The work presented in this book is based on empirical study undertaken as a case study to understand the challenges faced in massively open online course (MOOC) based learning and experimentation to understand the challenges for presenting theoretical and practical courses. The book proposes a flexible online platform. This solution provides flexibility in distance learning processes including course enrollment, learning, evaluation, and outcome of degrees. The proposed system not only gives students freedom to choose their courses in accordance with their needs but also use earned credit towards online degrees of any university of their choice.

This volume introduces Virtual Exchange (VE) as an innovative form of online intercultural learning and investigates the myriad of ways VE is being carried out across universities, ultimately arguing for its integration into university internationalisation policies and course curricula. Against the backdrop of increased digitalisation initiatives throughout universities given the effects of the pandemic, chapters focus not only on providing new research findings, but also on providing a comprehensive introduction and argumentation for the use of VE in university education and also in demonstrating how it can be put into use by both university decision-makers and educators. Reviewing the limitations of the activity, this timely work also fundamentally posits how VE and blended mobility more broadly could be developed in future higher education initiatives. This book will be of interest to researchers, academics, scholars, and students involved with Open & Distance Education and eLearning, approaches to internationalisation in education, and the study of higher education more broadly. Those interested in innovative methods for teaching and learning, as well as educational research, will also benefit from this volume.

This timely collection explores the role of digital technology in language education and assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. It recognises the unique pressures which the COVID-19 pandemic placed on assessment in language education, and examines the forced shift in assessment strategies to go online, the existing shortfalls, as well as unique affordances of technology-assisted L2 assessment. By showcasing international examples of successful digital and computer-assisted proficiency and skills testing, the volume addresses theoretical and practical concerns relating to test validity, reliability, ethics, and student experience in a range of testing contexts. Particular attention is given to identifying lessons and implications for future research and practice, and the challenges of implementing unplanned computer-assisted language assessment during a crisis. Insightfully unpacking the 'lessons learned' from COVID and its impact on the acceleration of the shift towards online course and assessment delivery, it offers important guidelines for navigating assessment in different instructional settings in times of crisis. It will appeal to scholars, researchers, educators, and faculty with interests in educational measurement, digital education and technology, and language assessment and testing.

Mobile technologies are one of the fastest growing areas of technology in education. For learners, they offer an appealing opportunity to transcend teacher-defined knowledge and approaches by being able to access multiple, alternative sources of information anytime and anywhere. While the pace of engagement with and research into the educational applications of mobile technologies has picked up dramatically in the last decade, there is no consolidated view of how to sustain the practices or opportunities that are being explored. Sustainability is a complex but crucial issue in mobile learning as educational institutions are usually required to make substantial investments in mobile devices and associated technologies, time and training to initiate mobile learning programs. The complexity of sustainable mobile learning programs is further exacerbated by the fast pace of change of digital technologies, where with every change, new possibilities are opened up and investments required. In addition, educators are still attempting to reconcile institutions of formal education with informal mobile learning. The book addresses these issues, with a particular focus on: exploring the challenges surrounding the sustainability of mobile learning in K-12 and higher education investigating the importance of sustaining mobile learning for diverse populations of students globally discussing theoretical models for the sustainability of mobile learning providing the reader with strategies for sustaining mobile learning. Presenting new research alongside theoretical models and ideas for practice, the book will appeal to researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in the fields of education and mobile learning, as well as those working in teacher education.

The building of communities outside of the traditional brick-and-mortar base of a school or university is at a significant point in time; virtual worlds bridge the gap between 2D web spaces online and 3D physical spaces of the classroom, providing teachers and students alike with opportunities to connect and collaborate in ways that were previously unimaginable. Providing insight into this new age of teaching, Using Virtual Worlds in Educational Settings presents a collection of practical, evidence-based ideas that illustrate the capacity for immersive virtual worlds to be integrated successfully in higher education and school settings. Examining research and stories from more than 1,000 students and six faculty members who introduced virtual worlds into their teaching and learning, this book contains practical examples of how virtual worlds can be introduced and supported, as well as reflections from faculty and students about their response to virtual worlds. This research will help teachers understand how to approach such a fundamental shift in pedagogy, how to liberate themselves from teacher-focused instruction and how to help students to develop their skills through collaboration. Outlining how and why virtual worlds could be the shift in pedagogy that teachers have been waiting for, Using Virtual Worlds in Educational Settings is an accessible, practical resource for educators to support their use of virtual worlds in teaching.

Based on a major research project funded by the European Commission, Populism, Media and Education studies how discriminatory stereotypes are built online with a particular focus on right-wing populism. Globalization and migration have led to a new era of populism and racism in Western countries, rekindling traditional forms of discrimination through innovative means. New media platforms are being seen by populist organizations as a method to promote hate speech and unprecedented forms of proselytism. Race, gender, disability and sexual orientation are all being used to discriminate and young people are the preferred target for populist organizations and movements. This book examines how media education can help to deconstruct such hate speech and promote young people's full participation in media-saturated societies. Drawing on rich examples from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Slovenia, and the UK - countries characterized by different political and cultural contexts - Populism, Media and Education addresses key questions about the meaning of new populism, the nature of e-engagement, and the role of education and citizenship in the digital century. With its international and interdisciplinary approach, this book is essential reading for academics and students in the areas of education, media studies, sociology, cultural studies, political sciences, discrimination and gender studies.

Fluency in Distance Learning offers a practical, hands-on, workshop style approach to creating an effective distance learning course. Full of specific ideas and strategies, the authors guide you through the process from beginning to end. Specific instructions are provided for setting up a course home page, developing interactive content, and utilizing a variety of multimedia resources. Chapters are focused on the following topics: Introduction: Insights into Distance Learning Chapter 1: KSA: Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of Effective Distance Learning Instructors Chapter 2: Active Learning in Online Courses Chapter 3: Multimedia in Online Teaching: Creating Dynamic Content Chapter 4: Communication is Key Chapter 5: Assessment doesn't have to be a four letter word: TEST Chapter 6: Organizing and Designing Course Pages Fluency in Distance Learning distinguishes itself from other publications on distance learning with its straightforward, practical workshop format. Specific strategies and examples of effective distance learning course materials help instructors to build a quality distance learning course quickly and effectively regardless of the learning management system being used. A companion website contains multimedia files and interactive exercises to enhance the reader's learning and understanding of distance learning pedagogy and content development for online courses. In addition, all the necessary media files for trainers to deliver a series of professional development workshops on distance learning, are also available. Potential audiences include: Instructors in need of a textbook for a course focused on distance learning pedagogy; Instructors in need of a textbook for distance learning certification courses; Instructors desiring to transform traditional instructional materials to an effective distance learning delivery format; Administrators with a need to provide professional development training to distance learning faculty; Professional development staff who provide training in distance learning pedagogy, content development, and facilitation strategies. Instructional designers with responsibility of working with faculty to develop online course(s)

The Business Side of Learning Design and Technologies provides a ready reference with actionable tools and techniques for recognizing the impact of learning design/technology decisions at the project, business unit, and organizational levels. Written for early- and mid-career learning designers and developers as well as students and researchers in instructional/learning design and technology programs, this volume focuses on the business issues underlying the selection, design, implementation, and evaluation of learning opportunities. Using scholarly and practitioner research, interviews with Learning and Development thought leaders, and the author's own experience, readers will learn how to speak the language of business to demonstrate the value of learning design and technologies.

Mobile Learning in Schools explores the potential for using mobile devices in diverse school and college settings around the globe. It evaluates the exciting opportunities mobile initiatives bring and shares experience of where things can go wrong, in order to ensure that those embarking on new projects are fully informed. Drawing on a wide range of international perspectives, it unpicks knotty sociocultural issues, including lack of sustainability, behavioural and ethical concerns, and explores successful student learning. Key issues considered include: mobile learning in primary schools teaching and learning with mobile devices in secondary schools opportunities inside and outside school pedagogical principles and sustainability mobile learning for initial teacher training and CPD ethical considerations behaviour matters - disruption, plagiarism, cheating, cyberbullying assessing mobile learning. With annotated further reading and questions to trigger reflection and further discussion amongst readers, this thought-provoking text provides a detailed survey of this often controversial topic. It is essential reading for all those engaged in understanding the potential for using mobile devices to support students' learning.

First published in 1980 The Door Stood Open deals with an early demand upon open university policy. It deals with important themes like context of the younger students pilot scheme; demand for open university places among the younger age group; motivational factors and potential study problems; the impact of open university study on the younger students; students who withdrew from the open university; younger students who could not attend full-time courses and how the younger students fared. In an age when distance learning is becoming a norm, this book serves as an important historical document for educationists and policy makers.

The process of integrating technology into education often overlooks that technology is a sign; it is not a neutral message conveyor, but rather a material artefact placed into a context inevitably subject to culture. In an original and novel combination, Decoding Technology Acceptance in Education brings together two academic domains not previously pursued together, yet which diverge in many ways: cultural studies and technology acceptance studies. Drawing on empirical data, Stockman demonstrates that teachers activate a meaning-making process through encoding and decoding signs around technology as an artefact of culture, and as a result their acceptance behaviour and decisions rely on the dynamics of the cultural whole to which they belong. In this study, technology acceptance is revisited as an issue of cultural negotiation; the common approach, which provides an instrumental view on technology as a neutral tool, is insufficient for the topic of technology acceptance. Rather than proposing yet another model of technology acceptance, Decoding Technology Acceptance in Education offers a renewed frame of mind and the conclusions it provides are of vital importance to the theoretical and practical advancement of technology acceptance studies, as well as to the practical integration of technology into education. Providing original empirical evidence for the influence of culture on educational decision-making, the book raises awareness for the importance of cultural research in areas where it has been under-considered. This book will be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students engaged in the study of technology acceptance and technology use in education, as well as those interested in cultural studies.

In "Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers", 24 college educators focus on the most important questions to be addressed by all scholar-teachers and administrators committed to developing high-quality online education programs. We describe these questions as "global" because they transcend the particular situations of individual institutions. They are questions that everyone involved in online education needs to address: What are the issues to consider when first developing and then sustaining an online education program? How do we create interactive, pedagogically sound online courses and classroom communities? How should we monitor and assess the quality of online courses and programs? And how should recent developments and innovations in online education cause us to reexamine our roles and responsibilities as educators in technical communication?While these global questions affect all of us in one way or another, they demand different local answers, such as those presented by the contributors to this text. Readers will need to consider which of these local answers might apply to their own situations and how these answers might need to be adapted to reflect the particular needs of their own institutions.

There are two distinct professional communities that share an interest in using innovative approaches and emerging technologies to design and implement effective support for learning. This edited collection addresses the growing divide between the learning sciences community and the instructional design and technology community, bringing leading scholars from both fields together in one volume in an attempt to find productive middle ground. Chapters discuss the implications of not bridging this divide, propose possible resolutions, and go on to lay a foundation for continued discourse in this important area.

As colleges and universities in North America increasingly identify "internationalization" as a key component of the institution's mission and strategic plans, faculty and administrators are charged with finding innovative and cost-effective approaches to meet those goals. This volume provides an overview and concrete examples of globally-networked learning environments across the humanities from the perspective of all of their stakeholders: teachers, instructional designers, administrators and students. By addressing logistical, technical, pedagogical and intercultural aspects of globally-networked teaching, this volume offers a unique perspective on this form of curricular innovation through internationalization. It speaks directly to the ways in which new technologies and pedagogies can promote humanities-based learning for the future and with it the broader essential skills of intercultural sensitivity, communication and collaboration, and critical thinking.

Educational research often discounts the uniqueness and ubiquity of software and the hidden political, economic and epistemological ways it impacts teaching and learning in K-12 settings. Drawing on theories and methodologies from English education, critical discourse analysis, multimodal semiotics and digital humanities, this volume exposes the problems of technology in schools and refocuses the conversation on software. This shifting of focus invites more nuanced questions concerning the role of software in school reform and classroom instruction, and takes a critical stance on software's role in education. This volume explores the ontology of software and the ways it is construed within educational policy discussions. It is beneficial to schools, companies, policy makers and practitioners seeking a more theoretical framework for technology in education.

Synchronous technologies, particularly interactive video conferencing (IVC), are becoming common modes of teaching and delivering college courses. The increasing popularity of IVC in the U.S. and abroad calls for more pedagogically effective practices for instructors using this technology. This volume focuses on innovative and proven approaches to IVC teaching in a variety of disciplines: English, history, biology, chemistry, geology, engineering, social work, and elementary and special education. Contributors hail from a pioneering university at the forefront of distance education and understand the practice and potential of IVC teaching at the highest levels. Chapters outline the challenges and benefits of IVC teaching from pedagogical, technical, and administrative perspectives.

Understanding Tablets from Early Childhood to Adulthood offers an alternative to dominant and populist narratives that young people are intuitively able to successfully use tablet devices. Adopting a research-driven approach, the book contests the ideology that touch-technologies are easier to understand, and identifies the factors that contribute to communicative encounters between users and tablets. Communication theory and cognitive psychology concepts and methods are employed to offer an epistemological exploration of user-tablet interaction with a focus on the use of these technologies in educational settings.

This book is a practical guide for any student considering enrollment in, currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from an online course. The authors, both with substantial online teaching and learning experience as well as seasoned professionals, deliver concise guidance to make the online learning journey enjoyable, productive, and most of all, worthwhile. Major topics include how to identify the best online program; comparing online with traditional education programs; finding an ideal work-life balance; managing time and staying organized; how to form good habits to maximize your chances for success; getting the most out of an online learning environment; and using your online education to succeed in your career. As the singular guide to success as an online learner, this practical book serves as the essential desk reference for every online student.

Teaching Online: A Practical Guide is an accessible, introductory, and comprehensive guide for anyone who teaches online. A leader in the online field, the fourth edition of this bestselling resource has been fully revised, maintains its reader friendly tone, and offers exceptional practical advice, new teaching examples, faculty interviews, and an updated resource section.

New to this edition:

• new chapter on MOOCs (massive open online courses) and open educational resources
• expanded information on teaching with mobile devices
• discusses the implications of the Higher Education Opportunity Act for online faculty
• illustrates how Google Apps can be used for educational purposes

Focusing on the "hows" and "whys" of implementation rather than theory, the fourth edition of "Teaching Online" is a must-have resource for anyone teaching online or thinking of teaching online.

Culture, Learning, and Technology: Research and Practice provides readers with an overview of the research on culture, learning, and technology (CLT) and introduces the concept of culture-related theoretical frameworks. In 13 chapters, the book explores the theoretical and philosophical views of CLT, presents research studies that examine various aspects of CLT, and showcases projects that employ best practices in CLT. Written for researchers and students in the fields of Educational Technology, Instructional Design, and the Learning Sciences, this volume represents a broad conceptualization of CLT and encompasses a variety of settings. As the first significant collection of research in this emerging field of study, Culture, Learning, and Technology overflows with new insights into the increasing role of technology use across all levels of education.

e-Learning Ecologies explores transformations in the patterns of pedagogy that accompany e-learning-the use of computing devices that mediate or supplement the relationships between learners and teachers-to present and assess learnable content, to provide spaces where students do their work, and to mediate peer-to-peer interactions. Written by the members of the "new learning" research group, this textbook suggests that e-learning ecologies may play a key part in shifting the systems of modern education, even as technology itself is pedagogically neutral. The chapters in this book aim to create an analytical framework with which to differentiate those aspects of educational technology that reproduce old pedagogical relations from those that are genuinely innovative and generative of new kinds of learning. Featuring case studies from elementary schools, colleges, and universities on the practicalities of new learning environments, e-Learning Ecologies elucidates the role of new technologies of knowledge representation and communication in bringing about change to educational institutions.

All types of organisations have recognised the growing demand for open and flexible learning programmes. With the increased emphasis on new ways of learning, and the rapid move towards open and online courses, this practical guide will help those involved overcome the challenges they face. This guide provides user friendly advice and support for those currently involved with open learning and those considering it for the first time. 500 Tips for Open and Online Learning aims not only to save you time but also to enhance the quality of the learning experience which learners will draw from open and online learning. The book is divided into six sections which cover: * What is Open and Online Learning, why use it and how? * How to set up Open and Online learning programmes * Designing new resource materials * Putting technology to work * Supporting open learners * Assessing open learning This practical book will be an invaluable resource, providing immediate and accessible help to the increasing number of people now under pressure to design, support and deliver open learning programmes. This book will appeal to tutors, trainers, managers of learning resource centres and curriculum developers who are already involved in, or thinking about starting to use, aspects of open learning.

The explosive emergence of net-based learning in higher education brings with it new possibilities and constraints in teaching and learning environments.This edited collection considers how the concept of Academic Bildung - a term suggesting a personal educational process beyond actual educational learning - can be applied to net-based higher education. The book is drawing on Scandinavian research to address the topic from both a theoretical and practical standpoint.Chapters explore the facilitation of online courses and argue how and why universities should involve dimensions of Academic Bildung on both a strategic and technological pedagogical content level. The book is structured in three parts: Part I frames the current state of net-based learning and introduces Bildung as a concept; Part II contains a set of four case studies in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, also including a fifth study that looks at Scandinavian approaches to teaching and learning in comparison with data from the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada; Part III provides a synthesis of theories and cases to examine whether a Scandinavian orientation can be discerned. Contributions suggest that in order to address one of the fundamental functions of higher education, the ability to produce new knowledge, the Academic Bildung of the students has to be in focus. Grounded in theoretical and empirical discussion, this book will appeal to researchers and academics in the field of higher education as well as personnel who work with teaching and learning with technology, and academics interested in the question of Academic Bildung.

The Global Collaboration initiatives related in this book are examples of how educators have experimented with different mechanisms to provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programmes through information and communication technologies. In many cases, these programmes have looked at the allied personal communication and collaboration skills that students of these subjects also need: the so-called STEM+ curriculum. In particular, these approaches to STEM+ provision show how the internationalization of education can be made more effective and accessible through the exploitation of collaborative technologies and non-traditional pedagogies. The approaches address the following themes: technologies for distance learning and collaboration pedagogies for online learning remote communication and collaboration An international perspective is made possible within the book through the inclusion of authors from North America, Europe and Asia. These authors present case studies from technology-enhanced learning projects over the past six years.

Teachers' active online participation and engagement with students are critical factors to the success of online courses. Essentials of Online Teaching is a standards-based, straightforward guide to teaching online in higher education, high school and vocational training, or corporate learning environments. This brief but powerful book encourages immediate application of concepts with the help of real-world examples, technical insights, and professional advice. The guide includes: a practical approach informed by, but not about, relevant learning theories; clear models and examples from a wide variety of online courses; teachers' reflections about their online practice; a checklist of standards to help guide teaching decisions; and an accompanying website (www.essentialsofonlineteaching.com) with additional resources. Essentials of Online Teaching addresses key instructional challenges in online teaching and presents the reader with practical solutions for each phase of a course-preparation, beginning, middle, and end.