Keywords

educational criticism, qualitative research case study, online learning, distance learning, instructional technology, instructional experience

Abstract

Online courses are complex, human-driven contexts for formal learning. Little has been said about the environment emerging from the interaction of instructor(s), learners, and other resources in such courses. Theories that focus on instructional settings and methods that are designed to accommodate inquiry into complex phenomena are essential to the systematic study of online courses. Such a line of research is necessary as the basis for a common language with which we can begin to speak holistically about online courses. In this dissertation, I attempt to generate better questions about the nature of online instructional environments. By combining prior works related to educational criticism and qualitative research case study with original innovations, I develop a model for studying the instructional experiences of online courses. I then apply this approach in the study of one specific online course at the University of Central Florida (UCF).

Notes

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Graduation Date

2005

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Dziuban, Charles

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Educational Research, Technology, and Leadership

Degree Program

Curriculum and Instruction

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0000657

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0000657

Language

English

Release Date

January 2006

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

thompson_kelvin_200508_EdD.wav (7622 kB)
Excerpt of audio fieldnotes from "observation" of course web site

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