The Student

What's it really like to learn online?Learning Online: The Student Experience Online learning is ubiquitous for millions of students worldwide, yet our understanding of student experiences in online learning settings is limited. The geographic distance that separates faculty from students in an online environment is its signature feature, but it is also one that risks widening the gulf between teachers and learners. In Learning Online, George Veletsianos argues that in order to critique, understand, and improve online learning, we must examine it through the lens of student experience. Approaching the topic with stories that elicit empathy, compassion, and care, Veletsianos relays the diverse day-to-day experiences of online learners. Each in-depth chapter follows a single learner's experience while focusing on an important or noteworthy aspect of online learning, tackling everything from demographics, attrition, motivation, and loneliness to cheating, openness, flexibility, social media, and digital divides. Veletsianos also draws on these case studies to offer recommendations for the future and lessons learned. The elusive nature of online learners' experiences, the book reveals, is a problem because it prevents us from doing better: from designing more effective online courses, from making evidence-informed decisions about online education, and from coming to our work with the full sense of empathy that our students deserve. Writing in an evocative, accessible, and concise manner, Veletsianos concretely demonstrates why it is so important to pay closer attention to the stories of students—who may have instructive and insightful ideas about the future of education.

A guide to current practice in assessment, particularly for those professionals coming to terms with new pressures on their traditional teaching practices. Increased use of IT, flexible assessment methods and quality assurance all affect assessment, and the need to diversify and adapt traditional assessment practices to suit new modes of learning is clearer than ever. The Student Assessment Handbook looks at the effectiveness of traditional methods in the present day and provides guidelines on how these methods may be developed to suit today's teaching environments. It is a practical resource with case studies, reflection boxes and diagnostic tools to help the reader apply the principles to everyday teaching. The book provides advice on a wide range of topics including: * assessing to promote particular kinds of learning outcomes * using meaningful assessment techniques to assess large groups * the implications of flexible learning on timing and pacing of assessment * the pros and cons of online assessment * tackling Web plagiarism and the authentication of student work * mentoring assessment standards * assessing generic skills and quality assurance.

Chris Davies is acknowledged to be Britain's foremost graduate coach. He founded his company, Graduate Coach, seven years ago and, since then, has kick-started the careers of over 300 graduates. As a result, Amazon, Aviva, Bloomberg, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Google, JP Morgan Lloyds Bank and many other blue chip companies count Chris's alumni among their employees. So, too, do organisations such as Network Rail and the NHS. Before Graduate Coach, Chris pursued two other careers, in magazine publishing and advertising and marketing. In both cases, Chris built successful enterprises from scratch.