E-learning Practice and Research

A Quality Scorecard for Administration of Online Education Programs (Sloan Consortium)

2011-05-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

http://sloanconsortium.org/effective_practices/quality-scorecard-administration-online-education-programs

Comparing Online Programs (Inside Higher Ed., May 22nd, 2011 Article

2011-05-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Comparing Online Programs
March 24, 2011
Much of the debate about online higher education turns on comparing online courses to face-to-face ones. But with colleges of every type increasingly venturing into the fray of online teaching regardless, some have turned toward the practical question of comparing online programs with other online programs.

(See link) http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/24/consortium_creates_tool_to_compare_quality_of_online_college_programs

E-Learning Conferences: Inclusive Listing for 2011

2011-05-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.conferencealerts.com/school.htm

Project Gutenberg: A Billion Free E-Books (LA Times Article)

2010-08-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

Project Gutenberg: A Billion Free E-Books
Michael Hart invented the e-book. At least that's what Hart's e-mail signature says.
Indeed, Hart is considered by many in technology and literary circles to be the creator of the electronic book. As founder of the Gutenberg Project, named for the 15th century printer credited with inventing movable type, Hart began transcribing and scanning books on July 4, 1971 -- "technically July 5," Hart corrected himself in an e-mail; "it was all night." Click link for more

Bill Gates Predicts 'Place-Based' Colleges Less Important in Five Years (Chron. of Higher Ed. Blog)

2010-08-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Place-Based Colleges Less Important in Five Years (Bill Gates/Chron. of HE)
""After all, what are we trying to do? We're trying to take education that today the tuition is, say, $50,000 a year so over four years—a $200,000 education—that is increasingly hard to get because there's less money for it because it's not there, and we're trying to provide it to every kid who wants it," Mr. Gates said. "And only technology can bring that down, not just to $20,000 but to $2,000. So yes, place-based activiy in that college thing will be five times less important than it is today."

Chronicle of HE Blog Post: Conf. on Using Social Networking Tools in Classes

2010-07-25T16:58:00.001-07:00

Chronicle of HE Blog Post: Conf. on Using Social Networking Tools in Classes

Online Lectures May be Harmful to Students' Learning (Chronicle Article)

2010-06-22T09:35:00.001-07:00

Online Lectures May be Harmful to Students' Learning:
Colleges and universities that are turning to video lectures because of their institutions' tight budgets may be doing those students a disservice, said Mark Rush, a professor of economics at the University of Florida and one of the working paper's authors.

Blackboard's (LMS) Next Generation

2010-06-13T08:57:00.001-07:00

Blackboard's Next Generation:
"It's a lot more modern than it used to be," said Palladinetti, whose university switched from Blackboard 8 to 9.1 last month. "It's a lot easier to navigate."

But many users said they are unimpressed by the additions in Blackboard 9 and disappointed that the company failed to address many of their frustrations with previous versions.
Instructors use Blackboard mainly for grading, testing, and uploading course notes, said Susan Metros, deputy chief information officer and associate vice provost for technology-enhanced learning at the University of Southern California, which switched to Blackboard 9 ilast fall. Many of the new features for social learning were "competent," she said, but not as useful as some existing alternatives.

"I would prefer them concentrating on making the core functionality of their system better," said Kelly Sutton, a recent graduate of Loyola Marymount University, in California, who used Blackboard 9 in several courses in the past year. He runs the hackcollege blog.

Ubiquitous Learning (TC Book Review)

2010-06-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

Ubiquitious Learning:
Modern day conceptions of ubiquitous learning build on an influential vision of ubiquitous computing published two decades earlier by Mark Weiser (1991) of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. His article depicted a world of smart objects and intelligent contexts based on ubiquitous computing, a different way of conceptualizing the interface between computers, networks, and people. In Weiser’s vision, tiny computers are embedded into nearly every artifact and setting, networked so that they intercommunicate. For example, a tree could be tagged with information about its botanical characteristics; the tree might also offer to show an historic image of its context about the time it was planted or to describe the contribution it makes to reducing local pollution and greenhouse gases. People who wandered by could access this information on a wireless mobile device; based on a person’s response, the building adjacent to the tree might then offer some information. Current images of smart objects and intelligent contexts for learning include affordances not available twenty years earlier, such as Web 2.0 tools embedded in cyberinfrastructure (Dede, 2007) and augmented reality games (Klopfer, 2008).

The Race Between Education and Technology ( TC Book Review)

2010-06-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Race Between Education and Technology:
This book is a gallop through 20th Century America covering three broad areas: economic growth and distribution; major forces behind mass education and what characterized these transformations; and finally the “race” between technology and education. The authors argue that this was simultaneously “the American Century” in terms of economic growth and the “Human Capital Century.” The book is about how the two are linked.

Cloud Computing: The Power to Choose

2010-06-13T08:42:00.001-07:00

Cloud Computing: The Power to Choose
Colleges and universities around the world are thus discussing, planning for, and using cloud computing and cloud services. The rate of adoption varies from country to country, but the need for awareness and preparation is universal. This article will examine cloud issues — both opportunities and risks — by looking at examples from four countries: Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Drivers

What are the driving forces behind the current interest in cloud computing in higher education?
■College and university IT departments are struggling to deliver scalable, secure, reliable, and cost-effective technology services in a time of shrinking budgets and growing demands for increased operational efficiencies.

■Students, faculty, and staff are bringing a rapidly changing array of consumer electronic devices to campus, and they expect ready access to easy-to-use mobile applications.

■Large commercial IT organizations are gaining significant economies of scale — in their infrastructure and service-delivery capacities — that individual college and university IT departments simply cannot match.

■College and university CIOs are becoming intrigued by the possibility that some — and perhaps most — of the services currently managed by the central IT department could be moved to the cloud. However, many CIOs lack direct experience using cloud services, fear the prospect of a new form of lock-in by service providers, and have deep and legitimate concerns about information privacy issues.

■Colleges and universities are looking to their CIOs and their IT staff for strategic advice associated with the institutional mission of teaching and learning and research, yet at the same time, CIOs are often distracted by operational issues associated with running core infrastructure.

■Many core IT services are being viewed as a utility service much like electricity or gas. As commercial providers enhance their capability and maturity in providing these core services, moving to a commercial provider becomes a more attractive option.

Technology and Teaching Tomorrow's Thinkers

2010-06-02T16:50:00.001-07:00

Techology and Teaching Tomorrow's Thinkers.
As educators, we are called upon to challenge the way students already think and guide them into new patterns or ways of thinking as required, in order for them to grasp central concepts and applications of learning. Collaborative technologies, while not central to the process, can help facilitate this core function of education.
By Ruth Reynard 06/02/10

Content Migration: The Iceberg of CMS Projects

2010-05-30T10:09:00.001-07:00

Content Migration: The Iceberg of CMS Projects.
November 2nd, 2007
It lies there just over the horizon and just below the surface of any Content Management System (CMS) implementation. It is the factor that is most often forgotten or ignored as the CMS build barrels toward launch. It is often left out of the project plan altogether but can take longer than the build itself. It is content migration. It’s easy to understand why migrating content from your old website system to a new CMS is overlooked . . ." Content Mansgement Systems are the same types of systems as are Course Management Systems (Learning Management Systems.) Moodle, in particular, has become a favorite Content Management System (free of course) for smaller entriprises.

The Productivity Myth (HBR)

2010-05-30T10:02:00.001-07:00

The Productivity Myth (HBR)
The Productivity Myth

6:53 AM Wednesday May 5, 2010
by Tony Schwartz
"So here's the paradox: Americans are working 10 percent fewer total hours than they did before the recession, due to layoffs and shortened workdays, but we're producing nearly as many goods and services as we did back in the full employment days of 2007. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke called these gains in productivity "extraordinary" and unforeseen at a recent Senate hearing. There's a simple, visceral reason for the gains, Mr. Chairman, and it's called fear. If colleagues around us are being laid off and cut back, we can't help worrying that our jobs may be next. Our survival instincts kick in, and we push ourselves harder, so we're not the next one to go. We get more done, which sounds like good news and certainly explains higher productivity. But is it good news? Is more, bigger, faster for longer necessarily better? Americans already put in more hours than workers in any country in the world - and that doesn't include the uncounted shadow work that technology makes possible after the regular workday ends. Here's the bigger point. Just as you'll eventually go broke if you make constant withdrawals from your bank account without offsetting deposits, you will also ultimately burn yourself out if you spend too much energy too continuously at work without sufficient renewal."

Assessment Disconnect (HE)

2010-05-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Assessment Disconnect.
"January 27, 2010

WASHINGTON -- Last week’s annual gathering of the Association of American Colleges and Universities here may have left you with very different impressions of the state of student learning assessment in higher education, depending on which sessions you sampled. If you sat in on the many presentations by campus officials talking about their efforts to engage students, improve retention and measure their results, you’d have been left with the unmistakable impression that there are lots of individual faculty members, departments and colleges very much dedicated to measuring how successfully their students are learning and using that information to improve the quality of the education they provide. The presentations gave the lie to the arguments of critics that college administrators and professors are casually indifferent to whether their students are learning, loath to analyze their own performance, and unwilling to change."

The Faculty Role in Assessment (HE)

2010-05-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Faculty Role in Assessment.
May 28, 2010

"Amid continuing debate, and sometimes disagreement, about the value and wisdom of measuring student learning outcomes in higher education, a few areas of consensus are slowly emerging. One is that faculty members are usually too little involved in setting their institutions' strategies for assessing student learning and in using the results of those efforts to change teaching and learning practices. Another is that without meaningful involvement by the faculty, efforts to assess student learning are close to meaningless."

Microsoft Mouse Mischief Released/Increased Student Participation w/PPT

2010-05-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Mouse Mischief.
Mouse Mischief integrates into Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, letting you insert questions, polls, and drawing activity slides into your lessons. Students can actively participate in these lessons by using their own mice to click, circle, cross out, or draw answers on the screen.

Higher priority needed for ICT and learning - OECD

2010-05-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

Governments around the world should endorse ICT .
Governments around the world should highlight the importance of computers and technology for education if schools are to help students bridge a second, emerging digital divide that “separates those with the competences and skills to benefit from computer use from those who do not”.

Given the correlation of these skills to economic, social and cultural success, says a new OECD report, governments should “do their best to engage teachers and schools in raising the frequency of computer use to a relevant level“. As well as bridging a digital divide that is much more than just access to technology, will would improve pupil attainment and demonstrate that schools and teachers are serious about their roles in developing learners fit for a technology-rich world.

Microsoft Plugin Connects Office to Moodle

2010-04-10T17:12:00.001-07:00

Microsoft Plugin Connects Office to Moodle
Microsoft has released a new plugin that lets Office users connect directly with the open source learning management system Moodle. Supporting Office 2003 and 2007, the plugin (Office Add-in for Moodle) allows users to open, edit, and save files in Moodle without opening a Web browser. Instead, users can manipulate files directly within Excel, PowerPoint, or Word

Moodle 1.9.8 Tackles Security Vurnerabilities

2010-04-10T17:02:00.001-07:00

Moodle 1.9.8 Tackles Security Vulnerabilities
Moodle has released an update to its open source learning management system for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. Moodle 1.9.8 includes a number of small improvements and bug fixes but also addresses nine security vulnerabilities, including two that Moodle developers have labeled as "critical" and five as "major." Moodle has also released a parallel update to the 1.8 branch, version 1.8.12, which includes comparable changes.

Moodle is the most widely adopted learning management system available, with nearly 1.2 million teachers using it and more than 33.5 million users participating in more than 3.3 million courses at more than 46,000 validated sites worldwide. Moodle supports both small and large deployments (with several sites well beyond 100,000 users) and includes course management tools, various Web 2.0 technologies, online assessments, and other features common to learning management systems.

Blackboard Mobile Learn Debuts on iPad

2010-04-10T16:59:00.001-07:00

Blackgoard Mobile Learn Debuts on iPad
Blackboard has released Mobile Learn for Apple's new iPad. Mobile Learn, which was announced last month, is a new version of the company's flagship learning management system ported for mobile devices, such as Android-based phones, iPhone, iPod, and BlackBerry.

ISDA DESIGN RESEARCH

2010-04-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

ISDA DESIGN RESEARCH

Site launched in connection with the release of the spring issue of Innovation Magazine, which is dedicated to design research. All of the articles from the magazine are available here. We encourage you to read these articles and share your thoughts and ideas through the site.

Rosetta Stone Launches Higher Education Program

2010-04-04T09:08:00.001-07:00

Rosetta Stone Launches Higher Education Program
Arlington-based Rosetta Stone Inc. has released a new language-learning software that allows teachers to supplement class time with online learning.
In the Rosetta Stone TOTALe program, students can listen, read, write and speak the language by attending guided sessions with native speakers, interacting with others and practicing conversational skills.
“Today’s students are digital natives demanding new technologies for language learning that disrupt the current model by providing differentiated instruction based on individual needs and learning styles,” said Tom Adams, CEO of Rosetta Stone. “By harnessing innovative technological solutions, we empower educators and help make the youth of America true global citizens.“
The program is currently being tested in pilot programs at colleges and universities.

Killer Start-ups

2010-04-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Killer Startups

KillerStartups.com is a user driven internet startups community. Entrepreneurs, investors, and bloggers are staying informed on up-and-coming internet startups using our blog platform, where internet entrepreneurs submit their startup to see what others think about it.

Our vision:
“Tapping the wisdom of crowds to find the next internet big thing.”
We deeply believe in the power of crowds, and we want to put it to good use by detecting in an early stage what’s going to be big.

History and Development:
After acquisitions such as the ones of MySpace and YouTube, and success stories such as Kayak, PriceGrabber, Facebook and many others, everybody started looking for “the next big thing” on the internet.

Acxiom White Paper Underscores Need of Student Verification for Distance Learning

2010-04-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Varifying E-Learner Identity
"As the education models change to adapt to current consumer demands, it is essential to ensure that the student who enrolls is also the student who does the work, receives course credit or receives financial assistance," said Michael Jortberg, author of the study and Acxiom's executive for higher education. "The single most important question to ask is, if staff or students share user IDs, are our processes, faculty and technology sufficient to prevent academic or student aid fraud in our distance learning program?"

Moodle Connects with Adobe Acrobat: Adding Additional Web Conferencing Capabilities

2010-04-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Moodle Connects with Adobe Acrobat: Adding Additional Web Conferencing Capabilities

Open source learning management system Moodle is gaining additional Web conferencing capabilities thanks to a new open source plugin from Remote-Learner that integrates the LMS with the Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro service.

Moodle is generally recognized as the most popular learning management system available, with nearly 1.2 million teachers using it and more than 33.5 million users participating in more than 3.3 million courses at more than 46,000 validated sites worldwide. Moodle supports both small and large deployments (with several sites well beyond 100,000 users) and includes course management tools, various Web 2.0 technologies, online assessments, and other features common to learning management systems.

Social Networking Provides New Opportunities for Learning (Australian Study)

2010-04-02T10:23:00.001-07:00

Social Networking Provides New Opportunities for Learning

Information Communication technologies (ICT) including social networking and games provide new opportunities for education a review of research released by ACER earlier this month argues. But, according to Australian Education Review 56, the ‘off the shelf’ mentality which currently underpins the provision of computers in Australian schools may be stifling rather than enhancing innovation.

Sloan Consortium Conference 2010, Nov. 3 - 5Call for Papers

2010-04-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sloan Consortium 2010 Conference Nov. 3 - 5, Orlando, Fla. USA. Call for Papers

Online and blended learning transform education from a location and time-bound activity to an anytime, anywhere experience. Online and blended learning challenge boundaries between the academy and the world, the virtual and the real. They connect learners around the globe with each other, with instructors and experts world-wide, and with an enormous range of resources to support learning that is both highly individualized and highly collaborative. It is not surprising, then, that recent studies have found that students learn more and are more engaged in online and blended learning environments.

For fifteen years, the Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning has been the leading conference in online and blended learning, a place where participants share the most current research and emerging trends in the field. Join your colleagues in sunny Orlando, Florida November 3-5th for the 16th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning. Together we will explore the latest i research, effective practices, and promising new technologies, and learn what online and blended learning hold for ourselves, our institutions, and our society.

We invite you to submit a presentation for the 16th Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning: “The Power of Online Learning: Stimulating New Possibilities.” The conference strongly encourages presentations that report on online and blended learning research, theory , and practice at all levels. Proposals that address blended learning, issues of diversity, international applications of online learning, open educational resources, social networking, online learning and community colleges, and/or K-12 online education are especially encouraged. Last year’s conference attracted over 1375 participants to more than 200 presentations, as well as exhibits, pre-conference workshops, keynote and plenary addresses, and a variety of other special events.

Open Now!

ICT Performs Well in BSF Review -- But No Transformation

2010-03-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

ICT Performs Well in BSF Review -- But No Transformation

Most of the references to ICT in "Evaluation of Building Schools for the Future (BSF): 3rd Annual Report" however, fell into the discourse about managed services and, sadly, were not based on evidence of transformation of learning. It's early days though, and although PWC reported that “evidence from interviewees indicates a strong reluctance to accept managed service provision”, the report goes on to suggest this could be because it is largely based upon respondents’ perceptions of managed service provision (very few of the schools in the sample actually had one fully operational).

This is a crucial point amplified by the recent furore raised by recent press coverage of Bristol Brunel Academy, the first BSF school with a managed service which was opened in 2007.

Blackboard to Take E-learning Platform Mobile

2010-03-29T17:03:00.001-07:00

Blackboard to Take E-Learning Platform Mobile

Blackboard is preparing to release Blackboard Mobile Learn, a new version of the company's flagship learning management system tailored for smart phones and other mobile devices. It will debut as a native application for Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, and "other Web-enabled devices" in the late spring.

Mobile Learn, according to Blackboard, will move beyond the company's current mobile offerings and will mimic the full functionality of the Web-based Learn platform, including two-way communication between students and teachers, access to gradebooks, blog access and commenting, discussion board participation, and student-to-student e-mail communications

ADDIE IDS Model Discussion/Stephen's Web (Stephen Downes)

2010-03-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

ADDIE IDS Model Discussion/Stephen's Web

"Clark Quinn has been discussing the ADDIE model of instructional design, and Donald Clark offers this nice reflection and great diagram describing the planning and implementation process. Not that I agree with the diagram ("absorbing" leads to "knowledge"? I don't think so) but it looks very nice and is certainly representative of a largish school . . ." (Stephen Downes)

Cool Colleges For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different,

2010-03-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Cool Colleges
Donald Asher's book, Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different, is an interesting and innovative take on college guide books. For this book Asher collected and analyzed the suggestions and recommendations of numerous college presidents, deans, and directors of admissions from around the nation. It informs readers about a variety of highly competitive schools, schools with unique programs, and schools located in scenic environments. It is a worthwhile read for high-performing high school students and their parents who are interested in learning about "cool" higher education opportunities.

The Future of E-Learning Is More Growth

2010-03-13T17:07:00.001-08:00

The Future of E-Learning Is More Growth.
By virtually every measure, electronic learning is experiencing unprecedented growth and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. A new analysis and forecast released this month by research firm Ambient Insight bolstered previous research in this area, showing that electronic learning, by dollar volume, reached $27.1 billion in 2009 and predicting this figure will nearly double that by 2014, with academic institutions leading the way.

According to the report, "The Worldwide Market for Self-paced eLearning Products and Services: 2009-2014 Forecast and Analysis," by 2014, e-learning will reach a dollar volume of $49.6 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8 percent over five years. The dollar figures in the research included expenditures in five categories of electronic learning technologies, or "self-paced e-learning products." These included: packaged content, custom content development services, learning platform and tool hosting services, authoring software and tools, and installed learning platforms.

Laptops Banned in USA Classrooms as Professors Rebel

2010-03-13T16:51:00.001-08:00

Laptops Banned in USA Classrooms as Professors Rebel:
The new rules will be hard for many students to adjust to. For years laptops have been necessary, and in some cases compulsory, parts of attending school in the US.

Blog Owner's Comment: It's interesting that professors, instead of finding ways to 'co-opt' the use of laptops and other ICTs in classrooms to the interests of learning, can only think of one way to 'control' students behavior. Simply don't allow them....would that profs would instead identify ways in which the use of laptops might be directed towards constructive learning outcomes . . .it also appears to indicate the classes must be rather boring and seemingly senseless to students (perhaps outdated or outmoded) if students would rather while away their time and their money (or their parent's money) persisting in aimless and endless and often inane 'conversations' on facebook, gambling or rearranging their photo albums. Could it be that something is 'wrong' with higher ed.? Could it be that industrial age education doesn't motivate this generation of students? Could it be the profs.are the problem and not the students'? Of course not! The students are children!!!!! They must be taught!!!! They must remain dependent . . .God help us if they become self-motivated, independent learners.

Who Needs the Prof !?!

2010-03-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

Who Needs the Prof !?!
Students turn to their laptops for free online courses from Ivy League scholars.

Last year, I was obliged to take a course as part of my undergraduate political science degree. It was described as political game theory. I was thinking, “Like Russell Crowe doing John Nash in A Beautiful Mind?” But instead I got Victorian Britain and pre-Confederation Canada. As disappointments go, this was roughly equivalent to receiving coal for Christmas. But I needed to make it through the course, so I did what many others have done: I turned to the Internet. There, on a site called Academic Earth, I learned everything I was later tested on from Benjamin Polak, a professor of economics teaching at Yale, whose full course on game theory was videotaped and posted online, complete with worksheets and exams.

Distance Learning vs In-Class, On-Campus Instruction

2010-03-13T16:35:00.001-08:00

Distance Learning vs In-Class, On-Campus Instruction
Any residual doubt regarding the explosive growth potential of distance education may have been dispelled last month, when the AFL-CIO announced it was teaming up with the National Labor College and the Princeton Review to launch an online college for the labor federation's 11.5 million members and their families. With projected courses in allied health sciences, business and other disciplines at an estimated $200 per credit, you could almost hear the whir of file servers straining under the anticipated load.

Four Myths About Online Education Experience Cleared Up

2010-03-13T16:25:00.001-08:00

Four Myths About Online Education Experience Cleared Up U.S. News University Directory in collaboration with E-learning insiders clear up four common myths about the online learning experience and how online classes are perceived. :

Student Push for Open Education Meets with Faculty Ambivalence

2010-02-20T17:51:00.000-08:00

Student Push for Open Education Meets with Faculty Ambivalence.

This weekend, Adi Kamdar and Parker Phinney joined campus activists from around the country at the Students for Free Culture conference here. Mr. Kamdar belongs to a Yale University student group campaigning for an open-access policy that would make scholarly papers freely available in an online repository (like the one at Harvard University, which has an opt-out rule). Mr. Phinney is prodding Dartmouth College to develop an open-courseware site for lecture videos and other materials (like the ones at Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Down Economy Drives Online Learning: Online Enrollment Jumped 17%

2010-02-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

Down Economy Drives Online Learning: Online Enrollment Jumped 17%
According to a study published in January, there was a 17 percent increase in online class enrollment last year among people enrolled in brick and mortar colleges and universities.

Bill Gates Looks to Improve Online Education Through Grants

2010-02-19T06:11:00.001-08:00

Bill Gates Looks to Improve Online Education Through Grants
Bill Gates has recently announced in his 2010 annual letter that he will be offering grants from his foundations to further the usage of online learning.

Report Reveals Spike in Online Course Enrollment

2010-02-19T06:08:00.001-08:00

Report Reveals Spike in Online Course Enrollment

Three-fourths of public colleges believe online courses are "critical" for long-term success.

The 2009 Sloan-C report on online education confirmed what campus officials have seen during the country’s economic downturn: Americans are flocking to web-based college classes.
The seventh annual study, based on responses from more than 2,500 colleges and universities and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, reported a 17-percent increase in online course enrollment, with more than one-fourth of U.S. college students taking at least one web-based class during the fall 2008 semester.

More Colorado Secondary Schools Online

2010-02-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

More Colorado Secondary Schools Online
DENVER, CO (KUNC) - More and more Colorado K-12 students are leaving traditional brick and mortar schools in favor of online education. Colorado is one of 24 states to offer students the option of going to virtual schools full time - and last year enrollment numbers jumped to 11,641 students. That's according to an annual report released this week by the Colorado Department of Education. Pam Ice is director of the Department's Unit of Online Learning. She says last year's 12.5 percent increase in student enrollment is actually down from the previous school year.

Blended Courses Help Boost Achievement

2010-02-06T12:01:00.001-08:00

Blended Courses Boost Achievement:
A new analysis of existing online-learning research by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) reveals that students who took all or part of their class on line performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.
Most of the studies examined by researchers dealt with college-level courses, and ED officials cautioned against generalizing the report’s findings to the K-12 level. Still, the report could help educators as they seek to create effective learning environments for all students.

Interest in Hybrid Courses on the Rise (2/10)

2010-02-06T11:26:00.001-08:00

E-School News. Interest in hybrid course on the rise.

Hybrid courses combine the benefits of online and face-to-face instruction.

Several colleges and universities say they’ve seen double-digit increases in the number of students taking online courses in recent years. Increasingly, some of the online offerings are what’s known as “hybrid” courses, which mix an online experience with traditional classroom learning.

17% Incresased Enrollment in HE Classes (Chron. of HE)

2010-02-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

Significant increase in higher education online enrollments according to Chronicle of Higher Ed.
Colleges saw a 17 percent increase in online enrollment, with more than one in four students taking at least one online course in the fall of 2008, according to the findings of an annual survey published on Tuesday by the Sloan Consortium.

Bob Harrison's 21st Century Learning Quiz

2010-02-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here is the Link to the link for Harrison's Learning Quiz

Virtual Revolution 20 Yeard of the WWW

2010-02-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

20 Yrs. of the WWW:

20 years on from the invention of the world wide web, this major new BBC Two series, produced in partnership with The Open University, takes stock of its profound impact - how, for better and for worse, the digital revolution is reshaping all our lives..Over four themed episodes that criss-cross the globe, journalist and academic Dr. Aleks Krotoski explores the meaning of a phenomenon that is transforming everything from how we learn to how we shop, vote and make friends. The series reveals astonishing facts about how the web is rewiring our society, our economy and - drawing on a unique experiment conducted specifically for the series - maybe even our brains."

Paradigm Shift Ahead for Higher Ed. (1/10 Newspaper Article)

2010-02-06T09:48:00.001-08:00

HE Paradigm Shift:
"Unleashing technology ... will massively decentralize the delivery of higher education in our country. The idea that we're going to be here 20 years from now talking about how many more buildings can we put up is going to come into conflict with this new frontier."

Explaning Web 2.0

2010-01-30T10:31:00.001-08:00

Talking head explains Web 2.0.

VoiceThread

2010-01-30T10:17:00.001-08:00

VoiceThread

With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world. All with no software to install.

A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate pages and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too.

Users can doodle while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation. VoiceThreads can even be embedded to show and receive comments on other websites and exported to MP3 players or DVDs to play as archival movies.

Web 2.0 YouTube Clip . . .Network and Learn

2010-01-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

YouTube film clip is a great way to introduce the concept of 'learning-networking' to a training group, or group of educators . . .(maybe, they are the same, but with different titles:-)

Designing and Implementing E-Learning

2010-01-14T15:53:00.001-08:00

Designing and Implementing E-learning
"...collected examples of innovative Australian e-learning course designs for vocational education and training (VET) and drilled down to the details to show you how they work. Then we've summarised your design options in e-learning.
You'll find answers to these questions:

How are teachers using e-learning in VET?
Why do they choose e-learning? How does it help?
How do they go about it? What's required?
What options are available for designing e-learning?"

Lessons Learned From Lessons Learned: The Fit Between Online Education “Best Practices” and Small School Reality

2010-01-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

Lessons Learned From Lessons Learned: The Fit Between Online Education “Best Practices” and Small School Reality

Abstract

Schools of all types and sizes are exploring the merits and facets of online learning approaches; but, the online delivery literature has focused on “best practices” generated primarily through the experiences of larger schools that are on the leading edge of this innovation. Small public schools, on the other hand, are faced with unique challenges in profiting from the advice of these first movers. Small schools are hampered as a result of severely constrained resources, among which are personnel, money, infrastructure, and time. These factors limit the ability of small public institutions to fully adopt widely approved online best practices. This article reviews contemporary research on the implementation of online learning, examines one small public school’s experience as a case study, discusses the disparities between the capabilities of large versus small public institutions of higher education, and outlines implications for other small schools that wish to pursue online education. ...

Pedagogy

Pedagogical issues arose for delivering courses online, especially with the graduate students. Whereas pedagogy primarily aims to allow a student, typically pre- to young adult, to acquire prescribed subject matter, androgogy is focused on the needs of teaching adult learners who are self-directed and interested in problem-centric rather than content-specific learning (Chin & Williams, 2006; Huang, 2002). The truncated time to develop the course materials necessitated delivering most of the materials in a pedagogical rather than androgogical manner even though half of the enrolled online students were graduate students. Many of the instructors lamented the developmental time compression that resulted in the principally online pedagogical delivery style and noted that online course delivery ideally freed the instructor to facilitate learning as opposed to being a “professor in a box” reflecting others lessons learned (Betts & Sikorski, 2008; Chin & Williams, 2006; Grant & Thornton, 2007). One instructor who taught both an undergraduate and graduate course noted that online education offered him the opportunity to improve the educational experience for his students, stating that there was a “better learning experience for all my students—underline all—versus one or two in a traditional class.” There was a general consensus among the faculty that online learning improved the opportunity to expand the learning process outside the structured one-hour lecture period and allow the students to engage in “discovery learning

Conclusion

Best practices, as reported in the online course delivery literature, are sound but aimed in an unfocused manner. The assumption that the school of 1000 students is able to replicate the practices of the school with greater than 25,000 students falters in practice. While resources and their constraints on the schools both drive and limit actions across all sizes of schools, small public schools tend to operate on a thinner cushion of support. This small school found that going online was a successful endeavor worthy of continued exploration even as the expected and unexpected challenges arose. For any small school constrained by resources, the best practice literature does provide a well-blazed trail on which to commence planning the journey online.
Best practices work, but they must be studied, evaluated, and tailored to the school and its resources. A school that attempts to implement others lessons learned without a sufficient understanding of its own position and constraints still has lessons to learn.

Creating a Community of Learners: A Course (League.or Production -Multimedia Presentation.)

2010-01-09T10:42:00.001-08:00

Introduction:

Whether you're a new or experienced teacher, you have a chance to make an impact on the future.. How can you be as effective as possible? This multimedia resource for community college faculty will challenge your previous thinking about teaching and learning and give you the basic tools for effective classroom practice. The key theme of the course is to encourage you to focus on what the students will do and take responsibility for their success.
Teachers know their content and they know how to explain. These are valuable skills. But teachers have to become experts at tapping into their students' knowledge base and how they learn.

A Study of Students' Sense of Learning Community in Online Environments

2010-01-09T10:01:00.003-08:00

ABSTRACT
This paper looks first at some of the often unspoken epistemological, philosophical, and theoretical
assumptions that are foundational to student-centered, interactive online pedagogical models. It is argued
that these foundational assumptions point to the importance of learning community in the effectiveness of
online learning environments. Next, a recent study of 2314 online students across thirty-two college
campuses is presented. This study reports on learners’ sense of community and it is concluded through
factor and regression analysis that elements of the Community of Inquiry model [1]—specifically
learners’ recognition of effective “directed facilitation” and effective instructional design and
organization on the part of their instructor contributes to their sense of shared purpose, trust,
connectedness, and learning—core elements of a community of learners. Gender also appears to play a
small role in students’ sense of learning community with female students reporting higher levels than
their male classmates. Implications for online learning environments design are discussed.

Seven Habits for Effective Online Discussions

2010-01-09T08:47:00.001-08:00

Seven Discussion Habits for Effective Online Discussions

1. Use the subject line
Be descriptive in your subject line. It should be an accurate summary of your post. If you are replying to someone else’s post, also adjust the subject line. “Re: Topic 1” tells others nothing new, but “Re: Topic 1 / My thought” does.
2. Quote the other participants
Quote the particular phrase or part of the post that you are responding to by saying for example: John posted: “Bla-di-blah” and I agree with him because…
By saying only “I agree with John”, you will make the other participants browse through 50 of John’s posts to find out what you are agreeing with.
3. Check in (nearly) every day
It is a good habit to check into the online discussion on a regular basis, particularly if a discussion is only designed to run for a couple of days. For instance, at the beginning and end of a working day, 15 minutes each time. This will help you keep up with what’s happening online. Log in only once a week and you may end up with a MMM (Multiple Message Mountain).
4. Use highlighting & lists for easy reading
You’ve probably experienced that reading from a screen is more tiring and difficult than reading from paper. Spare yourself and your fellow participants the headache, and highlight key phrases & keywords by making them bold. If you are making a number of points, then order them in a list. This will make it easier for others to scan your messages.
5. Use links
You will undoubtedly run across a web page, blog post or article that you want to share with others. Avoid copying and pasting entire sections into your post. Quite apart from the copyright issues, it seems unfair to add to your fellow participants reading load. Instead quote or paraphrase the pertinent parts, relate why you think it is significant or useful and include a link to the original resource.

6. Use Right Mouse Click
If someone has included a link in their post, click on the link with your right mouse button and select the option Open Link in New Window. This will open the link in a new browser window and give you continued access to the discussion forum in the existing window. In newer internet browsers, you can choose to Open Link in New Tab.
7. Post in the right place
Make sure that the forum or discussion thread you are posting to, is the correct place for your post. If it is a social enquiry, it should go in the Social Forum, if it is a request for help, the Help Forum. If it is a reply but the messages have gone a bit off-topic, you may want to start a new topic.

(My) Three Principles of Effective Online Pedagogy (Sloan C Winner, 2003, Paper)

2010-01-08T11:42:00.001-08:00

This may seem a strange way to begin, but I want to admit that my ever-emerging philosophy of education increasingly diminishes the role of “the teacher” in the teaching/learning equation. It took over 30 years of college teaching experience for me to realize that the learner is, for the most part, in charge of what gets learned. Implementing this point of view online has, for me, blurred, somewhat, the distinction between effective teaching and pedagogically sound instructional design. If I create an environment in which a majority of students gladly learn that which they and I deem relevant and salient, then have I succeeded as a teacher or as a designer?—and does it matter?
I hope some of the ideas that follow are helpful to others. I have liberally interspersed snippets from several of my current online courses throughout this essay. Because screen shots can be hard to read, I have also provided links to the actual courses whenever possible. When no link is available, it’s because the course is password protected. Should you find any of the words and/or strategies useful, feel free to copy or adapt them for your own use.

Assessment Approaches in Virtual (Research Paper)

2010-01-07T15:18:00.001-08:00

Azam RASTGOO

Yousef NAMVAR

Islamic Azad University,

Ardabil Branch, IRAN

INTRODUCTION

Student’s assessment is defined as “the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development” (Palombra & Banta, 1999).

Assessment is a part of learning process. It plays a powerful role in student’s lives and is used for a number of purposes including individual certification, improvement of teaching and feedback on quality of teach (Peterson & Irving, 2008).Anderson, Ball and Murphy (1975) provide a classical description of assessment. They believe that assessment focuses upon a number of variables judged to be important and utilize a number of techniques to assay them. According to this description, assessment strategy is not limited to a single measurement, such as a selected response test but consist of a system of multiple measurements that include diverse assessment tasks (p. 27).One of the most useful impacts of assessment is learning improvement and it can makes students to be accountable, and also it can change student’s attitudes toward assessment.

Student’s belief about assessment especially online assessment in which it is a part of learning and even can make by themselves and their peer or by their teachers, never can be a threat for them. However, research about student’s preferences for alternative assessment such as e-portfolios, projects, online self and peer-assessment, shows that the assessment that have been positively evaluated by students were more authentic and made learning more realistic or powerful (Bloxham & Wset, 2004).

Some researchers found that the students wanted honest, comprehensible and constructive feedback on how to improve their learning (Pajares & Graham, 1998).

What's Old is New Again (ASTD article re: how online training has changed little since 1989)

2010-01-07T15:09:00.001-08:00

Back to the futureNew data on e-learning usage do not signal the death of the classroom. And despite some of the buzz, the direction of e-learning has not shifted much over the past several years. . .

Opportunities are being left on the table. Today, there is little evidence of collaborative and user-centered approaches in corporate and government settings, though there are suggestions of influence to come in the future. It is the same for mobile devices, ranked last in reported current practice, and jumping closer to the top of the list as practitioners look forward. The virtual classroom and blended learning were also less prevalent in reported practice than anticipated.

Old favorites dominated in our study. E-learning today appears to be mostly about delivering assessments and designs, testing, personalization, scenarios, and tutorials. All these are familiar, and they all have deep roots in the training and development community. Should we lament that the habits identified in this study are not much different in 2009 than they were in 1989 (although, of course, enabled by technology)? Is this good news or bad? And most important, what do you intend to do about it?

Survey Suggests Campus Technology Underused

2010-01-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

Fewer than half of college students responding to a national survey said their professors are using instructional technology, and educators worry that the technology gap between faculty and students might hinder campus learning.

The study also revealed a jump in the percentage of students who use technology to prepare for college classes. Eighty-one percent said they used computers, social networking, and other tools to study, marking an 18-point increase from 2008, according to CDW-G's "21st Century Campus Report," which was released this fall.
The report includes responses from more than 1,000 faculty members, college students, and campus IT staff.

Digital Textbooks Come of Age in California and Texas

2010-01-03T12:03:00.001-08:00

The move toward online content in both California and Texas will affect other states, too, because publishers tailor their products to conform to the needs of states with the most students.

GIS Tech. in Arkansas Schools

2010-01-03T11:58:00.001-08:00

Thanks to a new statewide license, all schools in Arkansas will have access to geographic information system (GIS) technology--software the Arkansas Department of Education (DOE) hopes will continue to give students 21st-century skills and community service opportunities.With the new statewide license, all 266 school districts in Arkansas will be able to use the GIS software from software maker ESRI."This is an im portant step in providing educational opportunities for our students to meet the challenges of the 21st century," said Jim Boardman, assistant commissioner for research and technology at the Arkansas DOE. "Learning GIS gives students important skills that can be applied in a wide range of occupations."

Online Learning Becomes a True Disruptive Innovation

2010-01-03T11:04:00.001-08:00

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=62364
Disruptive innovation is the business idea that, every so often, a new innovation comes along that completely changes the marketplace, knocking the old market leaders from their perch and giving rise to new ones.
Whenever a disruptive innovation occurs, the substitution pattern in which the new model replaces the old one follows an S-curve pattern that can be calculated mathematically, Christensen said. At first, as the suppliers of a new innovation work out its flaws, adoption is fairly flat. But then, as the innovation improves to the point where it's widely affordable, accessible, and delivers a satisfactory experience, adoption spikes exponentially. . .Online learning already has disrupted providers of traditional education to some extent, but a new movement that began this year (2008) could really shake up higher education: A few online startup universities are charging little or no tuition for access to a wealth of college curriculum, and advocates say these free web-based programs could help expand higher education to the developing world. . . Online learning already has disrupted providers of traditional education to some extent, but a new movement that began this year could really shake up higher education: A few online startup universities are charging little or no tuition for access to a wealth of college curriculum, and advocates say these free web-based programs could help expand higher education to the developing world.

Hybrid Education 2.0

2010-01-01T17:17:00.001-08:00

According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, there’s no "what if" about it. Earlier in the decade, Carnegie Mellon set out to design software for independent learners taking courses through the university’s Open Learning Initiative, an effort to make courses freely available to non-enrolled learners. But rather than merely making course materials available to non-students, like MIT's famous OpenCourseware project, Carnegie Mellon wanted to design courses that would respond to the individual needs of each student. It currently has courses in 12 different subjects available on its Web site, mostly in math and science.

In the process of testing the software on Carnegie Mellon students to make sure it would “do no harm” if used, the researchers found that, over a two-semester trial period, students in a traditional classroom introductory statistics course scored no better than similar students who used the open-learning program and skipped the three weekly lectures and lab period.
Carnegie Mellon is not about to replace all its professors with computer programs. But with $4 million in private grants and perhaps more to come from the federal government, the university is currently exploring how the open-learning software could be used in conjunction with classroom education to speed up the teaching and learning process -- a prospect that some involved think could help solve overcrowding in America's community colleges and realize the Obama administration's goal of boosting graduation rates.
As intriguing it was to find that a computer program could prepare students to pass tests just as well as a professor, the researchers seem more excited by a hybrid application of the open-learning program that, instead of replacing professors, tries to use them more effectively. By combining the open-learning software with two weekly 50-minute class sessions in an intro-level statistics course, they found that they could get students to learn the same amount of material in half the time.

Britain Considers 2 yr. Degree Programmes (Guardian Article)

2009-12-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

Britain Considers 2-Year College Degrees

The British government has urged universities to develop "fast track" college degrees that could be finished in two years instead of the traditional three, The Guardian reported. Government officials said such degrees could save money both for students and the government. University and student groups are skeptical of the idea.

Review of Distance Education Research (2000 to 2008): Analysis of Research Areas, Methods, and Authorship Patterns

2009-12-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

Conclusions and Implications for Future Research

This study examined (1) research areas in distance education, trends, priority areas, and gaps in distance education research; (2) research methods in distance education; and (3) authorship patterns. The results of this review convey certain implications for future research in distance education.
Major findings of this study may be summarized as follows:

Research in distance education is dominated by studies that focus on interaction and communication patterns in computer-mediated communication, instructional design issues, learner characteristics, and educational technology.
In terms of research methods, the only discernible trend was found for qualitative research methods, with a modest upward trend on a low percentage level. Maybe researchers in the field have taken note of those who advocate more qualitative studies to capture a deeper and richer range of data (cf. Minnes, 1985; Saba 2000).
The AJDE clearly prefers to publish quantitative studies; whereas, DE accepted the highest number of qualitative studies, and JDE published the highest number of papers that followed a mixed method design.
More than 80% of all articles were contributed by authors from only five countries: USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and China. The first authors of the 695 articles under review came from 54 different countries. Interestingly, the journals publish more from their own country of origin. The most international journal is IRRODL with only 18.9% of authors coming from Canada; whereas, AJDE has a strong North American bias with over 80% of authors from the USA and Canada.
A significant trend was found towards more collaboration among researchers in distance education. In the period between 2000 and 2008, the proportion of single-author papers was 44.2% compared to 61.5% of 361 articles published between 1991 and 1996 that were reviewed by Mishra (1997).

So Quo Vadis?

According to the experts’ opinion in the Delphi study (Zawacki-Richter, 2009), there is a great need for more research on the role of culture and cultural differences in global distance learning programmes. Furthermore, co-operation among institutions should receive much more attention, including the impact of cultural differences on leadership and culturally complex student support systems, and there is a need for comparative research on distance learning systems (macro level). A lot of work still needs to be done on the meso level: In particular, experts on the panel highlighted aspects referring to leadership in distance education and strategy, management of change and innovation, costs, organizational development and infrastructure for online student and faculty support, professional development, and quality assurance. The experts claimed that empirical evidence is lacking on the pedagogical opportunities that Web 2.0 applications, mobile devices, and synchronous tools afford for teaching, learning, and assessment.
This review of 695 articles published in five leading distance education research journals confirms the results of the pre-study. It reveals a strong imbalance between the three research levels. Distance education research is highly dominated by issues that refer to the micro perspective (teaching and learning in distance education), with over 50% of all articles focusing on interaction and communication in learning communities, instructional design, and learner characteristics. As anticipated according to the results of the pre-study, those areas that were said to require much more attention take the last three places (globalisation of education and cross-cultural aspects, innovation and change, and costs and benefits) in the ranking of research areas with regard to the frequency of articles (Table 3).
A possible interpretation for this imbalance is that the selection of research themes might follow practical considerations, especially with regard to the availability of data. Of course, the analysis of interaction patterns in computer-mediated communication is a very interesting topic and the text-based data of synchronous communication in online conferences is saved in databases of learning management systems and is therefore readily available. In contrast, it is not surprising that educational institutions, as competitors in the global education market, are unwilling to freely share business models and data on their budgets and costs.
However, the dearth of articles dealing with issues especially on the meso level (management, organization, and technology) is disappointing. In order to guide practice, practitioners in the field should not rely on under-informed trial and error, but on sound research and empirical investigation on the effectiveness of managerial interventions for education innovation, diversity management, student and faculty support, quality assurance, course design, and intercultural communication.

Reining In College Costs College College President Sees Online Learning Solution (Business Week, Dec. '09)

2009-12-26T12:25:00.001-08:00

Transforming Academic Culture
Costs can be dramatically reduced but only if colleges and universities commit to change . . ."at least those that have no immunity from the winds of change" are likely to have an opportuntity to do so. They "will need to begin to develop hight-tech/high-touch programs as a means to lower costs and improve quality." In order to do so, the presidents must "convince their boards and their faculties that change is necessary and that it will require a shift from 'teaching' to 'learning.' This will be no easy task for shifting from one paradigm to another is to radically transform the academic culture of an institution, an entity that has proven remarkably resistant to change."

To achieve success in this (Online Learning) environment, colleges and universities, at least those that have no immunity from the winds of change, will need to begin to develop high-tech/high-touch programs as a means to lower costs and improve quality. To do so, presidents must convince their governing boards and their faculties that change is necessary and that it will require a shift from "teaching" to "learning." This will be no easy task, for shifting from one paradigm to another is to radically transform the academic culture of an institution, an entity that has proven to be remarkably resistant to change. As they work to prepare their institutions for an uncertain future, the leaders of our colleges and universities might well heed the wisdom of Charles Darwin, who wrote, 'it is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the ones most responseive to change.' :

Michael Bassis is the president of Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

21st Century Trends for Higher Education Top Trends, 2008–2009 (Cisco Sys. Point of View)

2009-12-26T12:05:00.001-08:00

Conclusion
In the 21st century, technology will play an increasing role in higher education. Institutions will adopt innovative solutions that will change the way students learn, communicate, produce, collaborate, and study both on and off campus—solutions that will also improve interactions among faculty, staff, and students. Creating innovative services from current and future technologies requires a powerful, reliable, expandable, and secure IT infrastructure that has adequate bandwidth, quality of service, and storage. Many colleges and universities have already developed short- and long-term plans to ensure success in meeting their current and future needs.

Online Course Assessment

2009-12-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

Online Course Assessment.

- Course Assessment can improve student learning and teaching effectiveness by assessing the success of the course in terms of the actual accomplishments of the students. Program Review or Assessment is a faculty-driven Institutional mechanism to assess progress at the department level.

- Classroom Assessment Techniques are formative evaluation techniques. They help you to assess how well your students understand the course content and they can inform you about the effectiveness of your teaching methods. Most of them are designed to be very quick and easy to use, while each technique provides different kinds of information.

- Rubrics and Grading. To measure student performance against a set of criteria, a rubric is typically created which contains the criteria for the task and appropriate levels of performance for each criterion. Grading is the assignment of some value, either quantitative or qualitative, as a measure of student performance.

-Student Portfolios. A student portfolio is a carefully selected set of student work, designed to showcase a student’s work for a particular purpose. One student may have several portfolios, each designed for a purpose. One portfolio may be designed to show a student’s progress or it may feature the student’s best work.

- Tests, assignments and projects are all methods to assess the students learning in a course. Careful planning is essential for each course to determine which of these methods will be used.

Pedagogy and Online Learning Resources

2009-12-25T09:59:00.000-08:00

Pedagogy and Online Learning Resources Regarding Pedagogy and Online LearningInstructional Strategies and Pedagogy (University Library, University of Illinois, Urbana, Champaign)

ASTD's Source for E-learning (American Society for Training and Development)

2009-12-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

History and Mission

ASTD launched Learning Circuits in January 2000. Its goal was to promote and aid the use of e-learning, creating a body of knowledge about how to use technology efficiently and effectively for learning. It delivers a fully interactive Website with discussions, demos and resources, and articles on a weekly basis. A monthly opt-in email newsletter, LC Express, sends news, teasers, and links to subscribers. There are nearly 800 articles currently on the Website.

TLT Seven Principles for Teaching with Technology

2009-12-25T09:31:00.000-08:00

"Seven Principles" Collection of Ideas for Teaching and Learning with Technology"

Add Live Video Seminare Withing Moodle LMS

2009-12-24T16:04:00.001-08:00

St. Louis, MO - For Moodle LMS users - PresenterCast announces 2.0 release of its eLearning application tool at www.presentercast.com

"This free module easily plugs into the popular Moodle eLearning platform and offers an easy, elegant way to do live online video seminars, says Byron Sletten, partner at MindActive."

"Education has always been a major factor in our country’s growth and economic health. MindActive is committed to improving learning & educational technology. We have more products in the pipeline”

A demo and more information is available at www.presentercast.com

Moodle is an open source course management system, also known as a Learning Management System (LMS). Moodle has become hugely popular among educators and training groups around the world as a tool for creating dynamic eLearning web sites for their students. Moodle PresenterCast may be easily installed into the LMS to enable teachers and private tutors to communicate live, interactively.

Moodle: World's Favourite LMS (2008)

2009-12-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

Moodle: The world's favourite LMS

We had a good look at the 2008 LMS survey undertaken by the E-Learning Guild and its findings in relation to Moodle LMS. It came as little surprise to us that Moodle has become the most used LMS by organizations of all sizes or that it was the most cost-effective LMS to install and customize. On-going costs of Moodle were also the lowest per user, not surprising given Moodle is Open Source and licence free.

The E-Learning Guild report (2008) found that the market share for the ten most popular LMS products used by corporations of all sizes was:

Moodle (18.6%)
Other (16.6%)
Developed In-House (14.8%)
SumTotal (14.6%)
Saba (12.5%
Blackboard (8.9%)
Oracle (7.9%)
Plateau (7.5%)
Learn.com (6.7%)
SkillSoft (6.2%)

Guild members were resoundingly positive about using an LMS and its impact on their organizations:

94.6% were convinced that an LMS is essential to their organization
95.5% believed a LMS allows people to access learning more easily
94.3% asserted that a LMS allowed them to distribute better learning throughout the organization

Flat World Online Textbooks and Instructor Resources

2009-12-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

Educator's World

Our peer-reviewed books are written by experts, professionally developed, & supported by supplements. There the similarity to traditional books ends. Our books are free online, purchasable in multiple formats (softcover, audio, self-print versions) & open-source so you can modify them to fit your course. Hit our catalog or read on.

Recently posted

“We have a mission as a publicly-funded institution to provide high quality, affordable education. The skyrocketing cost of textbooks is interfering with that mission, and I feel an obligation to do something about the problem.”

Prof. Frank Markham, Mesa State College
“Flat World fits my needs by providing content from a first class author at an affordable price and flexible formats for students. Their business model has the potential to be a truly disruptive entry into the traditional publishing world.”

Prof. Marc Weinberger University of Massachusetts at Amherst
“I’m sensitive to the cost issue for students. What I really like about this new model is that it is a perfect example of entrepreneurship as the solution to a market problem. It provides affordability for my students and flexibility for me.”

Prof. Audrey Ashton-Savage, University of New Hampshire.
“Textbooks are a valuable learning tool but as prices have increased, it has become more difficult to justify their purchase to my students. The Flat World model provides choices unavailable with traditional textbooks.”

Prof. Richard Stratton, University of Akron
“What I love about the Flat World model is the flexibility. I can use the book as is or change it. My students can use the free online version or select from low-priced options like print and audio. We all have choices we never had before.”

Prof. Jodi Radosh, Alvernia University.

Find A Book

Browse our catalog to find books. Our books are online for your immediate review! You can also request print review copies, get access to supplements, adopt our books, & more. Watch How

Get the instructor resources

Our books include instructor manuals, test banks, lecture slides, and solutions manuals (if relevant). In some cases, videos & other goodies are available for you to access as well.Watch How

Adopt It

When you adopt we generate a page on our site where your students access their free book. Give them the URL we provide or send them to “Find My Class” on our site. Adopt away! Watch How

Get The Book To Your Students

"Adopt" from our site. We create a page for your class, give you the URL, & post it under "Find My Class." Your students take it from there! You can also submit an ISBN to your bookstore. Watch How

Customize Your Book (If You Want)

You found a book that works, but … it could use some re-ordering. Or fewer chapters. Or an annotation between paragraphs. Use our “book manager” to customize your book for your class. It’s immediately available online & in print (with your changes) with new page numbering, plus a matching table-of-contents & index! No contracts. No minimum orders. It’s THAT easy. Watch How

There’s Gotta Be A Catch

Nope! We’re building a business that relieves pain felt by students, faculty, and authors. Faculty get great books and control over content. They also get to decide if, and when, to move to new editions. Students get a free online book, and the choice to buy affordable offline versions. They buy sufficient quantities, we have strong revenue and profits. Authors earn strong royalties. Everybody wins.

Go to Catalog

It’s about time. We hear that quite a bit. Now that you know what we’re about, it’s time for you to explore our books. Dive in and find one that works for you! From our catalog you can:

Learn about the book, listen to author podcasts, & more.
Review the book online.
Request a print review copy.
Request access to review educator supplements.
Adopt the book.
See the options available to your students.

Go to catalog

Frequently Asked Questions

expand all collapse all

Q: What is My(flat)World?

A: MyFlatWorld is the place where we put all of the things you’ve adopted, customized, downloaded, etc… In other words, once you adopt a Fat World Knowledge text, it is noted on your MyFlatWorld page with the URL and ISBN information for you to reference. In addition, when you customize a book, a link to that version will be there with it’s unique ISBN equivalent you can give to your bookstore—if they’d like to order books from us.
Q: Do I need to “Adopt” the book?

A: Yes. You should fill out an adopt form from the “adopt” link. (Really, nothing will happen to you if you don’t, but it will help you and your students if you do). When you fill out the adopt form you set up your book in the Find My Class link. So, students who are taking your course will easily be able to find the book you adopted, read it for FREE online, and purchase print & audio versions, as well as, study aids for reasonable prices.
Q: Do I need to “Adopt" the book every semester?

A: Yes. That is a very good idea. This will allow us to make sure that the correct semester information shows up for your students when they search for your book in the Find My Class link on our website. If a student shows up and sees the information from the prior semester (section number or session timeframe) is off, they may be confused. The best practice is to re-adopt the book by filling out the adopt form again. Thanks!
Q: Do I have to customize my book?

A: Heck NO! Our books are ready to go right off the shelf. No changes are necessary. We simply give you the option to make changes to better suit the needs of your students and your course. It is an option, not a requirement.
Q: How often can I customize my book?

A: You can customize your book as often as you change your socks…or more often. But keep this in mind, you should TRY to come to a customization you can live with before classes start so students who wish to purchase the book you customized will get the version you want them to have. If you continue to customize your book in the middle of a semester, you will need to re-adopt it (fill out the adopt form), and direct your students to it so they see your most recently updated version. The students in your course who purchased a book before the last customization will not have those changes in print. We know, this all sounds very confusing. Yeah, it can be…so that is why we think you should customize your book as many times as you like up to the start of classes. If you want to customize again, do it for the next semester. We do recommend, however, that you change your socks many more times than that.

Leading Online Learning Through Collaboration

2009-12-22T12:49:00.000-08:00

Leading Online Learning Through Collaboration (Article)
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolution, activities, and benefits of the Faculty Online Teaching and Learning Community at Western Carolina University (WCU). The university itself has become a national leader in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with its annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Faire (this year drew attendees from 23 different higher education institutions) and with its international referred journal Mountainrise. In addition, WCU has seen rapid growth in online programs as well as the need for faculty preparation for digital instruction. The Faculty Online Teaching and Learning Community represents one strategy for such preparation. The authors review the literature on faculty support for training and professional development for online teaching as well as the literature on faculty learning communities. They describe the grassroots development of the learning community and its development as a formal group. Included are descriptions of the group’s involvement in new faculty orientation; the transition to a new course management system; strategies that have evolved from the group such as peer-to-peer feedback; the use of voice technology, and the creation of virtual learning environments; the transfer of the group’s experience to other collaborations; and the mentoring and support for untenured faculty in the group. (JOLT, Journal of Online Teaching and Learning, Sept. 2006)

UC Berkeley (CAL) Webcasts of Courses and Events

2009-12-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

What are UC Berkeley course/event webcasts?

Every semester, UC Berkeley webcasts select courses and events for on-demand viewing via the Internet. webcast.berkeley course lectures are provided as a study resource for students and are not sanctioned as a substitute for going to the course lectures.

Schools and Universities Usine Second Life, Virtual Reality, and/or Sloodle (A Combination of Second Life and Moodle)

2009-12-22T10:02:00.001-08:00

Schools and universities using SL (Second Life Virtual Reality) and/or Sloodle, a combination of Second Life and Moodle.

Kirkpatrick's 4 Level Eval. Model of Teaching, Training Effectiveness

2009-12-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

Kirkpatrick's 4 Level Eval Model of Teaching, Training. (An older model but has some good points in terms of general categories for quantitative and qualitative measurement. Other models are also mentioned in the article.)

The Impact of E-Learning on Medical Education

2009-12-21T11:01:00.001-08:00

Summary

Impact of E-learning on Medical Education

E-learning refers to the use of Internet technologies to deliver a broad array of learning modes that enhance learners' knowledge and performance. There is evidence for the effectiveness and acceptance of e-learning within the medical education community, especially when combined with traditional teacher-led activities in a blended-learning educational experience. Several digital repositories of e-learning materials exist, some with peer review, where instructors or developers can submit materials for widespread use or retrieve them for creating new materials. The evaluation of e-learning should include a peer-review process and an assessment of outcomes such as learner satisfaction, content usability, and demonstration of learning. Faculty skills in creating e-learning may differ from those needed for traditional teaching; faculty rewards for scholarly activity must recognize this difference and should be commensurate with effort. With technological advancement, the future offers the promise of high-fidelity, high-speed simulations and personalized instruction using both adaptive and collaborative learning. Centers of excellence in e-learning can provide national support for the design, development, implementation, evaluation, collaboration, and sharing of digital e-learning materials. The integration of e-learning into undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education will promote a shift toward adult learning in medical education, wherein educators no longer serve solely as distributors of content, but become facilitators of learning and assessors of competency.

http://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Fulltext/2006/03000/The_Impact_of_E_Learning_in_Medical_Education.2.aspx

WizIQ

2009-12-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

WizIQ

How to teach using WiZiQ?

Conduct Live Online Classes using Free Virtual Classroom
Create & Share Tests using Online Tests
Upload & Share Content using Content Sharing
Group different learners through Contacts Management
Teach Live in Moodle with Web Conferencing Modules for Moodle
Teach and Earn
How to learn using WiZiQ?
Attend Live Online Classes from experts around the world
Attempt Online Tests and benchmark with test takers
View Educational Content on topics of your choice
Search for a teacher to help you learn better
Online Educational Resources for Learners
Learn and Achieve Goal

Vist My 'Other' Blog: Higher Ed. Pedagogy, Andragogy, Applied

2009-12-21T09:09:00.001-08:00

Please visit my other other WebLog, HIGHER ED., PEDAGOGY, ANDRAGOGY APPLIED. Information found there deals with HE, but much is also applicable K-12.

Integrating Technology for Active, Life-Long Learning

2009-12-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

Integrating Technology for Active, Life-Long Learning

Professional development via workshops, courses, community of learners, projects, and live online events in areas related to health & self-care, education, technology, social networks, languages, and the arts for active life-long learning via blended (BL) and blended online learning (BOL) courses and workshops.
A platform for developing e-Communities of Learning
e-Conferences on Information, Internet, telecommunications, and educational technologies on sharing experiences on how integrate technology for instruction and learning
______________________________
Who is IT4ALL?

Facilitators or teachers who are passionate about learning, believe our experiences as learners are very valuable to our professional development as teachers, and wish to help others learn.

Values
Every person regardless of age, gender, affiliations, or background, has a right to free education (see article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ).
Every educator has a right to a fee for providing free learning courses (see article 23 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights ).
Making mistakes is a learning strategy.

Vision

To provide learners with an open and flexible learning environment that would engage them in active life-long learning

The development of community of educators who value and wish to contribute to free e-learning in developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries
Free e-learning worldwide.
Promote and provide professional development workshops for the improvement of instruction and learning
Effective e-learning workshops
Learner-driven instruction
Positive invitational education
Well-prepared educators to teach online

Mission

Provide exciting free e-learning workshops courses on how to improve instruction and learning consultation,
Provide coaching, and technical support on Moodle,
Organize conferences,
Compile articles and books.

Resources

Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights as developed by the General Assembly res. 217A (III), 10 December 1948.
Human Rights as a Way of Life as developed by PDHRE, The People's Movement for Human Rights Learning

Mission vs. Vision Statements

Please notice the difference between Mission & Vision Statements.

U.S News & World Rpt. . . .Online University Directory

2009-12-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

Online BA Degrees & Bachelor Degree Programs

A bachelor’s degree - sometimes referred to as a BA degree or BS degree – is second in the hierarchy of academic degrees awarded by post secondary educational institutions. It is the most common degree earned by working professionals in the U.S. Acquiring a BA degree should generally take you four years of full-time study, though this can vary; some accelerated students finish in three years, while a few of the more complicated bachelor’s degree programs can require up to five.

205 Online Colleges, Universities and Schools

2009-12-18T14:11:00.000-08:00

Listing of 205 Online Colleges, Universities and Schools

Online Learning Update (Best OL Blog)

2009-12-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

Online Learning Update - a blog published daily since 2001 by Ray Schroeder, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Springfield

Learning Sciences Program at Northwestern U.

2009-12-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/ls/

Could Google Wave Replace LMS's?

2009-11-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

Google argues that its new Google Wave system could replace e-mail by blending instant messaging, wikis, and image and document sharing into one seamless communication interface. But some college professors and administrators are more excited about Wave's potential to be a course-management-system killer. (Chronicle of HE Article . . .15:11:09)
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Could-Google-Wave-Replace/8354/

Connectivisim: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

2009-11-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. A real challenge for any learning theory is to actuate known knowledge at the point of application. When knowledge, however, is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses.

Connectivism presents a model of learning that acknowledges the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity. How people work and function is altered when new tools are utilized. The field of education has been slow to recognize both the impact of new learning tools and the environmental changes in what it means to learn. Connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era. (See Link)

http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Communities of Practice (HE)

2009-11-15T14:30:00.001-08:00

The idea that learning involves a deepening process of participation in a community of practice has gained significant ground in recent years. Communities of practice have also become an important focus within organizational development and have considerable value when thinking about working with groups. In this article we outline the theory and practice of such communities, and examine some of issues and questions for informal educators and those concerned with lifelong learning. http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm#lpp

EduCause 2009 Tech. To Watch.

2009-11-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

Link to Horizon Rpt. 2009

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD5612.pdf

Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................................3
■ Technologies to Watch
■ Key Trends
■ Critical Challenges
■ The Horizon Project
Time-to-Adoption: One Year or Less
Mobiles......................................................................................................................................................8
■ Overview
■ Relevance for Teaching, Learning, Research, or Creative Expression
■ Examples
■ For Further Reading
Cloud Computing......................................................................................................................................11
■ Overview
■ Relevance for Teaching, Learning, Research, or Creative Expression
■ Examples
■ For Further Reading
Time-to-Adoption: Two to Three Years
Geo-Everything.......................................................................................................................................15
■ Overview
■ Relevance for Teaching, Learning, Research, or Creative Expression
■ Examples
■ For Further Reading
The Personal Web...................................................................................................................................19
■ Overview
■ Relevance for Teaching, Learning, Research, or Creative Expression
■ Examples
■ For Further Reading
Time-to-Adoption: Four to Five Years
Semantic-Aware Applications...................................................................................................................23
■ Overview
■ Relevance for Teaching, Learning, Research, or Creative Expression
■ Examples
■ For Further Reading
Smart Objects.........................................................................................................................................27
■ Overview
■ Relevance for Teaching, Learning, Research, or Creative Expression
■ Examples
■ For Further Reading
Methodology....................................................................................................................

Collaboration Literacy Authorship

2008-07-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

collaboration graphic

Using social networking tools to engage the wisdom of teachers. A four part graphic.

Seven Things You Should Know About Clickers - ELI7002.pdf (application/pdf Object)

2008-07-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Seven Things You Should Know About CLickers ELI7002.pdf (application/pdf Object)
"Clickers have been making inroads in college and university courses since 1998, as faculty explore how to increase student interaction. Interaction and feedback are particularly challenging in large lecture environment, wher class size limits faculty-student interaction.

Keeping Clickers in the Classroom :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, Views and Jobs

2008-07-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

Keeping Clickers in the Classroom :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, Views and Jobs "Whatever educators collectively decide about the utility of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom, one simple little device that received some notice during the conference’s last day may be on its way to delivering on its hype: the humble clicker. The small, handheld wireless input tools that resemble a miniature remote control have gradually found their way into high-tech classrooms over the past several years — especially in business-oriented fields — with some instructors swearing by them and others dismissing them as yet another needless gizmo".

Partnership for 21st Century Skills Debuts '21st Century Skills and Social Studies Map' : July 2008 : THE Journal

2008-07-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

Partnership for 21st Century Skills Debuts '21st Century Skills and Social Studies Map' : July 2008 : THE Journal
"The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has joined up with the National Council for the Social Studies to produce the first-ever "21st Century Skills and Social Studies Map"--a sort of fleshed-out framework for that includes resources for integrating 21st century skills into social studies curricula.
The 21st Century Skills and Social Studies Map is the first in a series of planned maps aimed at core subjects. The purpose is to provide a framework and resources for integrating technology and other 21st century skills into core subject studies."

Blackboard-Sakai Integration on the Way; Moodle on Deck : July 2008 : THE Journal

2008-07-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Blackboard-Sakai Integration on the Way; Moodle on Deck : July 2008 : THE Journal: "Syracuse University and Blackboard have partnered to develop technologies that will allow Blackboard's learning management systems to integrate with the Sakai Foundation's open-source learning management platform."

Wired Campus: Scholars Are Skeptical of Google's New Virtual World - Chronicle.com

2008-07-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Wired Campus: Scholars Are Skeptical of Google's New Virtual World - Chronicle.com: "Scholars Are Skeptical of Google's New Virtual World"

Single-Sex Programs: Resolving the Conumdrum (A TCRecord: Article)

2008-07-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

Single-Sex Programs: Resolving the Research Conumdrum - TCRecord: Article

"It is...crucial that researchers, for their part, maintain their objectivity in the face of this politically charged controversy and remain mindful that this is all about children and not ideology. As gender equity advocates and others rush to explore the barely charted territory of single-sex schooling in its new incarnation, they must do so with an open and objective mind. They must resist the temptation to compare single-sex education with all its flaws to an idealized notion of coeducation. Given the high level of skepticism and virulent opposition these programs have generated, there is the danger of slipping into a game of “gotcha,” holding these programs to an unreasonable and unreachable standard to justify their continued existence. With legal presumptions and political pressure working against them, there is also the danger of demanding too much too soon from research findings. Single-sex schooling in its contemporary form is still a work-in-progress."

The Horizon Rpt. on New Media

2008-07-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

The Horizon Report on New Media pdf 2008

Wired Campus: Have Gas Prices Pushed Distance-Education Popularity Past a Tipping Point? - Chronicle.com

2008-07-08T08:58:00.001-07:00

Wired Campus: Have Gas Prices Pushed Distance-Education Popularity Past a Tipping Point? - Chronicle.com: "Enrollments in online courses were already headed upward at colleges across the country, but some officials say that the gas prices are the last straw for many students deciding between an online or in-person option. That trip to campus just seems like a significant expense with average gas prices more than $4 a gallon. A free article in today’s Chronicle explores the trend."