Home Technology Internet Learning: An Open Access Journal Documenting Digital Changes in Academics
Internet Learning: An Open Access Journal Documenting Digital Changes in Academics

Internet Learning: An Open Access Journal Documenting Digital Changes in Academics

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Open Access Journal
Open-access journals are scholarly journals that are available online to the reader at no cost.

By Dr. Melissa Layne, Director of Research Methodology and Editor-in-Chief, Internet Learning Journal

Internet Learning is an open access journal published by American Public University System in partnership with the Policy Studies Organization. Since the publication of our inaugural issue in 2012, we continue to provide and promote scholarship that mirrors our digitized world by:

  • Expanding editorial and reviewer boards with highly-regarded experts and visionaries in in the field of online learning
  • Broadening our reader and author audience by disseminating scholarship in traditional paper, online, and kindle versions via Westphalia Press
  • Striving to make research more visible to readers via press releases, research alerts, social media outlets, and professional blogs
  • Utilizing digital publishing tools that promote content marketing, social media engagement, targeting and personalization, conversion rate, and mobile optimization
  • Soliciting high quality articles that tell a story by making use of visualization tools, audio, graphic, video, animation, and simulations
  • Encouraging authors to self-promote their research through academic-related social networks

In a few short years, Internet Learning has doubled the size of its reviewer board, the members of which come from diverse backgrounds ranging from faculty to academic leaders, published authors, editors, graphic designers, and entrepreneurs. It’s not your typical or traditional journal. We embrace innovation and the opportunities and challenges that come with it. Below are just a few examples of the innovations that are helping us optimize the scope of content of our online journal.

Digital Publishing
It’s increasingly important that content is easy to find, download, cite, and is viewable across many platforms, as set forth by Adobe’s Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing: 2014 Digital Trends. Digital publishing tools addressing content marketing, social media engagement, targeting and personalization, conversion rate optimization, and mobile optimization are essential for every publisher who wants to stay ahead of the competition.

Digital Authorship
I believe digital authorship is the most dramatic enhancement that benefits our authors and contributors in the digital age. In addition to exposure provided by our editorial and publication teams, our authors play a vital role in increasing the visibility and impact of their research. At Internet Learning, we encourage authors to promote their work by creating accounts in academic social networks such as Academia.edu and Researchgate.net to boost readership.

In addition to research, promotion, and peer collaboration—these networks offer Altmetrics. This valuable online tool analyzes the quantity and the quality of attention being paid to an article by visualizing it via citations, page views, and news, blogs, and Google+ posts. Users can review their Altmetric score, which is the number rating framed in the colored circle of the report. The score provides valuable feedback and quantified metrics, which allow authors and editors to see a more complete understanding of an article’s performance.

This new emphasis on the “quantified self” is empowering authors by letting them manage the level of exposure that they desire. In short, the sky is the limit to what we can accomplish.

Melissa Layne, Ed.D., is the Director of Research Methodology at American Public University System. In addition to her role at APUS, she serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the Internet Learning Journal.

Wally Boston Dr. Wallace E. Boston was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of American Public University System (APUS) and its parent company, American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) in July 2004. He joined APUS as its Executive Vice President in 2002. In September 2019, Dr. Boston retired as CEO of APEI and retired as APUS President in August 2020. Dr. Boston guided APUS through its successful initial accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association in 2006 and ten-year reaccreditation in 2011. In November 2007, he led APEI to an initial public offering on the NASDAQ Exchange. For four years from 2009 through 2012, APEI was ranked in Forbes' Top 10 list of America's Best Small Public Companies. During his tenure as president, APUS grew to over 85,000 students, 200 degree and certificate programs, and approximately 100,000 alumni. While serving as APEI CEO and APUS President, Dr. Boston was a board member of APEI, APUS, Hondros College of Nursing, and Fidelis, Inc. Dr. Boston was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity by the U.S. Secretary of Education in 2019. He also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), as a Trustee of The American College of Financial Services, as a member of the board of Our Community Salutes - USA, and as a member and chair of the board of New Horizons Worldwide. He has authored and co-authored papers on the topic of online post-secondary student retention, and is a frequent speaker on the impact of technology on higher education. Dr. Boston is a past Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the McDonogh School, a private K-12 school in Baltimore. In his career prior to APEI and APUS, Dr. Boston served as either CFO, COO, or CEO of Meridian Healthcare, Manor Healthcare, Neighborcare Pharmacies, and Sun Healthcare Group. Dr. Boston is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, and Chartered Global Management Accountant. He earned an A.B. degree in History from Duke University, an MBA in Marketing and Accounting from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business Administration, and a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. In 2008, the Board of Trustees of APUS awarded him a Doctorate in Business Administration, honoris causa, and, in April 2017, also bestowed him with the title President Emeritus. In August 2020, the Board of Trustees of APUS appointed him Trustee Emeritus. In November 2020, the Board of Trustees announced that the APUS School of Business would be renamed the Dr. Wallace E Boston School of Business in recognition of Dr. Boston's service to the university. Dr. Boston lives with his family in Austin, Texas.

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