Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Mathematics

Persistent homology has been an important tool in topological and geometrical data analysis to study the shape of data. However, its ability to differentiate between various datasets is limited. To expand and enhance our toolkit, we study persistent invariants that arise from homotopy groups, rational homotopy groups, the cohomology ring, the Lyusternik-Schnirelmann (LS) category, and chain complexes, which can be more discriminative than persistent homology. Chapter 2 provides the necessary background from metric geometry, algebraic topology, and persistent theory. Chapter 3 discusses persistent homotopy groups of compact metric spaces, with a focus on the persistent fundamental groups, for which we obtain a more precise description via a persistent version of the notion of discrete fundamental groups due to Berestovskii-Plaut. Under fairly mild assumptions on the spaces, we prove that the persistent fundamental group admits a tree structure that encodes more information than its persistent homology counterpart. The rationalization of the persistent homotopy groups is also considered and completely characterized for the circle by invoking the results of Adamaszek-Adams and Serre. We establish that persistent homotopy groups enjoy stability in the Gromov-Hausdorff sense. Chapter 4 examines several persistent invariants that capture ring-theoretic information about the evolution of the cohomology structure across a filtration. The first one is the persistent cup-length invariant, which is a persistent version of the standard cup-length invariant and is computable from representative cocycles in polynomial time. The second one is the persistent LS-category invariant. Although not directly defined using the cup product operation, the persistent LS-category invariant is closely related to the persistent cup-length invariant by having the latter as a pointwise lower bound. The third one is the persistent cup module, which absorbs the cup prod (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science in Computer Engineering (MSCE), Wright State University, 2017, Computer Engineering

A good distance metric is instrumental on the performance of many tasks including classification and data retrieval. However, designing an optimal distance function is very challenging, especially when the data has high dimensions.Recently, a number of algorithms have been proposed to learn an optimal distance function in a supervised manner, using data with class labels. In this thesis we proposed methods to learn an optimal distance function that can also indicate the importance of attributes. Specifically, we present several ways to define idealized distance functions, two of which involving distance error correction involving KNN classification, and another involving a two-constant defined distance function. Then we use multiple linear regression to produce regression formulas to represent the idealized distance functions. Experiments indicate that distances produced by our approaches have classification accuracy that are fairly comparable to existing methods. Importantly, our methods have added bonus of using weights on attributes to indicate the importance of attributes in the constructed optimal distance functions. Finally, the thesis presents importance of attributes on a number of datasetsfrom the UCI repository.

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Education : Educational Foundations

This study draws on the experiences of one population of distance learners, comprised of adult women, enrolled in a distance learning program in the context of a Midwest dual-mode higher education institution to better understand the impact of student support on their distance learning experience. While limited to a specific institutional context and distance education program, this systematic examination of support service needs of adult distance learners represents a practical application of literature and contributes to and confirms the work of others. By and large, the 28 support services and assistance provided were important to this population of learners. These services fall within six functional categories identified in the literature as important supports for distance learners: recruitment and enrollment services, academic support, educational materials and resources, community development, financial services, and technical support. One conclusion drawn from this study is that these areas provide a good starting point for any distance education program interested in designing ways to support distance learners. That is, even in the context of specialized programs and groups of learners, there are some basic similarities that can be adapted and modified particular to the institutional context and learners. However, even within a distance learning program designed to meet the needs of one population of learners, there is much diversity in terms of learner dispositional and situational circumstances that impact their support needs. Therefore, the institution must be prepared to provide a range of student support throughout the distance learner's experience. The manner in which support services were provided was a major factor in students' perceptions of effective support assistance. Providing timely and accurate information, providing assistance that is responsive to the individual needs of the learners, and building a sense of community to overcome feelings of (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, ED Policy and Leadership

Higher education in the U.S. is experiencing a wave of distance education activity, with nearly twenty percent of all U.S. higher education students taking at least one online course in the fall of 2007 (Allen & Seaman, 2008). Accompanying this activity is a renewed concern on the part of distance learning administrators, faculty, and professional associations about the overall quality of these efforts. Governments and institutions use a variety of approaches to measuring quality—internal and external committee reviews, formal assessments using standards and benchmarks created by government or professional bodies, and reviews of inputs and outputs akin to the quality assurance approaches of business and industry. This interpretive study explored the interaction between quality standards, faculty, staff, and managers by conducting an instrumental case study of one institution's efforts to implement quality at the level of course creation and design. Big Town Community College's Department of Distance Education and Instructional Support currently uses a widely available set of course design standards to assess and improve quality in its offerings of online courses. The course design standards, in the form of a rubric, are made available by an organization called Quality Matters (MarylandOnline, 2006). The study uses activity theory to analyze data and theorize about the case (Engestrom, 2008). The primary finding of this study is that the Quality Matters rubric supported the design work of faculty and staff in significant ways—especially by helping to create a shared object for their course design activity. However, it also led to contradictions in the activity—both between staff and faculty and the design standards themselves, and also between staff and faculty and the division of labor used at the college for designing a Web-supported course. Other findings revolved around the question of how the project management model in use at Big Town supports and hinders t (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Industrial, Interior and Visual Communic Design

The current state of on-line, synchronous communication environments support an idealistic but unrealistic metaphor for the way people interact during a typical presentation. Available solutions purport simultaneous input from all parties involved rather than a presenter-to-attendee model analogous to a group presentation or classroom setting. Independent of the specific context, whether it be education or business, the intent of this inquiry and concept development is to challenge current models of on-line, synchronous communication and conduct practical research to create a model that defines a rich, one-to-many experience. The end result is a new communication model that employs design rationale and process to improve the state of real world, on-line collaboration. On-line technologies enable users to communicate in entirely new ways and, most significantly, from remote locations. Often a new technology is first expressed as a crude collection of tools—design and human factors are forgotten. Presented here are the user's expectations, needs and desires, the adaptation of traditional and familiar communication mediums, and the exploitation of current technologies to serve design sensibilities. To illustrate the usability of the model and the dynamics of the experience, the results of an experiment employing a designed prototype are analyzed. The results indicate that a carefully designed virtual environment can compensate for the lack of physical collocation for a medium-sized university lecture. From a multi-disciplinary perspective, the prototype is evaluated based on a proposed set of criteria for designing a synchronous, on-line experience.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Physical Activity and Educational Services

Distance education in formal undergraduate and graduate programs is the fastest growing segment of adult education, and many institutions and instructors are placing learning opportunities on the World Wide Web. Yet many adult learners do not possess the skills required to successfully complete Web-based courses. Although learning at a distance has been in existence for over 100 years, there are very few pedagogical theories on learning at a distance. The purpose of this study was to propose a conceptual model of learning in Web courses and to test this model is a specific setting: a large Midwestern university offering courses taught via the Web. The model suggested that computer technology would mediate learner autonomy, that learner autonomy would effect the required level of course structure, and that there would be a linear relationship between learner autonomy and course structure to explain a significant portion of the variance in satisfaction with perceived learning in the fourteen Web courses included in the study. 240 randomly sampled students were asked to complete the questionnaires. A total of 68 (28%) usable responses were completed online. The Learner Profile questionnaire included a previously developed scale (Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, Pintrich, Smith, Garcia & McKeachie, 1991), and a modified version of Stein & Wheaton's (2000) Computer Technology Scale. Course structure was assessed by three independent instructional designers using the Course Structure Rubric, developed for this study. Correlation coefficients were utilized to examine the relationships between course structure, learner autonomy, computer technology experience and satisfaction with perceived knowledge gained in a Web-based course. Results partially supported the model, as computer technology experience was found to be related to learner autonomy, and learner autonomy was found to be related to satisfaction with perceived knowledge gained. Satisfaction with pe (open full item for complete abstract)

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Engineering and Applied Science: Civil Engineering

All-bolted single-angle connections are simple (shear) connections commonly used in steel structures; however, there is limited guidance on appropriately designing single-angle connections for fire safety in steel structures. In the context of fire, the strength of single-angle connections and their deformation capacity has not been extensively researched and understood. To address these gaps in knowledge, a finite element model was generated and a parametric study performed to evaluate all-bolted single-angle connection behavior under fire. A finite element model was first developed and compared to experimental data at both ambient and elevated temperatures. Due to a lack of detailed single-angle experimental results, the benchmarked model was a double-angle connection. A single-angle connection was then created using similar methods and procedures. Finally, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to examine the various factors that may influence the fire behavior of single-angle connection assemblies. These include: single-angle location, edge distance, gap distance, and load ratio. The base model used for single-angle connections was based on standard building construction practices in the United States. According to the findings of this study, the gap distance and single-angle location concerning the beam neutral axis are the primary factors influencing the behavior of single-angle connections at ambient temperatures. In the case of fire, the principal causes influencing the behavior of single-angle connections are gap distance, edge distance, and load ratio. The controlling modes of failure are bolt to the beam fracture, bolt to the column fracture, tear-out of beam web, and angle.

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2022, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

Online course persistence at community colleges is a serious issue, with students being between 3 and 15 percentage points more likely to withdraw than those taking the on-campus equivalent (Xu et al., 2019). Despite the continued growth in distance education, quality online course design is a concern throughout the literature. This quantitative, causal-comparative study aimed to investigate the existence of a statistically significant relationship between online course templates, using Quality Matters Specific Review Standards, and online course completion rates at one Midwestern Community College. An ex post facto causal-comparative method was chosen for this study because the Midwestern Community College progressively implemented Quality Matters Specific Review Standards over three Fall academic terms providing an opportunity to investigate increasing quality standards through online templates, retrospectively, in a naturally occurring environment. Descriptive Statistics, Linear Regression, and a One-Way ANOVA were employed in the data analysis. The study results revealed a statistically significant relationship between online course completion rates and online course templates using QM Specific Review Standards.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Mathematics

Distance functions are important in data analysis for modelling dissimilarity between data points. Utilizing tools from metric geometry and optimal transport, we study foundations of data analysis by examining various distances between and within metric (measure) spaces. The dissertation can be roughly divided into three parts. In the first part, we study problems related to the computational aspect of the Gromov-Hausdorff distance $d_\mathcal{GH}$. $d_\mathcal{GH}$ is a natural distance for comparing metric spaces which satisfies many pleasing mathematical properties. However, the distance is known to be NP-hard to compute in general. Despite this hardness, we devise a fixed-parameter tractable algorithm for computing $d_\mathcal{GH}$ between ultrametric spaces. In the course of discovering this algorithm, we identify a one parameter family of Gromov-Hausdorff type distances $\{d_{\mathcal{GH},p}\}_{p=1}^\infty$ such that $d_{\mathcal{GH},1}=d_\mathcal{GH}$ and $d_{\mathcal{GH},\infty}$, also denoted by $u_\mathcal{GH}$, is an ultrametric itself on the collection $\mathcal{U}$ of compact ultrametric spaces. Whereas for any $p\in[1,\infty)$, $d_{\mathcal{GH},p}$ is NP-hard to compute, we establish that $u_\mathcal{GH}$ can be computed in polynomial time. We further study geometric properties of the space $(\mathcal{U},u_\mathcal{GH})$ and establish universality of the space. There exist two natural analogues of $d_\mathcal{GH}$ in the case of metric measure spaces, namely, the Gromov-Wasserstein distance and Sturm's Gromov-Wasserstein distance. We consider their ultrametric versions using definitions in analogy to $u_\mathcal{GH}$ and study both of their theoretical and experimental behaviors. In the second part, we establish characterizations for Gromov-Hausdorff type geodesics. More precisely, we prove that every Gromov-Hausdorff geodesic is, in fact, a Hausdorff geodesic. This in turn motivated us to study Hausdorff geodesics. We then provide a complete ch (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2020, College of Education

With the proliferation of online courses and programs in the United States, contemporary problems regarding course and communication design have surfaced. There are two primary types of Internet-based classes: asynchronous and synchronous. Asynchronous classes allow students to connect with the material, fellow students, and the instructor at their pace and at a time that works best for them; synchronous online classes require students to be present online at a particular time and allow students to interact with the material, fellow students, and the instructor in real-time. Both types of online classes can foster transactional distance, a psychological distance that leads to feelings of isolation and can negatively impact retention, performance, and student satisfaction. This qualitative, single-instrumental case study investigated the relationship between the communication design of graduate, synchronous online courses, and levels of transactional distance and student satisfaction. The research was conducted by manipulating the communication design and course structure of two graduate American history and government classes. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and surveys. The findings support earlier research that showed the more structured a class is, the higher the level of transactional distance students experience.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2021, Nursing

Being a distance caregiver (DCG) for a patient with cancer creates unique and challenging stressors that put them at risk for adverse psychological outcomes. A DCG is an informal care provider who lives one or more hours of travel time away from the patient. This study examined the relationships between DCG stressors, psychological detachment, and anxiety, and explored the possible mediating effect of psychological detachment on the relationship between DCG stressors and anxiety. DCG tasks can be described as work and psychological detachment, a concept studied among workers, has been shown to ameliorate the negative effect of stressors. Among DCGs, psychological detachment was defined as refraining from caregiving thoughts and tasks. Given that DCGs and workers experience similar stressors and outcomes, studying psychological detachment in DCGs provides information to better understand their unique experience. The Stressor-Detachment model provided a framework for understanding the role of psychological detachment in the relationship between DCG stressors and anxiety. This study was a cross sectional, descriptive research design and a secondary analysis of data collected for a RCT study Closer: A Videoconference Intervention for Distance Caregivers. Adult DCGs of cancer patients (n=86) completed the Recovery Experience Questionnaire psychological detachment subscale (adapted for DCGs) and the PROMIS® anxiety short form. Patient data were included as proxy measures for the variable 'stressors of being a DCG'. The results of this research study were: 1) DCGs reported low psychological detachment scores which indicated they had difficulty refraining from thoughts and tasks of caregiving, 2) a positive association was found between patient depression (a DCG stressor) and DCG anxiety, r (67) = .324, p = .007, 95% CI [.150, .484], and 3) DCG psychological detachment did not serve as a mediator between DCG stressors and anxiety symptoms. This study contributes (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

Many college students struggle financially, and student debt continues to grow in the United States. Students that complete a degree can have high monthly student loan payments, and those that do not complete a degree can struggle financially even more. There is a growing amount of research examining methods to reduce these financial challenges. Since financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviors have been studied as to how they impact student debt, the purpose of this study was to examine financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of community college students and consider an educational intervention as a possible way to impact those variables. The intervention was in the form of exposing students to a series of short, specific, digital learning objects. The research objectives of this study were to describe community college students' financial knowledge, financial attitudes, planned financial behaviors, and actual short-term financial behaviors in the areas of budgeting/saving, credit, and student loans, before and after exposure to the digital learning objects. There was a statistically significant treatment effect for financial knowledge, but not for financial attitudes. For financial behaviors, six unique intended and actual financial behaviors were examined, with half of them showing a significant difference after exposure to the digital learning objects. Planned and actual behaviors in the areas of budgeting, saving, and payment behavior were most effected. Certain ages and racial groups reported salient results in some areas. Students identifying as Black/African American had lower than average scores and lessor treatment effects for financial knowledge, higher than average rates of behavior and higher treatment effects for monthly budgeting, and lower rates of behavior and lower treatment effects for positive payment behaviors. Students under 25 years old reported below average behaviors and treatment effects for monthly budgeting, savin (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2017, Psychology, General

Traditionally, visual-spatial perception research has focused quite heavily on the visual information necessary to perceive the environment and the locations of objects within that space. Recent research has illustrated that non-visual factors like emotional states, motivations, and physical abilities can affect both perceptions and behaviors within the environment. Social factors may also impact the way we see the space around us. This research investigates whether psychological closeness affects perceived egocentric (self-to-target) distance, an important component of spatial perception. Across two experiments, participants made several estimates of the distance between themselves and another “target” person. This target person represented either someone with whom the participant shared a relationship (his/her best friend), or a stranger (confederate Alex); I hypothesized that individuals' feelings of psychological closeness to their best friends would lead to judgments of closer visual-spatial proximity to visual representations of their friends than to visual representations of a stranger. Though participants did indeed report feeling significantly greater levels of psychological closeness to their best friends, there was no evidence that psychological closeness affected subsequent visual-spatial distance judgments in the form of verbal reports of distance (Experiment 1), visual matching of the distance (Experiment 2) or blindfolded walking to targets (Experiments 1 and 2). The contribution of these studies to the ongoing debate regarding the robustness and resilience of non-visual contributions to spatial cognition are discussed in the context of methodological limitations of the present studies and directions for future research in this area.

Master of Science in Education, University of Akron, 2016, Physical Education-Exercise Physiology/Adult Fitness

Bone mineral density (BMD) is an important aspect of bone health in endurance runners. Musculoskeletal overuse injuries to the bone, such as stress reactions and stress fractures, are of major concern to endurance runners and coaches because of the debilitating nature they have on training and performance. It is possible that a greater understanding of BMD in these athletes can lead to a reduction in stress injuries to bone. The purpose of this study was to determine if BMD in certain anatomical regions, especially that of the lower appendicular skeleton, changed over the course of an indoor track season and if there was any significant difference between middle distance and distance runners. Participants were scanned for BMD estimates before the start of the indoor track and field season and after the indoor track and field season. On both testing days they were asked to complete a questionnaire through which they self-identified into either a middle distance or long distance group and also through which they provided any recent history of musculoskeletal injuries. Among the BMD measure comparisons, it was found that a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) existed between middle distance and long distance runners when comparing pre-season to post-season changes of BMD in the legs. Additionally, the difference between pre-season and post-season values of total body BMD for male middle distance runners (p < 0.01) and the difference between pre-season and post-season values of leg BMD for male middle distance runners (p < 0.05) were both significant. Finally, statistically significant differences were found (p < 0.05) between the pre-season and post-season total body BMD values for female middle distance runners and statistically significant differences were found (p < 0.05) between the pre-season and post-season pelvis BMD values for female long distance runners. These statistical findings may not translate directly into practical application, but given (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Statistics

For the last ten years, many measures and tests have been proposed for determining the independence of random vectors. This study explores the similarities and differences of some of these new measures and generalizes the properties that are suitable for measuring independence in the bivariate and multivariate case. Some of the measures that brought interest to the statistical community are Distance Correlation (dCor) by Szekely and Rizzo (2007), Maximal Information Coefficient (MIC) by Reshef, Reshef, Finucane, Grossman, McVean, Turnbaugh, Lander, Mitzenmacher and Sabeti (2011), Local Gaussian Correlation (LGC) and Global Gaussian Correlation (GGC) by Berentsen and Tjøstheim (2014), RV Coefficient by Robert and Escoufier (1976), and the HHG test statistic developed by Heller, Heller and Gorfine (2012). This study gives a state-of-the-art comparison of the measures. We compare the measures in terms of their theoretical properties. We consider the properties that are necessary and desirable for measuring dependence such as equitability and rigid motion invariance. We identify which of A. Renyi's postulates (1959) can be established or disproved for each measure. Each of the measures satisfies only two if not three properties of Renyi. Among the measures and tests explored in this paper, distance correlation is the only one that has the important characterization of being equal to zero if and only if two random variables or two random vectors are independent. Several dependence structures including linear, quadratic, cubic, exponential, sinusoid and diamond, are considered. The coefficients of the dependence measures are computed and compared for each structure. The power performance and empirical Type-I error rates of the dependence measures are also shown and compared. For detecting bivariate and multivariate association, dCov and HHG are equally powerful. Both are consistent against all dependence alternatives and the tests achieve good power fo (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2014, College of Languages, Literature, and Social Sciences

Previous studies have been done on the use of `this' and `that' by native speakers (NSs) of English, non-native speakers (NNSs) of English or foreign language speakers (FLSs) by Kelly-Lopez (2005), Esseili (2006), Hickman (2005), and Imai (2003). Although the first three studies were very well thought out they were missing one point that Imai had. But as Esseili points out in her thesis, Imai's research was flawed because he told his subjects what he was looking for. I want to re-do his test but remove the bias from the study to see if the presentation of objects would be more likely to elicit `this' for near objects and `that' for objects that are farther away from the subjects. In the current study four identical objects will be presented to subjects aligned at equal distances on a flat plane going away from the subjects on a mat, either on a table or on the floor. They may or may not be able to touch the items they are referring to. This will allow the researcher to see if the relative distance from the subject is important or not in the use of `this' and `that' and if Imai's “contact/control” theory is valid (Imai, p. 135). Affective distance of all objects presented horizontally to the subjects has been proven to have the same effect on the choice of `this' or `that', whether closer or farther from the subject. Using NSs and NNSs of English, I plan on testing relative distance of the same types of objects, set up on a table or on the floor, so that one object is closest to the subject and the following items are spaced on the axis so that the final object presented is completely out of the subject's physical reach. I feel that this presentation will elicit the desired response of `this' and `that' along with other possible deixis responses from the subjects. I would ask the subject in random order which item is first, second, third, and fouth. I also will use the survey provided by Christman for the assessment of handedness to check if handedness h (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2014, Industrial and Systems Engineering (Engineering and Technology)

This thesis provides a methodology to allow for rotated interior aisles to reduce the total transportation cost within a facility that is using the flexible bay structure. The methodology contains a construction phase where the optimal Input/Output points and aisle structure are found followed by an improvement phase that optimizes the aisle rotations within a facility. The methodology was applied successfully to three problems from the literature with a maximum improvement of about 21%. All results from the testing are interpreted along with a conclusion including possible extensions of the study.

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2014, Environmental Sciences

Wildlife habitat in southwest Ohio has been significant altered by agricultural and suburban development. A reduction or loss of natural predators and habitat changes has led to greater abundance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) , which can pose major environmental impacts and human-wildlife conflicts. In order to manage a deer population to an acceptable carrying capacity, it is important to have accurate measurements of deer density. This study used pellet-group distance sampling using transects (varying in length from 500 to 800 meters) at five different sites in order to estimate the deer density in the Miami University Natural Areas. Data were collected during two different seasons which resulted in estimated white-tailed deer population densities of 11.2 deer km^(-2) in summer and 18.1 deer km^(-2) in winter. Previous studies have shown that population sizes usually decreases during the winter due to increased mortality from weather, food related, and human related causes. One explanation for the increased population density in this study is the migration into the forests of the Natural Areas from surrounding agricultural or suburban. Both estimates were higher than the recommended carrying capacities for other areas of the eastern deciduous forest, which are 5.8-7.7 deer per km^(-2). Further monitoring of deer population size in the Natural Areas continued will enable the establishment of a baseline densities that can be used to compare the effectiveness of a deer management plan should one be established in the future.

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Education : Curriculum and Instruction

Distance education has emerged as perhaps the most rapidly growing and diversified of the significant advances in instructional technology of the past century. This phenomenon has fostered increasing opportunities for innovations in curriculum and instruction at all levels of education and in every discipline, while maximizing the potential of technology for learning at any time and any place, regardless of distance. This descriptive research study examined various training and development initiatives implemented for and by faculty members to improve their instructional effectiveness in distance higher education. There were five research objectives to describe faculty perceptions of their current training and development needs in relation to their desired levels of preparation, competencies, and comfort for effective distance instruction. Data were primarily collected by means of a mail-out survey involving purposive non-probability sampling of 132 faculty members, from 27 higher education institutions within the state of Ohio. There were also selective interviews with eight faculty members and eight distance education coordinators, and site visits to two nationally recognized institutions with exemplary distance education programs. This interpretive multi-method approach included descriptive data analysis (means, standard deviations and mode) with qualitative analysis of the contextual issues that support distance faculty preparation. The main findings related to the nature of the faculty needs, their desired expectations, the prevailing barriers, and proposed solutions. Most participants (75%), including those who were self-taught (62%), were satisfied with their levels of preparation, competency and comfort levels on their preferred distance delivery modes. However, they expressed the need for a structured approach to training and development, and a supportive teaching culture within their institutions. Participants were proactive in offering solutions for overco (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2011, Electrical Engineering

The impact of technology on education in both traditional classes and Distance Learning (DL) is enormous. The Internet and other network technologies have given the students, different avenues through which a formal education can be obtained. This research proposes a low cost interactive Distance Learning system. The system includes a whiteboard, where users can draw, write and erase. The application is based on the client-server model and it supports the broadcasting of both text messaging and mouse-based drawings. It was developed using the Java programming language and it supports a variable number of different virtual classrooms through the use of dynamic servers.