Creating Transformative Online Communities In Higher Education

Creating Transformative Online Communities in Higher Education provides a practical approach for building authentic learning experiences into the design and delivery of online teaching and learning systems. Combining three conceptually related ideas—complexity theory, transformative learning, and the Community of Inquiry—this novel, highly applicable framework enables instructors to create compelling virtual learning experiences for students. As higher education faculty, instructional designers, and graduate students shift from presenting information to creating experiences, the book offers an evidence-based disruption of the current thinking on and practice of course design.

Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include: Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community. Establishing a sense of presence online. Maximizing participation. Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection. Assessing student performance. Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authors many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

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.

Drawing on their years of experience leading transformative online classrooms in higher education, the authors present an approach for teaching online that is both engaging and effective. This practical book provides an overview of essential approaches, bolstered by examples from various instructors who are teaching online courses. The authors examine how progressive practices are useful for instructors new to the online classroom as well as for experienced online educators seeking to enhance their existing practices. The topics discussed include engagement, equity, presence, and community—all relevant areas for today’s college and university classrooms. Each chapter introduces and defines a specific topic and then provides stories based on interviews with members of the authors’ online teaching network. The end result is a narrative guide that will help faculty strengthen their students’ online experience by creating an atmosphere that is connected and robust. Book Features: An accessible resource for faculty seeking to create more equitable and communal online classroom spaces.Practical examples from experienced educators who have been developing and innovating online environments.Ideas for creating engaging, student-centered teaching and learning.A progressive approach with practices that are relevant to all digital classrooms.

In this second volume of the successful Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education, editors Souza and Rose share examples of assessment practice from over fifteen distinct and diverse Higher Education Institutions, including international contributions. Building upon the work of the first volume, the case studies in this book reflect the changes in assessment and higher education in the post-Covid education environment. The institutions that appear in this book were chosen for having an effective assessment approach in one or more of the following areas: career readiness; distance education; diversity, equity, and inclusion; or general education. Each part of the book discusses one of these four areas, with chapters that feature real-life examples from the educators who teach at the college or university. Featuring a Foreword by AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella, the work highlighted in this book is also aligned with AAC&U’s Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) initiative to help educators make the best decisions about measuring student learning. This book is ideal for university educators and assessment practitioners looking to diversify and enhance their assessment practices.

Constructing Online Work-Based Learning Placements offers a step-by-step approach to understanding and applying the principles of design and delivery in online work-based learning (WBL) placements for students. A crucial component of employability strategies for higher education students, WBL placements are increasingly in need of adaptation to respond to today’s rapidly expanding online work environments. This evidence-based book explores the emergent properties and additional value that online WBL placements provide to student learning and employability prospects, focusing on effective pedagogy, design, planning and implementation. The book also presents the Peer Enhanced e-Placement (PEEP), a pioneering, positively evaluated and award-winning online WBL placement model that is underpinned by pedagogical research and theory. The PEEP has been adapted and adopted by numerous higher education teams organising online WBL placements, and the case example included in these pages will guide readers through their own implementation and collaborations.

"This book focuses on the societal, social, political, economic and philosophical perspectives of transformative models and how digital learning communities foster critical reflections and perspective change, building a better understanding on how online educators/designers/tutors/learners can talk about injustice and inequality to a virtual group"--Provided by publisher.

The leading authorities in the field produced this comprehensive resource, which provides strategies and methods for fostering Transformative Learning (TL) practice in a wide variety of higher and adult education settings. The book answers relevant questions such as: What are effective practices for promoting TL in the classroom? What is it about TL that is most helpful in informing practice? How does the teaching setting shape the practice of TL? What are the successes, strengths, and outcomes of fostering TL? What are the risks and challenges when practicing TL in the classroom?