bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Blended Learning
Authors: King Kathleen P.
Published: May 2011

Blended learning has become a more widely discussed distance education concept and practice since the year 2000 and beyond. Also known as hybrid learning, these terms refer to more than one delivery system being used for one course. In most cases, when they use the term blended learning in a distance learning context, educators are referring to face-to-face learning combined with some elements delivered through technology. This chapter will describe the background of this development within distance learning, its benefits, and possible future trends.
Blended Learning as a Transformative Design Approach
Authors: Garrison D. R.
Published: May 2011

It is becoming clear that blended learning has the potential to transform higher education (Bonk & Graham, 2006; Garrison & Kanuka, 2004; Garrison & Vaughan, 2007). With the acceptance that higher education must more actively engage students in meaningful learning experiences, institutions of higher education are exploring blended learning course and program redesigns. The status quo with a reliance on the lecture to transmit information is being seriously questioned. The focus here is on exploring blended learning as an innovative approach to the design of teaching and learning in higher and distance education. Strategic action plans for the adoption of blended learning approaches will also be outlined.
Cognitive Approaches to Understanding the Challenge of Learning by Means of Computers and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
Authors: Wishart Jocelyn M.
Published: May 2011

Increased motivation amongst pupils has been readily observed in schools when they are allowed to use computers and other forms of information and communications technology (ICT) (Cox, 1997; Denning, 1997; Wishart & Blease, 1999). In fact, Denning (1997) reports almost universal enthusiasm amongst students for the use of ICT to support their work in schools. That enthusiasm has been seen to double or triple amongst primary school students given a personal digital assistant (PDA) of their own (Whyley, 2006). These handheld devices are small computers that can be used both off- and online via wireless or mobile phone signals. Many psychologists (Light, 1997; Loftus & Loftus, 1983) have used behaviorist theories originating from the work of Thorndike (1898) to describe positive extrinsic reinforcements generated by or associated with the use of computer software. For instance, children find the use of a computer rewarding; they get nearly immediate feedback from the programs on their efforts, which often includes entertaining sound effects, graphics and animations. Therefore, they are more likely to take up opportunities to use ICT in and outside of lessons. What is more, as described by Loftus and Loftus (1983), these rewards arrive in the variable ratio schedule of reinforcement which Skinner (1938) believes is the most compelling.
Conceiving a Learning Organization Model in Online Education
Authors: Vat Kam Hou
Published: May 2011

As online technologies and information resources rise in salience, experience has shown (Vat, 2000, 2001, 2002a, 2002b) that online education must be based on theories of learning and instructional design principles to guide usage of the tools and resources for mediating collaboration and social exchanges within communities of learners (CoL). Relatively recent discussions in the literature (Cobb & Yackel, 1996; Marshall, 1996; O’Connor, 1998; Vygotsky, 1978) suggest that learning is increasingly viewed as a constructive process occurring during one’s participation in and contribution to the practices of the community. This is supported by a current shift (Brown et al., 1993) from the cognitive focus on knowledge structures presumed in the mind of the individual learner, to a constructivist focus on the learner as an active participant in a social context. Indeed, we have been witnessing classroom culture being enriched with tools such as the Web-based search engines that mediate knowledge building and social exchanges among peers as participants in discourse communities (Bonk, Medury, & Reynolds, 1994; Bonk & Reynolds, 1997; Fabos & Young, 1999). These communities open opportunities for learners to interact with multiple perspectives, which challenge their existing knowledge constructions and impose cognitive conflicts (Piaget, 1952) requiring negotiations. The theme of this article is to investigate strategies to enhance learning and knowledge sharing in the learners’ communities through the idea of a learning organization model. Its aim is to develop the collective intellect of the CoL through appropriate design of information system (IS) support so as to expand its capacity to adapt to future challenges.
Constructing Knowledge through Online Bulletin Board Discussions
Authors: Bodomo Adams
Published: May 2011

Within the field of education, and in particular educational technology, dominant paradigms of instruction include active, interactive, constructivist, and studentcentered approaches as opposed to passive and teachercentered approaches to learning and teaching. There is hardly much argument as to the relevance of such constructivist approaches in the contemporary world. It is no more a question of whether we have enough information, but of what critical and analytical skills we need to sift out relevant information from the huge barrage of information churned out of the pervasive information communications technologies (ICTs) of our time, and how to construct meaningful knowledge to enhance human life. Within such constructivist learning environments, digital ICTs are deployed to enhance the best possible methods. This article aims to provide an overview of the meaning and theories of constructivism, and to further illustrate the concept with a case study of using an online bulletin board in a university undergraduate course.
Continuing Science Education of the Global Public
Authors: Hin Leo Tan Wee
Published: May 2011

Continuing education constitutes an important aspect of furthering the process of learning beyond the formal years of schooling. Leveraging mainly on the individual’s penchant for self-improvement, it fulfils a useful role in endowing skill sets and other competencies to a person. Continuing education has largely remained the mainstay of tertiary institutions, commercial schools and adult education centers. An entire gamut of evening courses catering to diverse interests is offered here.
Core Competencies for Facilitating Asynchronous Discussions
Authors: Bedard-Voorhees Alice
Published: May 2011

A number of online tools can now be used in courses for group interactions. This article focuses specifically on asynchronous discussion software that allows one-onone and one-to-many interaction, still predominantly text based and independent of time. It remains a useful communication tool because online classes commonly have learners checking in at different times or from different time zones. This discussion tool offers great opportunity to faculty if thought of as “the classroom space,” and skilled facilitation by faculty in these spaces encourages community and interaction not only among class members, but also with content (Bedard-Voorhees, 2005; Dawley, 2007).
Creating Positive E-Learning Experiences for Online Students
Authors: Watkins Ryan
Published: May 2011

Online students can not always depend on the study habits and learning skills that made them successful in the traditional classroom to translate into success in online courses. E-learning programs can, however, offer students opportunities to build useful skills for achieving success in the interactive and challenging classrooms of today’s online courses by building on the achievements of first-year experience (i.e., student success or college survival) initiatives. Having demonstrated remarkable success in traditional on-campus programs, these courses, tutorials, lectures, and activities that focus on developing student study habits and learning skills can also be used by online learners to improve the odds of their academic success and retention. This chapter explores many of the opportunities and challenges of integrating e-learning study skills lessons into the curriculum of online courses and degree programs.
Detection and Deterrence of Plagiarism in Online Learning Environments
Authors: McCord Alan
Published: May 2011

Student plagiarism inhibits student learning and damages institutional reputations. Online learning provides different opportunities for student plagiarism than in the traditional classroom, and many observers question whether online learning environments can demonstrate the same level of academic integrity found in traditional classrooms. One method of combating plagiarism is the use of plagiarism detection software, which are licensed for individual use or integrated into an institutional course management system (CMS). Understanding the nature of plagiarism and implementing a plagiarism education and detection program can improve the effectiveness of these tools and therefore improve the quality and reputation of online programs. This article focuses on how plagiarism may be reduced in online learning environments. The article begins with a definition of plagiarism and the characteristics of online learning environments that make them vulnerable to student plagiarism. A review of plagiarism detection technologies and the capabilities of popular detection tools are discussed. The article then addresses how plagiarism detection software can be systematically implemented in support of online learning programs: establishing academic integrity policies, improving the design of assignments and assessments, and establishing effective education programs. The article concludes by exploring future developments in online learning environments and plagiarism detection technologies.
Developing Prescriptive Taxonomies for Distance Learning Instructional Design
Authors: Lasnik Vincent Elliott
Published: May 2011

One of the central problems and corresponding challenges facing the multidisciplinary fields of distance learning and instructional design has been in the construction of theory-grounded, research-based taxonomies for prescribing what particular strategies and approaches should be employed when, how, and in what combination to be most effective and efficient for teaching specific knowledge domains and performance outcomes. While numerous scholars and practioners across a wide range of associated instructional design fields have created a rich variety of effective, efficient, and very current prescriptions for obtaining specific learning outcomes in specific situations (Anderson & Elloumi, 2004; Marzano, 2000; Merrill, 2002a; Nelson & Stolterman, 2003; Reigeluth, 1999a; Shedroff, 1999; Wiley, 2002), to date, no single theory-grounded and research-verified unifying taxonomic scheme has successfully emerged to address all existing and potential educational problems across the phenomena of human learning and performance.
The Efficacy of Current Assessment Tools and Techniques for Assessment of Complex and Performance-Based Learning Outcomes in Online Learning
Authors: Moallem Mahnaz
Published: May 2011

What does it mean when graduates of education systems are able to identify and solve problems, and make contributions to society throughout their lifetime (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000)? How can educators assess the development of problem solving or higher-level thinking skills and make sure that students are able to succeed in transferring their knowledge and skills to the complexities of a real-life environment? What role can technology play in augmenting what learners can do? These questions and related issues have fascinated educators and educational researchers for years. However, given the opportunities and challenges that distance education and online learning have opened up to educators, these issues are essential for the design and structure of effective online learning environments, and as such, these are the questions and related issues discussed in this article.
E-Learning as Organizational Strategy
Authors: Du Mont Rosemary
Published: May 2011

The global knowledge-driven economy is characterized by both structural and personnel changes that are driving new models of teaching and learning. Today’s workforce has to learn and process more information in a shorter amount of time. New products and services are emerging with accelerating speed. As production cycles and life spans of products continue to shorten, skills quickly become obsolete, leading to the need for almost constant re-training. Managers feel the urgency to have new knowledge delivered to workers rapidly and efficiently so that skill levels can be maintained. Just-in-time training is becoming a critical element of organizational success. Learning is becoming a continual process rather than a distinct event (Urden & Weggen, 2000). The rapid deployment of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education is facilitating broad-based responses to the need for new knowledge to support learning. Teaching and learning for education and training are taking place outside traditional institutional and workplace venues. Universities and for-profit companies are both responding to the need for technological approaches to teaching and learning, sometimes as partners and sometimes as competitors (Barron, 2002; Brint, Paxton-Jorgenson, & Vega, 2003; Harley, 2004). They are both included in models of transnational education, borderless education, distributed learning, online learning, Web-based learning, distance learning, and global e-learning (Rocket, 2002; van der Wende, 2002).
Evaluating Distance Education
Authors: Naidu Som
Published: May 2011

This article discusses approaches for evaluating distance education activities. It comprises a framework for evaluation that is based on widely adopted approaches to educational evaluation and which can be used for evaluating other educational activities as well. The critical components of this framework are threefold: various phases in the evaluation process, the main focus of each phase, and most appropriate strategies for gathering data in each phase. The use of a framework such as this will ensure that the evaluation process is systematic and also thorough. The discussion here extends earlier discussions of the topic by this author in two other publications. These are in a chapter titled “Designing and evaluating instruction for e-learning”, that is published in a book edited by Patricia Rogers “Designing Instruction for Technology-Enhanced Learning” (see Rogers, 2002), and in a chapter titled “Evaluating the impacts of e-learning” in the book “E-learning: A Guidebook of Principles, Procedures and Practices” (see Naidu, 2006).
A Global Initiative in Forensic Education
Authors: Wielbo Donna , Tebbett Ian
Published: May 2011

Forensic science is the application of scientific principles to the legal process and the importance of such evidence in crime investigation has been known for centuries. While training in this field was and still is, primarily acquired on the job, the role of academia in providing education in forensic science began to be realized in the early 20th Century. In the 1970’s there were still only a limited number of quality academic forensic science programs worldwide, but these began to increase in number as the discipline became more reliant on the basic sciences and gained acceptance as a bona fide university degree. More recently, thanks in part to the popularity of TV shows such as CSI and the Forensic Files, there has been a significant increase in students wishing to study this field. Forensic science courses are now being offered in grade school and there has been a proliferation of undergraduate and graduate programs offered at higher education institutions in the United States and overseas. Forensic science covers a wide range of technical disciplines including many techniques in molecular biology and analytical chemistry. It is also associated with a very visual, “hands-on” laboratory component. This requirement for laboratory-based training has limited the development of online forensic education. However by primarily targeting students who already have the necessary laboratory skills, and incorporating case studies, animations and visual images, we have developed a successful model for graduate level education in this field.
Growth of Online Schooling in Canada
Authors: Haughey M.
Published: May 2011

In Canada, a country of vast landscapes, northern climates and relatively few people, the formal provision of education has always involved alternatives. Records going back to the late 1800s discuss pilot projects that provided education to school-aged children in remote rural areas. Correspondence education, beginning in 1919 and offered by almost all provincial authorities, depended on the post and long-distance haulage to link students and teachers (Haughey, 1990). Each new technology became a part of an educational provision that was of particular importance to secondary school students, who were unable to obtain sufficient courses at their local school to qualify for a high school diploma. More recently, the advent of computers and the Internet have transformed this alternative form of education. It has changed from one for those unable to attend classroom-based instruction to one that is being chosen by students for its adaptability and flexibility, as well as for the ongoing reasons associated with long distances to schools, unavailable courses, and family and personal circumstances. In this chapter, I review the development and present configurations of online schooling in Canada and discuss trends and issues this new form of provision has raised.
Information-Rich Learning Concepts
Authors: Pritchard Alan
Published: May 2011

Williams (2001) points out that plagiarism in pupils’ school work is widespread and, perhaps more importantly, that it has been made significantly easier in recent years as a result of the increased use of and familiarity with new technologies. Lewis, Wray and Rospigliosi (1995) also highlight difficulties pupils have when faced with a large amounts of textual information. Pupils copying passages is not a new phenomenon, but it is quite clear that for many uninitiated young learners, copying and pasting electronically is perfectly acceptable. If learning activity becomes a process of cutting and pasting, then very little effective learning will take place. Pupils need to be taught, and encouraged, to use strategies to assist with the processes of searching and of making selections from the mass of information with which they will be confronted. Learning objectives set by the teacher will not be met if all that takes place is the transfer of text and pictures from one location to another.
The Intangibles
Authors: Downs Robert
Published: May 2011

In Nowhere in Technology: All Children Left Behind, Thomas Wilson dissects the nature of a typical educator by saying, “Educators have always selected their profession for reasons other than compensation, radical change and notoriety…anxious to ‘make a difference’ with individual students. While these are qualities we cherish in teachers, they are not the stuff of which challenge and change are made.” Undoubtedly, these character traits are a significant barrier to effective infusion of technology, but I urge that it be a barrier we must find a way to work around. It is these intangible qualities that separate good teachers from great teachers. I have seen how important these “intangibles” are, and it is the reason, regardless of my financial situation, that my children will always go to public schools. These teachers have a passion for teaching and learning, they do the hard work, and they achieve greatness!
Interaction in Web-Based Learning
Authors: Bodomo Adams
Published: May 2011

At the beginning of the 21s t century, we are faced with an age of rapid technological development in information and communication. Issues of educational reform have never been more urgent than now. One of the major challenges is how to design our educational system, in general, and our methods of instruction, in particular, to produce graduates who are better prepared to take up jobs in a knowledge-based environment characterized by a pervasive use of information communications technology (ICT). ICTs, especially modern digital ones, include various types of computers; digital cameras; local-area networking; the Internet and the World Wide Web; CD-ROMs and DVDs; and applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, tutorials, simulations, e-mail, digital libraries, computer-mediated conferencing, videoconferencing, and virtual reality (Blurton, 1999). Four main features of these modern digital ICTs make them stand out as very useful educational tools. These are integration of multimedia, flexibility of use, connectivity, and interactivity (Blurton, 1999).
Interactions Online
Authors: Wegmann Susan
Published: May 2011

Success in online courses depends on quality interactions (Li & Akins, 2005; Shovein, Huston, Fox, & Damazo, 2005; Vrasidas, 2002). Interaction is “a continually emerging process, as communication in its most inclusive sense” (Simpson & Galbo, 1986). Pena-Shaff, Altman, and Stephenson (2005) found that students who interact more in online classes tend to feel a greater amount of satisfaction and even engage more deeply in course content. In fact, recent studies have shown that the most efficient computer-mediated learning occurs when teachers and students assume a connected stance (Wegmann, 2006; Wegmann & Mc- Cauley, 2007), or one in which students and teachers participate in the following types of behaviors online: initiate personally meaningful questions about the text, wonder, or initiate unique topics for discussion. The following reports on one study that analyzed students’ discussion board interactions, surveys of students’ perceptions, and e-mail interviews of selected participants. Following is a discussion of three areas of literature pertinent to the study: nature of interactions, computer-mediated communication, reading and writing theory.
Introduction to Learning Management Systems
Authors: Chapman Diane D.
Published: May 2011

Formal university-based distance education has been around for over 100 years. For example, Cornell University established the Correspondence University in 1882, and Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts in New York was awarding degrees via correspondence courses in 1883 (Nasseh, 1997). Soon many other educational institutions, including the University of Chicago, Penn State University, Yale University, and Johns Hopkins University were offering these non-traditional learning options for their students. With the entry of the personal computer into homes and workplaces in the 1980s, learning started to become more technologydriven. However, it was not until the 1990s, with the proliferation of the World Wide Web, that the concept of technology-enhanced education began to change drastically.
Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences
Authors: Chambel Teresa , Guimarães Nuno
Published: May 2011

A learning style, or cognitive preference, is a consistent way of responding to and using stimuli in the context of learning. We can learn in many different ways, but when we use our preferred methods, we are generally at our best and feel most competent, natural, and energetic. There are many theories and various instruments to determine learning styles, but they are all essentially based on the idea that individuals perceive, organize, or process information differently on the basis of either learned or inherited traits. The related theory of multiple intelligences, introduced by Gardner (1983), states that every individual has a different set of developed intelligences, determining how easy or difficult it is to learn information presented in a particular manner. This can be seen as defining a specific learning style, although some authors (Silver, Strong, & Perini, 2000) claim that the multiple intelligences theory is centered around the content of learning in distinct fields of knowledge, while learning styles focus mostly on the process of learning.
Marketing Library Services to Distance Learners
Authors: Washburn Allyson , Pedersen Summey Terri
Published: May 2011

“The ACRL Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services (2000) assert ‘access to adequate library services and resources is essential for the attainment of superior academic skills in post-secondary education, regardless of where students, faculty, and programs are located’ ” (Nicholas and Tomeo, 2005). Additionally, the guidelines include responsibility for promotion of library services to both students and faculty in distance education programs (Association of College and Research Libraries, Distance Learning Section, 2004, p.4). As the number of distance education programs and courses grows, and as methods of delivery evolve, distance education librarians have pro-actively assumed the role of providing equitable services and resources to all distance students using the Guidelines as a framework. However, providing the services and resources accomplishes nothing if faculty and students are not aware of them. Effective marketing efforts are needed to maximize the awareness and use of library services and resources.
Methods and Tools for Online Objective Testing
Authors: Costagliola Gennaro , Ferrucci Filomena , Fuccella Vittorio
Published: May 2011

Online Testing, also known as Computer Assisted Assessment (CAA), is a sector of e-learning aimed at assessing learner’s knowledge through e-learning means. In recent years, the means for knowledge evaluation have evolved in order to satisfy the necessity of evaluating a big mass of learners in strict times: objective tests, more rapidly assessable, have gained a heavier weight in the determination of learners’ results. Multiple Choice question type is extremely popular in objective tests, since, among other advantages, a large number of tests based on it can be easily corrected automatically. These items are composed of a stem and a list of options. The stem is the text that states the question. The only correct answer is called the key, whilst the incorrect answers are called distractors (Woodford & Bancroft, 2005).
Normalizing an Off-Campus Course with Video-Conferencing
Authors: Pelton Timothy Ward
Published: May 2011

Off-campus credit courses requiring substantial travel on the part of the instructor are often presented as a series of intense workshops (e.g., 36 hours presented as four 2-day workshops). Although this traditional off-campus course presentation mechanism keeps both travel costs and time manageable, such an approach does not appear to be ideal for either the students or the instructional process. More specifically, instruction provided in such a lumpy context is not an ideal way to provide students with sufficient opportunities to process new information and procedures or assimilate or accommodate new concepts and ideas (Bruner, 1966), nor does it provide students with opportunities to attempt to apply the ideas presented or to reflect on their experiences before a new topic is presented or addressed. Additionally, such a course format limits the opportunities that the students have to interact individually with the instructor (i.e., office hours) and limits the opportunities that the instructor has to reflect and act upon formative assessments to better meet the needs of the students.
The Open Learning Initiative, Scientifically Designed and Feedback Driven eLearning
Authors: Smith Joel M.
Published: May 2011

The Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University is a new evolutionary form of eLearning that derives from a particular tradition in using information and communication technologies (ICT) to deliver instruction. That tradition is distinctive in that it is based on rigorous and consistent application of research results and assessment methodologies from scientific studies of human learning when creating digital learning environments. The tradition is, in fact, a comparatively small part of the overall eLearning landscape. ICT-based learning tools are typically driven by the mere opportunity of leveraging technological possibilities, e.g. the “webifying” traditional textbooks, campus-wide laptop requirements, and podcasting of traditional lectures, or by intuitions of individual instructors about the potential effectiveness of particular eLearning strategies, e.g. an intuition that computer-based graphical simulations of the central limit theorem in statistics will help novice learners understand the meaning and implications of that theorem. While these non-scientific strategies, especially those based on instructor intuitions based on years of experience, have sometimes produced effective eLearning interventions, the success rate is destined to be low because they are not based on well-confirmed theory about learning and they seldom are subjected to any meaningful formative or summative evaluation to provide feedback about whether and how they are working and how they need to be modified to be more effective. The general failure of computer based pedagogical strategies, especially online classes, to bring transformative change to education is evidence of the limited success of these dominant strategies. (For some arguments for over-simplistic thinking in the eLearning domain see: Zemsky and Massey, 2005)
Operational Performance Guidelines for Online Instructors
Authors: Ragan Lawrence C.
Published: May 2011

Demand for online education continues to grow as technology provides viable methods for the delivery of a wide range of learning experiences. The growth in online education is largely driven by learner demand for flexibility and convenience, and widespread institutional response to meet that demand. According to Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning, (Allen and Seaman, 2007), “The number of students taking at least one online course continues to expand at a rate far in excess of the growth of overall higher education enrollments. The most recent estimate, for fall 2006, places this number at 3.48 million online students, an increase of 9.7 percent over the previous year” (p. 5). According to Allen and Seaman (2007), more than two-thirds of all higher education institutions offer online programming, the majority of which expect to see a mean-growth of 30% in enrollments (p. 11).
Planning for the Present and Future of Videoconferencing
Authors: Lakhavani F. Meena , Bennett Brian S.R.
Published: May 2011

For over a decade, videoconferencing has been developing as a key component of distance learning in a variety of subject areas (Wang, 2006; MacLaughlin et. al., 2004; Kidd & Stamatakis, 2006; Sebrects et. al., 1995, Smyth, R., 2005). Although not a perfect replacement for faceto- face communication, videoconferencing can bring educators and students together although they may be separated by vast distances. Using videoconferencing technology, a lecturer in San Francisco can address students and colleagues in New York and Australia, students in Qatar and Pittsburgh can collaborate on a graduate research project and a doctoral candidate in Houston can defend his dissertation to a review board of faculty from a number of cities. Videoconferencing requires a substantial investment in equipment, expertise and support resources. Any institution considering such an investment must make a significant effort to evaluate the technical and usage requirements for a videoconferencing implementation to ensure the supportability and expandability of the system.
The Problems and Possibilities of Virtual Schools
Authors: Russell Glenn
Published: May 2011

Virtual schools are an alternative to the “bricks-andmortar” schools that have been synonymous with school education for hundreds of years. Traditionally, students have attended a school building for their education where they have been in the physical presence of a teacher. There are, of course, exceptions to this understanding of education, in which students have been involved in a form of distance education or distance learning by correspondence, or have used technologies such as radio and television. These developments have been particularly useful for students living in isolated communities, or those unable to attend a conventional school. Virtual schools are also a form of distance education or virtual instruction. Typically, they use online computers, and students are able to complete their schoolwork when it is convenient for them, without having to meet with their teacher and other students in a school building.
Research-Based Distance Learning Services in the Northern Pacific
Authors: Baxendale Steve
Published: May 2011

In the developed world, lifelong learning is considered necessary in the fields of education and health. Webbased technologies are used to update skills and provide access to the latest research and information. Asynchronous, synchronous, and self-paced open-learning courses provide professionals with the ability to meet the continuing education requirements for maintaining their credentials without taking them away from the workplace. They are accepted as an effective means of providing information on the latest instructional strategies, medical research, and procedures. The remoteness of the Pacific region presents significant challenges to providing high-quality, interactive, distance education. These geographic, economic, cultural, linguistic, professional, and technological challenges require creativity and flexibility in the design of courses and in instructional methods. This article explores the experiences of educators in providing distance-learning opportunities throughout the region between 1998 and 2006.
Return on Investment in Training
Authors: Waddington Tad
Published: May 2011

In 1992, the economist, Gary Becker, won the Nobel prize for his work that demonstrated the importance to organizations of human capital and of training, in particular. Despite the importance of human capital to the long-term health and growth of organizations, they continue to under-invest in training (Becker, 1993). In The Human Equation, Jeffrey Pfeffer (1998) explained why, “Training is an investment in the organization’s staff, and in the current business milieu, it virtually begs for some sort of return-on investment calculations” (p.89). In other words, because organizations do not adequately measure the value that training adds, they fail to reap the benefits of fully investing in training. This article shows you how to measure your return on investment in training.
A Reusable Learning-Object Approach to Designing Online Courses
Authors: Chyung Seung Youn (Yonnie) , Swanson Joann
Published: May 2011

While the concept of utilizing learning objects has been addressed in instructional design for some time, slightly different definitions of the term “learning object” are found in the literature. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (2005) defines a learning object as “any entity, digital or non-digital, which can be used, re-used or referenced during technology supported learning.” Wiley (2000) similarly defines a learning object as “any digital resource that can be reused to support learning” (p. 7). Barritt and Alderman (2004) state a working definition of learning objects as “an independent collection of content and media elements, a learning approach (interactivity, learning architecture, context), and metadata (used for storage and searching)” (pp. 7-8). Merrill (1996) uses a different term, a “knowledge object” that consists of a set of predefined elements, each of which is “instantiated by way of a multimedia resource (text, audio, video, graphic) or a pointer to another knowledge object” (p. 32).
The Sloan Consortium
Authors: Moore Janet C. , Bourne John R. , Mayadas A. Frank
Published: May 2011

The purpose of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) is to help learning organizations continually improve quality, scale, and breadth according to their own distinctive missions, so that education will become a part of everyday life, accessible and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time, in a wide variety of disciplines. Created with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Sloan-C encourages the collaborative sharing of knowledge and effective practices to improve online education in learning effectiveness, access, affordability for learners and providers, and student and faculty satisfaction.
Strong Networks Grow Distance Learning
Authors: Shah Pankaj , Carey Kate M.
Published: May 2011

This article presents a snapshot of one state’s experience with connectivity from the early 1980s to the present and illustrates how distance learning has utilized that infrastructure to grow to serve more than 100,000 Ohioans. In early 1980s, most of Ohio’s telecommunications traffic traveled on dial-up connections. Ohio’s history of formidable statewide networking began in 1987, when Compuserve and OARnet (Ohio Academic Resources Network) were among few regional networks in existence. Through various mergers and acquisitions, Compuserve became Worldcom, AOL, MCI-Worldcom, and, finally, Verizon. OARnet became the Third Frontier Network (TFN) in 2004 and now is referred to as OSCnet and Broadband Ohio Network (BON). OARnet was created in 1987 by the Ohio Board of Regents to provide statewide connectivity to resources at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC). In later years, the network extended support to the 89 member institutions of the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK), and the 83 colleges and universities of the Ohio Learning Network (OLN), a consortium offering blended, online, and distance education. OLN provides faculty development, infrastructure support via Collaborative Learning Environments (CLE), and various student support services and grants.
Surpassing Online Learning Obstacles
Authors: Piva Jr. Dilermando , Luís de Freitas Ricardo , Nakamiti Gilberto S.
Published: May 2011

In the last decade, the use of Internet and wide-band access have supported the spread of distance learning through the Web, which we will call Online Teaching. Schools and universities have been rethinking their teaching practices and educational policies in establishing online teaching programs. Online Teaching becomes not only a new pedagogical model or an educational technology, but also a new social model and technology, gathering each time more students at decreasing costs. Nevertheless, Online Teaching is far from achieving its maximum potential. Personal, methodological, technological, and institutional restrictions are usually associated with important limitations. As an example, teachers may not attend many students without affecting the quality of the online learning process. Clearly, this may impose serious restrictions to a major growth of the number of students attended and/or the quality of the learning process.
Tablet PCs as Online Learning Tools
Authors: Roldan Malu
Published: May 2011

Tablet PCs are recent additions to the range of portable, connected devices that comprise mobile computing. Although the devices are just now entering the mainstream market and there are many technical and user glitches still to be overcome, the devices show much promise as a future component of the online learning infrastructure. This paper discusses early applications of Tablet PCs in learning environments and outlines key applications where the devices might have the greatest impact on online learning in the future. The paper starts with a general description of the Tablet PC and its market potential, followed by a review of current reported deployments of Tablet PCs in education and a summary of findings regarding its utility in such settings. We close out the paper with a discussion of the potential future role that Tablet PCs can play in online learning. Note that at the time of this writing, a Tablet PC model from Apple computing, though much anticipated, has not been introduced into the general market. Hence, this article only discusses Tablet PCs running the Microsoft Windows operating system.
Task-Oriented Information Organization and Retrieval in Online Learning
Authors: Kim Kyung-Sun , Moore Joi L
Published: May 2011

The number of institutions offering online courses has been growing steadily. According to the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2003), approximately 90% of public four-year institutions and about 50% of private institutions were offering, or planning to offer, distance education programs in 2000–2001. By 2006, 90% of public two- and four-year institutions actually offered distance education courses (NCES, 2006). In response to the increasing interest in and demand for online instruction, various course management systems (CMS) have been developed, including commercial systems, such as Blackboard, Angel and Desire to Learn, and open source systems, such as Moodle and Sakai. The CMSs, defined as software systems specifically designed for teaching and learning, are useful tools for online instruction. They make it easy to organize and deliver content, including lecture materials, and to link the course web site to other related web sites. They also provide tools for communication, learning assessment and activity management (Colaric & Jonassen, 2001; Morgan, 2003).
Teacher Electronic Portfolios
Authors: Slick Susan , Shaw Patricia A.
Published: May 2011

Over time, student and teacher portfolios have taken several forms for a variety of purposes. Initially, portfolios were created in many educational settings to document learning. Portfolios were used as one means of assessment in course work or for senior graduation exhibitions. As calls for educational reform continued to be heard in forums ranging from local school board offices to the Oval Office, teacher accountability has become an issue of paramount importance. Parents and politicians alike want assurance that the most competent teachers are providing quality educational experiences for students. Thus, teacher assessment has become a “hot” political topic throughout our country. In the last five years, teacher education programs across America have required that student teachers create portfolios as evaluation instruments to address the often-mandated INTASC (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, 1987) principles required of all education majors prior to obtaining teacher certification and licenses.
There are So Many More than Three Barriers
Authors: Krueger Rick
Published: May 2011

One major barrier is that educators often view themselves as “people persons” and not “technology persons,” which ends up being an excuse for not familiarizing themselves with new tools. Ironically, the actual research in other industries related to people who employ a high level of information technology in their jobs is that the technology liberates them to be more interactive with other people, not machines. The financial disaster “wolf” has never really been at the door of most school districts. By almost any measure, schools have for decades received funding that outpaces inflation. (That is why proponents for increased school funding have “cloaked” their requests in other measures such as percentage of the state budget or to equal expenditures in other states.) Conversely, many of the companies that have “reengineered” themselves have done so at the threat of going out of business. Some of these companies have seen declines in revenues over a short period of time of 50% or more. This has forced them to make really difficult decisions in order to increase productivity. They have often had to substantially reallocate priorities and resources in order to survive.
Trends and Issues of Virtual K–12 Schools
Authors: Lazarus Belinda Davis
Published: May 2011

Increasingly, K-12 schools are delivering instruction via Internet courses that allow students to access course content and complete assignments from home. Although a decade ago, online courses for public school students were not available, a growing number of countries have discovered that online instruction offers schools the opportunity to provide a wider variety of courses and experiences for students with a variety of skills and abilities. In fact, the Governor of Michigan just signed legislation that will require all high school students to take at least one online course prior to graduation (Carnevale, 2006; Moser, 2006). Educators have learned to adapt courses for online instruction and several universities are partnering with public schools to share expertise in the virtual education arena.
Understanding Different Categories of Attrition in Distance Education Programs
Authors: Chyung Seung Youn (Yonnie)
Published: May 2011

Distance learning is often referred to as taking training or education courses that are either synchronously or asynchronously delivered via various media such as audio, video, or computer, especially Internet technologies in recent years. The number of corporate training programs delivered via Internet technologies (a.k.a., e-learning) has dramatically increased over the last several years. According to ASTD reports (2002, 2003), the percentage of e-learning programs delivered in the Benchmark Service companies in the U.S. increased from 8.8% of total training hours in 2000 to 10.5% in 2001. The number of distance programs offered at degree-granting educational institutions in the U.S. has also gradually increased each year. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2003), 56% of two-year or four-year degree-granting educational institutions offered distance education (DE) courses during the 12-month 2000-2001 academic year, and during the time period, about 2.8 million students were enrolled in college-level credit-granting DE courses, the majority of which were Internet-based courses. Internetdelivered instruction has gained credibility during recent years as well. Research has shown that there seems to be no significant difference in terms of the effectiveness of instruction delivered in traditional classroom settings and the effectiveness of instruction delivered via the Internet (van Schaik, Barker & Beckstrand, 2003). Such research findings, coupled with potential benefits such as cost-effectiveness and convenience, have likely contributed to the increasing popularity of Internet-delivered distance learning programs.
Universal Design for Learning
Authors: Smith Frances G. , LeConte Pamela
Published: May 2011

Buckminster Fuller, a multi-talented innovator of the 20th century, contributed to society as a scientist, engineer, and inventor (left hemisphere/brain dominance), and as a philosopher, psychologist, and essayist (right hemisphere/brain dominance). The multi-faceted dimension that defined Fuller (and other such inventors and leaders) contributed greatly to his successes. Yet, in traditional academic environments, indeed in current ones (which are defined by rigorous standards, highstakes assessments, and accountability for all), these preeminent leaders of innovation would not have been recognized for their talents or contributions—during their school years. Einstein, who was labeled a failure by his grade school math teachers, proceeded to change how we view and operate in our world—despite his limitations. The educational system did not know how to accommodate his way of learning; yet, he excelled in spite of the failures of public education. In today’s educational climate, many potential Fullers and Einsteins may be experiencing the same failures of our system. This is often true of students who learn differently from how they are taught, including students with disabilities (Smith, 2001).