bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Introduction: Imagining the Ponytail
Authors: Broch Trygve B.
Published: January 2023

You see it everywhere—the ponytail hairstyle. Before the influencers Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner, there were Barbie dolls and the movie stars Sandra Dee and Brigitte Bardot, and popstars Madonna and Beyoncé. Tennis star Serena Williams often sports a ponytail, and among women World Cup soccer players, countless. In this introduction, I outline a theoretical approach with which to show how and why the ponytail has become the hallmark of the female athlete and a total social phenomenon that answers to the experiential totality of modernity. I distinguish my approach from that of critical theorists who often argue that gender and femininities are all about social power relations and female subordination. Instead, I draw on multiple cultural theories about hair, bodies, and icons to argue that a total social fact like the ponytail is only iconic, imitated, and useful if it is polyvocal. A cultural sociology shows how the ponytail, as a material and corporal object, is imbued with codes, narratives, and myths that allow its wearers to access public culture and social inequalities in deeply personal, even existential ways.
Health
Authors: Broch Trygve B.
Published: January 2023

Throughout history, culture shapes our actions regarding biological health. Myths of youthfulness and vitality, as well as hope, courage, and willpower, give the ponytail a democratic half-life. Human hair grows fastest in healthy youth and during recovery from illness, and slows in old age, and during illness, pregnancy, and cold weather; therefore, it is no wonder that observations of hair shape cultural constructions of health. I show that the ponytail’s performativity of youthfulness energizes females of all ages in democracies. For example, ponytailed girls participate at summer camps and sport tournaments that promote gender equality and multiculturalism. Adult women with ponytails retain their youthfulness. They move as soft as sap and with a feminist vigor. Some are right-wing politicians professing neoliberal equalities; others speak out for social democratic justice. The ponytail’s youthful half-life provides vitality when modern women steadily enter new domains and challenge old conventions. So powerful is its iconic charge that it not only gives youthfulness to elderly women, but retains the democratic vitality these women sported as young, mature, and now aging feminists. For the ponytail to remain iconic, it must offer us leeway to maneuver and oscillate between existential hopes and fears of health.
Practicalities
Authors: Broch Trygve B.
Published: January 2023

Work-life pressures on the modern woman shape hair fashions and customs. The ponytail binds hair in practical ways that can echo feminist undercurrents, implying “I’m busy, I’m working, and need my hair OFF my face.” Furthermore, this chapter shows how the ponytail naturalizes women’s presence in male-dominated jobs and roles, and therefore radiates with the social progress of former feminist generations. Those who find the ponytail to be practical in work and family life encompass women who believe they live in a post-feminist reality as well as those who remain on the barricades, fists raised, ponytails waving. Ponytailed women are at times loud, youthful, bold, and unapologetic; other times, they perform bold body politics: positionality, presence, and existence. Clearly, the ponytail is iconic, a total social fact used to feel, see, and enact a meaningful relationship with a complex but gendered society. As modern women navigate their practical lives, a new code emerges, a code of movement that fuses the corporeal and practical with the social and feminist environments in which they reside. This code gives the ponytail—itself an embodiment of movement—a performativity of social movements.
Movements
Authors: Broch Trygve B.
Published: January 2023

The “nature of sport” is to sculpt bodies through rhythmic movements and bring these bodies into the public sphere through a dramatic staging of mastery, strength, and agility. When sporting bodies enter the public realm on TV screens, in prose, and as work colleagues, they do so sculpted through the materialization of meaningful movements. Women’s sports often provide especially good examples of this process. The preceding chapters describe how culture moves through the many examples of ponytailed customs and fashions, oscillating amid young and adult heteronormative womanhood, and in democratic tales and hopes motivated by social (in)justice. This chapter shows how the female athlete materializes motions, both physical and cultural, in the form of a cultural kinetics captured in their ponytails, moving with them and imbued with this movement.
Experience
Authors: Broch Trygve B.
Published: January 2023

For the ponytail to evoke meaningful experience, its materiality must be enmeshed in culture. Its material texture—touch and sight—must hold public culture in ways that allow us to feel hair as an iconic source that lives and moves through health, practicalities, and gendered expectations. Having established a sociological idea of movement embodied in the aesthetics of sports, I now show how body movements evoke the moral depth of health, practicalities, and gendered expectations, as the ponytail swings in athletic endeavors. In this final analytic chapter, I draw on the previous chapters to reveal how sports are shaped by and shape social life as the woman athlete’s movements are imbued with broadly available folklore, codes of democratization, and myth, which make the ponytail an icon of progress. We see how the coded experience of sports snaps into alignment to yield a ponytailed experience of sports.
Impact of Nanomaterials on Plant Secondary Metabolism
Authors: Selvakesavan Rajendran K. , Kruszka Dariusz , Shakya Preeti , Mondal Dibyendu , Franklin Gregory
Published: January 2023

Plants encounter various nanomaterials (NMs) as pesticides and fertilizers. It is also possible that nanomaterials reach plants as waste from consumer products and industry. The effects of such NMs on plants have been widely studied, and both positive and negative effects of NMs on plant growth and development have been reported. Recent metabolomics studies suggest that nanoparticles affect the concentration of secondary metabolites in plants by modulating reactive nitrogen/oxygen species, gene expression, and signaling pathways. Secondary metabolites are plant compounds that accumulate in plants through their secondary metabolism. To date, more than 200,000 defined structures of secondary metabolites have been identified, among which many of them possess antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antidepressant, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anticancer properties. The application of elicitors is a simple strategy to increase the production of secondary metabolites in plant cell and tissues. The ability of nanomaterials to induce plant secondary metabolism has recently been exploited in the elicitation of pharmaceutically important compounds from various plant species. The ability of different NMs to induce the accumulation of different classes of compounds in the same plant species has also been accomplished. The molecular mechanisms behind the effects of NMs on plant secondary metabolism revealed the putative genes involved in NM-mediated elicitation of various plant compounds in several reports. This chapter reviews the current understanding of the effects of nanoparticles on plant secondary metabolism and the elicitation of pharmacologically important compounds from plant species.
Verwertung von Urheberrechten an Musikwerken
Authors: Klingner Stephan , Miller Mihail , Schumacher Frank , Thomas Patrick , Becker Michael
Published: January 2023

Die Verwertung von Urheberrechten an Musikwerken ist ein komplexes Gefüge mit unterschiedlichen Akteursgruppen, vielschichtigen rechtlichen Perspektiven durch die zahlreichen Verwertungsmöglichkeiten von Musik sowie einer Vervielfachung vorgenannter Dimensionen durch die fortschreitende Internationalisierung der Verwertung. Die folgenden Kapitel unterstützen den Einstieg in die Thematik und legen die Grundlagen für die weiterführenden Themen.
Werkanmeldungen
Authors: Klingner Stephan , Miller Mihail , Schumacher Frank , Thomas Patrick , Becker Michael
Published: January 2023

Die Werkanmeldung stellt die notwendige Voraussetzung und damit den Startpunkt jeder über die Verwertungsgesellschaften durchgeführten Wahrnehmung der Urheberrechte an einem Musikwerk dar. Sind Werke nicht oder nicht korrekt gemeldet, können auch Tantiemenabrechnungen nicht oder nur fehlerbehaftet durchgeführt werden.
Tantiemen
Authors: Klingner Stephan , Miller Mihail , Schumacher Frank , Thomas Patrick , Becker Michael
Published: January 2023

Tantiemen werden von Verwertungsgesellschaften als Vergütungen an Rechteinhaber*innen für die Nutzungen ihrer Werke ausgezahlt. Neben dem Transfer der finanziellen Mittel sind dabei insbesondere die zugehörigen Abrechnungsdaten relevant. Diese sind, im Falle von Verlagen, für zwei Arbeitsschritte notwendig:
Introduction to History, Theory, and Research in ODDE
Authors: Xiao Junhong
Published: January 2023

This introductory chapter explores the interrelationship and interplay between history, theory, and research in ODDE, demonstrating how they inform research and practice covered in the handbook. It is argued that lack of historical knowledge about ODDE, unawareness of ODDE theories, and negligence of the abundant research literature on ODDE have contributed to the marginalization of and prejudice against the field in the wider education eco-system, despite the fact that it has entered the “mainsteam” of education now. Compelling arguments are advanced for the relevance of history, importance of theories, and necessity of research to the sustainable growth of ODDE. The chapter then goes on to explain the structure of the section, drawing the readers’ attention to issues worthy of further attention. It concludes with several implications from the other chapters in the section and a call for using them as a stepping stone to reimagining ODDE for the twenty-first century.
Theories of Motivation and Empowerment in Open, Distance, and Digital Education
Authors: Ng Clarence
Published: January 2023

Motivation instigates and guides learning in open, distance, and digital education (ODDE). It is indispensable to distance learners’ engagement, persistence, and achievement. A lack of motivation is associated with perennial issues such as early dropout and poor performance in ODDE. This chapter provides an introduction to key theoretical perspectives on motivation, including sociocognitive theories, sociocultural theories, and the concept of perezhivanie. Each perspective provides a unique way for understanding and researching motivation in open and distance learning (ODL). Motivation is discussed as personal attributes internal to the distance learner from a sociocognitive perspective. Drawing attention to social processes and contextual influences, sociocultural theories situate motivation in relevant contexts and highlight motivation as a social, interactive, mediated, and evolving construct. The concept of perezhivanie gives prominence to distance learners’ learning experiences and subjective meanings they derived from personally significant experiences in ODL. This perspective pinpoints motivation that is experiential, reflective, and affect-laden. To advance the goal of empowering distance learners to engage and persist in ODL, these theoretical perspectives are important as they underscore empowerment derived from enabling personal attributes (sociocognitive theories), motivating contexts (sociocultural theories), and personally significant experiences (perezhivanie).
The Impact of International Organizations on the Field of Open, Distance, and Digital Education
Authors: Orr Dominic
Published: January 2023

This chapter argues that international organizations (IOs) are struggling to fulfill their mandate for change and improvement of society across the globe, and that they have been increasingly turning to open, distance, and digital education (ODDE) as part of their portfolio. Harnessing ODDE could be described as a “light-footed solution” for IOs and discussing and ideating around ODDE can be achieved without directly coming into conflict with the political and regulatory framework conditions of a specific country or region that formal educational systems and their institutions are usually entrenched in. This creates a situation in which there is a common discourse among IOs around the challenges that online and distance education should be tackling and an expectation that digital solutions can contribute to them. It is, however, also important to note that IOs focus on setting agendas and norms, but do not implement practices. This leaves a huge gap for ODDE that should be filled by research on what is implemented and “what really works,” but also why certain configurations around ODDE work in certain settings. This may require a more inclusive research framework with a focus on non-formal learning environments. Linking ODDE research to more expansive ideas of “learning in the wild,” that is, also outside of formal settings, will better reflect both the reality of learners in today’s digital world, and provide a foundation for contributing to better IO policies and supporting practices.
From Correspondence Education to Online Distance Education
Authors: Moore Michael Grahame
Published: January 2023

This chapter is about the history of open, distance, and digital education, with the primary focus on its evolving in the USA and Great Britain. A selection of key developments, trends, and players of more than 150 years includes reference to the nineteenth century correspondence schools, the American Land Grant universities, the pedagogical revolution in Charles Wedemeyer’s Articulated Instructional Media project, and its influence on the teaching model developed in the UK’s Open University. Brief coverage is included of the history of educational radio and television, the early computer networks, and the virtual classrooms. Knowledge of past achievements and failures is essential when planning for the future, and so the chapter aims to encourage research into personalization of learning in the correspondence tradition, most importantly research into institutional change and the reform of national systems.
Challenges and Opportunities for Open, Distance, and Digital Education in the Global South
Authors: Mays Tony
Published: January 2023

This chapter explores some of the challenges and opportunities for expansion of open, distance, and digital education in the global south. The discussion begins by defining the terms as used in the chapter and explains why such approaches are of relevance to the diverse countries involved. The chapter then provides some current examples of open, distance, and digital education provision and how some of these practices have been adapted in response to external factors such as climate, financial, and pandemic crises. The chapter then discusses the challenges and opportunities indicated both by current practice and by current research into issues such as open pedagogy, technology-enabled learning, and educational financing. The chapter then makes an argument for the development of more resilient, future-directed education provision, drawing heavily on the experience of the Commonwealth of Learning in its efforts to support sustainable development through learning.
The Borderless Market for Open, Distance, and Digital Education
Authors: Borgos Jill , Kinser Kevin , Kline Lindsey
Published: January 2023

This chapter highlights the historical, current, and emerging trends on the borderless market for ODDE. The rate of growth of the global market for ODDE is unprecedented. Both the public and private sectors are capitalizing on the seemingly limitless opportunities to expand educational offerings and the innovative delivery of ODDE. In the twentieth century, there is evidence of distance education using media formats such as television and delivery of course material through correspondence programs. With the development of the computer and internet, the depth and scope of the ODDE market in the twenty-first century is changing every day. As venture capitalists seek new financially lucrative opportunities and alternative learning formats open doors for those who otherwise may not have had access to learning opportunities, questions and concerns remain. The digital divide (access and inequality), quality assurance, regulation, privacy, and security remain central to areas of concern in the ODDE marketplace. Despite these concerns, across all educational sectors, the forging of partnerships within and across borders is enabling reskilling and upskilling of the labor force and advancing the conservation on how to improve transparency and protect vulnerable populations of current and future learners.
International Students in Open, Distance, and Digital Higher Education
Authors: Mittelmeier Jenna
Published: January 2023

International students are a group of rising prominence in open, distance, and digital higher education, although there is, at present, limited systematic data about their numbers worldwide. International students in open, distance, and digital education occupy an interesting “third space,” whereby they commonly remain within their home environment and surroundings while simultaneously studying from an institution-based abroad. This means that many of the lenses used to frame and categorize international students in face-to-face settings – mobility, visas, and citizenship – are found problematic in online distance settings. This chapter reflects on these issues to outline complexities in categorizing international students in open, distance, and digital higher education and the ways that their experiences may be distinct from international students who are geographically mobile. The chapter ends with a reflection on gaps in current research and suggestions for researchers who include international students in their work.
ODDE Strategic Positioning in the Post-COVID-19 Era
Authors: Glennie Jenny , Paul Ross
Published: January 2023

This chapter considers some of the challenges of the development of strategy, both for the conventional and ODDE sectors of higher education, with a brief look at the literature since strategic planning was first in vogue in the private sector in the early 1960s. Although the most common approach in higher education, so much so-called strategic planning does little to advance long-term visions and strategies or to differentiate one institution from another. The sudden pivot to online learning and other distance education that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced on conventional (contact) institutions has blurred distinctions between traditional and ODDE universities, thus rendering effective strategy development and implementation more important than ever.

This chapter conducts the literature review considering both institutional and system-wide strategy development, underlining their common elements. Then, from the unique vantage point of the South African Institute of Distance Education (Saide), a nongovernmental organization based in Johannesburg but conducting projects throughout South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, it discusses the challenges for ODDE strategy development in the particular context of COVID-19. The chapter concludes with implications from the analysis for both the conventional and ODDE sectors in higher education in South Africa and elsewhere based, in part, on the lessons learned during the pandemic.
Open Education as Social Movement? Between Evidence-Based Research and Activism
Authors: Kalz Marco
Published: January 2023

This chapter analyzes open education initiatives through the lens of social movement theory. Open education is introduced as a field with multiple dimensions, activities, and perspectives. Social movement theory is used to discuss along the dimensions of conflict and protest, cultural representation, values and collective action, and the influence of the social, political, and cultural context. Accordingly, epistemic communities are proposed as an alternative development direction for the field.
Marketing Online and Distance Learning
Authors: Jean-Louis Maxim
Published: January 2023

How do colleges and universities market online learning? This chapter explores contemporary approaches to marketing online courses and programs and uses the historical lens of marketing Athabasca courses and degrees as a backcloth for understanding the unique challenges for this work. The chapter introduces a new approach to the marketing funnel as well as an understanding of the growing importance of social media in marketing to potential learners. The growing global competition for learners is also explored. The growing use of analytics and the challenges of overcoming myths are also discussed. The chapter gives emphasis to the importance of retaining students as well as “capture” of a student registration.
History and Development of Instructional Design and Technology
Authors: Molenda Michael H.
Published: January 2023

The origins and evolution of instructional technology and instructional design are treated in this chapter as separate concepts, although having intertwined histories. As with other technologies, their origins can be traced to the scientific discoveries on which they are based. Early in the twentieth century, new discoveries in optics and electricity stimulated educators to the adoption of technological innovations such as projected still pictures, motion pictures, and audio recording. Individuals and, later, groups of affiliated professionals promoted enriching learning by adding visual and, later, audiovisual resources where verbal presentations previously dominated. As radio broadcasting grew in the 1930s and then television in the 1950s, these mass media were perceived as ways to reach audiences, in and out of school, with educative audiovisual programs. In the 1960s, the wave of interest in teaching machines incorporating behaviorist psychological technology engendered a shift in identity from audiovisual technologies to all technologies, including psychological ones. As computers became ubiquitous in the 1990s, they became the dominant delivery system, due to their interactive capabilities. With the global spread of the World Wide Web after 1995, networked computers took on communication functions as well as storage and processing functions, giving new momentum to distance education. Meanwhile, research during and after World War II prompted a technology of planning – systems analysis. In the 1960s, educators adapted the systems approach to instructional planning, starting the development of instructional systems design (ISD). Since the 1980s, ISD has been the reigning paradigm for instructional design, while instructional design has become the central activity of instructional technology professionals.
Quality Assurance at Mega Universities
Authors: Darojat Ojat , Li Wei
Published: January 2023

Within the community of distance and online education, quality and quality assurance have been one of the most talked and discussed areas. This is especially true within the context of mega open universities where policies are always designed to optimize the openness, flexibility, and accessibility of the system. Even though distance education had initially been associated with opening access to education, the quality of education has become more and more important in line with the advancement of technology use throughout the system. It is within this quality paradigm that quality assurance (QA) has become one of the key aspects in planning and managing open, distance, and digital education (ODDE). This paradigm has also brought many ODDE providers including the mega open universities to reformulate their visions, missions, and strategies to address quality issues more adequately (Belawati & Zuhairi, 2007). This chapter explores the implementation of quality assurance (QA) programs at two mega universities, Universitas Terbuka and Open University of China, which have developed QA system and implemented systematic QA programs consistently, resulting in their enhanced quality of learning over the years. The discussion will start with a general overview about the universities, followed by their internal QA systems and implementations. The two exemplary QA systems and practices would illustrate how mega open universities undertake the quality assurance programs to ensure continuous improvement as well as to develop quality cultures within the respective institutions.
Learner Characteristics and Competencies
Authors: Yalçın Yasin
Published: January 2023

The advances in technology and the demand for open, distance, and digital education redefined the characteristics and competencies of learners in these learning environments. Although technology ownership and access to an Internet connection are growing worldwide, there is still a significant number of learners in need of a computer and Internet access to benefit from the advantages offered by new learning environments. As a result, the obstacles in technology ownership and access put a group of learners from a low socioeconomic status and minorities in a disadvantaged position and prevent them from engaging in learning experiences. Indirectly, these learners also struggle to develop digital competencies due to their limited access to technology-rich environments. This chapter elaborates on the characteristics of learners in open, distance, and digital education environments with respect to their technology ownership and access, presents a number of competency frameworks, and discusses how the competencies included in the frameworks apply to open, distance, and digital education. The chapter opens with the role of technology in new learning environments and how technology ownership and access vary among certain demographics as well as developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries. The introduction is followed by learner characteristics with respect to varying technology access and ownership among demographics and the implications of technology ownership and access for open, distance, and digital education. Finally, a number of competency frameworks were presented and discussed in regard to their contributions to the development of a competency set for learners in open, distance, and digital education environments.
Motivation to Learn in Open, Distance, and Digital Education
Authors: Fryer Luke K. , Shum Alex , Nakao Kaori
Published: January 2023

As research questions in the rapidly growing field of Open, Distance, and Digital Education shift from if to how these forums should be approached, a paramount and complementary area of research is the accompanying motivation students’ exhibit to learn in ODDE environments. This chapter critically examines the existing literature on student motivation in ODDE at each of the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, and beyond. Much existing research involves one-off comparisons between students’ motivation in using popular tools such as MOOCs, gamification of learning, interactive whiteboards, and AR/VR tools with not using them. While mixed effects have been observed, seldom are tools catered to theory and context in a manner that best supports students’ learning. To see the field continue to mature, results from studies must be situated within robust theories of motivation in educational psychology. More program-level research built on more stringent standards in design, analysis, and replication is required. Future directions of research are discussed.
ODDE and Gender
Authors: von Prümmer Christine
Published: January 2023

Gender and the concern with gender issues is important for open and distance education (ODE) which is associated with the provision of educational opportunities for minority groups. In countries and cultures the world over, including Western industrialized societies, girls and women are educationally disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts. This educational discrimination is especially prevalent in social minorities. Since 1982, with the start of the Women’s International Network WIN within the International Council for Open and Distance Education ICDE, women working in ODE have brought a feminist and gender perspective to their own situation and to that of women distance students. A manifestation of this was the proliferation of women’s/gender studies into ODE curricula. With the goal of equal access and conditions for women to succeed, women working in ODE researched and analyzed the cultural and social factors underlying the inequalities and identified ways for redressing gender imbalances. The chapter discusses four areas of inequality and points out ways for the empowerment of women: (1) gender roles and the social division of labor, (2) learning environments, (3) access equity, and (4) course content and choice of subject. A focus on gendered access and use of technology highlights factors affecting women’s participation in e-learning and the way in which they use electronic communication for overcoming isolation, for networking, and for empowerment.
Media Usage Behaviors of Learners in ODDE
Authors: Bong Ji Yae , Liu Zhichun
Published: January 2023

In the digital era and with the prevalence of media usage in open, distance, and digital education, learners increasingly use media to facilitate their learning in various ways. Media usage in today’s learning environment ranges from watching a video or listening to a podcast to annotating a digital book collaboratively or sharing thoughts on Twitter. Learners demonstrate diverse media usage behaviors under different settings for different purposes. The goal of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of learners’ media usage in open, distance, and digital education settings. In this chapter, the authors first review the development of media usage in open, distance, and digital education, as well as learner media usage behavior as a research-agenda shift from a contemporary research and practice perspective. Next, the diverse learner typologies regarding media usage behaviors, as well as research on learner media usage and its implications, are discussed. The chapter concludes with an outlook on media usage in open, distance, and digital education and research directions in the near future. Understanding learners’ media usage will guide research on how to promote learning with the facilitation of media and provide insights into the design and development of future open, distance, and digital education.
Synchronous Tools for Interaction and Collaboration
Authors: Lowenthal Patrick R.
Published: January 2023

The history of distance education in many ways is a history about the evolution of synchronous and asynchronous communication technologies. Distance education, and online learning in particular, has primarily relied on asynchronous communication technologies over the years. However, COVID-19 has sparked a new interest in using synchronous tools for interaction and collaboration in open, distance, and digital education. Given this it is incumbent upon educators and researchers alike to be familiar not only with the current iteration of synchronous communication technologies but also with how they have developed and evolved over time, the affordances and constraints of synchronous communication, interaction, and collaboration, some of the different types, and the overall implications for future research and practice.
Blended Learning Research and Practice
Authors: Graham Charles R. , Halverson Lisa R.
Published: January 2023

The strategic integration of online and in-person learning modalities (referred to as blended learning) is becoming increasingly popular in primary, secondary, post-secondary, and corporate contexts. Some have even called blended learning (BL) the “new normal” in education. This chapter addresses five important questions for scholars interested in contributing to research in this domain. First, how are scholars defining BL? Second, what are some of the common models of BL being used in higher education and K-12 learning environments? Third, what is happening with BL research and practice in different regions of the world? Fourth, what research frameworks have been developed by BL scholars and what are other common frameworks that scholars have borrowed from other domains? Finally, the chapter overviews some of the current BL research around institutional, faculty, and student issues. The global pandemic from 2019 to 2021 has increased administrator, instructor, and student awareness and familiarity with many online learning options. It is likely that blended practices that combine both online and in-person instruction will become increasingly prevalent. Scholars will need to better understand how different blended models and pedagogical practices within those models work to improve learning outcomes, increase access and flexibility for learners, and impact cost efficiencies.
Using Social Media in Open, Distance, and Digital Education
Authors: Bozkurt Aras
Published: January 2023

The technology used by Open, Distance, and Digital Education (ODDE) to deliver educational content includes social media (SM), which provides many opportunities to support learning in ODDE processes. This book chapter explains the use of SM in educational processes and the use of SM as a web-based educational technology, focusing specifically on the development of web technologies and SM from the perspective of ODDE. Furthermore, the chapter explores the affordances and limitations of SM through theoretical/conceptual lenses to better understand social media and its use in ODDE. In examining the research patterns on SM, four themes emerged, suggesting SM supports ODDE learning through: (1) social communication, interaction, and collaboration in online learning communities, (2) improved engagement, motivation, and satisfaction of learners, (3) functionality as an alternative learning management system for blended courses in higher education, and (4) facilitation of networked and connectivist informal learning. With its many social features, SM can be used to assist both formal and informal learning, but there still are some issues to resolve before ODDE can fully adopt it.
Designing Online Learning Environments to Support Problem-Based Learning
Authors: Ge Xun , Huang Kun
Published: January 2023

Problem-based learning (PBL) represents an instructional approach through which learning is gained by investigating, negotiating, and resolving meaningful problems. PBL can be challenging to implement, and the online learning ecology adds another layer of challenges as it demands effective interactions between pedagogy and technology. To inform the design of online learning environments to support PBL, this chapter presents a practical pedagogical framework to support four key aspects of PBL implementation: (1) preparation and planning, (2) design and development, (3) implementation and facilitation, and (4) assessment. Strategies, tools, and examples were drawn from the literature to address each aspect.
Dimensions of Assessment in Online and Open Education in Terms of Purpose, Function and Theory
Authors: Hickey Daniel T. , Harris Tripp , Lee Hyejeong
Published: January 2023

This chapter considers the assessment of learning in open, distance, and digital education. To add new insights to the extensive body of relevant prior research literature, the chapter uses two “dimensions” of assessment to summarize and extend this work. The first dimension is assessmentfunction.This includes traditionalsummativefunctions (“assessmentoflearning”), modernformativefunctions (“for learning”), and contemporarytransformativefunctions (“aslearning”). This also includes recently introducedconformativefunctions (“ascompliance”) anddeformativefunctions (“assabotage”). The second dimension istheory of learning.This includesdifferential, cognitive-associationist, cognitive-constructivist,andsituative/socioculturaltheories. This chapter pays particular attention to how these dimensions interact with each other in complex (and often unanticipated) ways, and briefly considers how they interact with two other dimensions (itemformatand assessmentlevel,as elaborated elsewhere) in open, distance, and digital education.
Synergies Among the Pillars
Authors: Hmelo-Silver Cindy E. , Jeong Heisawn
Published: January 2023

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) research has become pervasive in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education over the last several decades. Guided by sociocultural and social constructivist theories of learning, CSCL focuses on shared meaning making and is influenced by the three pillars of CSCL: enabling technologies, pedagogical designs, and modes of collaboration. This chapter identifies different approaches to CSCL that involve different combinations of these pillars. Based on an extensive literature review, we identify four distinct clusters that represent these different combinations. Focusing on two of these clusters, this chapter (1) identifies robust themes in this field and (2) discusses the positive outcomes associated with these aspects of CSCL. Outcomes include learning gains, process improvements, and affective outcomes. Across clusters, results demonstrate that scaffolding and feedback in different combinations are important for positive outcomes. However, feedback that is poorly timed or excessive sometimes impedes learning and affective outcomes. Moreover, different combinations are used with learners at different ages and learning goals. Designing CSCL for different learning environments requires considering the complex system of learning environments that emerge from the interaction among the learning contexts, learner characteristics, and learning activities.
Introduction to Organization, Leadership, and Change in ODDE
Authors: Paul Ross
Published: January 2023

This chapter provides an overview of the 11 other chapters in Section 4 of the handbook which address issues of Organisation, Leadership and Change. It pays particular attention to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on perceptions of ODDE, noting both the benefits of the greatly enhanced international interest in on-line learning and the negative perceptions associated with its misuse during the sudden demand for emergency remote teaching in conventional educational institutions. It envisions a blurring of distinctions between conventional and ODDE institutions with consequent opportunities for the latter. While these issues are pursued through various perspectives in the Section 4 chapters, there is a unifying theme of the critical importance of institutional leadership throughout and a concomitant focus on how leadership has to change in a rapidly evolving international context. The chapter envisions a bright future for ODDE but only if critical issues of institutional leadership are addressed and if those leading conventional institutions are made aware of the research and experience emanating from the established ODDE sector.
International Partnerships and Curriculum Design
Authors: Reiffenrath Tanja , Thielsch Angelika
Published: January 2023

In recent years, efforts to internationalize teaching, learning, and the curriculum using digital media have increased and (higher) education institutions around the world have embraced virtual communication and collaboration to foster and maintain international partnerships. This chapter surveys linkages between international partnerships and curriculum design. Based on concepts and designs that can help to establish virtual joint educational initiatives within the framework of international (institutional) partnerships, this chapter introduces different curriculum design models and their implications for international partnerships in order to enable readers to initiate new curriculum design processes or evaluate existing curricula with regard to the involvement of and virtual collaboration with international partners.
Introduction
Authors: Bartz Eva
Published: January 2023

Bartz & Bartz GmbH initiated the methods described in this book to achieve better results in hyperparameter tuning faster, with less effort and costs. Because, let’s face it, computational time entails a number of costs. First and foremost it entails the time of the researcher, furthermore a lot of energy. All this equals money. So if we manage to achieve better results in hyperparameter tuning in less time, everybody profits. On a larger scale the methods described may contribute a small part to address some of the challenges we face as a society.
Case Study IV: Tuned Reinforcement Learning (in Python)
Authors: Zaefferer Martin , Chandrasekaran Sowmya
Published: January 2023

Similar to the example in Chap. 10, which considered tuning a Deep Neural Network (DNN), this chapter also deals with neural networks, but focuses on a different type of learning task: reinforcement learning. This increases the complexity, since any evaluation of the learning algorithm also involves the simulation of the respective environment. The learning algorithm is not just tuned with a static data set, but rather with dynamic feedback from the environment, in which an agent operates. The agent is controlled via the DNN. Also, the parameters of the reinforcement learning algorithm have to be considered in addition to the network parameters. Based on a simple example from the Keras documentation, we tune a DNN used for reinforcement learning of the inverse pendulum environment toy example. As a bonus, this chapter shows how the demonstrated tuning tools can be used to interface with and tune a learning algorithm that is implemented in Python.
Tuning: Methodology
Authors: Bartz-Beielstein Thomas , Zaefferer Martin , Mersmann Olaf
Published: January 2023

This chapter lays the groundwork and presents an introduction to the process of tuning Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) hyperparameters and the respective methodology used in this book. The key elements such as the hyperparameter tuning process and measures of tunability and performance are defined. Practical considerations are presented and all the ingredients needed for successful hyperparameter tuning are explained. A special focus lies on how to prepare the data. This might be the most thorough overview presented yet.
Hyperparameter Tuning and Optimization Applications
Authors: Bartz-Beielstein Thomas
Published: January 2023

This chapter reflects on advantages and sense of use of Hyperparameter Tuning (HPT) and its disadvantages. In particular it shows how important it is, to keep the human in the loop, even if HPT works perfectly. The chapter presents a collection of HPT studies. First, HPT applications in Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) are described. A special focus lies on automated ML, neural architecture search, and combined approaches. HPT software is presented. Finally, model based approaches, especially applications with Sequential Parameter Optimization Toolbox (SPOT) are discussed.
Exploring Malaysia’s 2021 Budget through Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies: (De)legitimation in Online News
Authors: Joharry Siti Aeisha , Kasmani Mohd Faizal
Published: January 2023

This chapter examines how a particular social event, Malaysia’s 2021 budget is reported inThe Star Online. It aims to analyse the discourse surrounding the budget through use of corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS). Using corpus linguistic techniques, a specialised corpus is firstly compiled of the phrase ‘Budget 2021’ inThe Star Onlinefrom one month before and after Parliament passed the budget on 26 November 2020. A total of 889 articles ranging from a number of sections (e.g. Nation, Letters, and Business) were identified from the website that resulted in 339,651 words. Standard corpus methods were employed namely, the investigation of frequency lists, collocational patterns as well as examining the corpus in more detail via concordance. Findings from the Budget 2021 corpus show patterns of how language is used to describe, explain as well as oppose a political issue like the national budget, which may influence how governance achieves legitimacy in the eyes of the public. It also reveals how discursive meanings can be viewed in a more systematic way.
Legitimising Governance Through Vocational Roles: A Conceptual Metaphor Analysis of Budget Speeches
Authors: Rashid Ali Farrah Diebaa , Awab Su’ad
Published: January 2023

Although on opposing political spectrums, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) legitimised their presence through several vocational roles. These roles were not overtly mentioned, but their use can be unveiled by a conceptual metaphor analysis. This chapter analyses eleven supply bills or better known to Malaysians as budget speeches presented by two Ministers of Finance, Najib Razak (2010–2018) from BN and Lim Guan Eng (2019–2020) from PH. The analysis was informed by conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and membership categorisation analysis (Sacks, 1995). Whilst BN constructed 39 vocational roles for itself, PH had 16 roles. The two coalitions share a preference for certain roles, such as GOVERNMENT IS GENERAL/SOLDIER and GOVERNMENT IS DOCTOR, but BN also favours GOVERNMENT IS CAPTAIN. Both BN and PH legitimise their governance by representing themselves as hero-like-authoritative figures who can handle multiple vocational roles. These roles are played out in narratives highlighting the government’s authority, value systems and ideologies.
Seeking Legitimation in Political Uncertainties: Reforming the Media
Authors: Kow Kwan Yee , Khoo Ying Hooi
Published: January 2023

The media in Malaysia have long been controlled by censorship laws, and media bias has long been identified as a key hindrance to progressive discussion in the public sphere, as the government traditionally controls the media. The former Pakatan Harapan (PH) government made media reform promises in their election manifesto, which covered the repeal of laws deemed oppressive and a threat to free speech, and importantly, the support for self-regulation mechanisms through a media council. The Malaysian Media Council (MMC) was formed in December 2019 with 17 pro-tem committee members. Yet, the future of media reform is uncertain because systemic barriers remain. Besides the continued existence of censorship laws, some media organisations retain patronage by political parties and different sectors of society have distinct expectations of policy outcomes. Moreover, the fate of media reform is unclear after the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government came to power in late February 2020. This chapter employs a content analysis of press releases and news articles, supplemented by participant observation, to explore the legitimation of media reform. It first provides an overview of progress on media reform, and then analyses the challenges and barriers faced by members of the MMC and activists who fight for media reform. This chapter suggests that Malaysia is expected to continue to witness policies that limit media freedom rather than those that pursue media reform.