Dr. Ina Blau

Areas of Interest:

• Social aspects of e-communication
• Technological innovations in learning and teaching in academia and K-12
• Development and design of computer-based learning materials
• Online learning communities

Selected Publications:

Chapters in Refereed Books

• Blau, I., & Barak, A. (in press). Optimization of e-learning: The contribution of personality traits. In D. Hen, & G. Kurtz (Eds), Integration of knowledge technologies into Israeli education systems [in Hebrew].
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2010). Media naturalness, visual anonymity, and learning: Comparing face-to-face and audio conferencing instruction. In N. Kock (Ed.), Evolutionary psychology and information systems research: A new approach to studying the effects of modern technologies on human behavior (pp. 193-216). New-York: Springer.

Articles in Refereed Journals

• Blau, I., & Hameiri, M. (in press). Implementing technological change at schools: The impact of online communication with families on teacher interactions through Learning Management System. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects.
• Caspi, A., & Blau, I. (in press). Collaboration and psychological ownership: How does the tension between the two influence perceived learning? Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal.
• Gorsky, P., Caspi, A., Antonovsky, A., Blau, I., & Mansur, A. (2010). The relationship between academic discipline and dialogic behavior in Open University course forums. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11, 49-72.
• Blau, I., Mor, N., & Neuthal, T. (2009). Open the windows of communication: Promoting interpersonal and group interactions using blogs in higher education. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects, 5, 233-246.
• Gorsky, P., & Blau, I. (2009). Online teaching effectiveness: A tale of two instructors. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 10, 1-27.
• Zuckerman, O., Blau, I., & Monroy-Hernández, A. (2009). Children's participation patterns in online communities: An analysis of Israeli learners in the Scratch online community. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects, 5, 263-274.
• Caspi, A., & Blau, I. (2008). Online discussion groups: The relationship between social presence and perceived learning. Social Psychology of Education, 11, 323-346.

Articles in Refereed Conference Proceedings

• Blau, I., & Hameiri, M. (2010). Implementing technological change: Promoting online interactions at schools through "Mashov" Learning Management System. In Y. Eshet-Alkalai, A. Caspi, & S. Eden (Eds.), Learning in the Technological Era (pp. 24-31). Ra'anana, Israel: Open University of Israel. [in Hebrew].
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2009). Sharing and collaborating with Google Docs: The influence of psychological ownership, responsibility, and student's attitudes on outcome quality. In Proceedings of the E-Learn 2009 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education (pp. 3329-3335). Vancouver, Canada. Chesapeake: AACE.
• Blau, I., & Barak, A. (2009). Synchronous online discussion: Participation in a group audio conferencing and textual chat as affected by communicator's personality characteristics and discussion topics. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Supported Education - CSEDU'09 (pp. 19-24). Lisbon, Portugal.
• Blau, I., Zuckerman, O., & Monroy-Hernández, A. (2009). Children participation in media content creation community: Israelis learners in Scratch programming environment. In Y. Eshet-Alkalai, A. Caspi, S. Eden, N. Geri, & Y. Yair (Eds.), Learning in the Technological Era (pp.65-72). Ra'anana, Israel: Open University of Israel.
• Blau, I., Mor, N., & Neuthal, T. (2009). Interpersonal and group interactions using educational Blogs. In Y. Eshet-Alkalai, A. Caspi, S. Eden, N. Geri, & Y. Yair (Eds.), Learning in the Technological Era (pp.56-64). Ra'anana, Israel: Open University of Israel.
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2009). What type of collaboration helps? Psychological ownership, perceived learning and outcome quality of collaboration using Google Docs. In Y. Eshet-Alkalai, A. Caspi, S. Eden, N. Geri, & Y. Yair (Eds.), Learning in the Technological Era (pp.48-55). Ra'anana, Israel: Open University of Israel.
• Blau, I, & Barak, A. (2009). Talking about, talking online: The effect of personality characteristics, medium type and discussion topic on people's willingness to participate in synchronous online discussion. In Y. Eshet-Alkalai, A. Caspi, S. Eden, N. Geri, & Y. Yair (Eds.), Learning in the Technological Era (pp. 14-24). Ra'anana, Israel: Open University of Israel [in Hebrew].
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2008). Do media richness and visual anonymity influence learning? A comparative study using Skype™. In Eshet, Y., Caspi, A., Geri, N. (Eds.) Learning in the Technological Era (pp. 18-24). Ra'anana, Israel: Open University of Israel.
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2007). Social presence and participation in asynchronous discussion groups. In Eshet, Y., Caspi, A., & Yair, Y. (Eds.) Learning in the Technological Era (pp.59-66). Ra'anana: Open University of Israel [in Hebrew].

Papers Presented in Scientific Conferences

• Blau, I., & Barak, A. (2010, October). Synchronous online participation: The effects of participant's personality and discussion topic on participation in face-to-face versus voice chat, and textual group discussions. Paper to be presented at the 11th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR): Sustainability, Participation, Action. Gothenburg, Sweden: University of Gothenburg.
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2010, June). Seeking the quality: Along or together? The influence of individual and collaborative learning on the sense of ownership, perceived learning and outcome quality. Paper presented at the 8th MEITAL 2010 National Conference. Ra'anana, Israel: Open University of Israel. [in Hebrew].
• Blau, I. (2010). The effects of participant's personality and discussion topic on participation in group discussions through face-to-face, textual chat, and audio communication modes. Doctoral dissertation. Department of Learning, Instruction and Teacher Education, University of Haifa, Israel. [in Hebrew]. Supervision: Prof. Azy Barak.
• Blau, I., Mor, N., & Neuthal, T. (2009, October). Interactive blogging: Promoting peer interactions through educational blogs in academic course. Paper presented at the 7th MEITAL 2009 National Conference: The Open Knowledge World. Ramat-Gan: Shenkar College of Engineering and Design. [in Hebrew]
• Blau, I. (2009, October). Interactive whiteboard: Makeup or real beauty? Poster presented at the 7th MEITAL 2009 National Conference: The Open Knowledge World. Ramat-Gan: Shenkar College of Engineering and Design. [in Hebrew]
• Caspi, A., & Blau, I. (2008, July). Learning and students' behavior in audio conferencing versus face-to-face classroom. Poster presented at the XXIX International Congress of Psychology. Berlin, Germany.
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2008). Don't edit, discuss! The influence of Wiki editing on learning experience and achievement. In D. Ben-Zvi (Ed.), Innovative e-learning in higher education (pp.19-23). Haifa, Israel: University of Haifa. [in Hebrew]
• Blau, I., & Caspi, A. (2007). Participation in and efficiency of distance learning using Skype™ - preliminary results. In M. Ronen (Ed.). Online Academic Learning (pp.75-77). Holon: Holon Institute of Technology. [in Hebrew]
• Blau, I. (2007, June). I, we, but you are not: The influence of social presence in discussion groups on perceived learning. Presentation at the Chais Research Symposia. Ra'anana, Israel. [in Hebrew]
• Blau, I. (2007). The influence of social presence on perceived learning in asynchronous text-based non-mandatory online learning forums. Master Thesis. Department of Education and Psychology, Open University of Israel. [in Hebrew]. Supervision: Dr. Avner Caspi.

Research Grants

• 2010. Is a recording worth a thousand words? Performance and perceived learning in academia as influenced by using and producing podcasts and screencasts. MEITAL – IUCC: Inter University center for e-learning. (with A. Caspi).
• 2008-2009 - Whose line is it? Psychological ownership, perception of learning and its quality as influenced by educational Wiki. Israel Internet Association - ISOC-IL. (with A. Caspi).
• 2007 - Participation in, and efficiency of distance learning using Skype™. MEITAL – IUCC: Inter University center for e-learning. (with A. Caspi).