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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, July 02, 2005
Strategies for Using Critical Thinking in Asynchronous Discussions - Greg Walker, Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
Asynchronous discussions can be improved with the use of critical thinking strategies. Information needs to be clearly stated for learners to critically reflect upon, and review, at their own pace. Pre-established guidelines are needed to shape the use of critical thinking. A variety of writing activities can be employed to promote critical thinking. Discussions need to focus on issues as problems to work out rather than subject topics learners discuss. Subject matter experts and role playing can enhance critical discussions. The use of convergent, divergent, evaluative, and Socratic-questioning strategies can encourage critical dialogue. (0) comments
CNMI distance learning goes online - Marconi Calindas, Saipan Tribune
Teachers may now prepare the outline of their lesson plans and post them online for students in remote locations who wish to know the content of their upcoming classes-a technology that is actually nothing new, according to visiting consultants from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Reid Saito and Hotavia Gingerlei Porter visited the island for the distance-learning workshop held at the Kagman High School, which ended last week. Saito and Porter are both specialists from the Telecommunications and Information Policy Group of the university. Porter is also a project specialist focusing on American Samoa. She said a similar training was held for high school teachers early this year but the training last week was for elementary to junior high school. Saito, an ICT program specialist, said that teachers could now post their classroom content on the web while students in return can also check their grades online... The website is riding on a free website called Moodle, said Porter. (0) comments
Oregon Senate passes bill to create ‘virtual school district’- Associated Press
Oregon would have a new “virtual school district” — offering distance-learning courses to K-12 schools — under a bill that passed the Senate Thursday. The bill allows the Oregon Department of Education to create an “Oregon Virtual School District,” which would contract with established programs to provide selected online courses. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin, calls for transferring $2 million from the state schools budget to fund the virtual school’s startup costs. (0) comments Friday, July 01, 2005
Teaching as performance in the electronic classroom - Doug Brent, First Monday
New developments in online educational technology have a profound effect on notions of intellectual property. Theories of the social construction of technology explain the extremely unstable nature of new technologies. Walter Ong’s theory of the alphabet effect provides insight into the ways in which knowledge changes as media of communication change. Shoshana Zuboff’s ideas on how managerial knowledge is transformed by technology help us understand how certain kinds of knowledge resist being textualized. These ideas help us understand the effects of new teaching technologies in terms of a long–standing struggle between two views of knowledge: knowledge as performance and knowledge as thing. (0) comments
Situating the Zone of Proximal Development - George E. Marsh II and John J. Ketterer, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Social constructivist theory has advanced the notion that distance education is inferior, because effective learning is thought to require immersion in a cognitive apprenticeship under the guidance of a mentor. Effective learning is said to be situated in activity, context, and culture as a collaboration in a community of practice. Administrators and practitioners in distance education are confronted with a challenge to the efficacy of their endeavors. The authors briefly trace the evolution of social constructivism, the influence of Piaget and Vygotsky, and analyze the effects of contemporary social constructivism with implications for instructional theory and practice. (0) comments
Snapshot: Setting Up an E-Learning System - Gwen Solomon, techLearning
When superintendent Bill Harbron of the Northern Ozaukee School District in Fredonia, Wisconsin decided it was time to offer more instructional alternatives to students and parents, an e-learning program seemed like the perfect fit. After researching and considering several options, he invited e-learning content provider K12 to present its program to his staff, and they were impressed. They liked the rigorous curriculum, personalized approach, support, and flexibility. In addition, they felt they would learn a lot about their regular curriculum, methods, and assessments in the process of creating an e-learning charter alternative, and they could use what they learned to strengthen their brick-and-mortar schools as well. Currently, they are in the second year of their e-learning charter school program, and while only seven of their traditional students attend the virtual school, they've acquired 603 out-of-district (open-enrollment) students — along with the funding for those youngsters that make the virtual program self-supporting. The state pays them $5,500 per student, all of which supports the charter school. (0) comments Thursday, June 30, 2005
A Framework for the “Entrepreneurial” Learner of the 21 st Century - Connie Reimers-Hild, et al; Online Journal of Distance Learning Admin
Successful distance learners and entrepreneurs may be similar in that they seek out and capitalize on opportunities and marshal resources to achieve their goals. Further, entrepreneurial behavior is a vital asset in the rapidly changing global knowledge economy of the 21 st Century. This paper presents a theoretical framework for examining the characteristics of successful distance learners through the lens of entrepreneurship. The proposed theoretical framework suggests a relationship between the entrepreneurial personality, which is the combined score of locus of control, need for achievement and risk taking propensity, with success and persistence in the academic environment. We believe that the proposed framework of the entrepreneurial learner will add to our understanding of distance students. This framework also has the potential to impact instructors and administrators working in the area of distance education. (0) comments
Virtual Collaboration Tools: Communication Without Boundaries - Kellye Whitney, Chief Learning Officer
Communication is one of the linchpins of modern learning organizations, and Web-based virtual collaboration tools have earned significant credibility as communication aids. Instant messaging (IM), chat, and Web and video conferencing help enable widespread deployment of timely content to aid employee education on new product releases, corporate strategies and critical job function skills. Collaborative learning solutions reduce learning costs, increase productivity and generally surpass communication boundaries for the enterprise. (0) comments
Troy University unity ends credit woes - Erica Pippins, Montgomery Advertiser
Troy University is roughly a month away from officially uniting its four Alabama campuses under one accreditation. For students at the Montgomery campus, who make up roughly 14 percent of the university's total enrollment, the change means that they won't encounter problems if they transfer to another school under the Troy umbrella. They'll also be eligible for the same degree programs and services as those at the main site. Soon, Troy's out-of-state and international locations and online distance learning programs also will offer identical courses of study. The university has 60 sites around the world. (0) comments Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Supporting Different Learning Styles in an Online Learning Environment - Steven R. Terrell, Online Journal of Distance Learning Admin
Due to demands for educational programs that are time and place independent, distance education availability, course offerings, and enrollment increased rapidly during the 1990s. To illustrate this trend, the National Center for Education Statistics (2000) reported 91% of public four-year institutions and approximately 50% of all private institutions, representing a total of 1.6 million students, were currently offering, or planned to offer, distance education programs. Many of these programs are, or will be, delivered via an online learning environment. Although retaining and graduating these students ultimately means success for an educational institution, most studies conducted thus far have focused on attrition at the course or semester level (e.g., Carr, 2000; Carr & Ledwith, 2000; Chyung, 2001; Diaz & Cartnal, 1999; Morgan & Tam, 1999; Neuhauser, 2002; Parker, 2003; Terrell, 2002; Terrell & Dringus, 1999). Since studies of this type may not help educators understand attrition at the program level, it is imperative that researchers examine attrition from a longitudinal perspective. This paper describes such an effort. (0) comments
Scottish Universities and Colleges receive £1.2m for Life Sciences E-Learning Project
The Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) and The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) have awarded £1.2m to fund CeLLS (collaborative e-learning in the life sciences), an e-learning project for students studying life sciences in further & higher education. The partnership is a collaboration between Scottish institutions, The University of Dundee, Napier University, Scottish Colleges Biotechnology Consortium (SCBC), Interactive University (IU) and The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). The aim behind CeLLS is to transform teaching and learning of Life Sciences by introducing interactive learning methods consisting of a combination of face-to-face interaction with teaching staff and access to online interactive course materials, case studies, assignments and formative assessments. (0) comments
Is Your Child Learning What He/She Needs to Know? -francine hardaway, Always On
....After all these years, the team of activists with whom I'm working have decided that incremental reform at the margins isn't enough: what is necessary is complete systemic overhaul. And that's NOT the disintermediation of the teacher through technology. Rather, it's the liberation of the teacher from lecturing, grading, and paperwork to enable him/her to interact on a 1:1 basis with a student to promote learning at the student's own pace. It's our belief that eLearning transforms the teacher into a Socratic tutor, who can help propel students to mastery of whatever the teacher and society deems is the appropriate curriculum. (0) comments Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Universal Learning at a Distance: Can We Plug It In? - Steven R. Van Hook, Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for developing their individual powers of mind and spirit to the utmost. – A Nation at Risk (NCEE, 1983) Hardly could the framers of the quotation above–serving for the National Commission on Excellence in Education and writing from a rather nationalistic perspective – have imagined more than two decades ago the global applications of this marvelous sentiment that would be possible come the new millennium. Through online and other distance education models, a fair chance at higher education for all is no longer a visionary's dream, but a visible reality within our peripheral sight. (0) comments
Education Options - Emily Montandon, Government Technology
Virtual schools offer a wider selection for students and families, and create questions for states. If you can shop, make appointments or register your car via the Internet from the convenience of your home -- or from halfway around the world, for that matter -- why can't you get your education in the same manner? These days, many students can. Not only are continuing education and college students completing courses at times and places convenient for them, but in recent years, more and more high-school, middle-school and even grade-school students do so as well. (0) comments
Distance learning college plans $25M in upgrades - Albany Business Review
Empire State College, part of the State University of New York system, will spend $25 million upgrading its buildings on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs and to build a new distance education center, according to college officials. The building and renovation project is being paid for with an appropriation from the 2005 state budget. "This significant capital appropriation for Empire State College reflects the governor's and the Legislature's understanding about the importance of providing adults access to higher education programs and degrees. Such access is a key part of any state's economic plan," said college president Joseph Moore. (0) comments Monday, June 27, 2005
Implementing a Midcourse Feedback Procedure in the Online Learning Environment - Kelly Bruning, Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
The onset of the information age has ushered in a new revolution of learning. This learning takes the form of asynchronous communication between learner and educator using a technical platform that allows global access. This teaching process brings with it new assessment tools in evaluating student learning and the educational objectives of an online course. Student assessment and feedback is critical to the online environment and developing the learning community. Research indicates that formative evaluation tools serve as a justifiable assessment tool that allows for honest student feedback and an opportunity for the instructor to redirect the class based upon that feedback while also nurturing the learning. (0) comments
Online degree may be worth pursuing - LAURA T. COFFEY, St. Petersburg Times
Let's face it: You're busy. You have a job and myriad responsibilities. There's no way you've got enough time to start working toward a college degree now, right? Well, you might be wrong. Distance learning can make it possible for you to earn a degree from home. (0) comments
Funding boost for Australian Indigenous e-learning
Almost $500,000 has been made available through the 2005 Australian Flexible Learning Framework’s Indigenous Engagement Project, to ensure the long-term sustainability of e-learning within Indigenous communities. The Indigenous Engagement Project aims to build on the work already being carried out in Indigenous communities, and to further strengthen the role of local people and their communities to better access e-learning training opportunities that will increase employment outcomes. (0) comments Sunday, June 26, 2005
Individual Student Characteristics: Can Any Be Predictors Of Success In Online Classes? - Amy Wojciechowski, Online Journal of Distance Learning Admin
This study examined various student characteristics to determine their relationship to success in an online undergraduate business course at a community college. All students who had taken this online course during a three-year period of time were included in the study (n=179). Pearson product–moment correlations found significant relationships between students' grades in the online class and their GPA, attendance at a class orientation session, the number of previous course withdrawals, ASSET reading scores, the number of previous online courses, age, and ACT English scores. Regression analysis found that two variables serve as the best predictors: attendance at an orientation session, and the student's grade point average. Given the higher dropout rates often found within on-line courses, these findings could be used to counsel students regarding their decision to take an online course. Students who are older, have better GPAs and college entrance exam scores, have few previous course withdrawals, and who agree to participate in a class orientation session, are more likely to be successful in this on-line business class. Such results could hold true for other online courses as well. (0) comments
Schools enter 5th eLearning Awards - European Schoolnet
The eLearning Awards is Europe's premier competition rewarding excellent use of new technologies by schools. Over £150,000 has been awarded to schools since it was first organised in 2000. Schools are invited to submit their projects to the 2005 competition via the website. All entries are showcased in a project gallery. The Awards include a number of special categories, including an award for best project by a municipal or regional education authority. The Awards are open to all schools in all European countries. (0) comments
French answer to Google library - David Reid, BBC Click Online
The French, concerned that the internet is in danger of becoming the exclusive preserve of the English language, are responding to Google's project to put 15 million books and documents online with their own French version. David Reid finds out about Gallica. The French are far from relaxed about their creative treasures, and especially the contents of La Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), their National Library. It is an asset that France's rulers believe is under-represented on the internet. With the Google Print project planning to put 4.5 billion pages of English onto the web, France has decided to do something similar with French, though on a smaller scale. In fact, France started digitalising parts of its national collection as long as 13 years ago, and in 1997 they began to put this collection online. (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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