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If you're an online instructor or an administrator involved with distance education, you'll want to take a look at The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. This free, downloadable book contains many worthwhile essays about the creation of quality virtual learning programs. Here's a blurb:
“As with the first edition, this is a collection of works by practitioners and scholars actively working in the field of distance education. The text has been written at a time when the field is undergoing fundamental change. Although not an old discipline by academic standards, distance education practice and theory has evolved through five generations in its 150 years of existence (Taylor, 2001).
For most of this time, distance education was an individual pursuit defined by infrequent postal communication between student and teacher. The last half of the twentieth century has witnessed rapid developments and the emergence of three additional generations, one supported by the mass media of television and radio, another by the synchronous tools of video and audio teleconferencing, and yet another based on computer conferencing.”
There are chapters about infrastructure, design and development, quality control, and more. The work is available through Creative Commons. You can download it in PDF format by visiting the Open Access AU Press website.
See full article.
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Study Shows Distance Learning as Effective as Traditional Learning - 11 October 2007
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eLearn Magazine editor Lisa Neal recently published a list of Ten Things You Can Do in Ten Minutes To Be a More Successful e-Learning Professional. If you're an online teacher or instructional designer, take a look for several worthwhile ways to improve your career. Here's a blurb:
“Find an e-learning conference to go to and send an email to your manager giving 10 reasons why this will help you perform better. If travel is a problem, find a local seminar to go to….Read 10 current e-learning job descriptions and see how many you are qualified for. Write down 10 ideas for your own professional development just in case you ever want to go job hunting.”
Since online teaching is a relatively new profession, it's especially important for these instructors to stay on top of professional development and keep aware of advances in their field.
See full article.
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Everything You Need to Know About e-Learning 2.0 - 22 June 2007
Do Principals Accept Online Teacher Preparation Programs? - 14 July 2007
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Teachers Uneducated About Fair Use Copyrights - 31 October 2007
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A recent New York Times article explored several issues with online teaching including the lack of face-to-face interaction and the tendency towards lower pay. Here's a blurb:
“…flexibility can come at a price. Most professors agree that one disadvantage of online learning is a loss of real-time interaction with students…
Some in academia also say that online learning has created a second tier of instructors who work hard but are paid less than traditional professors.
“A great number of teachers who do distance learning tend to be part-timers and a full-time professor gets maybe 10 times more to teach a course,” Professor Ruth said.”
Merrily Stover, a full-time online professor of anthropology for the University of Maryland University College in Adelphi, acknowledges that she could make more if she were a tenured professor at a local university teaching regular courses. But she was able to keep her teaching job by working online from home in Oroville, Calif.”
Although online teachers can work in their pajamas, they still deserve pay equivalent to their brick-and-mortar counterparts. By paying online teachers fairly, virtual schools will be able to recruit higher caliber instructors who will improve the overall quality of course content.
See full article.
Related Entries:
Teaching online, teaching from a distance - 07 September 2004
Idea of the Week: Home Based Online English Teaching Business (Part III) - 21 June 2007
Columbia Teachers College to Offer Online Master’s Degree - 13 July 2007
Become an Online Teacher - Online Adjuncts Discussion Group - 25 July 2007
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A new web 2.0 community is in the works for online teachers. The Social Media Virtual Classroom was the winner of the Knowledge-Networking Award, a grant of $61,000. The money will be used to create a website where online educators can go to discuss their work. Here's a bit about the winning idea:
“The Social Media Virtual Classroom will develop an online community for teachers and students to collaborate and contribute ideas for teaching and learning about the psychological, interpersonal, and social issues related to participatory media. This digital learning space will both feature and analyze the use of blogs, wikis, chat, instant messaging, microblogging, forums, social bookmarking and instructional screencasts for teachers and students.”
The chosen proposal was submitted by Howard Rheingold of Stanford University.
See full article.
Related Entries:
Columbia Teachers College to Offer Online Master’s Degree - 13 July 2007
Become an Online Teacher - Online Adjuncts Discussion Group - 25 July 2007
Top 10 Online Apps for Teachers - 06 December 2007
Community Colleges Leading the Online Education Movement - 04 February 2008
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