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This study explores the relationship between the three elements of the Community of Inquiry (teaching, social, and cognitive presences) and video-based instruction in the online environment. The video-based instruction included instructor-created videos and screencasts, video feedback assignment critiques, video-enhanced content discussions, and synchronous video conferencing. The researchers examined higher education students' perceptions of CoI regarding the video-based instruction, the determinants that affected their perceptions, and the students' learning experiences during the video-enhanced instruction. Findings from end of the semester surveys revealed high levels of teaching, social, and cognitive presence when video-based instructional strategies were introduced.

This qualitative case study explored an eighth-grade social studies classroom where the teacher uses StudyCasts as an instructional strategy with his students. Teacher-led StudyCasts were utilized as a way for his students to remember content for upcoming tests. Additionally, his students created their own StudyCasts in the classroom to review social studies content. The study revealed an increase in student engagement, improved communication skills, and introduced an alternative method to study and prepare for classroom content and summative assessments. This study discussed the benefits and limitations of the use of this technology in the social studies classroom. Currently, a limited amount of studies explore the use of StudyCasts in social studies and middle-level education. This study extends the literature in this emerging area.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how a middle school teacher uses a studycast activity--podcasts designed to support test review--to stimulate student motivation and engagement with class content and to affect student academic performance. The teacher and two students participated in interviews with the researcher. Classroom observations were made of all students for each class period over the course of two weeks, 15.5 hours per week. The first week was scheduled at the start of a unit on Africa and allowed the researcher to observe students before they interacted with technology. The second week of observation occurred as students worked in teams to create their own studycasts. The teacher explained performance criteria and provided ongoing scaffolding throughout the study period. Three themes emerged from the data analysis. The first theme was practicality. The teacher perceived that his students were not spending enough time reviewing for tests largely because they could not, or would not, attend after school study sessions. The second theme, storytelling describes this teacher's unique way of using studycasts in his classroom. Students created stories that incorporated class content, recording these as studycasts and making these available to their classmates and others via an RSS feed on a classroom website. The final theme, motivation, describes the teacher's and students' perceptions of the benefits of studycasts in classroom learning.