Meaningful Online Learning

Grounded in constructivist teaching, Meaningful Online Learning is organized around learning processes such as inquiring, experimenting, writing, modeling, community building, communicating, designing, visualizing, and assessing. Numerous examples from teachers in K¿12 classrooms offer a clear understanding of how technology can be used with all students across grade levels. Building on the authors¿ years of synthesized research and experience, this book focuses on achieving balance between learning technologies, instructional strategies, and learning activities, while a companion website provides examples of online learning environments designed to support meaningful learning outcomes.

Meaningful Online Learning explores the design and facilitation of high-quality online learning experiences and outcomes through the integration of theory-based instructional strategies, learning activities, and proven educational technologies. Building on the authors’ years of synthesized research and expertise, this textbook prepares instructors in training to create, deliver, and evaluate learner-centered online pedagogies. Pre- and in-service K–12 teachers, higher education faculty, and instructional designers in private, corporate, or government settings will find a comprehensive approach and support system for their design efforts.

While online courses are said to be beneficial and many reputable brick and mortar higher education institutions are now offering undergraduate and graduate programs online, there is still ongoing debate on issues related to credibility and acceptability. There is some reluctance to teach online and to admit and hire students who have enrolled in online programs. Given these concerns, it is essential that educators in online communities continue to share the significant learning experiences and outcomes that occur in online classrooms and highlight pedagogical practices used by online instructors to make their courses and programs comparable to those offered face-to-face. The Handbook of Research on Creating Meaningful Experiences in Online Courses is a comprehensive research book that examines the quality of courses in higher education that are offered exclusively online and details strategies and practices used by online instructors to create meaningful teaching and learning experiences in online courses. Featuring a range of topics such as gamification, professional development, and learning outcomes, this book is ideal for academicians, researchers, educators, administrators, instructional designers, curriculum developers, higher education faculty, and students.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically transformed the classroom by keeping students and teachers apart for the sake of safety. As schools emptied, remote learning rapidly expanded through online services and video chatrooms. Unfortunately, this disrupted many students and teachers who were not accustomed to remote classrooms. This challenge has forced K-12 teachers to think differently about teaching. Unexpectedly and with little time to prepare, they have been confronted with redesigning their curriculum and instruction from face-to-face to online virtual classrooms to protect students from the COVID-19 virus while ensuring that these new online initiatives remain sustainable and useful in the post-pandemic world. As teachers learn to take advantage of the affordances and strengths of the multiple technologies available for virtual classroom instruction, their instruction both in online and face-to-face will impact what and how students learn in the 21st century. The Handbook of Research on Transforming Teachers’ Online Pedagogical Reasoning for Engaging K-12 Students in Virtual Learning examines the best practices and pedagogical reasoning for designing online strategies that work for K-12 virtual learning. The initial section provides foundational pedagogical ideas for constructing engaging virtual learning environments that leverage the unique strengths and opportunities while avoiding the weaknesses and threats of the online world. The following chapters present instructional strategies for multiple grade levels and content areas: best practices that work, clearly describing why they work, and the teachers’ pedagogical reasoning that supports online implementations. The chapters provide ways to think about teaching in virtual environments that can be used to guide instructional strategy choices and recognizes the fundamental differences between face-to-face and virtual environments as an essential design component. Covering such topics as K-12 classrooms, pedagogical reasoning, and virtual learning, this text is perfect for professors, teachers, students, educational designers and developers, instructional technology faculty, distance learning faculty, and researchers interested in the subject.

This custom edition is published for Murdoch University.

Effective teaching is effective teaching, no matter where it occurs The pandemic teaching of mid-2020 was not really distance learning, but rather crisis teaching. But starting now, teachers have the opportunity to prepare for distance learning with purpose and intent—using what works best to accelerate students’ learning all the while maintaining an indelible focus on equity. Harnessing the insights and experience of renowned educators Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie, The Distance Learning Playbook applies the wisdom and evidence of VISIBLE LEARNING® research to understand what works best with distance learning. Spanning topics from teacher-student relationships, teacher credibility and clarity, instructional design, assessments, and grading, this comprehensive playbook details the research- and evidence-based strategies teachers can mobilize to deliver high- impact learning in an online, virtual, and distributed environment. This powerful guide includes: Learning Intentions and Success Criteria for each module to track your own learning and model evidence-based teacher practices for meaningful learning A diversity of instructional approaches, including direct instruction, peer learning, and independent work that foster student self-regulation and move learning to deep and transfer levels Discussion of equity challenges associated with distance learning, along with examples of how teachers can work to ensure that equity gains that have been realized are not lost. Special guidance for teachers of young children who are learning from a distance Videos of the authors and teachers discussing a wide variety of distance learning topics Space to write and reflect on current practices and plan future instruction The Distance Learning Playbook is the essential hands-on guide to preparing and delivering distance learning experiences that are truly effective and impactful. To purchase from an Authorized Corwin Distributor click here. A Spanish translation of the Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12, Aprendizaje a Distancia Guia, Guia de Preescolar a Bachillerator, can be purchased by contacting Irene Yepez from Editorial Trillas at [email protected].

Assessment has provided educational institutions with information about student learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But has it informed practice and been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Openo argue that the potential inherent in many of the new learning environments being explored by educators and students has not been fully realized. In this investigation of a variety of assessment methods and learning approaches, the authors aim to discover the tools that engage learners and authentically evaluate education. They insist that moving to new learning environments, specifically those online and at a distance, afford opportunities for educators to adopt only the best practices of traditional face-to-face assessment while exploring evaluation tools made available by a digital learning environment in the hopes of arriving at methods that capture the widest set of learner skills and attributes.

Effective communication is essential in every organization, including educational institutions. Often, members of the online community work in isolation. Collaboration across varying disciplines and departments can promote unique professional development activities and create a stronger connection to the entire online community. Enriching Collaboration and Communication in Online Learning Communities is a critical scholarly publication that supports communication and collaboration in online settings by focusing on the ways all members of the educational institution can create community to foster personal and professional growth for all. The book takes an in-depth look at communication strategies and challenges including managing conflict, working effectively in virtual teams, critical thinking, intercultural and cross-cultural communication, and online leadership. It is ideal for faculty, teachers, administrators, principles, curriculum developers, professionals, researchers, and students.