The two-lane assessment model is gaining attention in response to growing demands for evidentiary assurance in the context of generative AI and digitally enabled education. The model separates secure assessment pathways (lane 1) from developmental learning pathways (lane 2), allowing institutions to support authentic learning processes while maintaining defensible evidence of student achievement. However, two-lane has largely been implemented as a retrofitted assessment intervention, due to factors such as cost and workload, rather than as a structural component of curriculum design. More recently, locating lane 1 assessment to the program level has been proposed as a more considered response, but this move introduces an unresolved curriculum design problem: if lane 1 accountability shifts to the program level, program learning outcomes (PLOs) must carry the operational burden that course learning outcomes (CLOs) previously bore, yet they are rarely designed with the specificity required to anchor valid, defensible, high-stakes assessment. This article argues that resolving this problem requires a shift in how constructive alignment (CA) is applied, locating its operational anchor at the program level and redesigning PLOs accordingly. In response, the paper proposes a curriculum design framework for CA within the two-lane model. By treating lane 1 and lane 2 as complementary design elements, the framework enables purposeful integration of developmental learning and certified achievement while maintaining coherence and credible accountability of learning in AI-mediated and online environments.
Adequate literature has commended the effectiveness and benefits of well-implemented project-based learning (PjBL), yet its success can significantly vary based on contextual factors and approaches. Thus, design guidelines generated from the research need to be adapted and evaluated in various learning environments. Prevailing guidelines predominantly cater to PjBL in traditional residential education. Research into online PjBL remains limited, often involving one-off and noniterative experiments in small classes. This study addresses these gaps by implementing a comprehensive PjBL model in a large online graduate course in computer science. This model integrates project-phase curriculum, online self-directed learning, online communities of inquiry, and online feedback at scale, supported by scaffolding, modeling, and mentoring. The effectiveness of this model is assessed through student surveys spanning seven years. Survey results (n = 2179) revealed consistently positive perceptions of the course's efficacy among students. Notably, older adults and female students, as well as those who identified project topics earlier in the course, reported higher ratings on course effectiveness. This paper shares the detailed implementation of the model, survey findings, and student perspectives on how to succeed in online PjBL. The implications of the study for future research and practice is also discussed.
As artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools become increasingly integrated into highereducation, universities must reimagine their institutional operations to achieve greaterefficiency, enhance practice, and ensure responsible usage. This paper investigates thepotential of generative AI (gen-AI) as a "partner" in collaborative course development,focusing on the changing dynamics and implications of integrating gen-AI into thedevelopment process. Drawing on a case-study approach that combines education and AIliterature with the authors' experiences as learning designers, we examine the shiftingdynamics of third space professional (TSP) and academic relationships when introducinggen-AI as a partner. We unpack current collaborative course development practices andillustrate how gen-AI can enhance existing processes, create efficiencies, and offer newpossibilities. We also highlight the importance of academic capability-building opportunitiesand address the risks associated with an AI-partnered future. This case study contributes toour understanding of gen-AI's potential in transforming collaborative course developmentand provides practical insights that may positively shape emerging partnerships betweenacademics and TSPs.
Realizing that after the COVID-19 pandemic learner and faculty engagement is even more critical to learning-as evidenced by ongoing declines in post-pandemic post-secondary enrollment-this paper presents a series of reflections and experiences from the perspective of a student and faculty member. These experiences are understood through an autoethnography, resulting in the creation of a feedback framework fostering community in online environments. Through self-study, critical reflection of educational theory with practice,and lived experiences, both the student and faculty member describe the formative steps leading to the adaptive creation and implementation of community in the online learning setting. The pandemic, coupled with an intentional shift to a new learning management system(LMS), underscored the criticality of adaptations in teaching and learning. The resulting framework is a model for emphasizing the connection between technology, community, and appreciative andragogy.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on K-12 education. In 2020, New Yorkschools were ordered to close, forcing over two million students and two hundred thousandteachers to rapidly shift to remote instruction. Teachers reported feeling unprepared for thepace and magnitude of this change, partly due to their varied technical backgrounds andlimited exposure to remote instruction. While the field has begun to define core practices ofquality remote instruction, little is known about what professional experiences might lead in-service teachers to embrace these core practices. Many districts in New York remainedpartially remote through the 2020–21 school year and beyond, so improving the quality ofremote instruction available to secondary students in grades 7–12 is paramount. A mixedmethods research study addressed the preparedness and professional development needs ofin-service teachers during the pandemic. Over the last decade, several teacher preparationprograms have begun to include remote instruction as a key pedagogical practice. Thepandemic created a unique opportunity to study how in-service teachers experienced the shiftto remote instruction. The results of this study may be instrumental in developing educationmodules in remote instruction for preservice teachers in secondary education preparationprograms.
Touch is known to be a key facilitator for embodied learning for physiotherapy students. Through embodied learning, students use their body and touch as tools to deepen their anatomical understandings of different bodies, communicate abstract concepts, and in interacting with others. Hands-on skill development enables the integration of knowledge, skill, and affective domains to create an embodied understanding and body awareness. Pandemic-related restrictions meant many students were unable to attend practical classes face to face. Instead, tutorials transitioned online, taking students and lecturers on a journey never before traveled in the field of physiotherapy. Staff and students, no longer able to use touch for embodied learning, had to find new ways of thinking, being, and doing to achieve this online. This article presents one student's experience of online learning through the three-act structure of the Vogler model of the hero's journey (Vogler, C, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structures for Writers, 25th Anniversary, 4th Ed., Michael Wiese Productions, Studio City, CA, 2020). Vogler offers a 12-stage arc, known to correspond with many Hollywood movies and fiction books. Considering how the different stages relate to the learning experience provided a framework that facilitated the learner's reflection. The first act illustrates the learner's pre-pandemic world, the adaptations to learning due to COVID-19 restrictions, and the online learning adventure. Act 2 provides the path to the midpoint, with allies, enemies, trials, and rewards. The hero's journey concludes with the third act, detailing the gradual return from pandemic restrictions and an appreciation for the new skills developed through online learning. A final section provides three recommendations for the future of online learning.
This study reports university students' ratings of their perceived learning experiences in adapting to one of three course modalities during the fall 2020 semester's COVID-19pandemic restrictions. During that semester, students were offered either fully online, hybrid/hyflex, or in-person courses. Approximately 795 undergraduate and graduate students at a small liberal arts university in the eastern United States were emailed a 40-item survey questionnaire in the spring of 2021 that asked them to reflect on their learning experiences in the previous semester. The survey endeavored to discover answers to these research questions: how did students rate their learning experiences in the fall semester of 2020; how did they compare those experiences to previous semesters; and what were the environmental settings of online or hybrid/hyflex students, including use of online cameras?Ninety-nine students (12.5%) completed the survey (69 undergraduates and 30 graduate students). Topline results included the following: undergraduate and graduate students rated their learning experiences differently, with graduate students giving higher ratings to all modalities. Among undergraduates, 14% of those with in-classroom courses said they learned less compared to previous semesters, 52% of those taking online courses said they learned less, and 26% of those enrolled in hybrid/hyflex courses said they learned less compared to previous semesters. Two-thirds of the undergraduate students accessing fully online courses disliked having cameras on since the majority of the undergraduates taking online courses accessed them in a personal room.
Thanks to advancements and innovations in online education, self-study can now beeffectively supported by promoting learner autonomy, self-regulation, and motivation. Inonline language education, Duolingo has been especially successful in engaging learners inself-study through various features. The present study is a brief review of Duolingo Stories,a recent addition to Duolingo, with respect to its potential for maintaining self-study. Adescription of different features of Duolingo Stories is presented along with their implicationsfor self-learning languages. Duolingo Stories provides supplementary reading and listeningpractice with a focus on vocabulary building in a fun, contextualized, and fairly interactiveenvironment. Using a variety of language learning theories and principles, the present studyalso investigates the benefits language learners would gain, as well as the limitations theycould face, when interacting with the stories.
The global pandemic accelerated the shift to remote teaching, leading to a rise in digital course materials such as textbooks. However, existing literature indicates that there is limited research on how online students utilize digital textbooks as well as on the features they find valuable for their online learning experiences and desire to aid their learning. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore the experiences and perceptions among diverse online students and then draw implications for the design of future intelligent textbooks. This study surveyed online degree-seeking students (n = 1236) from three different institutions in the United States in 2022. Based on the mixed-method research design, this exploratory study used qualitative data from open-ended questions and quantitative data from closed-ended questions to theme patterns of response. The results indicated that most participants have used at least one digital textbook, and in general they were familiar with such features as searching, visuals, and embedded assessments. These features, associated with self-directed and multimedia learning, received more positive ratings compared to adaptive or personalized learning features such as chatbots and recommended content. In the findings of the study, surveyed participants described future intelligent digital textbooks to be ideal for self-directed learning, since they can accommodate diverse learning needs and are flexible and affordable. Overall, this study provides insights into future intelligent textbooks and other digital materials as a comprehensive learning system and supports their use for empowering online learners to go beyond text-based learning and enhancing their digital learning experience.
This article examines how people's lives and work environments have been altered as a result of technology, how these advancements have altered societal expectations for higher education, and three solutions for higher education institutions to address these new expectations. Firstly, to survive the new normal, higher education institutions must shift their student solutions and orientations to accommodate online learners. Secondly, faculty development must concentrate on training faculty to utilize online tools to teach. Thirdly,institutions must better prepare students to be savvy virtual collaborators through online learning and to translate these new skills to the workforce. Finally, this paper uses the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic to present three strategies for achieving these solutions.
