguments for the future of theoretical scholarship. With continued technological advances, globalization of our social institutions and societies, and the complexity of twenty-first century challenges, we will continue to look to evolving theory to guide our discipline. In order to meet these opportunities, our field needs to continue the conversation about how, and what kinds of, theoretical contributions can guide us. This special issue (and especially the rubric provided above) offers important considerations related to the rigor and quality of theoretical scholarship. It demonstrates how we can promote and develop a more supportive culture for this type of work. Further scholarship is needed to adequately address questions like: How do we best support students and new scholars to do theoretical work? What are the next areas in which theoretical work is needed to advance the field of educational technology?<br><br>Similarly to how we emphasize research methods and design processes in our academies, we need to better understand the skills, criteria, and roles of quality theoretical scholarship. We hope this special issue fosters a continuation of this dialogue.

Since the 1970s, cognitive psychological perspectives have dominated pedagogical frameworks and models for designing technology-mediated teaching and learning environments. More recently, social learning perspectives have received attention as viable or even desirable frames for research and practice related to teaching and learning, particularly in Web-based learning environments (WBLEs). In this article, the authors analyze these social learning perspectives and how they can be used
in the design and implementation of online learning. This review and analysis of the research related to social learning perspectives on WBLEs provides several implications for future research and practice: (1) examining learners? individual characteristics
in WBLEs, (2) identifying strategies for promoting social interaction in WBLEs, and (3) developing effective design principles for WBLEs.

In this article, the authors present an example of a project-based course within a studio environment that taught collaborative innovation skills and produced an open-source project management textbook for the field of instructional design and technology. While innovation plays an important role in our economy, and many have studied how to teach innovation, few have looked closely at teaching the social aspects of innovation that are a critical part of most innovative organizations. Project-based learning has been shown to be helpful in preparing students to work on real-world projects, and utilizing a studio environment, where collaboration is fostered, can provide an added measure of authenticity. In this article, the authors discuss the characteristics of this course and its project-based approach that seemed to support collaborative innovation.

Over the years many training methods for creativity and innovation have been developed. Despite these programs and research, further improvement is necessary, particularly in schools of technology and engineering education, where previous efforts have focused on developing solutions to defined problems, not in identifying and defining the problems themselves in ways that promote creative outcomes. This study presents initial efforts to develop an instructional program designed to teach innovation to undergraduate technology and engineering students. Results from a pre/posttest analysis using both the Torrance Tests for Creative Thinking and a survey with self-reported data indicate that the Innovation Boot Camp was successful because it (a) encapsulated innovation into a process that students could learn and apply, (b) engaged students in multidisciplinary groups, and (c) provided a hands-on, activities-oriented curriculum explicitly designed to enhance innovation. Notwithstanding, ideas for improvement and further research and development of the curriculum are described.

This research study was designed to inform the development of a new teacher assessment model. The goal of the Teacher Success Model (TSM) initiative is to develop a systematic, evidence-informed statewide model for teacher assessment. While the initiative included all teachers, support professionals, and evaluators, this study focused on induction teachers and their mentors/administrators. Overall, our findings suggested that participants could find examples of key attributes in videos of teaching practice and that group reflection and discussion about the practices in the videos enabled everyone to develop their understanding of what constitutes evidence of effective teaching. Findings from this study will guide further development of the TSM assessment model into a multi-faceted, evidence-informed, teacher-participatory model of assessment appropriate for higher stakes decision-making.