Work-based and employee-driven informal learning, training and development have been increasing in importance in the last few decades. Concurrently, organizations seek to measure the extent to which they develop a culture and structure that supports individual learning and organizational learning. This study develops and validates a scale that can measure the extent to which an organization is perceived to provide online learning that is personalized for its employees and perceived to recognize skills and competencies acquired through non-degree and other pathways. This research can provide organizations with the ability to measure and benchmark attributes of their learning culture that are important to work-based and lifelong learning as well as talent recruitment and management.

This study sought to answer critical questions surrounding the impact that national culture has on specific parts of the employment experience of employees working for multinational organizations. As globalization expands and organizations are gaining larger footprints beyond regional operations, there has become a need to understand how cultural nuances could be playing a role in the employee experiences at these organizations. This study looks at two pieces of the employee experience in great detail, the psychological contract and job satisfaction. Understanding the process that builds psychological contracts between employee and employer is a critical piece to promoting a satisfied and productive workforce. The perception of a breach of the psychological contract has substantial negative implications. Understanding how the psychological contract and employee job satisfaction are linked is a key focus of this study. Binary logistic regression and path analysis were conducted on a sample of employees of multinational organizations which provided key findings and evidence that both nationality and job satisfaction play a statistically significant role in the perception of a psychological contract breach. The path analysis provided results that warrant further research, but was unable to substantiate the moderating effects of the dimensions of national culture on job satisfaction …

This manuscript-style dissertation consists of three publications interconnected in their focus on the dynamically evolving use of immersive virtual reality technologies for language education. The manuscripts included in this dissertation were adapted from three research papers published or submitted for publication in scientific journals and book chapters. The first manuscript provides an overview of immersive technologies of different levels of immersion, ranging from 2D displays on a flat screen to highly immersive interactive experiences rendered in virtual reality using head-mounted displays. The second manuscript is a systematic review, and it narrows down the scope of immersive technologies outlined in the previous publication by exploring existing research on the technologies related to the highest level of immersion for language learning, namely the high-immersion virtual reality technologies. The third manuscript continues to investigate the application of those technologies for language learning, but the focus is shifted from examining virtual reality applications to exploring language teachers' beliefs about using those technologies. This dissertation offers a comprehensive overview of high-immersion virtual reality use for language learning which may serve as an ideal starting point for researchers and educators interested in learning more about the current state of virtual reality integration in schools from the …

This study investigated personalized adaptive learning, teacher education, and self-efficacy to determine if personalized adaptive teacher education can increase self-efficacy. It is suggested that teachers with higher self-efficacy tend to stay in the teaching profession longer. Chapters 2 and 3 are literature reviews on personalizing adaptive learning to determine what common components are used in personalized adaptive learning systems to get a clear understanding of what previous literature suggests building this study on it. Chapter 4 investigates the data collected from 385 teachers to understand better what teachers report on factors that increase their self-efficacy. As a result, it was found that teachers' self-efficacy increases with more training, support, and resources. In chapter 5, a framework was developed based on previous findings, with components of personalized adaptive learning to provide support/help at the right time for teachers to increase their self-efficacy. An empirical study was conducted to validate this framework, where the framework was used as a guide to personalize and adapt summer teacher preservice training and survey teachers on their self-efficacy before and after the training to see its impact on teachers' self-efficacy. However, since summer preservice training was virtual, the framework could not be implemented fully, as we …

The technology acceptance model (TAM) was used in this study to evaluate the faculty's perceptions of online learning. This study adopted a deductive approach that involved a move from theory formulation to data gathering. This study utilized a descriptive, correlational design to describe the study variables, which included the participants'' perceptions and attitudes. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of technology have statistically significant correlations with technology competence levels of technical college faculty members, influencing their behavioral intentions to use online learning. Specific strategies that bolster perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of technology in learning should be prioritized. These strategies include improving technological infrastructure, offering technology competency training, instituting facilitative technology use policies, and improving teacher-student motivation to use technology in learning.

This study aimed to observe measurement invariance between community college students and university students in response to the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Survey instrument. Most studies of the CoI survey instruments have recorded and validated the instruments considering undergraduate or graduate students. This study sought to validate and prove the survey tool as a reliable instrument for the community college population. The study employed SEM and meta-analytic procedures to observe measurement invariance between a Monte Carlo generated general university sample population and the community college survey population. The findings are discussed, as well as the implications for CoI studies in the community college.

Libraries can have a significant impact on today's students and the schools of today and tomorrow. The way students learn is changing as technology changes: rapidly. The knowledge and skills that today's librarians carry can influence the students immensely, including their use of technology. However, with many districts suffering budget cuts, one of the first positions to cut is the certified librarian, replaced by a library paraprofessional. These budget cuts will impact what the libraries can offer students. It is vital that districts support their library program and the person in charge, whether a paraprofessional or certified librarian, to positively impact the students for their future. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of library programs within a technology-rich school district that utilizes paraprofessionals supported by a certified librarian.