As emerging technologies drive innovation, educators and administrators have an array of resources at their disposal. Thank to outstanding developments in technology which have greatly improved the delivery of distance education course delivery, the number of students and educators taking part in online education has grown exponentially. Cases on Distance Delivery and Learning Outcomes: Emerging Trends and Programs provides a firm foundation of best practices for distance course delivery and learning outcomes in order to discuss the rapid developments in online education technologies. The cases presented in this reference publication detail best and emerging practices of distance education, issues that develop as distance education grows, and an international perspective on distance education. Discussing such topics as cost and design strategies of distance course design, communication and dealing with student conduct in distance courses, developing distance programs to meet student needs and how to manage the growth of these programs, as well as the use of new technology tools in distance courses, this essential reference publication provides professional developments through a case book for distance education practitioners, administrators, librarians, and students.

In recent years, distance education programs have grown to allow greater educational opportunities to a diverse set of learners from all over the world. As remote learning becomes a widespread practice, universities too must adapt to this changing educational landscape. Critical Examinations of Distance Education Transformation across Disciplines provides an interdisciplinary look at the development of distance learning in higher education. This reference work bridges the gap between disciplines by offering practical tools and solutions for successful distance education implementation. Educators, administrators, and researchers across academia will find this publication a timely and relevant resource.

This work discusses issues relating to distance education and distributed learning. There are essays covering: rethinking assessment for the online environment; the role of collaborative learning in social and intellectual development; and the embodiment of knowledge in virtual environments.

Service-learning is an exciting pedagogy and field of study, offering insight into how academic study and community engagement blend to create social change. In its most traditional conceptualization, servicelearning activities typically manifest within communities where outside individuals address a need. Servicelearning is purported to have a transforming effect on individual student perspectives by providing students the opportunity to interact with people and enter into situations that allow students to test their predisposition towards others. However, the literature on the impact of service-learning on participants' acceptance of diversity and development of open-mindedness reports mixed outcomes. The purpose of this book is to explore cultural tensions and dynamics within the field of service-learning. It is not meant to be an exhaustive review of the interplay between culture and service learning, but rather a starting point for an ongoing conversation about how this complex topic impacts the field. In 18 chapters, educators, students, and administrators investigate the cultural values of servicelearning itself and the tensions created when this is at odds with the values of others within K-12 and higher education in the United States and abroad. Authors include community organization representatives, researchers, directors of offices of community engagement, university administrators, junior and senior faculty, and former service-learning undergraduate students. Submissions reflect a range of genres, including theoretical/conceptual pieces, position papers, case studies, and other traditional academic essays, challenging how students and community members are affected by the cultural tensions within service-learning engagement.

Information and communication technologies play a crucial role in a number of modern industries. Among these, education has perhaps seen the greatest increases in efficiency and availability through Internet-based technologies. E-Learning as a Socio-Cultural System: A Multidimensional Analysis provides readers with a critical examination of the theories, models, and best practices in online education from a social perspective, evaluating blended, distance, and mobile learning systems with a focus on the interactions of their practitioners. Within the pages of this volume, teachers, students, administrators, policy makers, and IT professionals will all find valuable advice and enriching personal experiences in the field of online education.

Despite the considerable, growing interest in online education, most studies have focused only on the students' perspective. Merely a handful of studies have attempted to address the teachers' perspectives and little has been published on the online teaching experience itself. Expectations and Demands in Online Teaching: Practical Experiences offers a better understanding of how teachers experience the online environment by exploring various dimensions of online teaching, including class preparation, process effectiveness and quality, and technology utilization. The book assists educational institution administrators supporting online education improve their understanding of how teachers experience online teaching, and of the issues these teachers face in their teaching.

Distinctive Distance Learning Education Design: Models for Differentiated Instruction attempts to gather the traditional models of teaching and learning and present them in a way that is useful to both new and experienced online teachers in a manner that can assist in increasing the overall effectiveness of online courses and training sessions and provide a greater impact for both the teacher and the learner.

As an exchange student, you receive the opportunity to venture into another culture and see it through your own eyes. By living with a host family and attending a secondary school, you become part of the local community, you learn the language, and you experience a new culture from the inside out. Even so, an exchange year is not one long holiday. It can be tough, and it may take time to adjust to the new culture and find new friends. In The Exchange Student Guidebook, author Olav Schewe presents a practical handbook to prepare you for life as an exchange student and help you tackle common challenges. It provides useful advice regardless of your destination country, but also contains a special section for students destined for the United States. In plain English and from a student's perspective, it gives you the information you need to make your experience successful and memorable. Schewe considers understanding the basics of student exchange; evaluating reasons for going; choosing a destination country and exchange organization; living in a foreign culture; staying with a host family; finding new friends; and dealing with homesickness and other challenges. Filled with practical advice and tips, The Exchange Student Guidebook provides you with a foundation for enjoying a year abroad.

Home schooling is an important and growing American phenomenon with only our first edition in the field. This new 2nd edition will appeal to the home school world, people interested in American education, and the private school community. Changes in the educational environment in the US over the last ten years have prompted growing numbers of parents to withdraw their children from public education. Currently, four percent of school-age children in the United States are home schooled. An array of educational researchers present various legal, philosophical, and personal perspectives to this new volume. Changes in schooling and home schooling in Great Britain bring an interesting international perspective to this collection of research-based information.

Distance education technology combines communication with educational and intelligent methods to develop software and hardware systems that support learning activities with spatiotemporal flexibilities. ""Future Directions in Distance Learning and Communication Technologies"" presents theoretical studies and practical solutions for engineers, educational professionals, and graduate students in the research areas of e-learning, distance education, and instructional design. This book provides readers with cutting-edge solutions and research directions pertinent to these evolving fields.

This book aims at discussing the development of MOOCs in China in relation to MOOCs in other countries or areas. Based on the history of MOOCs, we summarize and compare the development of MOOCs in China and other countries with empirical evidence from a comprehensive investigation about MOOCs in Asian, United States, and Europe. Then we discuss about the importance of MOOCs in China and its role in the reform of higher education system, and the model of teaching and learning in China. After all, we provide suggestions about how to improve MOOCs at the national, institutional, and individual level. In this book, we analyse and present the current construction and development of MOOCs in China from four dimensions including platforms, courses, learners, colleges and universities based on huge empirical evidence from a comprehensive investigation of 14 platforms, 42 universities, 1388 MOOCs, and 22895 learners. Our investigation mainly focused on seven topics: platform construction and operation, learner groups, curriculum organization form, teaching interaction, learning evaluation model, learning support service, and courses certification and academic score system. Based on the investigation, we found there is an emerging trend of collaboration among government, universities and enterprise in the development of MOOCs in China, which provides great opportunities to build an innovative educational service system for all kinds of learners. We also discuss our findings in relation to the corresponding development of MOOCs in United States, Europe and other regions and then focus on the unique challenges that China faces, such as the lack of deep learning in MOOCs, the low information literacy and self-regulated learning abilities of MOOC learners, the lack of individualized support for MOOC learners, and so on. At last, this book summarizes the overall development of MOOCs in China and other countries and then put forward the future trends and suggestions in this field.

Distance Learning and University Effectiveness: Changing Educational Paradigms for Online Learning addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with information and communication technologies (ICTs) as related to education. From discussing new and innovative educational paradigms and learning models resulting from ICTs to addressing future student needs and international issues, this book provides comprehensive coverage of the paradigm, teaching, technology and other changes that may be required of universities to remain in the new competitive marketplace of online learning.

Recently, there has been an increased understanding that learning occurs outside of the traditional classroom setting, particularly for adult lifelong learners. This perspective has enhanced an attentive design in the underlying technological architecture that is required for the integration of formal and informal learning environments. Synergic Integration of Formal and Informal E-Learning Environments for Adult Lifelong Learners presents a collection of issues and research from adult education professionals who define, develop, implement, and evaluate the integration of formal and informal eLearning environments for adult lifelong learners. Academics, teachers, administrators, and learning technologists will benefit from this publication s unique approach to discussing and analyzing the challenges of introducing and implementing learning technologies for adult lifelong learners."

Distance learning has become very popular in recent years, making evident some of the problems inherent to online classes as they are today. High attrition rates, driven in part by student isolation and low satisfaction, have plagued online courses. For an online class to succeed, it must be built upon engaging media and meaningful interaction. Increasing Productivity and Efficiency in Online Teaching provides a reference for educators in virtual classrooms and enumerates strategies to foster instructor engagement and support. Because co-construction of information, opposed to rote memorization of disseminated facts, engages students and develops critical thinking skills, online education must shift to reflect this. Drawing from learning theory, this publication focuses on the ways educators can shape their online classes to best suit their students and leave them with knowledge and course satisfaction. This book is recommended for researchers, developers, students of education, administrators, and online educators in all subject areas.

The potential of virtual world technologies to improve teaching and learning has been recognized in recent years, creating new possibilities for teaching and learning processes, with virtual environments impacting the achievement of student learning and collaboration. Learning in Metaverses: Co-Existing in Real Virtuality discusses a better way to understand this new learning universe, exploring the possibilities of new social organization through the use of avatars in virtual worlds. Examining platforms such as Web 3D, metaverse, MDV3D, ECODI, hybrid living and sharing spaces, gamification, alternate reality, mingled reality, and augmented reality to evaluate the possibilities for their implementation in education, this reference book will be of use to academics, educators, students, researchers, gamers, and professionals.

In information technology, unlike many other fields, the need to support the unique perspective of technologically advanced students and deliver technology-rich content presents unique challenges. Today's IT students need the ability to interact with their instructor in near-real time, interact with their peers and project team members, and access and manipulate technology tools in the pursuit of their educational objectives.""Handbook of Distance Learning for Real-Time and Asynchronous Information Technology Education"" delves deep into the construct of real-time, asynchronous education through information technology, pooling experiences from seasoned researchers and educators to detail their past successes and failures, discussing their techniques, hardships, and triumphs in the search for innovative and effective distance learning education for IT programs. This Premier Reference Source answers the increasing demand for a fundamental, decisive source on this cutting-edge issue facing all institutions, covering topics such as asynchronous communication, real-time instruction, multimedia content, content delivery, and distance education technologies.