Internet Learning Volume 6, Number 2, Fall 2017/Winter 2018 | Page 4

Letter from the Editor
Kathleen J. Tate, Ph.D.
Internet Learning Journal • Volume 6, Number 2 • Fall 2017/Winter 2018
Welcome to the Fall 2017/Winter 2018 issue of Internet Learning Journal!
Within, you will find book and media reviews, perspectives from the
field, and research and theoretical articles. A focus on students is prevalent
in this issue, which includes pieces about student persistence and achievement,
and student experiences by way of apps, open educational resources (OERs),
typography, and portfolios.
Dr. Erik Bean’s book review provides an overview of the Kinder and Articulate
(2015) electronic text, Typography to Improve Your E-Learning. Dr. Bean discusses
the book’s points about the proper use of fonts, colors, size, and positioning
in E-learning environments in order to prompt more student connectedness and
engagement. He highlights the authors’ emphasis on creating a successful visual
course environment based on typography decisions.
In her media review, Cali Morrison describes a better ePortfolio and related
platform, Portfolium, for students to use within and beyond university walls.
Morrison shares both student and employer benefits as well as challenges of using
a learner demonstration network, which helps to reduce the demonstration gap.
In the From the Field section, Dr. Robbie K. Melton, Emerging Technology
Consultant for Tennessee Board of Regents (40 campuses) and Professor at Tennessee
State University, is featured in 3 Questions for an Online Learning Leader.
Dr. Melton is an Appologist, which is a title she coined in regard to the curation
and evaluation of mobile apps for education and workforce programs for teaching,
learning, and more. Robbie shares her favorite apps for students and instructors
as well as general considerations related to technologies for higher education contexts.
Research and practical articles in this issue focus on student persistence,
student achievement, and OERs. Drs. Robinson, Kil, and Milliron analyzed Civitas
Learning datasets on students to examine the impact of course modality (i.e.
face-to-face, online, hybrid) on persistence rates. They use multiple datasets and
predictive models from educational analytics company, Civitas Learning, across a
number of higher education institutions to explore potential contributing factors.
Dr. Tiffany DePriter seeks to understand the nature of the relation between
term length and student achievement in an online college algebra class. Dr. De-
Priter performed a Mann–Whitney U-test with a sample of 812 students from
both 8-week and 16-week online college algebra classes. The implications of her
findings suggest that accelerated term lengths in mathematics are a viable choice
for online students.
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doi: 10.18278/il.6.2.1