Full Description
Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda offersa systematic overview of the major issues, trends, and areas ofpriority in online distance education research. In each chapter, aninternational expert or team of experts provides an overview of onetimely issue in online distance education, summarizing major researchon the topic, discussing theoretical insights that guide the research,posing questions and directions for future research, and discussing theimplications for distance education practice as a whole. Intended as aprimary reference and guide for distance educators, researchers, andpolicymakers, Online Distance Education addresses aspects ofdistance education practice that have often been marginalized,including issues of cost and economics, concerns surrounding socialjustice, cultural bias, the need for faculty professional development,and the management and growth of learner communities. At once soundlyempirical and thoughtfully reflective, yet also forward-looking andopen to new approaches to online and distance teaching, this text is asolid resource for researchers in a rapidly expanding discipline.
Contents
Foreword - Otto Peters
Introduction Research Areas in Online Distance Education / OlafZawacki-Richter and Terry Anderson
part I Macro-levelResearch: Distance Education Systems and Theories
Internationalization and Concepts of Social Justice: What Is to BeDone? / Alan Tait and Jennifer O'Rourke
Globalization, Culture, and Online Distance Learning / CharlotteN. Gunawardena
Distance Education Systems and Institutions in the Online Era: AnIdentity Crisis / Sarah Guri-Rosenblit
Online Distance Education Models and Research Implications /Terry D. Evans and Margaret Haughey
Methods of Study in Distance Education: A Critical Review ofSelected Recent Literature / Farhad Saba
part II Meso-level research:Management, Organization, and Technology
Organization and Management of Online and Distance Learning /Ross Paul
The Costs and Economics of Online Distance Education / GrevilleRumble
The Use of Technology in Distance Education / GráinneConole
Innovation and Change: Changing How we Change / JonDron
Professional Development and Faculty Support / MargaretHicks
Learner Support in Online Distance Education: Essential and Evolving/ Jane E. Brindley
Quality Assurance in Online Distance Education / ColinLatchem
part III Micro-level Research:Learning and Teaching in Distance Education
Major Movements in Instructional Design / Katy Campbell andRichard. A. Schwier
Interaction and Communication in Online Learning Communities:Towardan Engaged and Flexible Future / Dianne Conrad
Quantitative Analysis of Interaction Patterns in Online DistanceEducation / Allan Jeong
From the Back Door into the Mainstream: The Characteristics ofLifelong Learners / Joachim Stöter, Mark Bullen, OlafZawacki-Richter, and Christine von Prümmer
Student Dropout: The Elephant in the Room / Alan Woodley andOrmond Simpson
Conclusion Towards a Research Agenda / Terry Anderson and OlafZawacki-Richter
