Distance learning is becoming increasingly prevalent in educational settings around the world as it provides more flexibility and access to classes for students and educators alike. While online classrooms are proving to be popular, there is a significant gap in the personalization and humanization of these courses. The Handbook of Research on Humanizing the Distance Learning Experience features empirical research on promoting the personalization of online learning courses through presence, emotionality, and interactivity within digital classrooms. Highlighting best practices and evaluating student perceptions on distance learning, this handbook will appeal to researchers, educators, course designers, professionals, and administrators.

The number of English language students in American schools has dramatically increased in recent years, creating a greater awareness of cross-cultural issues and considerations in education. Globalization as well as an increase in international exchange student programs has proven that pre-service teachers can benefit from traveling abroad and working with students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Advancing Teacher Education and Curriculum Development through Study Abroad Programs is an authoritative reference source for the latest scholarly research on the value of travel abroad programs for pre-service educators, addressing the benefits and opportunities available when teachers gain cultural awareness and a better global understanding. Highlighting theoretical foundations, curriculum innovations, and specific challenges to overcome in the implementation of such programs, this book is an essential reference source for school administrators, university professors, curriculum developers, and researchers in higher education.

The major challenges facing higher education are often framed in terms of preparing students for life-long learning. Society's 21st century needs require civic-minded individuals who have the intellectual and personal capabilities to constructively engage political, ethnic, and religious differences, work effectively, and live together with many different kinds of people in a more global society. In this volume, Robert J. Thompson aims to influence the current conversation about the purposes and practices of higher education. Beyond Reason and Tolerance adopts a developmental science basis to inform the transformations in undergraduate educational practices that are necessary to empower students to act globally and constructively engage difference. It synthesizes current scholarship regarding the nature and development of three core capacities deemed essential: A personal epistemology that reflects a sophisticated understanding of knowledge, beliefs, and ways of thinking; empathy and the capacity to understand the mental states of others; and an integrated identity that includes values, commitments, and a sense of agency for civic and social responsibility. Beyond Reason and Tolerance argues that to foster the development of these capabilities, colleges and universities must recommit to providing a formative liberal education and adopt a developmental model of undergraduate education as a process of intellectual and personal growth, involving empathy as well as reasoning, values as well as knowledge, and identity as well as competencies. Thompson focuses on emerging adulthood as an especially dynamic time of reorganization and development of the brain that both influences, and is influenced by, the undergraduate experience. Advances in our understanding of human development and learning are synthesized with regard to the direct implications for undergraduate education practices.

Once considered the traditional approach to education, brick and mortar institutions are no longer the norm due to e-learning technologies. Populations are turning into ubiquitous human beings, and educational practices are reflecting this change. E-Learning 2.0 Technologies and Web Applications in Higher Education compiles the latest empirical research findings in the area of e-learning and knowledge management technologies assessment. Highlighting specific comparisons and practices of e-m-learning and knowledge management technologies, this book is an essential guide for professionals and academics who want to improve their understanding of the strategic role of e-learning at different levels of the information and knowledge society.

Nonviolent environments are desirable in many areas of life, yet none are as essential as within our educational institutions. Providing a safe space for students has become a critical concern in modern society. Violence Prevention and Safety Promotion in Higher Education Settings is a vital resource that examines the current sources of violence within educational systems, and it offers solutions on how to provide a safer space for both students and educators alike. Highlighting pertinent areas of interest including technological violence, academic regulations, nonviolent communication, and gender discrimination, this reference publication is ideal for academicians, future educators, students, and researchers interested in recent advancements that aid in providing secure, safe educational environments for everyone.

Members of today s online educational settings are often isolated which can prohibit the sharing of ideas and best practices among individuals working and learning as a collective group. Promoting collaboration across various disciplines and departments fosters professional development activities, as well as creates strong connections to the entire online community. Building Online Communities in Higher Education Institutions: Creating Collaborative Experience cultivates knowledge on topics pertaining to the improvement of communication and collaboration in online learning communities. Advancing the current scope of research in this field, this book is designed for use by faculty, students, researchers, practitioners, and college administrators interested in strengthening communication and collaboration in virtual settings."

It is not enough for an instructor to merely present facts to their students; the presentation of information must be made accessible and understandable in the context of the student. As communication technologies become more widely available, traditional educational institutions are no longer the only source of information. What is now necessary is to reconsider what makes for meaningful education and apply those practices to digital natives. Revolutionizing Modern Education through Meaningful E-Learning Implementation evaluates the means by which online education can be improved and systematically integrated more fluidly into traditional learning settings, with special focus on the ethical, pedagogical, and design aspects of building online courses. This publication aims to elucidate the rewards and follies of online education for educators, administrators, programmers, designers, and students of education.

Professional development of educators is an complex process through which teachers strive continuously for pedagogical improvement. In that sense, professional growth benefits learners and teachers while also promoting the quality of the schools, colleges, and academic departments where it takes place. Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education is an authoritative publication featuring the latest scholarly research on a wide range of professional advancement topics in STEM education with special emphasis on content, process, implementation, and impact, as well as on the implications for teachers, educators, and administrators. Highlighting comprehensive research across a broad scope of relevant issues including, but not limited to, teacher training, development models, and the implementation of leadership practices, this book is a seminal reference source for STEM professionals working in schools, colleges, and various science and mathematics departments at secondary and post-secondary institutions.

New innovations of online learning within blended environments create a need within academia for research on best practices in teaching. ""Effective Blended Learning Practices: Evidence-Based Perspectives in ICT-Facilitated Education"" provides insight into the practice of blended learning in higher education. This unique book collects new international research into many aspects of blended learning from the perspectives of learners, teachers, designers, and professional and academic developers in various disciplines, learning communities, and universities from around the world.