Here is an extensive list of resources on various aspects of distance learning.The best way to find information on these or any other topics is to conduct a search using the search tool below. You should also visit our site Journals, Links and Resources for more resources. Categories include:
• academic advising
• academic resources - business,
humanities, math, sciences,
social science
• accessibility issues
• accreditation
• best practices
• blended/hybrid learning
• broadband
• career and technical education
• case studies
• cheating and plagiarism
• computer software
• copyright and fair use
• corporate e-learning
• costs for distance learning
• course management
• the digital divide
• digital libraries and learning object repositories• effectiveness of e-learning
• e-books
• e-portfolios
• faculty compensation and support
• faculty training and education
• gaming and simulations
• Higher Education OpportunitiesAct (HEOA Authentication)
• instructional design
• intellectual property issues
• interactivity and teaching online
• K-12 technology
• marketing
• national data and statistics
• online student orientation
• open source
• quality assessment
• rural distance education• science labs/courses
• second life
• security
• social networking
• statewide virtual colleges
• strategic and policy plans
• student retention
• student services
• students and technology
• technologies
• testing and assessment
• Twitter
• videoconferencing/ITFS
• Web design
• Web tools
• wireless
• wikis
• women and the Web
Browse the glossary using this index
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A Balancing Act: Improving Student Online Discussion Participation: | |
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A Case Study Analysis of Factors that Influence Attrition Rates in Voluntary Online Training Programs:Abstract: This article examines utilization of online training courses in a Midwest-based landscaping company in the United States. The company had implemented online training to facilitate employee development for their 5,000 employees who were in locations throughout the United States. The courses had been in place for about a decade before the organization attempted to evaluate their effectiveness. In the 14-month process of collecting data to evaluate course effectiveness, researchers discovered that only 21% of employees who enrolled in online training during this time period actually completed the training. This finding surprised researchers and company management and motivated an investigation into the causes underlying this high rate of attrition. Attrition survey data revealed that attrition was not due to dissatisfaction with course design, technology, or content. Rather, lack of time available both at work and at home was the principal factor that contributed to course attrition. Additional contributing factors included course enrollment procedures, low employee motivation, and employee turnover. Recommendations for implementation of online training in organizational settings are offered. Website | |
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A Constructivist Approach to Online Training for Online Teachers: | |
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A Critical Examination of Blackboard’s e-Learning Environment:Blackboard’s e-learning system dominates the online learning software market. In this essay I critically examine the structure of Blackboard’s two online learning delivery systems, Blackboard 8.0 and Blackboard CE6. I identify ways in which the platforms both constrain and facilitate instructor–student and student–student interaction. I addition, I delineate features that sustain and challenge traditional power relationships in the classroom. I conclude with implications for online pedagogy and practical applications for instructors and students. Website | |
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A Cross Sectional Review of Theory and Research in Distance Education: | |
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A Design Framework for Electronic Cognitive Apprenticeship: | |
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A Faculty Evaluation Model for Online Instructors: Mentoring and Evaluation in the Online Classroom: | |
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A Framework for Design and Evaluation of Internet-Based Distance Learning Courses: | |
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A Framework for Operational Decision-Making in Course Development and Delivery:(2004) by Stella Porto. The author discusses factors that influence operational decision-making during curriculum and course development and delivery, how these factors integrate, findings in the literature and how they apply to the practical context. Porto provides a framework to support decision-making processes. Web Site | |
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A Framework for the “Entrepreneurial” Learner of the 21st Century:(2005) by Connie Reimers-Hild, James W. King, John E. Foster, Susan M. Fritz, Steven S. Waller and Daniel W. Wheeler. This paper presents a theoretical framework for examining the characteristics of successful distance learners through the lens of entrepreneurship. Web Site | |
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A Giant Leap and a Big Deal: Delivering on the Promise of Equal Access to Broadband for People with Disabilities:(April 2010) by Elizabeth Lyle, Federal Communications Commission [from the press release, “Today, the Federal Communications Commission issued the agency’s first-ever working paper addressing accessibility and technology issues. Part of a series of working papers released in conjunction with the National Broadband Plan, the paper considers the numerous barriers to broadband usage faced by people with disabilities, including inaccessible hardware, software, services, and web content and expensive specialized assistive technologies. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-297711A1.pdf ] “There are 54.4 million Americans who have disabilities, and 35 million Americans who have a severe disability.2 For those aged 15 and over, this includes 7.8 million who have difficulty seeing the words in ordinary newsprint; 7.8 million who have difficulty hearing a typical conversation; 2.5 million who have difficulty having their speech understood; 27.4 million who have lower body limitations; 19 million with upper body limitations; and 16.1 million with cognitive, mental, and emotional functioning disabilities.” (2005 US Census Report) . . . “This paper will first consider numerous barriers to broadband usage faced by people with disabilities, including inaccessible hardware, software, and services, and inaccessible web content. It will also identify barriers related to specialized assistive technologies that people with disabilities use to gain access to broadband services as well as barriers faced by specific populations within the disability community. Next, the paper will discuss existing private sector efforts to address these barriers, including the advances made by industry innovation and collaborative efforts. It examines how government grant programs and legal and regulatory measures address these barriers as well. “After identifying existing barriers and efforts, this paper next considers the gaps in current efforts to address accessibility for people with disabilities and the needs that must be met if we are to accelerate the adoption path for people with disabilities. Specifically, the government must • Improve implementation and enforcement of existing accessibility laws; • Gather and analyze more information about disability-specific broadband adoption issues; • Coordinate accessibility policy and spending priorities; • Update accessibility regulations; • Update subsidy programs and ensure the availability of training and support; and • Update its approach to accessibility problem solving.” “Finally, this paper reviews the three broad recommendations from the National Broadband Plan which seek to address the range of disability access concerns and discusses how the recommendations address the needs identified above. The recommendations include: (1) the creation of a Broadband Accessibility Working Group (‘BAWG’) within the Executive Branch; (2) the establishment of an Accessibility and Innovation Forum at the FCC; and (3) the modernization of accessibility laws, rules, and related subsidy programs by the FCC, the Department of Justice (‘DOJ’), and Congress.” Web site |
A Graying Population, a Graying Work Force:(April 24, 2010) by John Leland, New York Times . . . “In an aging population, the elderly are increasingly being taken care of by the elderly. Professional caregivers -- almost all of them women -- are one of the fastest-growing segments of the American work force, and also one of the grayest. A recent study by PHI National, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of caregivers, found that in 2008, 28 percent of home care aides were over age 55, compared with 18 percent of women in the overall work force.” “The organization projects that from 2008 to 2018, the number of direct care workers, which includes those in nursing homes, will grow to 4.3 million from 3.2 million. The percentage of older caregivers is projected to grow to 30 percent from 22 percent.” . . . See the study “Who are Health-care Workers” at http://www.directcareclearinghouse.org/download/PHI%20FactSheet3_singles.pdf Web site |
A House That’s Just Unreal:(August 2007) by Seth Kugel for The New York Times. “From the roof deck of Sherman Ochs’s Mexican-style villa atop a breezy bluff, the entire island of Jalisco, population about 20, spreads out below. It is a picturesque place of palm trees, lush lawns and near-cloudless skies. And, of course, there are the perfect sands around the lagoon, where residents grind their perfect bodies together in an N.C.L., or Naked Conga Line. It is not exactly real, of course: Mr. Ochs is Don Ainsworth, a 57-year-old retired music teacher who lives in Ventura, Calif., and Jalisco is a sim (for simulator), a plot of land in Second Life, the virtual world introduced in 2003 by Linden Lab, a San Francisco company.” Web site | |
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A Look at Online Orientations: | |
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A Model for Sustainable Student Retention: A Holistic Perspective on the Student Dropout Problem with Special Attention to e-Learning:(May 2004) by Zane L. Berge and Yi-Ping Huang. A customizable model of student retention that considers personal, circumstantial, and institutional factors. The model can provide guidance for institutional and students’ personal decision making. Web Site | |
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A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet:(2002) The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Economics and statistics Administration published this report, which is based on the September 2002 U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. The data analyzes the use of Internet, broadband, and computer connectivity of Americans. Web Site | |
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A New Addiction: Internet Junkies:Sept. 8, 2008, University of Montréal | |
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A New Kind of School:(2002) by Kathleen Vail. Subheadings for this five-page article include: how do you start, how are online schools funded, varieties of online schools, what about teachers and courses, questions for policy makers, what technology is required, asynchronous or synchronous, what about control and oversight, is that is? Web Site | |
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A Planning and Assessment Model for Developing Effective CMS Support:(2004) by Douglas F. Johnson. “In the face of rapid growth, support resources for the CMS [at the University of Florida] had not kept pace, remaining constant over the preceding five years. UF administration is now addressing that problem, and CMS support is undergoing reorganization and expansion. The critical task at this point is to ensure that UF develops a CMS support program that can effectively allocate responsibilities across tasks and hire staff who will bring to UF the knowledge and skills necessary to complement and extend existing resources.” Web Site | |
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A Preliminary Look at the Structural Differences of Higher Education Classroom Communities in Traditional and ALN Courses:(2002) by A. Alfred P. Rovai. The method, not the media, matters most in learning effectiveness. How does a sense of community differs between traditional face-to-face and online students? Web Site | |
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A Profile of Participation in Distance Education: 1999-2000:(2002) from the National Center for Education Statistics. An overview of distance education participation with respect to student demographic and academic characteristics and institutional types. Web Site | |
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A Proposal for Ozone Science Podcasting in a Middle Science Classroom:(April 2008) by Debra Piecka, Elaine Studnicki, and Michelle Zuckerman-Parker. The use of podcasting has grown exponentially. Research projects are racing to keep up with this growth to understand implications for learning and instruction. This project specifically attempts to understand if the use and development of podcasts by students for students influence learning in a 7th grade science classroom. Using a technology integration model, both science and computer teachers will collaboratively teach technical and content knowledge in using podcasting to understand the implications of the ozone layer on the environment. Assessment practices include qualitative practices through interviews and discussions with participants. Quantitative data will include a pre and postsurvey, curriculum content assessments, and podcast quality rubric assessment. Forecasted expectations are that podcasts will increase student motivation, technical skills sets, and content knowledge based on the opportunity for students to create authentic products of their understanding using podcasting in a collaborative learning environment. The implications of the study will demonstrate how podcasts can be successfully used in education for learning and instruction. Web site | |
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A Quality Assurance Framework for Recruiting, Training (and Retaining) Virtual Adjunct Faculty:(2006) Karin Sixl-Daniell, Jeremy B. Williams and Amy Wong. The paper commences with a brief summary of the literature on the quality assurance process in e-Learning in higher education. This is followed by an overview of the U21Global quality assurance framework. Web Site | |
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A Recommendation for Managing the Predicted Growth in College Enrollment at a Time of Adverse Economic Conditions:(2003) by Randolph Jones. The cost of higher education is increasing at a time when federal and state funding, revenues, and endowments are decreasing. This paper paper explores using distance education courses as a viable alternative to building classrooms and facilities. Web Site | |
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A Review of Creative Commons and Science Commons:(2005) Mia Garlick. The result of the clash between this misunderstanding about the scope of permitted use under intellectual property laws and the possibility of use enabled by digital technologies has been an increasingly polarized debate, most notably in the music field. Web Site | |
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A Setback for Google?:(May 6, 2010) by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed “In what might be a setback for Google’s effort to put to bed persistent privacy and security concerns among existing and potential higher education e-mail customers, the University of California at Davis has announced that it will not be adopting Gmail for its faculty and staff members due to ‘increased privacy risks that have come to light in recent weeks.’ ” “Outsourcing faculty and staff e-mail to Google might run afoul of the university’s electronic communications policy, said Peter Siegel, the CIO at Davis, and other campus technology officials, in a letter dated April 30. That policy forbids the university from disclosing electronic communications records “without the holder’s consent.” It also proscribes selling or distributing e-communications “that contain personally identifiable information about individuals” to a third party without permission from those individuals.” . . . “Among the 44 percent of colleges that have outsourced their student e-mail, about 70 percent use Google, according to data collected last year by the Campus Computing Project. Only 8 percent of institutions have outsourced faculty e-mail services, but 21 percent are currently considering it, according to the survey. Among larger universities, the percentage approaches a third. Keltner said Google’s share of that market is about the same -- although far fewer institutions have moved their employees on to third-party e-mail clients.” Web site |
A Singular Vision for a Disparate Future: Technology Adoption Patterns in Higher Learning Through 2035:(June, 2008) by Robert G. Henshaw, instructional applications consultant, UNC-Chapel Hill. Technology adoption in any sector is rarely uniform. Understanding the drivers and constraints associated with technology adoption makes it easier to anticipate how technology will be used and what populations will benefit the most. Robert G. Henshaw examines factors likely to influence technology adoption within U.S. higher education over the next 30 years and their impact on education providers and consumers. Progress, and the way progress is defined, will be uneven and will continue to reflect disparities across organizational cultures, socioeconomic demographics, and other variables. Technology will have the greatest impact on learning outside of classrooms and other formal educational constructs. Web site |
A Strategic Planning Process Model for Distance Education:“To have a strategy is to put your own intelligence, foresight, and will in charge instead of outside forces or disordered concerns” (Keller, 1983, p. 75)." Website | |
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A Ten Level Web Integration Continuum for Higher Education: New Resources, Partners, Courses and Markets:(1999) by C.J. Bonk, J. A. Cummings, N. Hara, R. B. Fischler and S. M. Lee. Instructors make decisions about class size, type of assessments, amount and type of feedback, location of students, and type of Web courseware system used. While some make minor adaptations to their teaching when they start using the Web, others take extensive risks in building entire courses or programs. The authors offer a detailed ten-level Web integration continuum of pedagogical choices faculty must consider when developing Web-based course components. Web Site | |
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A Virtual Tour of Virtual Schools:Kentucky Virtual High School, Illinois Virtual High School, Florida Virtual School, CCS Web Academy, The Virtual High School, Basehor-Linwood Virtual Charter School, Monte Vista Online Academy, COOLSchool Web Site | |
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