Modern technology has enhanced many aspects of life, including classroom education. By offering virtual learning experiences, educational systems can become more efficient and effective at teaching the student population. The Handbook of Research on Collaborative Teaching Practice in Virtual Learning Environments highlights program developments in the realm of digital worlds in educational settings. Featuring pedagogical methods and topics relating to cooperative learning, hands-on curriculum, and meta-cognitive dimensions, this publication is a critical reference source for pre-service and in-service teachers, school administrators, higher education faculty, and researchers interested in virtual reality incorporation in the classroom.

Distance education is defined as institution-based formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors. This definition is expanded on in the 2009 yearbook of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which validates this definition of the field. ""Distance Education: Definition and Glossary of Terms, 3rd Edition"" is unique in that it packages the terms together under one cover making this rapidly advancing complex topic easier to comprehend. The book addresses the complexities of terminology used in the field of distance education. In a time where distance education is becoming widely utilized across the globe, this at-a-glace approach makes it easier than ever to respond to the growing demand and questions about this subject matter.

A "Learning Network" is a community of people who help each other to better understand and handle certain events and concepts in work or life. As a result and sometimes also as an aim participating in learning networks stimulates personal development, a better understanding of concepts and events, career development, and employability. "Learning Network Services" are Web services that are designed to facilitate the creation of distributed Learning Networks and to support the participants with various functions for knowledge exchange, social interaction, assessment and competence development in an effective way. The book presents state-of-the-art insights into the field of Learning Networks and Web-based services which can facilitate all kinds of processes within these networks.

Developing an Online Educational Curriculum: Techniques and Technologies acts as a guidebook for teachers and administrators as they look for support with their online education programs. It offers teaching suggestions for everything from course development to time management and community building. The book is designed to provide information to help teachers work more effectively with online tools, develop course materials for existing online courses, work with the internet as a medium of education and complete daily activities - such as evaluating assignments, lecturing and communicating with students more easily. Administrators are also given support in their efforts to recruit, train, and retain online teachers, allocate resources for online education and evaluate online materials for promotion and tenure.

New technologies can help teachers and trainers empower learners and create exciting new learning opportunities for students. However, these facilitators must also create e-learning contexts which are properly scaffolded to serve the needs of learners. Cases on E-Learning Management: Development and Implementation meets this challenge by providing innovative case studies covering a range of topics such as teacher education, mobile and blended learning strategies, e-learning tutorial content, digital cognitive games, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, and distance education. This casebook will enhance the work of educators, instructional designers, trainers, administrators, and researchers in the areas of online learning and distance learning.

The proper exploitation of Web-based technologies towards building responsive environments that motivate, engage, and inspire learners, and which are embedded in the business processes and human resources management systems of organizations, is highly critical. Accordingly, the research field of technology-enhanced learning continues to receive increasing attention. ""Solutions and Innovations in Web-Based Technologies for Augmented Learning: Improved Platforms, Tools, and Applications"" provides cutting-edge research on a series of related topics and discusses implications in the modern era's broad learning concept. Addressing diverse conceptual, social, and technical issues, this book provides professionals, researchers, and practitioners in the field with up-to-date research in developing innovative and more effective learning systems by using Web-based technologies.

E-learning has assumed a significant role in the educational sector in both face-to-face learning and distance learning forms. Universities all over the globe have adopted e-learning methodology, or are planning to implement it in the near future. ""Cases on Global E-Learning Practices: Successes and Pitfalls"" looks into global practices of e-learning, examining the successes and failures of e-learning professionals. It provides a judicious mix of practical experiences and research in the form of case studies. Written by experts from all over the globe, this book shows how to design instructional strategies for e-learning, illustrates the application of e-learning with case studies, and reviews the potential of e-learning in education and training. ""Cases on Global E-Learning Practices: Successes and Pitfalls"" gives an understanding of the practical implementation of e-learning technologies, including what to do and what to avoid.

With the ever-increasing usage of distance learning programs in academia, the need for well-designed automated systems has become vital to the success of open and distance education. Practical solutions should be discovered and disseminated to meet the software needs of instructors, academic researchers, and software engineers.System and Technology Advancements in Distance Learning meets this need, outlining computational methods, algorithms, implemented prototype systems, and applications of open and distance learning. It is targeted toward academic researchers and engineers who work with distance learning programs and software systems, as well as general participants of distance education.

As society continues to experience increases in technological innovations, various industries must rapidly adapt and learn to incorporate these advances. When utilized effectively, the use of computer systems in educational settings creates a richer learning environment for students. The Handbook of Research on 3-D Virtual Environments and Hypermedia for Ubiquitous Learning is a critical reference source for the latest research on the application of virtual reality in educational environments and how the immersion into three-dimensional settings enhances student motivation and interaction. Exploring innovative techniques and emerging trends in virtual learning and hypermedia, this book is ideally designed for researchers, developers, upper-level students, and educators interested in the incorporation of immersive technologies in the learning process.

The academic profession faces new challenges everywhere. The pressures of mass higher education, accountability, fiscal constraints, distance education and the new technologies, and changing attitudes concerning academic work have combined to place unprecedented strains on the professoriate. This book brings together some of the best analysts of the academic profession in a wide ranging comparative analysis of the changing academic workplace. The stress here is on middle income and developing countries, but the issues discussed are relevant everywhere. This book, precisely because of its comparative and international perspective, is useful worldwide. Among the topics considered in the case study chapters are: the changing demographics of the academic profession, including the role of gender in the professoriate, new developments in academic appointments, including the terms of academic work, evaluation of professors, and the tenure system, external pressures on the academic profession, including demands for accountability and threats to academic freedom, the changing nature of academic work, including patterns of teaching and evaluation of students and increases in teaching responsibilities, the role of research in a changing academic environment, the impact of the new technologies and distance education, and future prospects for the professoriate.

A Framework for Teaching Music Online defines the current online learning landscape of music in higher education and then presents a cyclical teaching framework that describes how to practically develop an online music course. Each part of the framework takes the reader through the three main components of developing an online music course: communication, design, and assessment. Research-informed and practical, ideas and tools for faculty and students to implement into their current or future online teaching practice are explored. Johnson also considers future innovations, exploring knowledge sharing and professional learning networks.

Many of the titles on active/experiential learning concepts are focused on the K-12 setting. They are often how-to books, rather than theory-based. Learning-in-Community extends Kolb's experiential learning theory to community-based projects. It takes a conceptually-grounded approach to active learning through technology-based projects. The book traces the conceptual and operational development of learning-in-community over the decade that we have used it in our teaching. It concludes by outlining a logical next step in efforts to democratize technology: social activism. Training the new ICT professional at a time of significant inequality in access to ICTs would be seriously inadequate if it ignored social responsibility.
This book is intended for faculty of undergraduate and graduate-level courses in information technology, business and management.

As the electronic era blurs the boundaries between conventional and distance education and between remote and in-person library users, the literature on library issues and distance learning has proliferated immensely. This work helps you keep abreast of the phenomenal changes taking place in the field of education and the issues they raise for libraries. Identifying and describing more than 750 works published since its precursor was completed in 1995, the book provides a comprehensive record of the current literature about distance and open learning in post-secondary education programs. The authors cover all types of materials from around the world, ranging from brief news items to major research reports and dissertations. In this edition, special emphasis is given to web-based distance education. Access is provided through four indexes-author, geographical, institution, and subject-and indexes are cumulative from the previous two bibliographies.

Today, the online sphere is no longer just an information repository or a place to search for resources. It has become instead a place supporting both intentional and non-intentional learning. Intentional, formal learning, often leads to certification, whereas informal learning is unstructured and takes place as part of daily work-related or leisure activities.Cases on Formal and Informal E-Learning Environments: Opportunities and Practices brings together cases outlining the practical aspect of formal, non-formal, and informal online learning. This book introduces conceptual aspects of these types of learning, knowledge-base, new learning paradigms, policy implications, evaluation and concerns, design, and development of online learning.

Technology has defined and continues to redefine education, particularly in the realm of distance education where tools for virtual collaboration are critical to successful teaching and learning. Technologies Shaping Instruction and Distance Education: New Studies and Utilizations offers insight into evolving methodologies and tools impacting education in the 21st century. Investigations of topics such as Web-based forums, multimedia tools and mobile e-learning benefit students, educators, and researchers who develop and use new pedagogical technologies and techniques.

As technology advances, so must our education system. Cloud computing serves as an ideal method for e-learning thanks to its flexibility, affordability, and availability. Cloud-based learning is especially dynamic in STEM education, as it can significantly lower the cost of building cumbersome computer labs while fostering engaged learning and collaboration among students. The Handbook of Research on Cloud-Based STEM Education for Improved Learning Outcomes prepares current and future instructors for exciting breakthroughs in STEM education driven by the advancement of cloud technologies. From virtual lab and app construction, to information sharing and course material distribution, this volume touches on a variety of topics related to the benefits and challenges of adopting cloud technologies in the classroom. This book is an invaluable reference for educators, technology professionals, administrators, and education students who wish to become leaders in their fields.

Advocates have positioned service-learning as a real-world, real-time opportunity for students to encounter academic knowledge in a meaningful and relevant manner. Service-learning in higher education settings offers a powerful alternative to traditional models of teaching and learning. Students are encouraged to develop links to local institutions, volunteer their time, and create a special bond between the university and the community in which they live. Service-learning has become a very popular alternative to standard courses in higher education and is gaining significant popularity. This book takes a serious look at the unintended consequences and alternative conceptualizations of this mode of learning and explores what it could offer us in the future.

A volume in Perspectives in Instructional Technology and Distance Education Series Editors: Charles Schlosser and Michael Simonson Nova Southeastern University Real-Life Distance Education: Case Studies in Practice documents and discusses the experiences of those who have implemented distance learning as a solution to "real-life" problems and provides guidance to assist readers in their understanding and analysis of distance learning. This approach allows readers to develop analytic and problem solving skills. The variety of different situations within the individual case studies allows readers to apply their knowledge to new and unique situations and to explore solutions to complex issues. The book is useful as a primary or supplementary text in programs of educational technology, instructional design, learning sciences, human resource development, curriculum & instruction, media & technology or higher education.