Neither an academic tome nor a prescriptive 'how to' guide, "The Theory and Practice of Online Learning" is an illuminating collection of essays by practitioners and scholars active in the complex field of distance education.Distance education has evolved significantly in its 150 years of existence. For most of this time, it was an individual pursuit defined by infrequent postal communication. But recently, three more developmental generations have emerged, supported by television and radio, teleconferencing, and computer conferencing. The early 21st century has produced a fifth generation, based on autonomous agents and intelligent, database-assisted learning, that has been referred to as Web 2.0.The second edition of "The Theory and Practice of Online Learning" features updates in each chapter, plus four new chapters on current distance education issues such as connectivism and social software innovations.

The Theory and Practice of Online Learning

Schooling in Capitalist America.

Beyond Freedom and Dignity

This is a high impact journal published by Annual Reviews, Inc., a nonprofit scientific publisher established in 1929 to promote the advancement of the sciences through critical reviews. Covering all areas of psychology research and practice, the Annual Review of Psychology is planned by a rotating committee of eight distinguished psychologists who invite qualified authors to contribute reviews of significant developments in the discipline.

Annual Review of Psychology

This article looks at factors affecting the success of asynchronous online learning both through a review of the research literature and through an empirical investigation of student perceptions and course design factors in one of the largest asynchronous learning networks in the country. It finds that three such factors—consistency in course design, contact with course instructors, and active discussion—have been consistently shown to significantly influence the success of online courses. It is posited that the reason for these findings relates to the importance of building knowledge building communities in asynchronous online learning environments.

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Building Knowledge Building Communities: Consistency, Contact and Communication in the Virtual Classroom

Advocates have difficulty convincing colleagues Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a worthwhile use of time and resources. This article highlights problems impeding SoTL. First, scholarship of teaching gets used as a synonym for other activities. Second, Boyer’s definition was conceptually confused. Third, SoTL is difficult to operationalize. Fourth, much discourse concerning SoTL is anti‐intellectual and located in a narrow neoliberalism. Fifth, there is uncritical over‐reliance on peer review as the mechanism for measuring scholarship. Each impediment makes SoTL a hard sell – particularly in research‐intensive universities. Taken together, they constitute a formidable problem for SoTL advocates and contain incendiary implications for promotion candidates and committees.

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Why is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning such a hard sell

Continuing a line of motivational research that flows from Houle's three factor typology, a model which describes adult edu cation participants as life-chance (deficiency) or life-space (growth) or...

Motivational Orientations Re-Visited: Life-Space Motives and the Education Participation Scale

The Education Participation Scale (EPS) (A-form) measures motivational orientations and consists of seven 6-item factors comprised of items inductively derived from adult education participants. The final 42 items were those that survived processes designed to examine the reliability and construct validity of the scale. To investigate concurrent validity, EPS (A-form) scores were correlated with EPS (F-form) scores. Predictive validity was examined by relating interview data and "estimates" to actual EPS scores. Responses from 845 subjects living in North America and Asia were entered into discriminant function equations where the combined EPS (A-form) scores successfully classified 60% of respondents into their gender, 25% into their age, and 65% into their ethnic groups. Coefricient alphas ranged from .76 to .91; the mean scale test/retest coefficient was .65. The EPS (A-form) appears to be psychometrically sound and the author suggests that the F-form now be retired.

Psychometric Properties of the Alternative Form of the Education Participation Scale

Web courses are constructed as the answer to fiscal crises evoked by neo‐liberal restructuring. They are also touted as an anarchist exemplar of ‘de‐schooling’ as envisaged by Ivan IIlich. The trouble is, some courses are vastly under‐dressed and merely attempt to display a face‐to‐face course on‐line. At the other extreme are those laced with links, animation and more than enough glitter and glam to make Liberace wince. In this study the authors employed a 43‐item coding schedule to examine the accessibility, opportunities for interaction and attractiveness of 127 courses on the web. Interrelationships between the 43 variables and issues pertaining to accessibility, interaction and attractiveness were identified with the aid of SPSS. Exemplary web courses were then distinguished from mediocre web courses. In our view, Madonna exemplifies qualities that should be incorporated into web courses. After examining 127 sites the Madonna award for the ‘best‐dressed’ site went to a University of Wisconsin History...

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leslie_Sadownik/publication/240534162_Best_and_worst_dressed_web_courses_Strutting_into_the_21st_century_in_comfort_and_style/links/56037ad408ae4accfbb8ae56.pdf

Best and worst dressed web courses: Strutting into the 21st century in comfort and style

The methodology employed in fourteen motivational orienta tion studies is reviewed. All studies used either the Education Participation Scale, the Continuing Learning Orientation Index or the Reaso...

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Roger Boshier

Papers

Why is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning such a hard sell

Motivational Orientations Re-Visited: Life-Space Motives and the Education Participation Scale

Psychometric Properties of the Alternative Form of the Education Participation Scale

Best and worst dressed web courses: Strutting into the 21st century in comfort and style

Factor Analysts At Large: a Critical Review of the Motivational Orientation Literature