Elizabeth Childs

Royal Roads University | RRU · School of Education and Technology

Communities of practice (CoPs) can provide opportunities for diverse and inclusive groups to convene, share, collaborate, and support others. Using a self-study research approach combined with a visual research method, this study explores both scholarly and practice-based insights to describe the anticipated attributes of a high functioning CoP for...

Recent world events have shifted our educational focus to a greater emphasis on online learning and working environments. Given the immediate and emergency moves to online learning, the effectiveness of these shifts has come into question in many institutions of higher education. What has become clear is that the longer the pandemic lasts, the more...

The growing global attention to online learning, particularly in light of COVID-19, has spurred interest in systematic, robust, and pedagogically sound approaches to online learning like the fully online learning community (FOLC) model. FOLC consists of three overlapping dimensions—social presence, cognitive presence, and collaborative learning—whi...

Purpose This project engaged faculty, students, alumni and staff in re-visioning their university's learning, teaching and research framework. An extensive consultation process allowed participants to explore, discuss and critically reflect on effective practice. Design/methodology/approach This action research project provided a process for unive...

With the growing global attention to online learning, particularly in response to the COVID-19 situation, educators have developed systematic, robust, and pedagogically sound approaches to online learning. This chapter describes one such model, the Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) model. This model, which may be implemented within fully onlin...

Online learning courses have been mandated for high school students in the province of Ontario, and in light of the COVID-19 situation, much of the K-12 moved to online learning opportunities. It is generally understood that the initial offering of courses did not meet the needs of the learners. In an effort to provide an alternate way forward, the...

Participation in 21st-century society is increasingly dependent upon competencies related to the use of digital technologies for a wide variety of purposes. A person's competence in the use of digital technologies has implications for a wide variety of contexts and situations, including learning in physical as well as virtual spaces, career choices...

At a time when homelessness, inequality and poverty plague Canadian society, an organization in Whistler, British Columbia has been working for over 20 years to combat some of the associated issues faced by vulnerable youth. This multi-year research project explored one of the programs offered by the organization with the intent of gaining an under...

Participation in 4th Industrial Revolution society is increasingly dependent upon competencies related to the use of digital technologies for a wide variety of purposes. A person’s competence in the use of digital technologies has implications for a wide variety of contexts and situations, including learning in physical as well as virtual spaces, c...

Online learning courses have recently been mandated for high school students in the province of Ontario. While there are few details, it is generally understood that the initial offering of courses may not meet the needs of the learners. In an effort to provide an alternate way forward, the Fully Online Learning Community Model (FOLC) was offered t...

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development calls for immediate paradigmatic shifts in how educational institutions and the broader society address employment skills. A wide variety of local and global sources, including trade magazines, government sites, and pan-governmental sites, echo this urgent call, recommending increased empha...

The Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) model is intended to operate within a co-created Digital Space to (a) reduce transactional distance, and (b) incorporate newcomers into an established learning community. An operationalized version of the General Technology Competency and Use (GTCU) framework was used with a convenience sample of Ontario T...

The Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) model is intended to operate within a co-created Digital Space to (a) reduce transactional distance, and (b) incorporate newcomers into an established learning community. An operationalized version of the General Technology Competency and Use (GTCU) framework was used with a convenience sample of Ontario T...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development calls for immediate paradigmatic shifts in how educational institutions and the broader society address employment skills. A wide variety of local and global sources, including trade magazines, government sites, and pan-governmental sites, echo this urgent call, recommending increased emphas...

Current research has indicated that resilience, grit and growth mindset are psychological characteristics beneficial to learning (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews & Kelly, 2007; Kamtsios & Karagiannopoulou, 2012; Yeager & Dweck, 2012). This paper addresses a significant gap in the literature, that being that little research has connected the concepts...

The first of a series of workshops used to support Additional Qualification course designers/facilitators using the FOLC model. Other workshop titles in the series include: FOLC Workshop - Are you ready? Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) Readiness Workshop FOLC Concepts and Processes: Assessment in Online Learning FOLC Concepts and Processes:...

The Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC), developed at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), is a social-constructivist model, addressing a paradigm shift in employment skills, and supporting key elements of transformational learning. Adopting a Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach to activity design, FOLC has served as basis...

It was noted that students in Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC)-based programs felt close to each other despite never having been physically co-located (vanOostveen, Childs, Clarkson, & Flynn, 2015). It is postulated that this reported closeness is a result of (a) decreased transactional distance (Moore, 1993) (b) the use of video and audio (w...

In order to participate in the co-creation of the digital space inherent in Fully Online Learning Community (FOLC) environments (vanOostveen, DiGiuseppe, Barber, Blayone & Childs, 2016), learners must be familiar with the types of web-based tools that are available, and how they can be used to support collaborative learning. Bower (2015) states tha...

Higher education (HE) is increasingly being called upon to modify and adapt in response to the complexity of the issues faced by contemporary society. With increased pressure to enhance learner access to educational opportunities and address issues of equity regardless of physical location or socioeconomic status (Rohs & anz, 2015), HE institutions...

Post-secondary institutions around the world are increasingly integrating digital technologies in courses and programs. As students and faculty become progressively immersed in an academic digital world, there is growing need to become adept at navigating through digital environments to garner material and virtual resources through utilization of t...

Higher education institutions are increasingly turning to online learning options for their students. The use of video and audio (webcams and mic/headsets) can support the development of a feeling of closeness between students in fully online learning communities (FOLC) (vanOostveen, Childs, Clarkson, & Flynn, 2015). This research examines an aspec...

This workshop will provide an overview of the theoretical underpinnings and description of the FOLC model and its component parts. Through small group activities, participants will examine and discuss propositional definitions for the FOLC components. Participants will complete the FOLCS online self-assessment instrument and discuss their experienc...

This workshop is intended for individuals and institutions interested in taking a look at fully online learning with community supports; those interested in assessment tools that speak to the readiness for participation in fully online learning environments, and those involved in the creation of supports required by institutions for students, facul...

This paper presents the Global Education Learning Observatory, GELO, offered as an international platform which can be used to (i) measure digital competencies for individuals or groups in formal educational institutions and informal settings; (ii) provide access to tools that measure digital competencies and readiness for online learning, for indi...

The integration of digital technologies at institutions of higher education are profoundly influencing formal learning on a global scale. Social-constructivist models of fully online learning are well-positioned to address the demands of government, and economic and social-development organizations for civically-engaged individuals with strong prob...

Online learning is becoming ever more common in post-secondary education (Allen & Seaman, 2014), with courses and programs offered in fully synchronous (virtual classroom only), fully asynchronous (blog/discussion board, etc. only), or hybrid (combination of synchronous and asynchronous) modalities (Hrastinski, 2008). Regardless of the modality, le...

The impact the of techology on the teaching, learning, and infrastructure of higher education institutions has been substantive over the past three decades. Most institutions have adopted digital technology, from simply using the web as a means of distributing materials to students, to institutions with maturing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and vir...

This brief paper reports on one part of a case study conducted in the Faculty of Education of a mid-sized university in the province of Ontario, Canada. This online course— part of the faculty's Bachelor of Arts in Educational Studies and Digital Technology (BA-ESDT) program—was focused on Problem-Based Learning (PBL); included both synchronous and...

This paper presents the Fully Online Learning Community, FOLC, model, offered as a transitional model for institutions addressing the challenges faced by higher education in terms of developing best practices in pedagogy and the implementation of online learning. Founded on the ideal that education is a fundamental human right, this paper describes...

Online learning is having profound effects on institutions of higher education. Allen & Seaman (2014) report that in the U.S. in 2013, 33.5% of higher education students took at least one online course. While online courses are highly variable with respect to how they are constructed, ranging from blended learning, where students complete in-class...

This paper presents the Fully Online Learning Community, FOLC, model, offered as a transitional model for institutions addressing the challenges faced by higher education in terms of developing best practices in pedagogy and the implementation of online learning. Founded on the ideal that education is a fundamental human right, this paper describes...

Problem-based learning (PBL) challenges traditional views of teaching and learning as the learner determines, to a large extent with support from a skilled facilitator, what topics will be explored, to what depth and which processes will be used. This presentation presents how a PBL program design philosophy was implemented in an online Bachelor's...

Engaging in an online course has traditionally been perceived to be a lonely experience, with students busy viewing video lectures, working on problem sets and interacting intermittently with others using asynchronous technologies. More recently, over the past 6 – 7 years, online courses have become recognized as viable delivery vehicles for online...

As post secondary institutions continue to endeavor to address changing stakeholder expectations and policy directions, new curriculum models that allow for choice and learner flexibility are required. One approach that shows promise in this area is online problem-based learning (PBL). This paper discusses a case-study of the implementation of a pr...

Problem-based learning (PBL) challenges traditional views of teaching and learning as the learner determines, to a large extent with support from a skilled facilitator, what topics will be explored, to what depth and which processes will be used. This paper presents the implementation of problem-based learning methodologies in an online Bachelor’s...

Problem-based learning (PBL) challenges traditional views of teaching and learning as the learner determines, to a large extent with support from a skilled facilitator, what topics will be explored, to what depth and which processes will be used. This paper presents the implementation of problem-based learning methodologies in an online Bachelor’s...

This research shares preliminary findings from a case self-study underway at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). The case self-study examines the experience of students, teaching assistants, professors and the program director in a xx online BA program in Adult Learning and Digital Technologies (AEDT). The Bachelor of Arts in...

Qualitative researchers have long used ethnographic methods to make sense of complex hu- man activities and experiences. Their blessing is that through them, researchers can collect a wealth of raw data. Their challenge is that they require the researcher to find patterns and organize the various themes and concepts that emerge during the analysis...

The publisher of IRRODL, The Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research (CIDER), is pleased to provide links to a series of online seminars that took place over Spring 2007, using Elluminate. These interactive CIDER Sessions disseminate research emanating from North America's and Canada's vibrant DE research community, and we feel these arch...

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Calgary, 2004. Includes bibliographical references (l. 242-245).