The Theory and Practice of Online Learning

Edited by Terry Anderson

“Every chapter in the widely distributed first edition has been updated, and four new chapters on current issues such as connectivism and social software innovations have been added. Essays by practitioners and scholars active in the complex, diverse, and rapidly evolving field of distance education blend scholarship and research; practical attention to the details of teaching and learning; and mindful attention to the economics of the business of education.”

Link to full text

“Teachers, administrators, researchers, reformers, government leaders, parents, and others have long extolled the benefits that computer-based learning could have in schools: Educational video games, often referred to as “edutainment” or “serious” games, could make learning fun and motivating, especially for today’s students. Computers offer a way to customize instruction and allow students to learn in the way they are best wired to process information, in the style that conforms to them, and at a pace that matches their own. Computer-based learning on a large scale is also less expensive than the current labor intensive system and could solve the financial dilemmas facing public schools”

Link to Article at Hoover Institute

Early Results - Online Education

“More than two thirds of American parents would be willing to have their children take some of their high school courses over the Internet, a new Education Next-PEPG poll shows.

Findings from a new poll from Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard University also show that, in most instances, the American public favors public funding for online courses that high school students take for credit over the internet. The breadth of their support, however, depends on the purpose of the online education. A majority favor funding for high schools offering advanced courses for students online and for high schools that offer rural students a broader range of courses online. A plurality support funding online classes that help dropouts gain credits. However, only about one in four support funding for online courses offered to homeschooled students, with the plurality of respondents opposing the idea outright.”

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By Paula San Millan Maurino

Link to article

“Threaded discussion forums have been a popular topic for the past few years in distance education research and studied as a factor in student participation, satisfaction, learning outcomes, social presence and interaction. Only recently has it been considered as a potential vehicle for the development of critical thinking skills and deep learning. Thirty-seven current studies on critical inquiry, deep learning, presence and interaction in distance education were synthesized. The studies were compared for findings about participation quality, participation quantity, critical thinking skills and deep learning, and recommendations. The synthesis revealed that current literature touts the potential for development of deep learning and critical thinking skills through online threaded discussions. For the most part, however, research does not show this happening at a high level or to any great extent. Confounding the issue is the fact that current research is predominated by examination of education and graduate level online classes and is mainly focused on student perceptions and outcomes. This is at odds with the profile of today’s “typicalâ€Â? distance education student. The need for more instructor involvement and effort is indicated in much of the research, but bulk of the research has focused on students and not teachers.”

One educator demonstrates that blending face-to-face and online instruction can lead to better student grades and understanding

eschool news

“Today the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) released the 2008 Horizon Report at the ELI Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The annual Horizon Report describes the continuing work of the NMC’s Horizon Project, a research-oriented effort that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have considerable impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression within higher education.”

Link to PDF

“States require that teachers have a valid teaching license and ultimately professional certification. While “the majority of online teachers are certified public school teachers, with experience teaching in public schools” (Davis, Rose, & NACOL Research Committee and Working Group, 2007, p. 8), is any regular classroom teacher already qualified to teach online?”

THE Journal

“Teachers for all levels of students today have so many more teaching aids than even just a few years ago. That’s not just because of greater access to the Internet but also because of the growing number of web applications that they can use. Some applications are specifically geared towards teaching and learning. Other applications can be adapted for these purposes. Here’s a list of some online applications, listed alphabetically, that we feel are excellent for teachers.”

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Raising Virtual Children

My Daughter, the Burger-Flipping Penguin

House Dems vote against the monies; parents left scrambling.

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