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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, October 04, 2003
Online Students Tough, Focused - Justine K. Brown, Converge
What is it like to be an online student? While studies show online enrollments are growing, there have been few examinations of the actual online student experience. What is it like to attend school where there are no desks, no clocks and none of the normal distractions that exist in a traditional classroom? What frustrations do such students face? What keeps them motivated? What do they get from an online class that they can't get in a normal learning environment? Converge recently spoke with several online students to find out. Some of what they said wasn't surprising. Taking classes online requires motivation and a lot of hard work. Other things, however, were unexpected. Who would have thought you could form strong and lasting friendships with fellow students you've never met? (0) comments
Making Beautiful Music Together: NSF Award to Help New World Symphony Create Global Music Education Network - NSF
In what may be the first-ever award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to a musical ensemble, the Miami Beach-based New World Symphony (NWS) has received a grant to enhance its connectivity to the Internet2 network and help form a global music education network that can train musicians regardless of geographic location. Through the greater bandwidth made possible by the NSF grant, NWS will create a network among music educational institutions for the exchange of music experience, education and collaboration. The New World Symphony, which provides post-graduate music education and professional development, and 11 other institutions will soon join or enhance their connectivity to the Internet2 network, thanks to NSF’s High-Performance Network Connections (HPNC) program. Internet2 is a consortium of more than 200 universities working with industry and government to support high-performance networking within the U.S. research community. (0) comments
Rejected professor sues Simon Fraser - Aby Amy O'Brian, Vancouver Sun
Simon Fraser University is facing a potentially costly lawsuit after it decided not to hire a Toronto history professor allegedly because of his criticism of the relationships between universities and corporations.... The lawsuit describes Noble's area of specialization as the history of technology and says he has "earned a reputation as a critic of the commercialization of universities and as a critic of distance learning." (0) comments Friday, October 03, 2003
Capella University Named One of America's 500 Fastest-Growing Pivately Held Companies by Inc. Magazine
Capella Education Company, the parent company of Capella University, today was named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies for the fifth year in a row. The company was ranked 179th in a field of 500. "We're thrilled that Capella has been chosen as one of America's Fastest- Growing Private Companies for the fifth year in a row," said Steve Shank, Chairman and CEO of Capella. "The fact that we've been experiencing the type of growth that we have in the midst of an economic downturn means that our goal of creating a user-friendly online learning environment for adult learners continues to evolve and thrive." (0) comments
Self-discipline a key success factor in distance learning programs - Heidi Sylvester, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Despite the growing range and increasing flexibility of MBA programs, many executives required to spend large chunks of time traveling for business continue to struggle to find on-campus programs that they can fit into their work commitments. Because the reality of meetings called at the last minute makes even programs requiring only occasional attendance impractical for some businesspeople, the growing interest in distance learning is not difficult to understand. Germany may lag other European countries when it comes to the number of MBA schools it offers, but it counts among the leaders in the field of e-learning - study programs completed off-campus and through the Internet. “Academic e-learning programs in Germany are first-class, but too few universities manage to successfully market these products commercially,“ said Ulrich Schmid, manager of Multimedia Kontor Hamburg, a company which just organized a three-day event, “Campus Innovation,“ dealing with on-line learning in German universities. (0) comments
Back to school: For older students, it means sticker shock, decisions - Ashley Schneider, Courier & Press
.... But do online degrees count for anything? "It depends on where the degree comes from," said Ann Johnson, a representative of University Alliance, a company based in Georgia that offers online degrees from several colleges and universities. "If the school is an accredited school, then, by all means, the degree counts." Johnson said employers usually don't have a problem accepting online degrees because of the increasing popularity of distance learning programs.... "And, because more and more people are getting online degrees, more and more employers are hiring them." (0) comments Thursday, October 02, 2003
Learning from Reflections - Issues in Building Quality Online Courses - Patricia Deubel, Distance Learning Administration
Abstract: Authorship, implementation, and consumer perspectives should be considered when judging the quality of an online course. This article supports that position with reflections of an adjunct professor, who implemented a doctoral level course, Instruction Delivery Systems, during 2001 at Nova Southeastern University that had been authored by another professor in the School of Computer and Information Sciences. It contains student reflections on their experiences developing and implementing online mini-courses, which was the primary focus of the course. Discussion is enhanced with references to literature on online learning, and should assist educators who wish to develop and teach quality online courses, or smaller modules within hybrid courses. Courseware development recommendations and guidance for first-time online instructors are provided. Recommendations for the future of online learning are noted. The major conclusion is that there is no single checklist by which to design or evaluate quality. (0) comments
TrackBack: Where Blogs Learn Their Places - Phillip D. Long, Syllabus
Blogging is becoming the source for millisecond currency on the Web. When the news that Google had decided to buy Pyra Labs, the company that pioneered some of the earliest blogging software, was announced, it was reported essentially live on the SiliconVallen.com blog of Dan Gillmor who was sitting in the audience with his laptop connected to his blog site. Communication in Internet time keeps getting shorter. Since then blogging has become a standard tool for faculty, students, and just about anyone who wishes to publish their thoughts worldwide. Interaction, the ability to comment on posts of others, was a feature of the earliest blogging tools. (0) comments
Thirty-two Trends Affecting Distance Education - Scott L. Howell, Peter B. Williams, Nathan K. Lindsay; Distance Learning Administration
Abstract: Recent issues in this journal and other prominent distance-learning journals have established the need for administrators to be informed and prepared with strategic plans equal to foreseeable challenges. This article provides decision makers with 32 trends that affect distance learning and thus enable them to plan accordingly. The trends are organized into categories as they pertain to students and enrollment, faculty members, academics, technology, the economy, and distance learning. All the trends were identified during an extensive review of current literature in the field. (0) comments Wednesday, October 01, 2003
It's Time to Stand Up for Online Instructors - Sally M. Johnstone, Syllabus
At most colleges and universities distance learning programs began as small experimental activities involving a few faculty members and, frequently, a special campus organization to administer the courses. As these programs became popular with students, administrators had to figure out a way to accommodate the growing enrollments. All too often this was done by hiring qualified individuals who could teach an extra section of the course when enrollments reached whatever was determined to be the maximum class size. These might be called adjunct or part-time faculty members, graduate teaching assistants, tutors, or any number of different titles. However, their numbers have soared and the ways they are compensated and supported by most of campuses do not fit current realities. (0) comments
MIT for free, virtually - Paul Festa, CNET News.com
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is making its course materials available to the world for free download. One year after the launch of its pilot program, MIT on Monday quietly published everything from class syllabuses to lecture videos for 500 courses through its OpenCourseWare initiative, an ambitious project it hopes will spark a Web-based revolution in the way universities share information. "The real hope is that we start seeing many open courseware programs, with the net result of there being a critical mass of knowledge online for people everywhere," said Jon Paul Potts, communications manager for the program. "If that happened, people all over the world would be able to tap into reserves of knowledge from major large institutions around the globe." (0) comments
Students and teachers still adjusting to online classes - Jace Duval, CRC Connection
Many students who registered for classes this fall found that they needed more than just a pencil and paper for their classes. With more than 47 online component classes listed in the course catalog, some Cosumnes River College students are finding that they also needed a mouse and a keyboard.CRC student Robbie Harms had never taken any classes with an online component until he enrolled in his English 101 class this fall. "I really didn't know what to expect," said Harms. "The first time I logged on to check it out, Blackboard wasn't up and running." (0) comments Tuesday, September 30, 2003
MERLOT provides database for professors - Kindra Boster, Tahlequah Daily Press Special
Dr. Terry Bradfield is not only a professor in the science department at NSU, but is on the editorial review board for physics on an innovative new instructional Web site. MERLOT, or Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching, is an expanding project that started in January 2000. MERLOT consists of state and international agencies that have produced an online database for professors at universities around the world. The original project was founded at the University of California, Long Beach, but the designer decided it was too large and needed partners. The Board of Oklahoma Higher Education was one of the founding partners. Now, there are many states involved with MERLOT, and a couple of Canadian systems and an Australia system participate in the Web site too. (0) comments
UK Minister applauds mobile learning studies - Rachel Fielding, Vnunet
The secretary of state for education, Charles Clarke, has applauded a tie-up between the University of Birmingham and Microsoft to research the impact of mobile technologies on learning within the higher education sector. As part of the partnership, the Centre of Educational Technology and Distance Learning (CETADL), which was set up at the university two years ago, will investigate how mobile technologies can be used to improve the education process and open up opportunities for remote learning. The three-year programme will include research into the use of mobile technologies for supporting learning through online mentoring and peer collaboration. (0) comments
eLearning Latest Battleground in Privacy Wars, Says eLearn Magazine, Yahoo! Finance
Think your innermost thoughts, casual questions, test answers and insights are just between you and Your instructor? Think again. In today's technology-mediated learning environments, the data flowing between student and instructor may be funneled into database and analysis programs for use in ways that are unexpected by both students and faculty. Lisa Neal, a researcher and consultant in eLearning, has published an article, "Expectations of Privacy: Data Collected in Class Should Not be Misused" in eLearn Magazine (http://www.eLearnMag.org ) that address these issues. She points out that in the good old days, if you asked a question in class or took a test, the data existed, but it was relatively hard to compile in a database and make further use of. Neal notes that many technologies collect data that can be used in ways that benefit students and teachers, but can as easily be abused. (0) comments Monday, September 29, 2003
New online textbook marketplace evolves - Ed Hudson, Massachusetts Daily Collegian
Students who hate the semi-annual long waits and heavy lugging of textbooks from the Textbook Annex can opt to do their shopping online, enjoying discount rates on a vast selection of books from TextbookX.com. This national Internet book market is geared particularly toward college students. TextbookX.com is a discount online bookstore currently offering 75,000 titles, including a vast selection of used books that can be hard to find.... Unlike any other online marketplaces, the exchange is set up specifically for textbook sales. (0) comments
Illinois Compass points learning to one place online - Ivan Silverberg, Daily Illini
Say goodbye to the confusing days of Campus Gradebook, WebCT Campus Edition, Blackboard, WebBoard and Mallard. Illinois Compass, a new online learning system, will replace the host of classroom Web services in 2004. Students and faculty will be able to turn to one service for quizzing, grades, paperwork, announcements, assignments and discussion. Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services officials plan to introduce Illinois Compass this spring with complete release in fall 2004.... "This will be an incredible boon, especially during the first two weeks of the semester when students switch courses frequently," said Lanny Arvan, assistant chief information officer for Educational Technologies. (0) comments
Diploma mills insert degree of fraud into job market - Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY
....There are more than 400 diploma mills and 300 counterfeit diploma Web sites, and business is thriving amid a lackluster economy — doubling in the past five years to more than $500 million annually, according to estimates kept by John Bear, author of Bears' Guide to Earning Degrees By Distance Learning. He studies degree mills and gives tips to the FBI and other federal agencies on detecting degree fraud. Some fake schools in Europe have made as much as $50 million a year and have as many as 15,000 "graduates" a year. The number of fake accrediting organizations set up by con artists to provide diploma mills an air of legitimacy has swelled from half a dozen 10 years ago to 260 in 2003. (0) comments Sunday, September 28, 2003
Emotion and E-Learning- Kerry O’Regan, JALN
ABSTRACT: Traditionally, emotion and cognition have been viewed as polar opposites and this view has been incorporated into theories of learning. One reason for this may be a lack of clarity in defining emotion. In fact there are other perspectives on how emotion and cognition, emotion and learning, are related. These considerations emerge with renewed vigor with the move to online education. The author interviewed eleven students studying online. These students identified emotions which were critical to their online learning. Evidence from the literature and from the interviews positions emotion as central and essential to the teaching/ learning process. (0) comments
Teaching Our Children Well - Linda Abarbanell & Howard Gardner, CIO
...The Internet also promises to redefine the very nature of the classroom. Distance learning already offers sufficiently motivated students flexibility and control in advancing their skills and credentials, breaking the mold of the traditional schoolhouse. In the future, even mainstream classrooms will incorporate large portions of online instruction. In the class "Cognitive Development, Education and the Brain," which we teach at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, we have replaced our live "talking heads" with several dozen online video lectures that students can access and watch at their leisure. Students pause during lectures to take notes, repeat important or challenging sections, and return for viewing as often as they like. This opportunity is especially valuable for our international students for whom English is a second language, and those with learning problems. (0) comments
More learning thanks to Open University Malaysia
Open University Malaysia's (OUM) concept of distance and online learning has enabled more people, especially those in the working sector, to further their studies, said Information Minister Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob. He added that this is in line with the Government's vision to produce knowledgeable Malaysians. “OUM has given the assurance that dreams can become a reality. Those who never thought that they would have the chance to further their studies can now do so without leaving their jobs,” he said at OUM's recent Media Appreciation Night. (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
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