Randall S. Dunn

iPads and Reading Instruction

Randall S. Dunn — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:27:31 PDT

Using Clickers in Higher Education

Randall S. Dunn — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:25:59 PDT

Using Smart Boards in Higher Education

Randall S. Dunn — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:24:09 PDT

Entering the Virtual Teachers' Lounge: Social Connectedness amoung Professional Educators in Virtual Environment

Randall S. Dunn — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:58:44 PDT

Audio-visual Student Created Wiki Textbooks

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:40 PDT

This tech-savvy generation of students, known as digital natives, desires to learn and to interact utilizing the collaborative technologies that have always been a part of their lives. In the era of Web 2.0, collaborative workspaces have emerged; thus, providing instructors with tools to engage these learners. Wikis are an example of one of these collaborative workspaces.Moving beyond the traditional text-based use of a wiki for collaborative student projects, multimedia can be integrated into the wiki to create an audio-visual text. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate how a wiki can be used by students and the instructor to create a audio- visually rich collaborative text.

Of Student Teachers and Avatars: Working Towards an Effective Model for Geographically Distributed Learning Communities of Pre-Service Educators Using Virtual Worlds.

Randall Dunn et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:39 PDT

With greater distribution of learning communities through the expanding use of online and distance learning, researchers emphasize focus on the effective use of specific technologies on student preference and achievement. One such technology drawing significant interest in scholarly and practical circles is the use of Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE), with the more common environment being Second Life, a product of Linden Labs, This research project, having gone through a pilot stage and under current implementation, addresses preference and effectiveness through a mixed-method research endeavor, examining forming communities using Second Life’s environment for small group discussions and large group seminar presentations for pre-service student teachers in a teacher education program. Methods of data collection and analysis include survey comparative analysis (using Keller’s Instructional Materials Motivation Survey and Rovai’s Community Survey Instrument), observation, semi-structured interview and comparative analysis of achievement on a content-based assessment.

Motivating Students to Learn: Is There a Difference between Traditional Books and e-Books?

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:37 PDT

Electronic books have been identified as a current trend in education and are being increasingly adopted by students as their textbook format of choice. However, limited studies on electronic books as a learning tool exist. Thus, this pilot study compares the use of e-books and traditional books as a learning tool in an undergraduate classroom on undergraduate students’ motivation.

Student Teaching and Second Life: Using Second Life to Connect Distributed Interns.

Randall Dunn et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:36 PDT

Virtual world technologies such as Second Life and There has generated much interest concerning its potential in the areas of learning communities, social connectedness among “classmates” and even identity development. The use of Second Life for virtual classroom spaces, for university meeting spaces and for constructivist and simulated learning experiences is a topic of theoretical interest. The use of such technologies for these interests still needs empirical examination. Liberty University began using Second Life to address a real challenge, notably the increasing number of undergraduate students distributed across the country during their enrolled student teaching semester. The faculty at Liberty University’s School of Education began examining Second life as a means of connecting students meaningfully with each other and with faculty for support during this internship period.

The Achievement Gap in the Asynchronous Online Classroom

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:34 PDT

Higher Education administrators and educators seek to understand how to design and to facilitate online courses to ensure quality, culturally responsive online education for minority students for the purpose of closing the academic achievement gap. To determine if students’ social presence, cognitive presence, teacher presence, and perceived learning differ based upon ethnicity in the asynchronous learning environment, a one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted. Results suggest that Latinos students have a higher sense of teaching presence than Caucasian students and no significant difference exist in students’ social presence, cognitive presence, teacher presence, and perceived learning based on ethnicity

Improving Interaction with Doctoral Candidates’ During the Dissertation Process.

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:33 PDT

SharePoint Collaboration: Streamlining the Dissertation Process for Online Students

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:32 PDT

In the era of Web 2.0, document editors and collaborative workspaces have emerged. Primary functions of online collaborative workspaces include the ability to create a documents and document libraries online for others to view and collaborate and share document resources; thus, simplifying and streamlining projects that require collaboration. SharePoint is one such collaborative workspace. SharePoint is a server that has allowed for the simplifying and streamlining of the dissertation process for online students. The use of the various features of SharePoint for collaboration on dissertations are discussed. Benefits of using SharePont are outlined.

Overcoming Challenges in Learning Communities and Second Life

David Holder et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:30 PDT

The educational scholarly community has identified Second Life (and virtual worlds in general) as harboring a place in the future of education. Unfortunately, the body of literature surrounding this topic largely focuses on theoretical development of this use, rather than empirical examination of its uses and subsequent effectiveness or ineffectiveness. This study seeks to fill in this gap in understanding by examining the best practices of connecting students in a virtual environment. This discussion seeks to address the following basic questions: Do virtual world spaces (like Second Life) allow for the effective formation of online learning communities? How do these virtual experiences compare to currently existing offline learning communities when implementing pre-service student teaching community groups?

Virtual Worlds and Learning Communities for Distributed Pre-Service Educators.

David Holder et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:29 PDT

Recent technological advances have afforded great opportunities for educators to meet the increasing demands of distributed learning communities. The independent development of such virtual environments as Second Life, grant advanced tools for learning and communicating in synchronous approaches. Due to the relative newness of these virtual environments, empirical research on the use of these tools for fostering learning communities has yet to be fully developed and realized. This paper presents a current research endeavor employing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Pre-service educators examine the potential of learning communities in virtual worlds as a platform to discuss relevant topics in first-time teaching experiences. The on-going project sees investigators and participants meeting in Second Life to discuss issues related to student teaching. Investigators employ the use of observation, interview methods, survey tools, and reflective journaling to paint an understanding of the nature of this environment as a community-building tool.

Students' Perceptions of Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Enhance the Social and Cognitive Aspects of Learning: Audio and Video Enhanced Wiki Texts and Second Life Discussions in Teacher and Counselor Education

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:28 PDT

As a generation of technologically savvy learners enters institutions of higher education, expectations are increasing for multimedia integration is showing that multimedia rich learning materials increase learning effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to describe students' perceptions of creating a collaborative wiki text with multimedia integration such as podcasting and vodcasting and student’s perceptions of using the audio chat and text chat features of Second Life for supervision . Results support the adoption and use of web 2.0 technology and multimedia rich interactive environments in the teacher and counselor education classroom.

Technologies that Assist in Closing the Achievement Gap: A Comparison African American and Caucasian Students’ Learning and Community in the Online Classroom

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:26 PDT

Higher Education administrators and educators seek to understand how to design and to facilitate online courses to ensure quality, culturally responsive online education for minority students, specifically African American students, and to close the academic achievement gap that exists today. This study examines online students’ using both synchronous and asynchronous technologies to determine whether students’ social presence, cognitive presence, teacher presence, and perceived learning differ based upon ethnicity. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted. Results yielded no significant difference in dependent variables based on ethnicity.

Using Open Source Technologies to Increase Teacher Immediacy and Presence

Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw et al. — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:35:23 PDT

Attrition rates in distance education teacher education programs is a concern for university administrators and educators. Thus, there is a need to identify strategies to increase retention rates. This presentation focuses on practices and the use of open source technologies to increase teacher’s presence and immediacy, thus decreasing attrition rates.

An Examination of Online Qualitative Research Methods

Randall S. Dunn — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:32:51 PDT

This paper is meant as an exploration into possible approaches to answering the following research question: how are educators in the Commonwealth of Virginia integrating the Virginia Technology Standards of Learning into the day-to-day classroom learning environment and curriculum as a whole? Traditional qualitative research methods and online and technology-based qualitative methods will be explored to determine possible techniques and best approaches. Weaknesses and strengths will be outlined. Finally, the placement of these two methodological approaches – traditional and online – will be placed into the continuum of accepted research paradigms.

Planning for and Enabling Success in Post-Secondary Transition

Randall S. Dunn — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:32:50 PDT

This presentation is the first in a series addressing best practices in providing transition services for children moving towards post-secondary life experiences. Central Virginia’s school districts and the community at large wish to evaluate practice in the school districts and develop more effective practices as transition providers.

Professional Development and Educational Technology Integration

Randall S. Dunn — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:32:49 PDT

This paper examines a structure for the implementation of technological innovations using business approaches to project management. The human factor is especially explored in its discussion.

Can Virtual Teacher Communities be a Reality?

Randall S. Dunn — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:32:49 PDT

In this paper I will discuss the effects of online communication on social connectivity and the development of community, as specifically related to teacher communities. I will begin by discussing differing constructions and aspects of the concept of community and the important role of connectivity in the development of community. I will then discuss modern technologies in the realm of CMC (Computer-Mediated Communication), the foundations of these technologies as actual tools for collaboration and community, and the role these technologies play in developing connectedness in communities. I will then draw out characteristics and value in virtual community interaction and its relationship to “real” or offline community as it exists. Identity, cultural and language issues will be discussed as they relate to online communities. I will then focus on the implications that flow from this for the development of a teacher community through online communication. Finally I will analyze two threads to illustrate some of the themes discussed above.