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This paper reports on a study aiming at examining the affordances and constraints of BYOD (Bring YourOwn Device) for varied pedagogical practices from teachers' perspectives in higher education. Seventeen teachers from eight departments and centers participated in the one-year study. The affordances and constraints of BYOD were examined under the "framework of affordances and constraints in BYOD-supported learning environment". Data collection included class observations, class videos, field notes, resources on the BYOD website and teaching plans. Content analysiswas adopted in the data analysis. The research findings showthat (1) seven types of BYOD conceptualized affordanceswere identified for varied pedagogical purposes; and (2) three types of constraints of BYODwere singled out in pedagogical practices. Discussions regarding the affordances and constraints are made and implications are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online courses are a growing part of the community college experience, but many students, particularly minority students or students who are more at-risk, face challenges in passing those courses. This paper presents results from an experimental study of an effort to redesign a set of core introductory online courses to include a set of technology tools and instructional practices designed to improve students' experiences in the online environment. Results from the study showed that treatment students were less likely to withdraw, and minority students, specifically, were more likely to pass the class and to persist to the next year of college. • Students in online courses often struggle to successfully complete the course. • Project COMPASS uses technology and instructional strategies to improve student outcomes. • A randomized controlled trial shows positive outcomes for COMPASS students. • Larger impacts were seen for minority students and impacts differed by the course subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In higher education, learning activities increasingly take place in online collaborative groups. In this conceptual paper, we explore online collaborative interaction from the perspective of dialogicality. We aim to reconceptualize the notion of "productive interaction" and the typical focus of its research by turning attention to the dialogic features of collaborative interaction, especially the notions of alterity, dialogic attitude, and dialogic orientation. In relation to this, we offer a contextual perspective on collaborative interaction. Relying on data from an online university course, we conceptually analyze specified components of dialogicality. This article illustrates and explores the conceptual framework that connects different contexts in dialogic meaning-making. We also discuss our conceptual and empirical exploration from the pedagogical perspective. • The study reconceptualizes" productive interaction" in online collaboration • The study presents dialogic and contextual perspective on collaborative interaction • A conceptual analysis was conducted to search for elements of dialogicality [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the hype and speculation about the role massively open online courses (MOOCs) may play in higher education, empirical research that explores the realities of interacting and learning in MOOCs is in its infancy. MOOCs have evolved from previous incarnations of online learning but are distinguished in their global reach and semi-synchronicity. Thus, it is important to understand the ways that learners from around the world interact in these settings. In this paper, we ask three questions: (1) What are the demographic characteristics of students that participate in MOOC discussion forums? (2) What are the discussion patterns that characterize their interactions? And (3) How does participation in discussion forums relate to students' final scores? Analysis of nearly 87,000 individuals from one MOOC reveals three key trends. First, forum participants tend to be young adults from the Western world. Secondly, these participants assemble and disperse as crowds, not communities, of learners. Finally, those that engage explicitly in the discussion forums are often higher-performing than those that do not, although the vast majority of forum participants receive "failing" marks. These findings have implications for the design and implementation of future MOOCs, and how they are conceptualised as part of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]