This paper reports on a study whose purpose was to compare student ratings of instruction in online and face-to-face (F2F) higher education courses in an effort to better understand how faculty can strengthen their teaching in the online environment.

With the increasing number of online courses within many higher education institutions, experienced instructors are facing the possibility of teaching online. These faculty members may face the task of converting their well-established face-to-face teaching strategies into an online environment. To better understand this transition, we analyzed the practice of one senior professor and his face-to-face teaching strategies. This single-case study gave us insight into these strategies and enabled us to describe how current and emerging online tools could accommodate these strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open and distance learning provide particular (and sometimes overlapping) contexts for discussions of student retention. This paper argues that the environment for learning created by distance learning tutors is a key factor in student retention, whether retention is taken to refer to student completion of a single course or student persistence through a programme of study. Discussion of tutors' roles in retaining students is stimulated by the recent symposium on student retention and draws on a new analysis of three linked empirical inquiries located within the UK Open University. A fruitful integration of questionnaire surveys, project evaluation and practitioner action inquiries suggest that, where questions of retention focus on the student and their learning experience, tutors' facilitative roles are complex and valuable. Institutional policies and course design practices need to support tutors in their retention roles by using and sharing appropriate pedagogies, systems, student information and integrated professional development opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR].

The word ‘blended’ is not particularly scientific, or even academic. In fact, you might feel that it sounds rather more like an entry from a recipe book. At the same time, it is currently widely in use by practitioners in both academic and commercial sectors, and I believe it has some good common-sense value in bringing to the fore the wide variety and richness of situations in which learning takes place. It can encourage us to stop and think about the whole context of teaching and learning, so that we remember the human element in tutorials, or perhaps incidents such as chance meetings in the corridor, as critical parts of the package alongside any technology-mediated intervention with a group. (Extract from Blended Learning and Online Tutoring : A Good Practice Guide )

Technology has brought tremendous advancements in online education, spurring transformations
in online pedagogical practices. Online learning in the past was passive, using the traditional
teacher-centred approach. However, with the tools available today, it can be active, collaborative,
and meaningful. A well-developed task can impel learners to observe, to reflect, to strategize,
and to plan their own learning. This paper describes an English as a Second Language (ESL)
instructor’s attempt to foster interactive and reflective learning among distance learners at a
public university in Malaysia, working within the framework proposed by Salmon (2004). The
authors found that proper planning and close monitoring of a writing activity that incorporates
interactive and reflective learning helped to raise the students’ awareness of their own learning
process and consequently helped them to be more responsible for their learning. The students
acquired significant cognitive benefits and also valuable practical learning skills through the
online discussions. However, there were challenges in carrying out the writing task to promote
this form of learning, including students’ professional and family commitments and cultural
attitudes as well as communication barriers in the online environment. To overcome these
challenges, the authors recommend the following: ensure tutor guidance, enforce compulsory
participation, address technical problems quickly, commence strategic training prior to the
beginning of a task, and implement team teaching with each instructor taking on certain roles. (Authors' abstract)