EDUC 5614: Trends and Issues in Distance Education and Technology

For many learners assessment conjures up visions of red pens scrawling percentages in the top right-hand corner of exams and feelings of stress, inadequacy, and failure. Although negative student reactions to evaluation have been noted, assessment has provided educational institutions with important information about learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But how accurate is this data and has it informed practice or been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Open argue that the potential in many of the new learning environments to alter and improve assesment has yet to be explored by educators and students. In their investigation of assessment methods and learning approaches, Conrad and Openo aim to explore assessment that engages learners and authentically evaluates education. They insist that moving to new learning environments, specifically those online and at a distance, afford educators opportunities to embrace only the most effective face-to-face assessment methods and to realize the potential of delivering education in the digital age. In this volume practitioners will find not only an indispensable introduction to new forms of assessment but also a number of best practices as described by experienced educators.

Best Practices in Engaging Online Learners Through Active and Experiential Learning Strategies is a practical guide for all instructors and instructional designers working in online or blended learning environments who want to provide a supportive, engaging, and interactive learner experience. This book explores the integration of active and experiential learning approaches and activities including gamification, social media integration, and project- and scenario-based learning, as they relate to the development of authentic skill-building, communication, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills in learners. Readers will find guidelines for the development of participatory peer-learning, cooperative education, and service learning opportunities in the online classroom. In addition, the authors provide effective learning strategies, resources, and tools that align learner engagement with course outcomes.

Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include: Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community. Establishing a sense of presence online. Maximizing participation. Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection. Assessing student performance. Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authors many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

Continuing to Engage the Online Learner Contributing to both the theoretical and practical literature, Continuing to Engage the Online Learner expands on the work of Conrad and Donaldson's bestselling Engaging the Online Learner. This next-step resource introduces a new phase to their proven model, the Phases of Engagement, and addresses a wide range of online and hybrid learning environments, technology tools, and communication styles. Comprehensive in scope, the book provides an introduction to the theory of engaged learning and its design, assessment, and management in online and blended learning environments and describes the types of activities that motivate the online learner in each phase of engagement. This down-to-earth resource also includes 50 new and illustrative activities paired with each phase of engagement. In Continuing to Engage the Online Learner Rita-Marie Conrad and J. Ana Donaldson provide relevant and theoretically-sound information to enhance teaching and engage learners, offering a practical handbook for instructors. "Conrad and Donaldson have done it again! Not only have they presented a solid and useful discussion of the phases of engagement, they have brought the theory alive through the presentation of practical activities that would work well in any online or hybrid course." --Rena Palloff, faculty, Fielding Graduate University and author, The Excellent Online Instructor

Effective teaching is effective teaching, no matter where it occurs The pandemic teaching of mid-2020 was not really distance learning, but rather crisis teaching. But starting now, teachers have the opportunity to prepare for distance learning with purpose and intent--using what works best to accelerate students' learning all the while maintaining an indelible focus on equity. Harnessing the insights and experience of renowned educators Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie, The Distance Learning Playbook applies the wisdom and evidence of VISIBLE LEARNING® research to understand what works best with distance learning. Spanning topics from teacher-student relationships, teacher credibility and clarity, instructional design, assessments, and grading, this comprehensive playbook details the research- and evidence-based strategies teachers can mobilize to deliver high- impact learning in an online, virtual, and distributed environment. This powerful guide includes: ·         Learning Intentions and Success Criteria for each module to track your own learning and model evidence-based teacher practices for meaningful learning ·         A diversity of instructional approaches, including direct instruction, peer learning, and independent work that foster student self-regulation and move learning to deep and transfer levels ·         Discussion of equity challenges associated with distance learning, along with examples of how teachers can work to ensure that equity gains that have been realized are not lost. ·         Special guidance for teachers of young children who are learning from a distance ·         Videos of the authors and teachers discussing a wide variety of distance learning topics ·         Space to write and reflect on current practices and plan future instruction The Distance Learning Playbook is the essential hands-on guide to preparing and delivering distance learning experiences that are truly effective and impactful.   

"In order to enable the widespread adoption of online education, faculty must be trained in the pedagogy of teaching in this medium. This book offers an understanding of how cognition and learning theory applies to an online learning environment. Through behaviorist, constructivist, and cognitive approaches it provides strategies for incorporating this knowledge into effective learner-centered teaching practice. Each chapter contains reflection and discussion questions and, with the use of the accompanying CD, can be used for self-directed learning. It is ideal for new instructors or those new to online teaching."-- Provided by publisher.

Engaging the Online Learner This updated edition includes an innovative framework--the Phases of Engagement--that helps learners become more involved as knowledge generators and cofacilitators of a course. The book also provides specific ideas for tested activities (collected from experienced online instructors across the nation) that can go a long way to improving online learning. Engaging the Online Learner offers the tools and information needed to: Convert classroom activities to an online environment Assess the learning that occurs as a result of collaborative activities Phase in activities that promote engagement among online learners Build peer interaction through peer partnerships and team activities Create authentic activities and implement games and simulations Praise for Engaging the Online Learner "The Phases of Engagement framework provides a road map for creating community at each phase of an online course. This book is an invaluable guide to innovative practices for online learning." -Judith V. Boettcher, coauthor of The Online Teaching Survival Guide "Engagement is the heart of online learning. The authors have developed an encyclopedia of tried-and-true learner engagement activities that are authentic and ready to use." -Donald P. Ely, professor emeritus, instructional design, development and evaluation in the School of Education, Syracuse University

The Excellent Online Instructor is a guide for new and seasoned faculty who teach online, those responsible for training and developing online instructors, and administrators who must evaluate online faculty performance. This comprehensive resource describes the qualities of and explains how one can become an excellent online instructor. Written by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt--noted experts in online instruction--the book Includes models based in adult learning principles and best practices Offers guidelines to test instructors' readiness to teach online Contains ideas for overcoming faculty resistance Reveals how to develop an effective mentoring program Shows how to establish a long-term faculty development effort Praise for The Excellent Online Instructor "Palloff and Pratt have a profound understanding of the online educational milieu, its complexities and challenges as well as the potential it opens up to serious educators dedicated to exploiting its full value. Practical and down-to-earth strategies are at the core of what the authors offer the reader in this engaging book." --Michael J. Canuel, CEO, LEARN Quebec "This book examines best practices for effective online teaching and instructor engagement and provides a concise plan for faculty development and effective training methods. Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt have provided another essential resource for the field of online teaching and learning that is a must-read for anyone working with faculty or teaching online in either higher education or K-12." --Kaye Shelton, dean, Online Education, Dallas Baptist University "Whether you are guiding departmental faculty or looking to improve your own online skills, Palloff and Pratt provide practical steps, tools to organize your processes, best practices to emulate, and valuable resources to help you achieve excellence online." --Lynn Olson, dean, Graduate and Professional Studies, St. Joseph's College Online

Convince your online participants to tune in—and get them to interact and engage. Virtual classroom training is here to stay, and web and video conferencing is close to ubiquitous. Interact and Engage! offers proven strategies for captivating your live online audience. With more than 50 activities ranging from openers and icebreakers to closers, instructional design experts Kassy LaBorie and Tom Stone present a framework for igniting online training programs, meetings, and webinars. Engaging online audiences can be difficult. This is true for novice instructional designers and facilitators—and for experienced ones. Learn how to break the mold of static lecture-style online training that drives participants to multitask or, worse, tune out. LaBorie and Stone cover all the steps necessary to remedy poor online training experiences and ensure that what you teach sticks. In this book you will: Explore the popular delivery platforms (Adobe Connect and WebEx Training Center) inside and out, backwards and forwards, and upside down. Discover how to start events off right and bring them to a fitting end, while achieving the event's goals in the middle. Delve into what facilitators and producers need to do before, during, and after an activity.

Online learning is ubiquitous for millions of students worldwide, yet our understanding of student experiences in online learning settings is limited. The geographic distance that separates faculty from students in an online environment is its signature feature, but it is also one that risks widening the gulf between teachers and learners. In Learning Online, George Veletsianos argues that in order to critique, understand, and improve online learning, we must examine it through the lens of student experience. Approaching the topic with stories that elicit empathy, compassion, and care, Veletsianos relays the diverse day-to-day experiences of online learners. Each in-depth chapter follows a single learner's experience while focusing on an important or noteworthy aspect of online learning, tackling everything from demographics, attrition, motivation, and loneliness to cheating, openness, flexibility, social media, and digital divides. Veletsianos also draws on these case studies to offer recommendations for the future and lessons learned. The elusive nature of online learners' experiences, the book reveals, is a problem because it prevents us from doing better: from designing more effective online courses, from making evidence-informed decisions about online education, and from coming to our work with the full sense of empathy that our students deserve. Writing in an evocative, accessible, and concise manner, Veletsianos concretely demonstrates why it is so important to pay closer attention to the stories of students--who may have instructive and insightful ideas about the future of education.

Lessons from the Virtual Classroom, Second Edition The second edition of the classic resource Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom offers a comprehensive reference for faculty to hone their skills in becoming more effective online instructors. Thoroughly revised and updated to reflect recent changes and challenges that face online teachers, Lessons from the Virtual Classroom is filled with illustrative examples from actual online courses as well as helpful insights from teachers and students. This essential guide offers targeted suggestions for dealing with such critical issues as evaluating effective courseware, working with online classroom dynamics, addressing the needs of the online student, making the transition to online teaching, and promoting the development of the learning community. Praise for Lessons from the Virtual Classroom, Second Edition "Palloff and Pratt demonstrate their exceptional practical experience and insight into the online classroom. This is an invaluable resource for those tasked with creating an online course." -- D. Randy Garrison, professor, University of Calgary, and author, Blended Learning in Higher Education: Framework, Principles, and Guidelines "Faculty will deeply appreciate and make use of the many explicit examples of how to design, prepare, and teach both blended and fully online courses." -- Judith V. Boettcher, faculty coach and author, The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips "Lessons from the Virtual Classroom is filled with insightful caveats and recommendations, pointed examples to enhance your practice, succinct summaries of the research, and engaging visual overviews. Each page brings the reader a renewed sense of confidence to teach online as well as personal joy that there is finally a resource to find the answers one is seeking." -- Curtis J. Bonk, professor of education, Indiana University-Bloomington, and author, Empowering Online Learning: 100+ Activities for Reading, Reflecting, Displaying, and Doing

Online Teaching: Tools and Techniques to Achieve Success with Learners will provide the online teacher with essential strategies to successfully design, develop, deliver and improve their online course offerings. This book is an invaluable resource for the novice instructor, as well as the seasoned educator. The chapters of the book will take the reader from the basics of online course development and delivery to assessment and improvement after a successful semester. The authors provide proven techniques, practical tools, and real-world tips in the areas of online course formats, course organization, learning management, learning community, online collaboration, learner support, visual design, course assessment, and course analysis for improvement in a readable and engaging way.

Bring pedagogy and cognitive science to online learning environments Online Teaching at Its Best: A Merger of Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research is the scholarly resource for online learning that faculty, instructional designers, and administrators have long been awaiting. Over 70 percent of degree-granting institutions offer online classes, and while technical resources abound, the courses often fall short of integrating the best practices in online pedagogy, even if they comply with online course design standards. Typically these standards omit the best practices in teaching and learning and the principles from cognitive science, leaving students struggling to keep the pace, understand the material, and fulfill their true potential as learners. This book fills the gap, providing evidence-based practices for online teaching, online course design, and online student motivation integrated with pedagogical and cognitive science to help you build the distance learning courses and programs your students deserve. As more and more students opt for distance learning, it's up to designers and instructors to rethink traditional methods and learn to work more effectively within the online learning environment, and up to administrators to provide the needed leadership. Online Teaching at Its Best provides practical, real-world advice grounded in educational science to help online instructors, instructional designers, and administrators deliver an exceptional learning experience. Adopt new pedagogical techniques designed specifically for online learning environments Ensure strong course alignment and effective student learning for online classes Increase student retention, build necessary support structures, and train faculty more effectively Integrate research-based course design and cognitive psychology into graduate or undergraduate programs Distance is no barrier to a great education; what do stand in the way are inadequate online course design and implementation and deficient faculty training and support--all of which administrators can mitigate. Online Teaching at Its Best will help you ensure that your online classes measure up to the rigor and quality of excellence in teaching and assessment, build in the personal touch for developing a learning community and equip your students to succeed in the next challenge. 

Online Teaching is a manual for instructors whose classroom resides online. The unprecedented explosion of online learning courses has resulted in increased demands for online teachers, and regular classroom teachers are often asked to teach in an online environment, whether they are prepared or not. This book is a unique text, one for teachers written by experienced teachers. It will function as a general reference guide and how to manual, encouraging new and experienced instructors to explore the vast variety of resources available to create and/or enhance their online teaching experience. It will present practical material in an approachable manner, allowing a larger audience to be reached. Teachers will come away from reading this book with a new confidence in how to utilize technology to enhance student learning.

Essential reading for online instructors, updated to cover new and emerging issues and technologies The Online Teaching Survival Guide provides a robust overview of theory-based techniques for teaching online or technology-enhanced courses. Covering all aspects of online teaching, this book reviews the latest research in cognitive processing and related learning outcomes while retaining a focus on the practical. A simple framework of instructional strategies mapped across a four-phase timeline provides a concrete starting point for both new online teachers and experienced teachers designing or revamping an online course. Essential technologies are explored in their basic and expanded forms, and traditional pedagogy serves as the foundation  for tips and practices customized for online learning. The tips cover course management, social presence, community building, integration of new technologies, discussion and questioning techniques, assessment, and debriefing, along with new coverage of intensive or accelerated courses, customizing learning strategies, developing expertise, advanced course design, and assessment techniques exclusive to this new second edition. The theory and techniques of successful online teaching can be significantly different from those used face-to-face. With more and more classes being offered online, this book provides a valuable resource for taking your course to the next level. Understand the technology used in online teaching Learn specialized pedagogical tips and practices Examine new research on cognition and learning Adopt a clear framework of instructional strategies The explosion of online learning has created a demand for great online teachers. Increasingly, faculty who normally teach face-to-face are being asked to cover online courses'yet comprehensive pedagogical resources are scarce. The learning curve is huge, and faculty need a practical approach to course design and management that can be quickly and easily implemented. The Online Teaching Survival Guide provides that essential resource, with a customizable framework and deeper exploration of effective online teaching.

Series Editors: Charles Schlosser and Michael Simonson

Designed for administrators and human resources professionals responsible for hiring educators, Preparing Educators for Online Learning offers a compelling look into the world of online educator preparation. As more and more educator preparation programs move part or all of their training online, hiring professionals need insight into the design and characteristics of quality online programs and how those translate into quality prospective employees. Framed by viewpoints and commentary from practicing administrators and HR specialists, as well as online professors and students, Preparing Educators for Online Learning, offers an explication of the components of a quality online program, research related to the effectiveness of online training, assessments for quality candidates, possible hiring guidelines and interview approaches, and commentary on the implications for educators, including higher education institutions and PK-12 schools, both now and going forward.

What does it mean to be a productive professor inhigher education? What would it feel like to have more peace and productivity?To have nothing fall through the cracks? The Productive Online and OfflineProfessoris written for today's busy higher education professional.Through an exploration of what it means to make work meaningful, this bookoffers practical strategies and tips to support higher education professionalsin efficiently managing and effectively using a wide range of technologies andproductivity tools. Higher education instructors will find this guide helps them to fulfill theirteaching roles with excellence and to build engaging relationships withstudents while also successfully managing other priorities in theirprofessional and personal lives. The Productive Online Professorassists those who teach online and blended courses with managing their personal productivity. Faculty are often expected to provide support and feedback to learners outside of normal work hours in non-traditional classes. Programs that are designed with more asynchronous content may cause faculty to perceive that it is difficult to ever press the "off button" on their teaching.The author offers guidance and suggests software tools for streamlining communication and productivity that enable faculty to better balance their lives while giving rich feedback to students. Part1 addresses the challenges in defining productivity and presents a workingdefinition for the text. Part 2 describes the ability to communicate using both synchronous andasynchronous methods, along with ways of enriching such communication. Part 3 describes methods for finding, curating, and sharing relevant knowledgeboth within one's courses and to a broader personal learning network (PLN). Part 4 examines specific tools for navigating the unique challenges ofproductivity while teaching online. It includes ways to grade more productivelywhile still providing rich feedback to students. Part 5 shares techniques for keeping one's course materials current andrelevant in the most efficient ways possible. The Productive Online Professoris a practical guide for how to provide high quality online classes to diverse students. This book shares specific technology and other tools that may be used in charting a course toward greater productivity. It is intended to be a professional resource for fulfilling our roles with excellence and joy, while managing other priorities in our personal and professional lives.

Packed with checklists, advice, and how-to features, The Virtual Training Guidebook teaches you how to design, deliver, and implement live online learning. This book will help learning professionals transition to the online classroom by taking a holistic look at successful implementation, including gaining organizational support, selecting a platform, designing classes, selecting facilitators, preparing participants, global considerations, and the logistics required for success.