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

Models of distance education have evolved over decades, just in time to collide with modern pedagogies in which communication, interaction, student engagement, and active learning are of critical importance. The number of college students taking online classes continues to grow. Today, nearly 30% of college students are taking at least one online class. The social media technologies encompass a wide variety of Web-based technologies such as blogs, wikis, online social networking, and virtual worlds. This paper examines the relevant published literature, looking at online learning activities through the prism of the defining characteristics of today’s new communication technologies. (Abstract by authors)

Teaching Health Professionals Online: Frameworks and Strategies is a must-read for professionals in the health care field who strive to deliver excellence in their online classes. This compendium of teaching strategies will assist both new and experienced instructors in the health professions. In addition to outlining creative, challenging activities with step-by-step directions and explanations of why they work, each chapter situates these practical techniques within the context of a particular theory of learning: instructional immediacy, invitational theory, constructivism, connectivism, transformative learning, and quantum learning theory. The authors also address other issues familiar to those who have taught online courses. How can a distance instructor build teacher-student relationships? How does one create a sense of community in the virtual classroom? How can an online instructor best support students in their future pursuit of knowledge and their development as competent professionals? By considering these and other concerns, this handbook aims to help instructors to increase student success and satisfaction, which, the authors hope, will in the long run contribute to improved patient care. (Details by AU Press)

Every chapter in the widely distributed first edition has been updated, and four new chapters on current issues such as connectivism and social software innovations have been added. Essays by practitioners and scholars active in the complex, diverse, and rapidly evolving field of distance education blend scholarship and research; practical attention to the details of teaching and learning; and mindful attention to the economics of the business of education. The Theory and Practice of Online Learning is the winner of the 2009 Charles A. Wedemeyer Award, provided by the University Professional & Continuing Education Association. Click here for more information on their Community of Practice Awards program.

Online learning has become an important consideration par- ticularly in higher (Kim & Bonk, 2006; Al-Adwan & Smedley, 2012), adult education (Olesen-Tracey, 2010; Cercone, 2008) and also in schools (Cavanaugh, Barbour, & Clark, 2009; Nicholas & Ng, 2009). These institutions are engaged in efforts to make online learning engaging and effective to learners. In order to do this, it would be apropos to consider the trends or tendencies of online learning as well as the potential. These trends bring forth new opportunities in light of the potential yet simultaneously pose challenges such as requiring more research and experimentation. We contend that it is necessary to develop new ways of thinking in face of the trends and challenges presented. In sup- port of our contention, we explore trends in online learning in terms of 6 issues and 4 potentials of online learning and 4 challenges for practitioners to keep in mind when designing online activities and course. (Abstract by authors)