Library Resources & Services to Support Distance Education

Every year, more online or technology-enhanced learning experiences are added to the landscape of education, and the number of students taking online courses on residential campuses continues to grow. In addition, new instructional tools are creating environments that are mobile, interactive, and collaborative. These trends present challenges to the online classroom, and this book will help instructors meet those challenges. Jump-Start Your Online Classroomprepares a first-time online instructor to successfully manage the first few weeks of a course, including activities to help instructors plan, manage, and facilitate online instruction; and provides resources helpful during the beginning weeks of class. Each chapter is developed around the immediate challenges instructors face when teaching online. The authors address everyday problems and suggest solutions informed by their extensive research and experience. The five challenges, which are designed to be addressed in five days, are to: * Make the transition to online teaching * Build online spaces for learning * Prepare students for online learning * Manage and facilitating the online classroom * Assess learner outcomes in an online classroom The book is based on the authors' design and facilitation model that identifies five elements comprising an online learning environment: digital tools, participants, social practices, learning community, and outcomes. The book shows how each of those aspects influences instructional practices and interacts to create an environment for a meaningful online educational experience.

This volume examines key considerations for effective online course redesign. Using a 4-phase approach, Redesigning Courses for Online Delivery informs thinking, inspires creativity, and structures decisions to drive the development of high quality online learning experiences. Both scholarly and practical, it provides a comprehensive approach to redesign useful to novices and veterans alike.

Accessible Elements informs science educators about current practices in online and distance education: distance-delivered methods for laboratory coursework, the requisite administrative and institutional aspects of online and distance teaching, and the relevant educational theory. Delivery of university-level courses through online and distance education is a method of providing equal access to students seeking post-secondary education. Distance delivery offers practical alternatives to traditional on-campus education for students limited by barriers such as classroom scheduling, physical location, finances, or job and family commitments. The growing recognition and acceptance of distance education, coupled with the rapidly increasing demand for accessibility and flexible delivery of courses, has made distance education a viable and popular option for many people to meet their science educational goals.

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.

This third edition of the best-selling nurse educator's handbook on using online teaching tools and assessing their results keeps pace with the rapid-fire progression in digital learning that has occurred since the second edition was published in 2008. Completely revised and updated, this edition presents several new interactive digital tools and current guidelines in translating courses from the classroom to the online environment. It provides new content on Web-based learning theories and how to optimally teach students using the latest technology. Additionally, this edition offers new information on staff development and a new chapter on the role of staff development educator, guides instructors on how to build an on-line community, and includes practical, proven measures for student assessment and evaluation in online education. Using a step-by-step approach, the book discusses the basics of online learning, its infrastructure, and its technical support needs. Current evidenced-based research examines teacher-student interactions, course management, web-based resources, and best-practices. The text also includes an overview of free and for-purchase technologies and describes how to choose those technologies that meet the needs of a particular teaching situation. The book is completely interactive, containing web-based tools to enhance methods and concepts. Chapters also include interactive case studies, tutorials, and exercises to enhance learning and test learning styles. This text will not only provide optimal guidance for using the Web to teach students and professional nurses skills they need to embrace best practices and achieve optimal outcomes, it will also instill in them the habits of lifelong learning. New to the third edition: Includes new web-based interactive features to promote online learning and skills Features new chapter on the nurse in staff development Provides current guidelines on translating courses from the classroom to the online environment Presents new content on Web-based learning theories and teaching with technology Includes practical measures for student assessment and evaluation in online education backed by research and consensus

This hands-on guide addresses the unique challenges of educators in the helping professions who have minimal or no experience with online technologies. Written for online instructors, clinical faculty, program directors, administrators, and other educators, it describes practical and effective ways to teach material that is intrinsically based on face-to-face interaction through mediated means. Grounded in research and the expertise of authors with years of online teaching experience, the book moves from the basics of online course delivery to more complex arenas such as preparing both instructors and students to effectively transition to online learning. The book examines a variety of online designs uniquely suited to courses in the helping professions, including such platforms as Blackboard Collaborate, Blackboard Vista, and Moodle. Moving beyond lecture-level education, the text discusses online supervision of students who are beginning field and clinical experiences, as well as ethical considerations when teaching and supervising online. Replete with abundant tips, reflective questions, checklists, timelines, and vignettes, the text also includes an entire chapter devoted to overcoming fears of the online environment for both instructor and student. Key Features: Addresses the unique needs and concerns of online teaching and training in the helping professions Provides examples of course content at multiple levels and practice settings Includes practical tips, reflective questions, checklists, course design timelines, and vignettes to support the reader at all stages of teaching online Defines key terms and definitions Considers common pitfalls to avoid.

The new edition of what is now considered a classic on online learning has been expanded by about a third to reflect new opportunities offered by social media, new insights and ideas derived from the author's teaching in the eight years since she wrote the first edition, as well as from extensive research in the latest literature. In particular, Tisha Bender investigates whether the existing paradigm of teaching and learning has been changed, not so much because of the advent of the Internet, but because of the potential divide between the expectations and practices of students who are "digital natives" of the digital revolution, and those of their teachers who are mostly "digital immigrants". She addresses the question: do we need to change the way we teach in order to reach and engage digital natives fruitfully and enjoyably in their education. This accessible and comprehensive book offers an engaging and practical approach to online teaching that is rooted in the author's experience and enthusiasm for creating a virtual environment that engages students and fosters their deep learning. This is a book for all educators and administrators in higher education, in any discipline, engaged in, or contemplating offering, online classes that involve discussion or collaborative learning. It is relevant both to faculty teaching a hybrid and face-to-face classes, and courses conducted entirely online.

Educational systems worldwide are facing an enormous shift as a result of sociocultural, political, economic, and technological changes. The technologies and practices that have developed over the last decade have been heralded as opportunities to transform both online and traditional education systems. While proponents of these new ideas often postulate that they have the potential to address the educational problems facing both students and institutions and that they could provide an opportunity to rethink the ways that education is organized and enacted, there is little evidence of emerging technologies and practices in use in online education. Because researchers and practitioners interested in these possibilities often reside in various disciplines and academic departments the sharing and dissemination of their work across often rigid boundaries is a formidable task. Contributors to Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning include individuals who are shaping the future of online learning with their innovative applications and investigations on the impact of issues such as openness, analytics, MOOCs, and social media. Building on work first published in Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, the contributors to this collection harness the dispersed knowledge in online education to provide a one-stop locale for work on emergent approaches in the field. Their conclusions will influence the adoption and success of these approaches to education and will enable researchers and practitioners to conceptualize, critique, and enhance their understanding of the foundations and applications of new technologies. With contributions by Terry Anderson, R. S. Baker, Angela D. Benson, Amy Collier, Alec Couros, Michael Dowdy, Margaret Edwards, B. J. Eib, Cassidy Hall, Katia Hildebrant, P. S. Inventado, Royce Kimmons, Trey Martindale, Rolin Moe, Beth Perry, Jen Ross, Elizabeth Wellburn, and Andrew Whitworth.

Flexibility has become a watchword in modern education, but its implementation is by no means a straightforward matter. Flexible Pedagogy, Flexible Practice sheds light on the often taken-for-granted assumptions that inform daily practice and examines the institutional dynamics that help and hinder efforts toward flexibility. The collection in international in scope, drawing on the experience of specialists in distance education from North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, and Japan. Contributors to the volume were asked to reflect candidly and critically on a series of questions, including: What precisely is flexible learning? Who or what is driving the flexibility agenda, and for whose benefit? And who or what is resisting it? What challenges must be overcome in order to achieve flexibility, and what are some of the compromises it can entail?

This volume offers the first comprehensive guide to how high-impact practices (HIPs) are being implemented in online environments and how they can be adjusted to meet the needs of online learners. This multi-disciplinary approach will assist faculty and administrators to effectively implement HIPs in distance education courses and online programs. With a chapter devoted to each of the eleven HIPs, this collection offers guidance that takes into account the differences between e-learners and traditional on-campus students. A primary goal of High-Impact Practices Onlineis to share the ways in which HIPs may need to be amended to meet the needs of online learners. Through specific examples and practical suggestions in each chapter, readers are introduced to concrete strategies for transitioning HIPs to the online environment that can be utilized across a range of disciplines and institution types. Each chapter of High-Impact Practices Onlinealso references the most recent and relevant literature on each HIP so that readers are brought up to date on what makes online HIPs successful. The book provides guidance on how best to implement HIPs to increase retention and completion for online learners.

In every online class, some students are wildly successful, some earn average or slightly below-average grades, some barely pass, some fail, and some drop out. Whatever a student's age, situation, or lifestyle, everything needed for successfully completing an online class is right here in this book. Each chapter covers a specific element of online learning and provides the new online student with practical strategies and how-to information so that any student can go into an online classroom prepared to succeed. This book has strategies and tips that every online professor wants students to know before they sign up for an online class. Bowman has provided a reference tool for students to develop self-directed learning skills that will help them become secure and knowledgeable about technology, studying, communicating online, and getting work done on time.

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.

Published in Association with Social presence continues to emerge as a key factor for successful online and blended learning experiences. It is commonly described as the degree to which online participants feel connected to one another. Understanding social presence--with its critical connections to community-building, retention, and learning outcomes--allows faculty and instructional designers to better support and engage students. This volume, Social Presence in Online Learning, addresses the evolution of social presence with three distinct perspectives, outlines the relevant research, and focuses on practical strategies that can immediately impact the teaching and learning experience. These strategies include creating connections to build community, applying content to authentic situations, integrating a careful mix of tools and media, leveraging reflective and interactive opportunities, providing early and continuous feedback, designing with assessment in mind, and encouraging change in small increments. Because student satisfaction and motivation plays a key role in retention rates and because increased social presence often leads to enriched learning experiences, it is advantageous to mindfully integrate social presence into learning environments. Social Presence in Online Learningbrings together eminent scholars in the field to distinguish among three different perspectives of social presence and to address how these viewpoints immediately inform practice. This important volume: * Provides an overview of the evolution of social presence, key findings from social presence research, and practical strategies that can improve the online and blended learning experience * Differentiates three distinct perspectives on social presence and explains the ideas and models that inform these perspectives * Explores specific ways in which social presence relates to course satisfaction, retention, and outcomes * Offers practical implications and ready-to-use techniques that are applicable to multiple disciplines * Introduces current research on social presence by prominent researchers in the field with direct inferences to the practice of online and blended learning * Looks at future directions for social presence Social Presence in Online Learningis appropriate for practitioners, researchers and academics involved in any level of online learning program design, course design, instruction, support, and leadership as well as for graduate students studying educational technology, technology-enhanced learning, and online and blended learning. It brings together multiple perspectives on social presence from the most influential scholars in the field to help shape the future of online and blended learning.

Supporting Students for Success in Online and Distance Learning, Third Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of student support both on and off campus. While online and distance learning are the world's fastest growing areas of educational development, they have a fundamental weakness--their graduation rates, which can be lower than 20 percent. In this powerful new edition, Ormond Simpson builds on a rich history of research in distance and e-learning to show how retention rates can be improved through tested support methods, often at a net financial profit to the institutions involved. By comparing the evidence as well as the cost-effectiveness of various support tactics, this book describes how to promote student success and encourage skill-development from a number of different perspectives: definitions and purpose, theory and psychology, ethics, costs and benefits, activities, sources, media, proactive and reactive, assessment and feedback, staff development, writing support into course materials, research, quality assurance and institutional structures. This concise, practical guide is informal and jargon-free, yet its approach to evidence is rigorous, making it invaluable reading for all those interested in recruiting and teaching diverse students for successful online and distance learning.

Taking a practical, curriculum-focused approach, this guide for both new and experienced distance educators allows them to develop and deliver quality courses and training sessions. Providing practices and examples, and surveying the tools of the trade, this fully updated and revised edition covers key issues including instructional design, course craft, adult learning styles, student-teacher interaction, and strategies for building a community of learners. Discussing how distance learning enables students of all kinds to earn college and graduate degrees, professional certificates, and a wide range of skills and credentials, this book details the rapidly expanding role of distance learning in higher education and the types of organizations that now offer Web-based training courses and teleseminars to their employees, clients, and other associates.

Blended (also called hybrid) classrooms, in which face-to-face interaction is intentionally combined with online activities to aid student learning, are becoming more and more common. Most recently, "flipped" classrooms have become a popular method for teaching because more time for active learning in-class can be gained by moving content delivery such as lecture to outside-of-class homework using technology tools such as video or lecture capture. The blended model is proving to be an environment that provides more self-directed, technology-mediated learning experiences for students who will be incorporating technology more and more into their professional lives post-college. The Blended Course Design Workbookmeets the need for a user-friendly resource that provides faculty members and administrators with instructions, activities, tools, templates, and deadlines to guide them through the process of revising their traditional face-to-face course into a blended format. Providing a step-by-step course design process that emphasizes active learning and student engagement, this book will help instructors adapt traditional face-to-face courses to a blended environment by guiding them through the development of course goals and learning objectives, assignments, assessments, and student support mechanisms with technology integration in mind. It will also help instructors choose the right technologies based on an instructor's comfort level with technology and their specific pedagogical needs. The book will help each instructor who uses the text to develop a unique course by making choices about their course design based on student learning needs for their chosen topic and discipline. Every component of the workbook has been piloted with faculty designing and implementing blended courses and then revised to better meet the needs of faculty across a range of comfort levels with technology use. The Blended Course Design Workbookincludes detailed instructions for each stage of course design alongside specific activities that the reader can complete. The book is unique because it facilitates a step-by-step process for blended course design with specific templates and tools that can be used across disciplines. Additional resources and handouts are posted on the book page as well as the author website, www.bcdworkbook.com.

The process of designing online courses often focuses on the methodology of taking certain steps to produce a product (the course). We feel that learning should be an experience more than a place run by a person constrained by specific designs. The goal of this book is to provide an updated look at many of the issues that comprise the online learning experience creation process. As online learning evolves, the lines and distinctions between the various classifications of courses has blurred and often vanished. Learning contexts run the gamut from small to massive, and from closed courses to boundary-less experiences. But how do we create something within this incredibly wide range? Classic elements of instructional design remain relevant at the same time that newer concepts of learning experience are growing in importance. However, problematic issues new and old still have to be addressed. This book aims to be a handbook that explores as many of these issues and concepts as possible for new and experienced designers alike, whether you are creating traditional online courses, open learning experiences, or anything in between. We also desire this book to be an ongoing process. Many issues and contexts were covered, many were not covered in enough depth, and many others were not covered at all. Our desire is that this book will begin a conversation that will add to future editions as more people join the writing team.

From the world's first completely flipped institution, the authors address the socio-economic and socio-technical nature of today's world and how this impacts what is needed from the education sector, outlining how and why they adopted Flipped Learning as the transformative approach required to meet these needs, and definitively describe the organizational design process needed to establish a Flipped institution, from physical and geographical infrastructure, to human and intellectual capital.  Included in this book are chapters in which administrators, pedagogical and technical support staff, instructors and students share their experiences and lessons learned in the first year and how the Flipped approach has impacted their education experience. These experiences are then used to develop performance improvement initiatives for leadership, institutional commitment, the infrastructure, and instructor and student support and development.

A call for the extension of hybrid learning urges that it become not just a quick fix or a boon for the bottom line, but an educational mode that reenvisions quality teaching and learning for the 21st century. * Written in an easy-to-read, bullet-point style * Gives practical, real-world examples of the successful diversity of hybrid learning programs, drawn from the author's personal hybrid teaching experience and interviews with faculty and students * Includes specific examples of leading-edge applications, like the virtual world of Second Life and 3D web browsing with Exit Reality, which could inform successful hybrid course design * Provides interesting and relevant anecdotes throughout

Teaching in Blended Leaning Environments provides a coherent framework in which to explore the transformative concept of blended learning. Blended learning can be defined as the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies. A direct result of the transformative innovation of virtual communication and online learning communities, blended learning environments have created new ways for teachers and students to engage, interact, and collaborate. The authors argue that this new learning environment necessitates significant role adjustments for instructors and generates a need to understand the aspects of teaching presence required of deep and meaningful learning outcomes. Built upon the theoretical framework of the Community of Inquiry - the premise that higher education is both a collaborative and individually constructivist learning experience - the authors present seven principles that provide a valuable set of tools for harnessing the opportunities for teaching and learning available through technology. Focusing on teaching practices related to the design, facilitation, direction and assessment of blended learning experiences, Teaching in Blended Learning Environments addresses the growing demand for improved teaching in higher education.

Put Teaching Naked to work in your classroom with clear examples and step-by-step guidance Teaching Naked Techniques (TNT) is a practical guide of proven quick ideas for improving classes and essential information for designing anything from one lesson or a group of lessons to an entire course. TNT is both a design guide and a 'sourcebook' of ideas: a great companion to the award-winning Teaching Naked book. Teaching Naked Techniques helps higher education faculty design more effective and engaging classrooms. The book focuses on each step of class preparation from the entry point and first encounter with content to the classroom 'surprise.' There is a chapter on each step in the cycle with an abundance of discipline-specific examples, plus the latest research on cognition and technology, quick lists of ideas, and additional resources. By rethinking the how, when, and why of technology, faculty are able to create exponentially more opportunities for practical student engagement. Student-centered, activity-driven, and proven again and again, these techniques can revolutionize your classroom. Create more effective, engaging lessons for higher education Utilize technology outside of the classroom to better engage during class time Examine discipline-specific examples of Teaching Naked Techniques Prepare for each class step by step from the student's perspective Teaching Naked flips the classroom by placing the student's first contact with the material outside of class. This places the burden of learning on the learner, ensures student preparation, and frees up class time for active engagement with the material for more effective learning and retention. Teaching Naked Techniques is the practical guide for bringing better learning to your classroom.