Future Of Distance Education

Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda offers a systematic overview of the major issues, trends, and areas of priority in online distance education research. In each chapter, an international expert or team of experts provides an overview of one timely issue in online distance education, summarizing major research on the topic, discussing theoretical insights that guide the research, posing questions and directions for future research, and discussing the implications for distance education practice as a whole. Intended as a primary reference and guide for distance educators, researchers, and policymakers, Online Distance Education addresses aspects of distance education practice that have often been marginalized, including issues of cost and economics, concerns surrounding social justice, cultural bias, the need for faculty professional development, and the management and growth of learner communities. At once soundly empirical and thoughtfully reflective, yet also forward-looking and open to new approaches to online and distance teaching, this text is a solid resource for researchers in a rapidly expanding discipline.

The world of education is being radically altered with the change being driven by technology, openness, and unprecedented access to knowledge. Older correspondence-style methods of instructional delivery are passé and “classroom adapted to the web” approaches to learning are often ineffective and do little to harness the transformational potential of technology. E-Learning scenarios, mobile technologies, communication and information access, and personal learning environments are becoming mainstream and, as a result, control of the learning process is shifting away from institutions and into the hands of learners. This volumes promotes a forward-thinking agenda for research and scholarship that highlights new ideas, deep insights, and novel approaches to “unconstrained” learning.

This timely volume documents the immediate, global impacts of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on teaching and learning in higher education. Focusing on student and faculty experiences of online and distance education, the text provides reflections on novel initiatives, unexpected challenges, and lessons learned. Responding to the urgent need to better understand online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, this book investigates how the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) impacted students, faculty, and staff experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown. Chapters initially look at the challenges faced by universities and educators in their attempts to overcome the practical difficulties involved in developing effective online programming and pedagogy. The text then builds on these insights to highlight student experiences and consider issues of social connection and inequality. Finally, the volume looks forward to asking what lessons COVID-19 can offer for the future development of online and distance learning in higher education. This engaging volume will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in online teaching and eLearning, curriculum design, and more, specifically those involved with the digitalization of higher education. The text will also support further discussion and reflection around pedagogical transformation, international teaching and learning, and educational policy more broadly.

Transforming Universities with Digital Distance Education explores the ways in which higher education stakeholders can apply and leverage the benefits of online learning. Systems-wide access, scale and quality are achievable goals but require forms of teamwork and financial modelling beyond those at the instructor or programme level. This book’s organisational view tackles the systems and practices that will help senior managers and decision-makers guide an entire institution away from dysfunction—incremental progress, insufficient capacity, high costs and generic products—and towards the macro-level implementation and operations of effective online pedagogies.

This book attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of different distance learning methods and practices at present and their prospects for future education systems. Distance education is rapidly emerging as the preferred mode of learning among the young students and professionals who are facing distance and time hurdles in pursuing education through traditional modes. The topics encompassed in this book aim to provide a holistic overview of the various distance learning methods used currently like blended learning, web-based learning, e-learning, etc. There is a distinct emphasis in this text on understanding the pedagogy, framework, technological tools and networks widely used in distance education with the help of various assessments and analyses collated from different parts of the world. The book is an invaluable resource for researchers, academicians and professionals alike.

This book focuses on important issues surrounding distance education, and provides a framework on which to build the future of distance education.

Equally grounded in the research and the practical applications developed by the authors over a number of years, this book shows how virtual learning environments could represent the future of higher education. As academics begin to use environments such as Second Life to reach a broader student audience, this volume offers the distance-learning community (administrators, faculty, and students) a different, yet successful, approach to delivering content over the Internet through 3D virtual learning environments that have the potential to transform higher education. Covering a broad spectrum of frameworks, from commercial multiplayer video games to online learning, the book shows just how powerful these environments can be in the arena of education, and concludes that data-driven practice will ensure almost universal take-up, even among those currently unwilling to use V-learning. The authors provide numerous practical examples of distance learning in its current state of development, as well as making informed predictions about how future environments might evolve. This much-needed book is right at the cutting edge of its subject, and comes at a time when research in both educational gaming and distance learning are converging.