E-portfolios are a valuable learning and assessment tool. They can serve as an administrative tool to manage and organise work, to present course assignments and act as the medium for learners to record their learning goals, outcomes and achievements. They encourage personal reflection and involve the exchange of ideas and feedback.

Using technology in this way supports students' abilities in using and exploiting technology for professional and personal purposes, enabling any time, any place learning and peer learning and facilitating the provision of tutor feedback.

e-Portfolios is a comprehensive, practical guide for lecturers and staff developers who need to know more about the development of purposeful e-portfolios for supporting students in reflecting on their learning.

This revised and updated edition of Open and Distance Learning in the Developing World sets the expansion of distance education in the context of general educational change and explores its use for basic and non-formal education, schooling, teacher training and higher education. Engaging with a range of topics, this comprehensive overview includes new material on: non-formal education: mass-communication approaches to education about HIV/AIDS and recent literacy work in India, South Africa, and Zambia schooling: new research projects in open schooling in Asia and subsaharan Africa, and interactive radio instruction in South Africa the impact of new technology and globalisation: learning delivered through the internet and mobile learning the political economy: international agencies, the role of private sector, and funding. With its critical appraisal of the facts and examination of data about effectiveness, this book provides answers to problems and poses key questions for the consideration of policy makers, educational practitioners and all professionals involved in implementing and delivering sustainable open and distance learning.

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.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) needs little introduction as the central figure in Romantic poetry and a crucial influence in the development of poetry generally. This broad-ranging survey redefines the variety of his writing by showing how it incorporates contemporary concepts of language difference and the ways in which popular and serious literature were compared and distinguished during this period. It discusses many of Wordsworth's later poems, comparing his work with that of his regional contemporaries as well as major writers such as Scott. The key theme of relationship, both between characters within poems and between poet and reader, is explored through Wordsworth's construction of community and his use of power relationships. A serious discussion of the place of sexual feeling in his writing is also included.

In recent years there has been a resurgence in the use of video in teaching and training contexts, due to technological advances that enable good quality moving pictures through CD-Rom, DVD and broadband Internet. This book offers advice and assistance to a growing group of teachers and trainers, technical and support staff in the most effective deployment of video and multimedia in open and distance learning.
A bridge between research and practice, "Designing Video and Multimedia for Open and Flexible Learning" discusses:
- what to teach on video and how to teach it
- when to choose and how to use other media for teaching
- a framework of pedagogic design principles for video and multimedia
- practical development advice for interactive multimedia
With insights into the comprehensive process of designing, developing and managing distance learning materials, this book will appeal to readers with varying interests and responsibilities, including course development, educational Video, Audiovision and interactive Multimedia design, as well as to students of general video and multimedia production.

This is a comprehensive, practical guide to the most effective use of video and multimedia in open and distance learning. Illustrated throughout, it considers pedagogic design principles for the highest quality learning material, covering:

• what to teach on video and how to teach it
• when to choose and how to use other media for teaching
• a framework of pedagogic design principles for video and multimedia
• practical development advice for interactive multimedia.

With insights into the comprehensive process of designing, developing and managing distance learning materials, this book will appeal to those involved in course development, educational video, audiovision and interactive multimedia design, as well as to students of general video and multimedia production.

The pioneers who started the world's first open universities flew by the seat of their pants. Their successors, now launching and reshaping open-learning programmes in the internet age, no longer need to.
Drawing on forty years' experience of implementing open and distance learning, this book will guide decision makers - in the private and public sectors - about how they can teach and train more students, more effectively, learning from the successes and avoiding the failures of the past. The book is richly illustrated with case study materials from varied international experiences, and the main issues covered include:
Pedagogical options - teaching materials, student-support and tutorial arrangements
Administrative options - single-mode/dual-mode institutions, recruitment strategies, communication structures
Collaborative options - market alliances, public-private partnerships and the necessary conditions for success
Funding - capital and recurrent expenditure, factors for cost-effectiveness
Quality control, accreditation and assessment - awarding credits and monitoring the quality of the institution
This book is written for anyone planning to develop programmes or projects of open and distance learning, either through an educational institution or for training in the private, corporate or NGO sector.

This book articulates the complexities inherent in higher education's multi-faceted response to the forces of mediatization-or how institutions change when their social communication gets mediated by technology-and introduces a novel perspective to comprehend them in a systematic way. By drawing on archival analysis and six organizational case studies, the author empirically traces the emergence of a cyber-cultural institution within higher education. As these case studies demonstrate, this new institutional logic requires creativity, individual recognition, and an underlying platform powered by cyber technologies and digitization of content. Using an analytical lens, this cyber-cultural perspective answers many questions about why faculty refuse to adopt online education, why students struggle with mediated teaching, and what possibly could be done to take online education to its next level.

First published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book provides theoretical and empirical discussions around the impact of MOOCs and other pedagogical strategies for online learning in international contexts. Through discussions of inverse blended learning and other teaching and learning approaches, Part I navigates the pressing conceptual issues around global online education. By analyzing the Malaysia MOOC Initiative-the first governmental MOOC project in the world-Part II offers insight into the developmental strategies, learning design, and integrative approaches of these pioneering efforts. Edited by leading scholars in the field of globalized online learning, this volume offers a valuable contribution to research around collaborative initiatives between governments and universities, especially ones dedicated to open and distance education.

Deliver quality instruction to your studentson-campus or off The Handbook for Distance Learning in Tourism is a practical, down-to-earth guide to developing and using print-based and Internet-based flexible learning resources for courses where students rarely, if ever, attend on-campus classes. Whether you're a teacher who needs to develop course notes into a flexible learning package, a Web site, or both, or you just want information about how to teach in a flexible environment, the book will provide the help you need-in language you can understand. Designed to guide you through the completion of a projector a semesterthis hands-on book offers strategies, suggestions, hints, and examples, and includes a hotel and tourism case study that illustrates effective concepts and strategies. Written by Gary Williams, co-editor of The Internet and Travel and Tourism Education (Haworth), this unique book will help you develop print-based and Internet-based learning resources instead of focusing only on one or the other, breaking down the barriers placed between learning environments. The strategies presented are timeless, with no comparisons of specific commercial or noncommercial products to become outdated and no Web site addresses to become useless. The book makes extensive use of tables, graphics, and illustrations and has its own Web site that's regularly updated, listing online resources arranged on a chapter-by-chapter basis. The Handbook for Distance Learning in Tourism examines: the roles and characteristics of a project manager developing and buying resources considerations before committing to a project maximizing project ownership ensuring quality content educational design guidelines media foundations production, design, and maintenance of print resources developing and using Web sites computer-mediated contact course management systems (CMS) and much more! The Handbook for Distance Learning in Tourism is an invaluable guidebook for educators working in the field of hotel and tourism management as well as academics, project managers, and educational designers who are interested in flexible learning developments.

In spite of the proliferation of online learning, creating online courses can still evoke a good deal of frustration, negativity, and wariness in those who need to create them. The second edition of Essentials of Online Course Design takes a fresh, thoughtfully designed, step-by-step approach to online course development. At its core is a set of standards that are based on best practices in the field of online learning and teaching. Pedagogical, organizational, and visual design principles are presented and modeled throughout the book, and users will quickly learn from the guide's hands-on approach. The course design process begins with the elements of a classroom syllabus which, after a series of guided steps, easily evolve into an online course outline. The guide's key features include: a practical approach informed by theory clean interior design that offers straightforward guidance from page one clear and jargon-free language examples, screenshots, and illustrations to clarify and support the text a checklist of online course design standards that readers can use to self-evaluate. a Companion Website with examples, adaptable templates, interactive learning features, and online resources: http://essentialsofonlinecoursedesign.com Essentials of Online Course Design serves as a best practice model for designing online courses. After reading this book, readers will find that preparing for online teaching is a satisfying and engaging experience. The core issue is simply good design: pedagogical, organizational, and visual. For more of Marjorie Vai in her own words, listen to this 2011 interview from the On Teaching Online podcast: http://onteachingonline.com/oto-16-essentials-of-online-course-design-with-marjorie-vai/

The use of online learning environments is now widespread, and there is a wealth of literature providing practical advice on how to teach online, develop courses and ensure effective pedagogical practice.

What has been frequently overlooked is the insight offered by cyberspace theory, which considers broader social, cultural and theoretical contexts within which new technologies and learning models are situated.

This book provides a fresh perspective on current thinking in e-learning. It challenges orthodox assumptions about the role of technology in the teaching and learning of the future, and explores more varied and wider-reaching conceptual frameworks for learning in cyberspace.

Featuring the contributions of respected and experienced experts with a wide range of perspectives, Education in Cyberspace will be valued by anyone closely involved in the theory of e-learning and education.

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.

This book is about the past and future of research on the effectiveness of learning networks (also known as "e-learning" or "online learning" or "Web-based learning"). Learning networks are groups of people using computer technology, communicating and collaborating online to build knowledge together. Over the past decade there has been an explosion not only of online courses, but also of studies on them.
In "Learning Together Online: Research on Asynchronous Learning Networks," leading researchers in the field use an integrated theoretical framework, which they call "Online Interaction Learning Theory," to organize what past research shows and where future research is going. It models the variables and processes that are important in determining the relative effectiveness of online learners working to reach a deeper level of understanding by interacting with each other and with the texts under investigation.
Now that there have been hundreds of studies and thousands of courses offered online, what does the empirical evidence show? This book addresses the question directly by presenting what is known from research results about how to design and teach courses effectively online, ranging from the organizational context and characteristics of students to learning theories and research design methods. It also provides a research agenda for the next decade.
"Learning Together Online: Research on Asynchronous Learning Networks" is both a textbook for graduate students and a professional reference for faculty teaching online, researchers conducting studies, and graduate students taking courses about learning technologies who need to know the state of the art of research in thearea of online learning.

Conventional apprenticeships and older methods of professional training are not providing enough skilled workers - governments, companies and colleges are now using open and distance learning to fill these gaps. Published in association with the Commonwealth of Learning, this unique review provides detailed analysis of worldwide experiences of vocational training and distance education. It looks at recent policy and practice at different levels - from transnational programmes and national policies to institutional and programme models. Offering guidance on how distance education and new technologies are being used to support vocational education and training, this book will help senior institutional managers and policy makers to understand and appreciate: * the role distance education can play in increasing skills levels in young people and the existing workforce * the challenges in using educational technologies, and distance education to deliver vocational education and training * how to devise effective policies to meet these challenges.

Conventional apprenticeships and older methods of professional training are not providing enough skilled workers - governments, companies and colleges are now using open and distance learning to fill these gaps. Published in association with the Commonwealth of Learning, this unique review provides detailed analysis of worldwide experiences of vocational training and distance education. It looks at recent policy and practice at different levels - from transnational programmes and national policies to institutional and programme models. Offering guidance on how distance education and new technologies are being used to support vocational education and training, this book will help senior institutional managers and policy makers to understand and appreciate: * the role distance education can play in increasing skills levels in young people and the existing workforce * the challenges in using educational technologies, and distance education to deliver vocational education and training * how to devise effective policies to meet these challenges.

A clear and concise course design is integral to effective student learning in units of study; however, unit design can be a daunting task for academics. Effective Unit Design for Higher Education Courses is a practical resource based on theoretical foundations, designed to assist both professional course designers and academics with varied levels of curriculum design and development experience or background in higher education units and courses. This book provides a variety of practical advice, skills and resources to assist academics in designing curriculum that focuses on enhancing student learning. Readers are given a range of evidence-based developmental tools that challenge some of the currently accepted conventions behind unit design. Appropriate for any skill level, this book is designed to provide an accessible and structured process to design or revitalise high-quality units of study. Chapters cover a range of topics including developing assessment methods, strategies for providing feedback and evaluating unit design. The book has been structured to follow a design process, but as unit design is non-linear, chapters can be read in any order depending on interest or need. An essential guide for curriculum designers of all skill and experience levels, this book will appeal to all higher education academics tasked with an aspect of unit design.

Policy for Open and Distance Learning considers the questions that planners and policy makers in open and distance learning need to address at any level of education.
Starting by analysing the range of purposes for which open and distance learning is used, the book places the issues in context and examines experience in both the public and private sector. As well as discussing in detail new agenda set by new information and communication technologies, the book covers:
* inputs
* processes
* outcomes.
The editors, Hilary Perraton and Helen Lentell, have drawn together an international team of contributors who have examined the varied roles of the new technologies as well as low-technology approaches to open and distance learning throughout the world.
This book will be invaluable to policy makers in education and those planning or managing open and distance learning programmes. It will also be of interest to students and teachers of education and anyone concerned with comparative education.

First published in 1998. In a 1996 review article in College English, Elizabeth Rankin contrasted the method and epistemology of two recent books on writing pedagogy, describing one as "grounded in the experience of student writers and teachers" and the other as "academic." Rankin's labels highlight one of the leading sources of tension in composition research-the tension between practice and theory-a tension that echoes in writing center research and publications. This collection of chapters seeks to build on the inherent collaborativeness of writing centers, capturing the voices of the student writers and tutors who are at the core of writing center work.

Policy for Open and Distance Learning considers the questions that planners and policy makers in open and distance learning need to address at any level of education.
Starting by analysing the range of purposes for which open and distance learning is used, the book places the issues in context and examines experience in both the public and private sector. As well as discussing in detail new agenda set by new information and communication technologies, the book covers:
* inputs
* processes
* outcomes.
The editors, Hilary Perraton and Helen Lentell, have drawn together an international team of contributors who have examined the varied roles of the new technologies as well as low-technology approaches to open and distance learning throughout the world.
This book will be invaluable to policy makers in education and those planning or managing open and distance learning programmes. It will also be of interest to students and teachers of education and anyone concerned with comparative education.

Learner-Centered Theory and Practice in Distance Education: Cases From Higher Education brings the voice of the learning sciences to the study and design of distance learning. The contributors examine critical issues in the design of theoretically and pedagogically based distance education programs. Eight distance education programs are described in enough detail to allow readers with different interests to understand the pedagogical approaches and the implications of implementing those approaches. Issues of theory, pedagogy, design, assessment, communities of practice, collaboration, and faculty development are discussed. Each section of the book includes: *a primary chapter written by an author or authors involved with a distance education program that reflects learner-centered principles; *a formal reaction to the chapter by a specialist from the learning sciences, educational evaluation and policy, administration, or the corporate sector with expertise in issues of distance learning; and *an edited transcript of the authors' discussion of the primary chapter held at a symposium at the Asilomar Conference Center. A final "summing up" section offers two perspectives--from leading scholars outside the fields of instructional design, evaluation, and the learning sciences--on the approaches and thinking reflected in the rest of the book. This book is essential for researchers, as well as all those engaged in delivering, supporting, or administrating distance education programs at the post-secondary level. The descriptions, strategies, and principles will inform the design of continuing education, as well as degree-based education and corporate education and training, and distance education programs for adults.

Lifelong learning is a phrase often used and discussed by those working in colleges, higher education institutions and local authorities yet it seems few people really agree on what it means and the cope it covers.

This comprehensive book looks into the broad issue of lifelong learning, identifying the different ways it can be interpreted and considering the reasons why lifelong learning appears to be shunned by some. The book looks at different ways lifelong learning can be introduced into society, recognising that it does not just have to be formal training in educational institutions for skill enhancement but can also be a valuable contribution towards social regeneration in a diverse society.

Within the wider context of theories behind lifelong learning the author pays particular attention to:

· Evolving practice
· Finding the missing learners
· Encouraging wider participation
Making Sense of Lifelong Learning will be a valuable resource for anyone involved in developing adult education in universities, colleges, community centres and local authorities. It should also prove useful for staff and students on postgraduate courses which focus on issues of lifelong learning.

Originally published as a special issue of the Middle School Journal, this book presents integrative curriculum as a foundational element of the middle school. By addressing the current gap in literature on curriculum integration in the middle grades, this text explores how learning can be organized around authentic concepts or questions which cut across disciplines and speak to young adolescents. Providing a current, nuanced, and comprehensive review of what it means to embrace and implement an interdisciplinary and integrative curriculum, the volume considers how educators can create and deliver a high-quality integrative curriculum which is enjoyable, challenging, and inclusive. Examples of implementation in teacher preparation programs and middle grade classrooms showcase integrative approaches and illustrate how curricula have been key in tackling social inequities, increasing engagement with STEM, and supporting collaboration. This text will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics and libraries in the field of Middle School Education, Curriculum Studies, Teacher Education, Theories of Learning, and STEM Education.