Open learning, distance education Books

Book SynopsisThe chapters in this book provide an excellent story of the growth of e-learning and e-service-learning over the past many years. Strait takes us from the first chapter examining current issues and considerations for eService-Learning, to a second chapter that documents the growth and maturation of a program at Missouri State University, to chapters that introduce "critical" e-service learning with a social justice orientation (Gordon and Jackson-Brown), and chapters that address international experiences (Ong, Tan, et al., and Dietrich and Ekici) that involve e-service-learning in Singapore and long-distance relationships between the US and Afghanistan, to illustrate the multiplicity and diversity of current models of service and learning that occur through electronic means.The importance of the book and its chapters is that change happens. What was occurring in the early 21st century was altered by situations, such as the global pandemic of Covid 19, to increase the reliance on e-educational systems and promote the increased use of electronic educational programs that covered almost all areas of educational systems. While early mobile phones existed in the 1970s (Teixeira, T. 2010), they evolved, and more sophisticated versions were produced throughout the 20th century. By the end of the century, phones that could easily transmit emails were developed, and then came camera phones and then smart phones by 2003. And phone communication has continued to change, existing today as a total communication device used by people all over the world.Similarly, video, and visual systems have evolved and continue to change. Zoom was developed in 2011 and has continued to evolve and expand services all over the world. People are now able to visually and orally communicate with others on every continent 24 hours a day, and the complexity and utility of communication has similarly expanded. Now phones can instantaneously translate between languages and people in all parts of the world can share experiences and visual products without barriers of language, country, or time. Indeed, the electronic world is an amazing entity and continues to evolve each year.So, what are the implications of all these changes for education and service? Simply put, they are and will continue to evolve to more complex and more useful forms for all communication and interaction. And this current volume gives us much insight into the important areas of change in both e-learning and e-service-learning. All the chapters add great insight and information about important issues in the field and highlight some of the critical concepts embedded in its development.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis edited volume focuses on visual and image-based methodologies that can be used to expand how educators approach, design, and innovate research for the purpose of informing and improving teaching and learning. Exploring how data can be utilized, collected, and rendered useful in the education arena is of utmost importance to those oriented towards utilizing research with the aim of improving educational practice. Innovative methodologies are important for preparing future researchers/scholars and teachers in developing and sustaining professional knowledge. To date, while visual methodologies are explored in various volumes related to general areas of social science, few texts exist where visual methodologies are explained or well-understood in the field of education, specifically.This work centers on the functions, cultures, and outcomes of teaching and learning using visual data (i.e., participant-generated drawings, photo-elicitation, film, etc.) and the methods that frame this approach. It is intended for teachers, researchers, and teacher-researchers - in higher education as well as at PK-12 levels – who are ready to engage with innovative, and often compelling, research methods that make data collection across data sources both accessible and equitable. This volume illustrates how various scholars have conceptualized, generated, and executed research utilizing visual data in their own schools, classrooms, and/or districts, and what they learned from these investigations.This edited volume is organized according to four main strands: Conducting research as visual endeavor: Assessing the nature of visual methodology, Conducting research as visual endeavor: Pedagogical innovation, What can visual data in educational research reveal: Student engagement, motivation, selfdetermination, metacognition, and mindfulness, and Conducting research as visual endeavor: Critical perspectives-critical exploration of issues in education and visual data's engagement with, and impact on, marginalized and/or disenfranchised participants.The chapters within each section, authored by established scholars in their fields of study, focus on some of today's key educational practices and the ways in which visual methodologies can provide innovation in the design of educational research. Each chapter within the volume reflects the importance of using credible, confirmable, reliable, and triangulated interpretations as a foundation for any claims, findings, or assertions related to pedagogical innovation, student mindfulness, and critical pedagogy. In summary, this edited volume is critically engaged, innovative, and contributes to advances in qualitative inquiry, visual research methodologies, and alternative ways of 'seeing' and 'knowing'.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis edited volume focuses on visual and image-based methodologies that can be used to expand how educators approach, design, and innovate research for the purpose of informing and improving teaching and learning. Exploring how data can be utilized, collected, and rendered useful in the education arena is of utmost importance to those oriented towards utilizing research with the aim of improving educational practice. Innovative methodologies are important for preparing future researchers/scholars and teachers in developing and sustaining professional knowledge. To date, while visual methodologies are explored in various volumes related to general areas of social science, few texts exist where visual methodologies are explained or well-understood in the field of education, specifically.This work centers on the functions, cultures, and outcomes of teaching and learning using visual data (i.e., participant-generated drawings, photo-elicitation, film, etc.) and the methods that frame this approach. It is intended for teachers, researchers, and teacher-researchers - in higher education as well as at PK-12 levels – who are ready to engage with innovative, and often compelling, research methods that make data collection across data sources both accessible and equitable. This volume illustrates how various scholars have conceptualized, generated, and executed research utilizing visual data in their own schools, classrooms, and/or districts, and what they learned from these investigations.This edited volume is organized according to four main strands: Conducting research as visual endeavor: Assessing the nature of visual methodology, Conducting research as visual endeavor: Pedagogical innovation, What can visual data in educational research reveal: Student engagement, motivation, selfdetermination, metacognition, and mindfulness, and Conducting research as visual endeavor: Critical perspectives-critical exploration of issues in education and visual data's engagement with, and impact on, marginalized and/or disenfranchised participants.The chapters within each section, authored by established scholars in their fields of study, focus on some of today's key educational practices and the ways in which visual methodologies can provide innovation in the design of educational research. Each chapter within the volume reflects the importance of using credible, confirmable, reliable, and triangulated interpretations as a foundation for any claims, findings, or assertions related to pedagogical innovation, student mindfulness, and critical pedagogy. In summary, this edited volume is critically engaged, innovative, and contributes to advances in qualitative inquiry, visual research methodologies, and alternative ways of 'seeing' and 'knowing'.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTeaching and Learning at a Distance is written for introductory distance education courses for preservice or in-service teachers, and for training programs that discuss teaching distant learners or managing distance education systems. This text provides readers with the basic information needed to be knowledgeable distance educators and leaders of distance education programs. The teacher or trainerwho uses this book will be able to distinguish between appropriate uses of distance education.In this text we take the following themes:The first theme is the definition of distance education. Before we started writing the first edition of Teaching and Learning at a Distance we carefully reviewed the literature to determine the definition that would be at the foundation of our writing. This definition is based on the work of Desmond Keegan, but is unique to this book. This definition of distance education has been adopted by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology and by the Encyclopedia Britannica.The second theme of the book is the importance of research to the development of the contents of the book. The best practices presented in Teaching and Learning at a Distance are validated by scientific evidence. Certainly there are "rules of thumb," but we have always attempted to only include recommendations that can be supported by research.The third theme of Teaching and Learning at a Distance is derived from Richard Clark's famous quote published in the Review of Educational Research that states that media are mere vehicles that do not directly influence achievement. Clark's controversial work is discussed in the book, but is also fundamental to the book's advocacy for distance education—in other words, we authors do not make the claim that education delivered at a distance is inherently better than other ways people learn. Distance delivered instruction is not a "magical" approach that makes learners achieve more.The fourth theme of the book is equivalency theory. Here we present the concept that instruction should be provided to learners that is equivalent rather than identical to what might be delivered in a traditional environment. Equivalency theory helps the instructional designer approach the development of instruction for each learner without attempting to duplicate what happens in a face-to-face classroom.The final theme for Teaching and Learning at a Distance is the idea that the book should be comprehensive—that it should cover as much of the various ways instruction is made available to distant learners as is possible. It should be a single source of information about the field.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTeaching and Learning at a Distance is written for introductory distance education courses for preservice or in-service teachers, and for training programs that discuss teaching distant learners or managing distance education systems. This text provides readers with the basic information needed to be knowledgeable distance educators and leaders of distance education programs. The teacher or trainerwho uses this book will be able to distinguish between appropriate uses of distance education.In this text we take the following themes:The first theme is the definition of distance education. Before we started writing the first edition of Teaching and Learning at a Distance we carefully reviewed the literature to determine the definition that would be at the foundation of our writing. This definition is based on the work of Desmond Keegan, but is unique to this book. This definition of distance education has been adopted by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology and by the Encyclopedia Britannica.The second theme of the book is the importance of research to the development of the contents of the book. The best practices presented in Teaching and Learning at a Distance are validated by scientific evidence. Certainly there are "rules of thumb," but we have always attempted to only include recommendations that can be supported by research.The third theme of Teaching and Learning at a Distance is derived from Richard Clark's famous quote published in the Review of Educational Research that states that media are mere vehicles that do not directly influence achievement. Clark's controversial work is discussed in the book, but is also fundamental to the book's advocacy for distance education—in other words, we authors do not make the claim that education delivered at a distance is inherently better than other ways people learn. Distance delivered instruction is not a "magical" approach that makes learners achieve more.The fourth theme of the book is equivalency theory. Here we present the concept that instruction should be provided to learners that is equivalent rather than identical to what might be delivered in a traditional environment. Equivalency theory helps the instructional designer approach the development of instruction for each learner without attempting to duplicate what happens in a face-to-face classroom.The final theme for Teaching and Learning at a Distance is the idea that the book should be comprehensive—that it should cover as much of the various ways instruction is made available to distant learners as is possible. It should be a single source of information about the field.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less