E-Moderators are \"the new generation of teachers and trainers who work with learners online\" (p. viii) using Computer-Mediated Conferencing (CMC) as a learning tool, regardless of the subject they are teaching. They are the focus of E-Moderating, a recent book which provides both a theoretical framework for developing online learning using CMC (part one), and a wealth of practical advice (part two). The book is supported by a Web site. The author, Gilly Salmon, a distance education specialist with the Open University Business School in the UK, provides a five-step model of effective online education, along with copious examples of how the model relates to real-life online learning contexts. Salmon proposes that, by basing learning on a constructivist model, it is e-moderators that can make the difference in online education as they convene, direct, summarize, and archive synchronous and asynchronous discussions.

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E-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online

There has been rapid growth in blended learning implementation and research focused on course-level issues such as improved learning outcomes, but very limited research focused on institutional policy and adoption issues. More institutional-level blended learning research is needed to guide institutions of higher education in strategically adopting and implementing blended learning on campus. This research investigates six cases of institutional adoption of blended learning to examine the key issues that can guide university administrators interested in this endeavor. Cases were selected to represent institutions at various stages of blended learning adoption including (1) awareness/exploration, (2) adoption/early implementation, and (3) mature implementation/growth. Cases are used to identify and elaborate on core issues related to institutional strategy, structure, and support, spanning the adoption stages.

A framework for institutional adoption and implementation of blended learning in higher education

This study addressed several outcomes, implications, and possible future directions for blended learning (BL) in higher education in a world where information communication technologies (ICTs) increasingly communicate with each other. In considering effectiveness, the authors contend that BL coalesces around access, success, and students’ perception of their learning environments. Success and withdrawal rates for face-to-face and online courses are compared to those for BL as they interact with minority status. Investigation of student perception about course excellence revealed the existence of robust if-then decision rules for determining how students evaluate their educational experiences. Those rules were independent of course modality, perceived content relevance, and expected grade. The authors conclude that although blended learning preceded modern instructional technologies, its evolution will be inextricably bound to contemporary information communication technologies that are approximating some aspects of human thought processes.

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Blended learning: the new normal and emerging technologies

The paper reviews representative research into blended learning in universities, taking into account the methodology used, the focus of the research and the relationship between the two. In terms of methodology, most research was classifiable as case-studies, survey-based studies or comparative studies. A small number of studies take a comparatively more holistic approach and one of the outcomes from this review is a recommendation for more holistic studies to be undertaken. In the studies reviewed, the focus of the research is often related to the degree of methodological complexity. That is, less methodologically elaborated studies tend to have a more specific focus, while the studies employing a more complex methodology tend to report more varied aspects of the students' learning experience. It is argued that educationally useful research on blended learning needs to focus on the relationships between different modes of learning (for example, face-to-face and on-line) and especially on the nature of their integration. In particular, such research needs to generate usable evidence about the quality of the students' learning experiences and learning outcomes. In turn, this demands appropriately powerful methodologies, rooted in a firm theoretical foundation.

http://www.anitacrawley.net/Resources/Articles/Bliuc2007.pdf

Research focus and methodological choices in studies into students' experiences of blended learning in higher education

Relatively little of the current research on blended learning (BL) addresses institutional adoption issues. Additional research is needed to guide institutions of higher education in strategically adopting and implementing blended learning on campus. The authors conducted a prior study in which they proposed a framework for institutional BL adoption (Graham, Woodfield, & Harrison, 2012), identifying three stages: (1) awareness/exploration, (2) adoption/early implementation, and (3) mature implementation/growth. The framework also identified key strategy, structure, and support issues universities may address at each stage. The current study applies this adoption framework to 11 U. S. institutions participating in a Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) grant and attempting to transition from an awareness/exploration of BL to the adoption/early implementation phase. The study also compares U.S. institutional strategy, structure, and support approaches to BL adoption and identifies patterns and distinctions.

Blended learning in higher education: Institutional adoption and implementation

Table of Contents An introduction to rethinking pedagogy by Helen Beetham and Rhona Sharpe Part One: Principles and practices of designing for learning Chapter 1 Technology enhanced learning: the role of theory by Terry Mayes and Sara de Freitas Chapter 2 Designing for active learning in technology-rich contexts by Helen Beetham Chapter 3 The analysis of complex learning environments by Peter Goodyear and Lucila Carvalho Chapter 4 The challenge of teachers' design practice by Liz Masterman Chapter 5 Tools and resources to guide practice by By Grainne Conole Chapter 6 Describing ICT-based learning designs that promote quality learning outcomes by Ron Oliver, Barry Harper, Sandra Wills, Shirley Agostinho and John Hedberg Chapter 7 Learning designs as stimulus and support for teachers' design practices by Shirley Agostinho, Sue Bennett, Lori Lockyer, Jennifer Jones and Barry Harper Chapter 8 Representing practitioner experiences through learning designs and patterns by Patrick McAndrew and Peter Goodyear Chapter 9 The influence of open resources on design practice by Chris Pegler Part Two: Contexts for design Chapter 10 Designing for learning in course teams by Rhona Sharpe and Martin Oliver Chapter 11 The art of design by Derek Harding and Bruce Ingraham Chapter 12 Activity designs for professional learning by Rachel Ellaway Chapter 13 Designing for practice: A view from social science by Chris Jones Chapter 14 Student as producer is hacking the university by Joss Winn and Dean Lockwood Chapter 15 The LAMS community: Building communities of designers by James Dalziel Chapter 16 Design principles for mobile learning by Agnes Kukulska-Hulme and John Traxler Chapter 17 Designing for learning in an uncertain future by Helen Beetham

Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age : Designing for 21st Century Learning

The undergraduate experience of blended e-learning: a review of UK literature and practice

Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age addresses the complex and diverse experiences of learners in a world embedded with digital technologies. The text combines first-hand accounts from learners with extensive research and analysis, including a developmental model for effective e-learning, and a wide range of strategies that digitally-connected learners are using to fit learning into their lives. A companion to Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age (2007), this book focuses on how learners' experiences of learning are changing and raises important challenges to the educational status quo. Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age: moves beyond stereotypes of the "net generation" to explore the diversity of e-learning experiences today analyses learners' experiences holistically, across the many technologies and learning opportunities they encounter reveals digital-age learners as creative actors and networkers in their own right, who make strategic choices about their use of digital applications and learning approaches. Today's learners are active participants in their learning experiences and are shaping their own educational environments. Professors, learning practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers will find Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age invaluable for understanding the learning experience, and shaping their own response.

Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age: How Learners are Shaping their Own Experiences

This paper describes the implementation of an e-learning strategy at a single higher education institution in terms of the levers used to promote effective uptake and ensure sustainable embedding The focus of this work was at the level of the academic school using a range of change practices including the appointment of school-based learning technologists and e-learning champions, supporting schools to write their own strategies, a pedagogical framework of engaging with e-learning, and curriculum development and evaluation of school-supported projects It is clear that the implementation of the e-learning strategy has led to a large and increasing proportion of our students experiencing blended learning In addition, there are initial indications that this has enhanced some learning and teaching processes Where there has been sustainable embedding of effective e-learning, the following levers were identified as particularly important: flexibility in practices that allow schools to contextualise their plans for change, the facilitation of communities of key staff and creating opportunities for staff to voice and challenge their beliefs about e-learning DOI: 101080/09687760600668503

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Implementing a university e-learning strategy: levers for change within academic schools

In her foreword, Laurillard encourages us to build bridges between the technologies
we have at our disposal and the ambitions we have to transform post-compulsory
education. Throughout this book we argue that this can be achieved by a reconsideration of the pedagogical practices that underpin education. As learning contexts
are increasingly rich in electronic and mobile technologies, so research into 
e-learning has more to offer the mainstream of educational practice. The chapters
collected here offer a critical discussion of the issues surrounding the design, sharing
and reuse of learning activities, and offer tools that practitioners can apply to their
own concerns and contexts. The aim is to bring the insights of learning design into
the educational process, and to extend the repertoire of tools and techniques in
everyday use.

Rhona Sharpe

Papers

Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age : Designing for 21st Century Learning

The undergraduate experience of blended e-learning: a review of UK literature and practice

Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age: How Learners are Shaping their Own Experiences

Implementing a university e-learning strategy: levers for change within academic schools

An introduction to rethinking pedagogy for a digital age