Showing papers on "Asynchronous learning published in 2009"

Questions of Culture in Distance Learning: A Research Review

Abstract: This paper reviews past research that focused on questions of culture in distance learning. Of specific interest are the studies that examined the influence of culture on students’ learning and engagement in asynchronous learning networks (ALNs). The purpose of this review is three-fold: to present the state of knowledge concerning the questions of culture in distance learning, to highlight important methodological issues that past research has left unresolved, and to provide practical insights into teaching culturally and linguistically diverse online communities of learners. For these purposes, 27 studies are examined and the findings are reported under the following categories: What do studies focusing on questions of culture in distance learning tell us? What implications do they suggest for practice and future research? Also, the paper provides methodological insights for researchers who wish to investigate the cultural dimensions of distance learning in future studies.

Distributed Teaching Presence and Participants' Activity Profiles: a theoretical approach to the structural analysis of Asynchronous Learning Networks†

Abstract: The rapid spread of learning networks based on asynchronous written communication — Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) — makes it crucial to assess the possibilities offered by these new environments to facilitate and promote learning processes and learning outcomes. Our interest in this area is specifically directed towards the study of distributed teaching presence understood as the exercise of educational influence, i.e. as the help provided to each other participant in an ALN to promote individual and collective learning. We adopt a multi-method approach that integrates the structural analysis of presence (access and participation) and connectivity (reciprocity and responsiveness) with the content analysis of the participants’ contributions. This article focuses on structural analysis as a relevant and powerful tool for the study of collaborative learning in networking and asynchronous contexts. Its main objective is to show how a relevant and useful system of indicators and profiles, which identify and examine the distribution of educational influence in ALNs, can be constructed. We present the theoretical assumptions surrounding the concept of distributed teaching presence and illustrate the analysis with data from two didactic sequences in higher education. The results show that the structural analysis, when theoretically grounded and oriented, is a powerful tool for identifying different activity profiles related to different levels and modalities of the exercise of educational influence and for assessing the distributed teaching presence in learning networks. Finally, we discuss the benefits and constraints of this kind of analysis.

The Role of Instructor Interactivity in Promoting Critical Thinking in Online and Face-to-Face Classrooms

Abstract: The current rise in online learning programs mandates that postsecondary faculty examine means of transferring successful, established critical thinking instructional strategies from the traditional classroom into the online environment. Theoretical arguments support, and even favor, the use of asynchronous learning technologies to promote students’ critical thinking skills. The purpose of the current study is to examine students’ application of critical thinking strategies when learning in a traditional, face-toface environment compared to an asynchronous, online classroom. Results indicate that the mode of instructional delivery (face-to-face or online) is not as influential as the instructor’s level of interactivity in promoting active engagement with course material. Findings suggest that the asynchronous component of online learning does not inherently prompt students toward enhanced critical thinking, but may serve as a vehicle for online instructors to encourage increased engagement and critical thinking.

Hiltz, S.R., & Goldman, R. (Eds.). (2005). Learning together online: Research on asynchronous learning networks

Abstract: This collection of essays emanated from a 2-day workshop on teaching in asynchronous learning networks (ALN) organized in 2002 by the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The workshop brought together American and Canadian academic researchers in ALN drawn from faculties of business, management, and information technology. It is for this reason that the focus of the collection is upon adult education rather than ALN applications in primary and secondary schools. The stated purpose of the collection is to provide a state-ofthe-art review of the ALN research literature. The review excludes the voluminous practitioners’ literature on the subject that the editors characterize as “unsupported vitriol and hyperbole”. This dismissive tone helps explain the emphasis in the collection upon educational theory rather than praxis. Another possible approach might have been to include in the review the practitioners’ literature with a view to discover the interests and concerns of teachers in an effort to shape research in a direction of interest to the teaching profession. Implementation of this approach might lessen the gap between educational research and classroom practice. The intended audience is quite broad and includes researchers, practitioners and students in the field of education. As a result, the collection is designed as a textbook on ALN and each of the review essays contains a summary, a set of review questions and an extensive bibliography. The first part of the collection deals with the theoretical framework for ALN. It includes essays on how to define ALN distinct from other forms of online learning. There is a description provided in another paper for an online interaction learning model. Another topic dealt with here is the effectiveness of ALN compared with traditional courses, and the section ends with two essays dealing with how to improve quantitative and qualitative ALN research. Of these papers the most important is the one dealing with the online interaction learning model. The model proposed involves a set of inputs: information technology, the student, the teacher and the course. These inputs are acted upon by learning processes to produce a set of outputs. The outputs generated deal with access, faculty satisfaction, Educ Inf Technol (2009) 14:103–104 DOI 10.1007/s10639-006-9023-3

Alternatives to the Conference Status Quo: Summary Recommendations from the 2008 CORD Academic Assembly Conference Alternatives Workgroup

Abstract: Objective: A panel of Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD) members was asked to examine and make recommendations regarding the existing Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) EM Program Requirements pertaining to educational conferences, identified best practices, and recommended revisions as appropriate. Methods: Using quasi-Delphi technique, 30 emergency medicine (EM) residency program directors and faculty examined existing requirements. Findings were presented to the CORD members attending the 2008 CORD Academic Assembly, and disseminated to the broader membership through the CORD e-mail list server. Results: The following four ACGME EM Program Requirements were examined, and recommendations made: 1 The 5 hours/week conference requirement: For fully accredited programs in good standing, outcomes should be driving how programs allocate and mandate educational time. Maintain the 5 hours/week conference requirement for new programs, programs with provisional accreditation, programs in difficult political environs, and those with short accreditation cycles. If the program requirements must retain a minimum hours/week reference, future requirements should take into account varying program lengths (3 versus 4 years). 2 The 70% attendance requirement: Develop a new requirement that allows programs more flexibility to customize according to local resources, individual residency needs, and individual resident needs. 3 The requirement for synchronous versus asynchronous learning: Synchronous and asynchronous learning activities have advantages and disadvantages. The ideal curriculum capitalizes on the strengths of each through a deliberate mixture of each. 4 Educationally justified innovations: Transition from process-based program requirements to outcomes-based requirements. Conclusions: The conference requirements that were logical and helpful years ago may not be logical or helpful now. Technologies available to educators have changed, the amount of material to cover has grown, and online on-demand education has grown even more. We believe that flexibility is needed to customize EM education to suit individual resident and individual program needs, to capitalize on regional and national resources when local resources are limited, to innovate, and to analyze and evaluate interventions with an eye toward outcomes.

On-line learning performance and computer anxiety measure for unemployed adult novices using a grey relation entropy method

Abstract: On-line learning is an asynchronous computer-based learning mode that allows learners to learn anytime and anywhere in their own environment using information and communication technology. It can be considered as a way to bridge the digital gap. How a computer novice performs in such virtual and asynchronous learning environments is an interesting issue in human-computer interaction research. This paper presents the results of a study to investigate on-line learning performance and computer anxiety for unemployed adult novices. In this study, we propose a novel idea that integrates the concept of Shannon entropy into a grey relational analysis model. The proposed method was used to measure human information behavior in relation to on-line learning performance and computer anxiety. A total of 115 unemployed adults voluntarily participated in the experimental study. All experimental subjects were divided into groups according to individual differences in gender, age ranges, educational levels, and learning performances. Taking advantage of the grey relation entropy operation, we derived the perceptive correlations among different classified groups in terms of the accessibility of on-line learning and computer anxiety scales, respectively. Through the empirical study, certain on-line learning characteristics were also identified.

Time Students Spend Reading Threaded Discussions in Online Graduate Courses Requiring Asynchronous Participation

Abstract: The authors report the results of a study that provides bases for comparison between the time necessary to participate in courses delivered asynchronously online and courses delivered in a traditional classroom setting. Weekly discussion threads from 21 sections of six courses offered as part of online, degree-granting, accredited, graduate programs were examined. The purpose of this research is to determine whether students are spending more or less time participating in an online course than in a traditional classroom. The discussion size (i.e., the number of words per discussion) was determined using the automatic word count function in MS Word. Once the word counts for each course section were determined, the average words per discussion were calculated. The authors used 180 words per minute to calculate the average reading time, based on the work of Ziefle (1998) and Carver (1985, 1990), in order to determine the average minutes per week a student spent reading the discussions. The study indicates that a typical, graduate-level, online, asynchronous discussion requires about one hour a week of reading time, and the time commitment for participatory activity is similar to that of traditional, face-to-face courses, given that it takes under two hours to compose initial messages and responses to the discussion prompt. Although these findings are informative, further research is recommended in the area of time spent on online course activities in terms of student hours earned to enable a direct focus on various student characteristics, such as English language competency and student level.

Effects Of Interaction On Students’ Perceived Learning Satisfaction In University Online Education: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract: This study examined the antecedents and outcomes of interaction in asynchronous online learning courses. The research model was tested by using a Partial Least Squares analysis on the survey data. A total of 397 valid unduplicated responses from students who have completed at least one online course at a university in the Midwest were used to examine the structural model. All hypotheses except one in this study were supported. We found that all three factors course structure, self-motivation, and learning styles influenced students’ interaction with the instructor and classmates. Further, there is a positive relationship between interaction and students’ satisfaction. This is in accordance with the findings of the extant literature on student satisfaction we have discussed. The structural model results also reveal that user satisfaction is a significant predictor of learning outcomes, but the model failed to support the relationship between interaction and the learning outcomes of e-learning classes in relation to face-to-face classes.

Style Matching or Ability Building? An Empirical Study on FD Learners' Learning in Well-Structured and Ill-Structured Asynchronous Online Learning Environments

Abstract: The present study investigated (1) the impact of cognitive styles on learner performance in well-structured and ill-structured learning, and (2) scaffolding as a cognitive tool to improve learners' cognitive abilities, especially field dependent (FD) learners' ability to thrive in an ill-structured learning environment. Two experiments were conducted with 116 college students recruited from a large research I university in the west of the United States. Experiment 1 (n = 42) employed the group learning strategy to match learners' cognitive styles in asynchronous online learning. The results showed that the style matching strategy failed to yield expected gains in ill-structured asynchronous learning for FD learners. Different from the style-matching strategy, experiment 2 (n = 74) used a scaffolding model proposed by Cazden (1988) to improve FD learners' cognitive abilities in asynchronous online learning. Results indicated that focusing on learners' cognitive abilities proved to be more effective than st...

Asynchronous learning sources in a high‐tech organization

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this study is to characterize learning from asynchronous sources among research and development (RD extent of source usage; employee satisfaction with these sources and the effect of the sources on the workplace.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 120 R&D employees of a high‐tech firm were administered questionnaires consisting of open‐ended and close‐ended questions regarding different features of asynchronous learning.Findings – The study finds that a synchronous sources are highly utilized by employees and are used both for general‐purpose learning and solving specific problems. Despite the high usage and satisfaction from these sources, we do not find evidence to support the creation of an expert community of practice.Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to a single, albeit large, firm. Possibly, in different organizational, cu...

Cousins Virtual Jane and Virtual Joe, extraordinary virtual helpers

Abstract: Higher education institutions deliver web-based learning with varied success. The success rate of distributed online courses remains low. Factors such as ineffective course facilitation and insufficient communication contribute to the unfulfilled promises of web-based learning. Students consequently feel unmotivated. Instructor control and in the courseroom further isolates students, whereas success rate increases when students unite in virtual communities. King (2002) increased student participation in his online classes by creating a virtual student, Joe, as a participating student and supplementary facilitator. This investigation responds to King's call for further directions on how a virtual helper enhances online facilitation. This inspired our investigation of how Virtual Jane might augment online facilitation. King's prediction, ''It seems that Joe Bags may have a family in the future,'' (p. 164) became a reality in a South African masters' web-based class on web-based learning.

Asynchronous Participatory Exams: Internet Innovation for Engaging Students

Abstract: The asynchronous learning networks participatory examination (APE) is a constructivist approach that fully engages students in the entire exam life cycle. Students design and solve exam questions while evaluating their peers' solutions using an anonymous, structured process enabled by Internet technologies. APE achieves higher-level learning by encouraging students to tap into all levels of cognitive skills. Compared to the traditional exam experiences in most classes, most students prefer APE, enjoy its process, and recommend its use. APE liberates both students and instructors by reengineering the examination process and deepening learning throughout.

Lifelong Learning in the 21st Century

Abstract: Learning in the 21st century no longer ends with K-12 and college preparation. Instead, for those adults who will succeed in negotiating the demands of the 21st century, it must continue across their lifetime. More than merely a focus on lifelong learning, however, this chapter illuminates the specific needs and skills of lifelong learning integrated with life and work in the 21st century. The discussion of modern skills includes scope, definitions, issues and trends, current and emerging practices, recommended strategies, and a glimpse of the future. The cornerstones of this discussion include approaches to learning such as lifelong learning, self-directed learning, 21st learning skills, information literacy, collaborative, situated, and problem based learning.

The research on architecture of intelligent E-learning system

Abstract: This paper discusses building the Integrated E-learning system an open, intelligent, and self-learning system. The system is composed of six modules: Synchronous learning module, Asynchronous learning module, Learning evaluation module, Information service module, Systemic service module, Resource management module. And the system based on data organization in data warehouse with self-learning as its primary goal. Data organization of the whole system is composed of three main parts: E-learning system resource database, model databases and knowledge bases and methods bases, Learning resource database. The characteristics, architecture and the data organizations based on data warehouse are explained in detail.

The Relationship between the Learning Styles of the Students and Their e-Learning Course Adaptability

Abstract: This study investigated learning styles of students who had or had not taken e-learning courses, developed a learning style questionnaire for e-learning courses, and examined the relationship between the learning style and the adaptability to e-learning courses. As the result, the student's adaptability of e-learning courses can be suggested before his/her taking an e-learning course. It was found that using the multiple regression model obtained in the study, about 40% of the adaptability to e-learning courses can be explained by the learning style questionnaire developed in the study.

Asynchronous Learning Forums for Business Acculturation.

Abstract: The use of [information technology] IT as a facilitator for student collaboration in higher business education has grown rapidly since 2000. Asynchronous discussion forums are used abundantly for collaborative training purposes and for teaching students business-relevant tools for their future careers. This article presents an analysis of the asynchronous discussion forum series that was used in an [Master of Business Administration] MBA Business Ethics class in France as a facilitator to bridge cultural differences for future lifelong learning. The objective of the forum series, to facilitate the acculturation of business soft skills through online discussion of experiential cases, leads to observations of adaptation rather than the convergence of intercultural soft skills between high and low context cultures.

Issues in Implementing Online Education in a Developing Country

Abstract: This article highlights the issues that may arise when implementing online education in a developing country. In 2005, Faculté des Sciences Infirmières (FSIL) opened in Leogane, Haiti. The mission of this school is to provide nursing professionals for the country of Haiti, especially the southern half of the country. This facility was built with funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is managed by the l’Université Episcopale d’Haïti. The school maintains a curricular format similar to that of baccalaureate nursing programs in the U.S. Haiti is in great need of health care professionals. In Haiti, there are 11 nurses per 100,000 population. In the U.S. this ratio is 770 per 100,000. Given that infant mortality is 10 times worse than that in the U.S. and that the lifespan is 15-20 years less, the need for qualified health care professionals is overwhelming. Even though the income of FSIL is 1/3 what is actually needed, the school has managed to keep enrolling students and maintaining the facility. They have also managed to maintain a computer lab with 13 computers and a stable satellite Internet connection. The author visited the campus in July of 2007. The purpose of this initial visit was to evaluate the information technology structure and the capabilities of the staff and students to determine what if any connections could be made between American nursing programs and FSIL. A SWOT analysis was conducted to assess internal strengths and weaknesses for FSIL as well as external Opportunities and Threats related to using E-learning to enhance FSIL.

Assessing the Quality of Online Peer Feedback in L2 Writing

Abstract: This chapter reports on an instrument that was developed to formatively assess the quality of feedback that second language students give to one another in an online, anonymous, asynchronous learning environment. The Online Peer Feedback (OPF) Assessment was originally developed for a peer online writing center in Japan where student peer advisors jointly compose feedback for a client-writer. The OPF Assessment is composed of two rubrics: (1) a rubric that evaluates the initial feedback drafted by a peer advisor, and (2) a rubric that assesses the contribution that individual peer advisors make to the interactive process of constructing the final feedback for their client-writer. The chapter describes the assessment and discusses its potential uses in a variety of contexts as a formative tool to improve the quality of peer feedback and, ultimately, the writing proficiency of both givers and receivers of the feedback.

Labeled Postings for Asynchronous Interaction

Abstract: The internet promotes computer-mediated communications, and asynchronous learning network systems permit more flexibility in time, space, and interaction than the synchronous mode of learning. The key point of asynchronous learning is the materials for web-aided teaching and the flow of knowledge. This research focuses on improving online interaction by using labeled postings embedded in the e-Forum discussion tool developed for this research. Subjects for the study were students who enrolled in the “Drug and nutrient inter action” course using the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach. Students’ online discussion data were gathered during the academic years of 2004 and 2006. Data from the study reveal that the design of labels for postings promoted interactive responses among learners, and the frequency of personal discussion increased. Self-improvement and the development of new subjects from discussion forums were also observed among learners.

Online Learning Community

Abstract: The study and implementation of online learning communities emerges from two approaches related to the idea of “community.” The first approach was how people began to think about learning community, but not restricted to online settings. Learning community incorporates the idea of a cohesive, collaborative culture among members with the purpose of supporting individual learning by facilitating shared knowledge creation. The idea of a learning community, and its importance for improving learning, pre-dated most online learning, and the focus was on building communities to support learning regardless of setting. The second approach was that people began to inquire whether it was possible to build community online, but not for purposes restricted to learning. The idea that true community was possible via computer-mediated communication (CMC) was, and still is, contentious. However, as the years have passed since this question first emerged, the idea that community can be formed online has been increasingly accepted. These two related trajectories bring us to where we are today with respect to online learning community. As the first graphical web browsers facilitated hypertext and graphical access to the Internet, and more people started using the web for a variety of interpersonal and learning activities, online community and online learning became more common. Not unexpectedly, educators and researchers soon began to wonder if it was possible to create online learning communities.

A Hybrid Style of E-learning in MBA Education Blending of synchronous/asynchronous learning and cross- cultural education for an international group of students

Abstract: This paper outlines a real-life example of a course taught jointly by the MBA-IB program at the University of Tsukuba in Tokyo, Japan and the Master in Management program (ESC) at the Grenoble Ecole de Management in Grenoble, France using a hybrid style of e-learning that was aimed at increasing communication and collaboration among instructors and students. The qualitative analysis of this experience found that the variables that most significantly affected the development and outcome of the course were the unique goals, resources and student profiles of each university, the blending of synchronous and asynchronous instruction, the exchange of instructors to promote face-to-face instruction, and the use of a didactic and experiential approach to cross-cultural learning.

Utilization of Distance Education in Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Education

Abstract: Distance learning opportunities have rapidly burgeoned in educational environments across disciplines. The result of its growing use has been felt by the career and technical education (CTE) teacher education community. This chapter examines the literature and implications regarding the implementation of distance education in the delivery of CTE teacher preparation programs, along with the issues and challenges it brings. First, a brief historical account of distance education in institutes of higher education is provided. Secondly, a review of the research on distance education’s presence in (CTE) programs is discussed. Thirdly, future trends are articulated for CTE teacher educators, CTE teacher candidates, and CTE researchers.

iPASS Project: An Online Tutoring System

Abstract: One of the major challenges faced by the Campus Writing Center at Queensborough Community College ( QCC), a member institution of the City University of New York (CUNY), has always been finding effective strategies for supporting remedial writing students. Since many of its tutees are part-time students and/or students whose first language is not English, the Campus Writing Center needed a way to provide more flexible meeting times and access to services outside of the Center's usual operating hours. An online tutoring system was one obvious way to meet these needs, and this option offered the additional benefit of providing a central location in which students could store and track multiple revisions of their work, access reference materials, exhibit creative work with their peers, and collaborate with others. However, we knew online tutoring would present its own challenges, as any system would have, in accommodating students with a variety of learning styles and needs. While tutors had already found strategies for dealing with this challenge in face-to-face tutoring, we were mindful of the need to adjust these strategies in order to accommodate remote and asynchronous learning.

Redesigning E-learning Development in Indonesia

Abstract: E-learning is one of many delivery methods in teaching-learning. E-learning can be used as synchronous learning or asynchronous learning. In Indonesia e-learning development has been around for 10 years but there have been no indications of satisfactory results. This is shown from the rank of e-learning readiness on Indonesia, 52nd of 60 countries in 2003 and 60th of 60 countries in 2005. The questions to be raised are: what factors hindered the implementation of e-learning in Indonesia and what factors should be considered in e-learning development? For a reference to this study, the following factors were considered: resources, education and environment. Resources include technology availability (hardware and software), technological readiness, teachers' and students' capability (human resources), and funding availability (economic readiness). The educational aspect includes learning content availability (content readiness) and availability of regulation in e-learning and digital pedagogy standardisation (educational readiness). The environment aspect includes recognition and appreciation of the superior (leadership readiness) and cultural readiness as represented by the fact that e-learning should be part of everyday working activities and [an] organisation should provide an environment that encourages people to use the technology. Empirical and literature studies show that educational and environmental factors represent the main hindrance in developing e-learning in Indonesia. Therefore, e-learning development in Indonesia should be redesigned, not only by considering resources factors, but also by integrating both factors, educational and environmental, in a convergent way.

Cognitive ecology and social learning inspired machine learning: with particular reference to the evolving of resilient Airborne Networks (AN)

Abstract: This paper tries to bring together three seemingly only remotely related fields: animal cognition in biology, machine learning in computer science, and the planning and deployment of resilient Airborne Networks. The underlying motivation is that the latest advances in animal behavior ecology such as social learning, innovation, and cognitive ecology may offer some meaningful insights for computational intelligence such as machine learning. Motivated by this expectation, I first review some of the latest advances in the field of animal cognition, with focusing on social learning, teaching, innovation and cognitive ecology. The justification for this focus is not only because they are interesting and are among the most actively studied topics in behavior biology, but also because the existing machine learning research, which from time to time takes cues from cognitive science, seems to only incorporate the traditional learning theory such as associative learning and reinforcement learning. After a briefly review of the major advances in animal learning and cognitive ecology, I look into the possibility to incorporate the principles and mechanisms from social learning and cognitive ecology into a typical machine learning architecture. By examining the Gadanho's (2001, 2003) ALEC (Asynchronous Learning by Emotion and Cognition) architecture, I propose to add a high layer to the ALEC architecture, and the resulting CEML (Cognitive Ecology and social learning inspired Machine Learning) offers a framework that uses a population of agents and can readily consider social learning, teaching, and innovation as well as the influences of environment in a comprehensive manner. Finally, I consider the problem of planning and deployment of Airborne Networks (AN) and suggests that the new CEML should be ideal for tackling the AN problem.

Trends and Lessons from the History of Contemporary Distance Learning

Abstract: This chapter provides an overview of the history of the rapidly changing field of distance learning with a focus on trends and lessons for contemporary developments. Beginning with central concepts of distance learning, the chapter traverses the span of developments and technologies on a high level. At a time when it is no longer a matter of whether learners should engage in distance learning, but when, it is vital to address selected issues, controversies, and problems facing the field. The chapter presents topics of solutions, recommendations and future trends, problem based learning, delivery models, and assessment.

Adopting podcast technology for asynchronous learning in the EFL context

Abstract: This study aims to shed light on the potentials of podcast as a new technology for learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) by investigating its applicability and effectiveness as a tool for EFL students. A research framework was formulated by incorporating variables adapted from innovation diffusion theory and additional important variables including interaction and information literacy. The framework and four hypotheses were empirically tested by a survey on EFL students. Our research findings may be referenced by EFL students, educators and decision makers for the purpose of making favourable tactics to catch the revolutionary benefits offered by podcast.

Distance Learning and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Abstract: Distance learning and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) are both ancient, yet both are new. Distance learning is now associated with online learning using digital technologies, but it goes back to learning by rudimentary means of correspondence between someone with something to teach and those with a desire or need to learn. Oral stories and traditions preserved and passed on the teaching of individuals and cultures. With the development of writing, epistles, letters, scrolls, then books became the favored medium. In the late modern age, correspondence courses used overland mail delivery for those exchanges, but that was replaced with audio (telephone, audio tapes) and video (television, video tapes) means. The common thread for all those centuries of such distance learning is that the process tended to see learning as transmission of information and knowledge from a knower to relatively passive receivers (students). The best teachers at any time in history have always been scholars of teaching. They have known that people learn best when most involved in the inquiry, when most able to question, analyze, interpret, evaluate, reflect, reconceive or reimagine, and communicate. These great teachers studied their students as their students studied what was being taught, and adjusted their teaching based upon what the students were actually learning; able to do with that learning. Not content with having students merely accumulate information or knowledge, these teachers created a continuous learning-loop of knowledge, experience, experimentation and application, assessment , reflection, revision, and new knowledge. These teachers were Socratic constructivists in practice, if not in name. What is new is that now distance learning almost exclusively means online learning, where teachers and students can be anywhere and the learning process can occur synchronously and, largely, asynchronously. The digital age is transforming not only distance learning, but learning itself. As Milliron says, “In today’s higher education world, asynchronous learning is the power tool. Moreover, the associated techniques for using asynchronous learning to support in-class and online instruction are bringing learning to life in new and exciting ways” (2004), digital technologies plus cognitive and learning theories make for unanticipated opportunities for the educational process. Yet with the expansive, if uneven, growth of distance learning, there has not been sufficient attention given to its processes and outcomes by those doing the scholarship of teaching and learning, or SoTL (Hake, 2007), not including examples like Buchanan (2001), Garner et al. (2005), and Hostetter & Busch (2006). Concurrent with the ongoing effort, spearheaded by Ernest Boyer in the 1990s, to recognize various forms of scholarship as valid, including the scholarship of teaching (Boyer, 1990), is the application of SoTL to all forms of academic teaching and learning, including distance learning.