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
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• statewide virtual colleges
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Oldies, Music Rights, and the Digital Age:(2005) Peter McDonald. Indeed, the industry looks to national sound archives to preserve our musical legacy unto perpetuity. And therein lies the rub. At almost every turn, the industry has stymied the legitimate efforts of recorded sound archives to provide digital preservation of and access to their vast collections of “oldies” (recordings from 1890 to the 1950s). Web Site | |
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On-line Learning at the University of London: Building on a Heritage:(2004) by Marianne Coleman. This paper outlines the long established tradition of distance learning at the University of London. It then focuses on one of the newer distance learning programs at the University, an Master's degree program in applied educational leadership and management which is being taught via the Institute of Education, University of London through a virtual learning environment. Web Site | |
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Once a Booming Market, Educational Software for the PC Takes a Nose Dive:(August 22, 2005) Matt Richtel for the New York Times. Web Site | |
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OnGuardOnline.gov: | |
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Online Biology Pre-Labs:(June 2003) Robert Wyatt describes biology concepts laboratory prelabs at Western Kentucky University, a series of interactive online lab exercises that prepare students using online simulations, animations, images, and videos. Syllabus Magazine, June 2003. Web Site | |
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Online Book-Sharing for the Blind Launched, Copyright Exemption Eliminates Napster-Like Issues:In the March 2002 issue of bookshare.org there is a great article by Michael Liedtke from the Associated Press on a new service for those who are blind or have a reading disability. Web Site | |
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Online Conservatory:The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Northeastern University created the Online Conservatory to provide an insider’s look at the orchestra. Includes four interactive programs based on a series of concerts given by the orchestra, “Beethoven Schoenberg Project – Year 1 and Year 2;” “Harbison, Stravinsky, Wurbinen, Brahms;” and, “Carter and Beethoven.” Visitors can hear excerpts from the score, and learn about the musical structure and compositional style of each work. Web site | |
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Online Coursepacks Through a Campus Bookstore: A Test Study:(June 2004) by James B. Tyler. The results of an experiment at California State University in which the Associated Student Bookstore provided electronic coursepacks for several classes to students. The study offers recommendations and discusses the subsequent decision to partner with XanEdu, a commercial coursepack provider. Web Site | |
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Online Courses Catch On in U.S. Colleges (the first of a two-part report): | |
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Online Education to Develop Complex Reasoning Skills in Organic Chemistry:(2000) by Patricia Shapley. In 1997 the administrators at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign moved to an online format to better serve the needs of students with disparate backgrounds and help them master the concepts and applications of advanced organic chemistry. The course includes online lectures with embedded problems, computer-graded quizzes, and online discussion sections. The format of the course increases flexibility for the students, increases interaction among students and between students and faculty, and improves student performance on examinations that require complex reasoning skills. Web Site | |
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Online Education: Learning and Teaching in Cyberspace:(2000) by Greg Kearsley. An introduction to, and overview of, learning and teaching in "cyberspace" (Wadsworth, $86.36) | |
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Online Educational Delivery Applications: A Web Tool for Comparative Analysis:(1999) by Bruce Landon, Douglas College, Canada. A site to help educators evaluate and select online delivery software. It focuses on: technical specifications, instructional design values, media capabilities, tools, ease of use, potential for collaboration and connectivity, contact information. Web Site | |
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Online Educators Balk at Proposal Requiring State Authorizations:(April 18, 2010) by Eric Kelderman, Chronicle of Higher Education . . . “For several years, the Higher Learning Commission has required all of its accredited members to be authorized to operate in all the states where they have students either in online or traditional courses, says Karen L. Solinski, the organization's vice president for legal and governmental affairs. And such a requirement may eventually apply to all accredited institutions under a rule being developed by the U.S. Department of Education.” . . . “Another problem is that even though accrediting agencies may require institutions to operate legally in a state, some states authorize an institution to operate in that state only if it has been approved by a federally recognized accreditor -- a circular scheme that undermines the usual system of checks and balances, the department says. The proposed rule seeks to solve both issues by requiring institutions to be authorized in some fashion by the state in order to provide a certain level of consumer protection. The proposed regulation was one of the issues left unresolved during the latest round of meetings of a panel convened by the department to re-examine 14 rules regarding eligibility for federal student aid.” (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2009/integrity-session3-issues.pdf) . . . “Traditional nonprofit colleges initially balked at the proposal, fearing an expansion of state regulations over how they operate. The department then made several changes to the regulation. Among them, it exempted public colleges and removed the requirement that states track the academic quality of institutions.” . . . Web site |
Online Educators Won't Have to Spy on Students, New Rules Say:But proposed federal regulations about implementing the law, worked out this May, would allow colleges to satisfy the mandate with techniques like secure log-ins and passwords or proctored examinations, according to people involved in the negotiations. Website | |
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Online Faculty Development and Storytelling: An Unlikely Solution to Improving Teacher Quality:Institutions of Higher Education are beginning to place a greater emphasis on quality teaching and student learning. However, few faculty receive any type of teacher training prior to entering the academy. As a result, faculty development is one likely solution to teacher quality issues. But faculty development is faced with serious shortcomings that impede its ability to improve teacher quality. This paper explores how moving faculty development online while at the same time incorporating the use of teacher stories could be a viable strategy to improve faculty development and teacher quality. Website | |
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Online Learning as a Strategic Asset, Volume I: A Resource for Campus Leaders:(August 2009) - APLU/Sloan Report - Strategic and Policy Plans - National Data and Statistics Web site |
Online Learning as a Strategic Asset, Volume II: The Paradox of Faculty Voices: Views and Experiences with Online Learning:(August 2009) - APLU/Sloan Report - Faculty Training and Education - Faculty Compensation and Support Web site |
Online Learning Grows More Popular: Improved Technology Has Made Online Classes More Attractive to More and More Students:(October 2007) by Tom Regan for the Christian Science Monitor. “With the spread of broadband technology and improved online teaching tools, students and teachers are finding online classes to be a more fluid and rewarding experience.” Web site | |
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Online Learning Teams: Indispensable Interaction:(2004) by Muhammad K. Betz. The author discusses helping instructors by promoting vibrant online learning teams and offers insights into the ways the University of Phoenix encourages interactivity, quality student work, and positive learning experiences. Web Site | |
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Online Learning, Upscale (and Scaled Up):by Doug Lederman, Sept. 12, 2008, Inside Higher Ed “Katzman [the founder of Princeton Review] is set to unveil a new endeavor, and its not-so-modest ambitions are simply these: to merge the best of what for-profit and high-end nonprofit higher education have to offer; to show academically exclusive colleges that they can succeed, and dramatically increase their “scale,” online; and, oh yes, to change the face of teacher education.” “In the coming years, Katzman and his new company, 2Tor, aim to become the online platform for some of the most successful graduate, professional and other programs at leading universities in the United States . Under this model, 2Tor will provide both the technological platform and the student services so that programs that are now highly selective (and often serve comparatively few students) can be delivered much more widely. Katzman, who foresees an investment of $15 million, from his own pocket and private investors, to finance the company, envisions creating such partnerships with one university’s M.B.A. program and, say, another’s psychology program. A high-prestige bachelor’s degree is in his sights, too.)” . . .Website | |
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Online Math Center at Whatcom Community College:The Scout Report writes that this site includes a “nice collection of math links that include helpful test-taking hints, online exercises, and resources for teachers looking to find new ways of exploring everything from geometry to measurement.” . . . “Some of the topics covered within this site include fractals, developmental math skills, pre-algebra, and applied math. After looking over these sites, visitors can also go to the "Teaching Math" section, which is designed specifically for teachers.” Web site | |
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Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning:- Online enrollments have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population, albeit at slower rates than for previous years. - Almost 3.5 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2006 term; a nearly 10 percent increase over the number reported the previous year. - The 9.7 percent growth rate for online enrollments far exceeds the 1.5 percent growth of the overall higher education student population. - Nearly 20 percent of all U.S. higher education students were taking at least one online course in the fall of 2006. Web site | |
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Online Professional Education: A Case Study of an MBA Program through its Transition to an Online Model:(2000) by Lynne Schrum and Angela Benson. Faculty administrators and students reflect on the first year of this pilot program in which a large corporation and southeastern university created a distance MBA program so employees could obtain a degree while they continued working. Web Site | |
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Online Self-Regulatory Learning Behaviors as a Mediator in the Relationship between Online Course Perceptions with Achievement:Positive perceptions of online course communication and collaboration have been associated with better academic outcomes, while self-regulatory learning behaviors have also been linked to academic achievement and other positive learning outcomes. In the current study, we examined whether self-regulatory learning behaviors may be considered as mediating the relationship between student perceptions of online course communication and collaboration with academic achievement as measured by grade point average (GPA). Results indicate that online self-regulatory learning behaviors, though not strongly associated with academic achievement in and of themselves, do mediate the positive relationship between student perceptions of online course communication and collaboration with academic achievement. Website | |
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Online Study Ups Workload for Instructors:” ‘The economic underpinning of a lot of online education is that it amounts to slave labor,’ said Martin Snyder, president of the American Association of University Professors, which is based in Washington, D.C. ‘Most of (those who teach online courses) are part-time professors who can’t get full-time work and are forced into taking a lot of part-time positions in order to try to make an equitable salary,’ Snyder said. “In addition to inadequate compensation, he said, it takes a large amount of time to teach and develop these courses. ‘My experience is that it takes much longer to both prepare and deliver an online class, and the biggest reason for that is that you find yourself repeating things that might be more efficient to say to a whole group of students,’ Snyder said. ‘And, if the teacher allows it to get out of hand, having the students e-mail constantly can be difficult, and you have to exercise an amount of control over that.’ “ The Chronicle of Higher Education referenced this interview in its article, “AAUP: Online Education Based on ‘Slave Labor’,” on April 22, 2009, http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3727/aaup-online-education-based-on-slave-labor?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en | |
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Online Testing Methods in Web Based Courses:This Web site provides teachers with different testing methods and related links. Web Site | |
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Online Writing as an Indicator of Student Performance:(2005) by Michael K. Barbour. "Based upon these findings, the researchers speculated that the public act of writing in a web-based discussion forum had a positive affect on student performance.” Web Site | |
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Online, ‘a Reason to Keep on Going’:“ ‘One of the greatest challenges or losses that we face as older adults, frankly, is not about our health, but it’s actually about our social network deteriorating on us, because our friends get sick, our spouse passes away, friends pass away, or we move,’ said Joseph F. Coughlin, director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ‘The new future of old age is about staying in society, staying in the workplace and staying very connected,’ he added. ‘And technology is going to be a very big part of that, because the new reality is, increasingly, a virtual reality. It provides a way to make new connections, new friends and new senses of purpose.’ “ “About one-third of people 75 and older live alone, according to a 2009 study from AARP. In response to the growing number of older Americans, the National Institute on Aging is awarding at least $10 million in grants for researchers who examine social neuroscience and its effect on aging. Online networks may offer older people “a place where they do feel empowered, because they can make these connections and they can talk to people without having to ask a friend or a family member for one more thing,” said Antonina Bambina, a sociologist at the University of Southern Indiana who wrote the book “Online Social Support” (Cambria, 2007).” . . . Website | |
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Open Archives Initiative:(2003) by Stephen Downes. Reduced library budgets and general frustration with the proprietary nature of academic publishing have prompted many educational institutions to consider developing their own digital archives of scholarly research. Stephen Downes profiles the Open Archives Initiative: an organization dedicated to the effective dissemination of academic content. Web Site | |
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Open Courses for Community Colleges:(April 28, 2010) by Steve Kolowich, Inside Higher Ed “President Obama’s original plan for community colleges included $500 million to create free online courses that individual institutions could then customize for their students. That money never materialized -- it was left out of the student aid legislation in last month’s health care bill. But a foundation-supported effort with similar goals is actually growing. The National Repository for Online Courses (NROC) was hoping for that government money to help expand its existing vault of free courses, says Gary Lopez, the repository's director. Still, with online education becoming mainstream and many community colleges experiencing enrollment booms beyond their physical capacity, NROC’s membership is on the rise. At the same time, the repository's reliance on membership fees calls into question how ‘free’ its courses actually are.” . . . “The repository, which initially bought its courses from the University of California’s vault of preparatory courses, is also beginning to invest in developing its own courses with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Responding to requests from its members, it is currently building a four-course developmental math sequence, which is designed to assess the abilities of students in real time, and adapt when certain skills need reinforcing -- a popular feature of some commercial e-learning programs aimed at a similar audience.” . . . “Individuals can sign into the HippoCampus and take the courses for free. But if an institution or system wants to deploy the repository’s content at scale, they have to pay an enrollment-based 'membership' fee, which can run from $3,000 to $50,000 per year (although the higher range generally applies to state education systems, not single institutions). If an institution or system wants to host the content on its own learning-management systems, it can cost more.” . . . Web site |