Issues in Distance Education

Online education is often heralded as a solution for accessibility to higher education; however, ableism thrives online. In this timely collection, contributors aim to trouble what online teaching looks like and think critically about how disability is addressed in online classrooms. Through narratives, poetry, interviews, and scholarly analysis, they reflect on disabled, mad, sick, and crip online pedagogy and highlight the possibilities of expanding critical standards for accessible teaching and learning. Necessarily interdisciplinary, this collection retheorizes the classroom around a justice-based approach to online pedagogy and challenges the assumptions we have around universal design. Refusing to position access as an afterthought, this collection troubles our engagement with online accessibility in uncertain and evolving times. Online education is often heralded as a solution for accessibility to higher education; however, ableism thrives online. This timely volume investigates how disability is addressed in online classrooms and, in refusing to position access as an afterthought, troubles our engagement with online accessibility in uncertain and evolving times. Chelsea Temple Jones is an associate professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University and the co-producer of Podagogies: A Learning and Teaching Podcast at Toronto Metropolitan University. Fady Shanouda is an assistant professor at the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at Carleton University. Lisanne Binhammer is an educator, researcher, and designer who received her MA in Anthropology with a specialization in Digital Humanities from Carleton University. With contributions by Felicita Arzu-Carmichael, Fiona N. Cheuk, Mina Chun, Kimberlee Collins, Elena G. Garcia, Jay Dolmage, Esther Ignagni, Donna Jeffery, Erika Johnson, Curtis Maloley, Mary McCall, Elizabeth Mohler, Jenna Reid, Kristin Smith, Hannah L. Stevens, Jessica Vorstermans, Nathan Whitlock, and Anne Zbitnew. Acknowledgements Foreword / Jay Dolmage Introducing Troubles Online / Chelsea Temple Jones and Fady Shanouda 1. Caring Online: A Justice-Oriented Approach to Online Pedagogy / Jenna Reid and Fady Shanouda 2. Virtual Bodies, Material Implications: Black Feminist Epistemology as a Framework for Online Education / Felicita Arzu-Carmichael 3. Critical Digital Pandemic-Based Pedagogy: A Conversation with Jesse Stommel and Sean Michael Morris / Chelsea Temple Jones and Curtis Maloley 4. Online Social Work Education in Canada: Disappearing Disability in the Academy / Kimberlee Collins, Kristin Smith, and Donna Jeffery 5. Ethical Challenges of Digital Technology and the Utah Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints / Elena G. Garcia and Erika Johnson 6. Poetic Journeys: College Students with Disabilities Navigating Unanticipated Transitions during the Pandemic / Mina Chun 7. Materializing Access in the Dematerialized Space of Higher Education Online Classrooms / Fiona Cheuk and Esther Ignagni 8. Students as Designers, not Consumers: Framing Accessible, Participatory Learning as a Social Justice Approach to Online Course Design / Hannah L. Stevens and Mary McCall 9. Making Accessible Media: An Interview / Nathan Whitlock and Anne Zbitnew 10. Moments of Reckoning in Learning and Belonging in Spaces of Postsecondary Education with/beyond COVID-19 / Jessica Vorstermans and Elizabeth Mohler Conclusion / Lisanne Binhammer Contributors

Within the rapidly expanding field of educational technology, learners and educators must confront a seemingly overwhelming selection of tools designed to deliver and facilitate both online and blended learning. Many of these tools assume that learning is configured and delivered in closed contexts, through learning management systems (LMS). However, while traditional "classroom" learning is by no means obsolete, networked learning is in the ascendant. A foundational method in online and blended education, as well as the most common means of informal and self-directed learning, networked learning is rapidly becoming the dominant mode of teaching as well as learning. In Teaching Crowds, Dron and Anderson introduce a new model for understanding and exploiting the pedagogical potential of Web-based technologies, one that rests on connections - on networks and collectives - rather than on separations. Recognizing that online learning both demands and affords new models of teaching and learning, the authors show how learners can engage with social media platforms to create an unbounded field of emergent connections. These connections empower learners, allowing them to draw from one another's expertise to formulate and fulfill their own educational goals. In an increasingly networked world, developing such skills will, they argue, better prepare students to become self-directed, lifelong learners.

Educational systems worldwide are facing an enormous shift as a result of sociocultural, political, economic, and technological changes. The technologies and practices that have developed over the last decade have been heralded as opportunities to transform both online and traditional education systems. While proponents of these new ideas often postulate that they have the potential to address the educational problems facing both students and institutions and that they could provide an opportunity to rethink the ways that education is organized and enacted, there is little evidence of emerging technologies and practices in use in online education. Because researchers and practitioners interested in these possibilities often reside in various disciplines and academic departments the sharing and dissemination of their work across often rigid boundaries is a formidable task. Contributors to Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning include individuals who are shaping the future of online learning with their innovative applications and investigations on the impact of issues such as openness, analytics, MOOCs, and social media. Building on work first published in Emerging Technologies in Distance Education, the contributors to this collection harness the dispersed knowledge in online education to provide a one-stop locale for work on emergent approaches in the field. Their conclusions will influence the adoption and success of these approaches to education and will enable researchers and practitioners to conceptualize, critique, and enhance their understanding of the foundations and applications of new technologies. With contributions by Terry Anderson, R. S. Baker, Angela D. Benson, Amy Collier, Alec Couros, Michael Dowdy, Margaret Edwards, B. J. Eib, Cassidy Hall, Katia Hildebrant, P. S. Inventado, Royce Kimmons, Trey Martindale, Rolin Moe, Beth Perry, Jen Ross, Elizabeth Wellburn, Andrew Whitworth.

Books and articles on instructional design in online learning abound but rarely do we get such a comprehensive picture of what instructional designers do, how they do it, and the problems they solve as their university changes. Power documents the emergence of an adapted instructional design model for transforming courses from single-mode to dual-mode instruction, making this designer's log a unique contribution to the field of online learning.

A one-stop knowledge resource, Emerging Technologies in Distance Education showcases the international work of research scholars and innovative distance education practitioners who use emerging interactive technologies for teaching and learning at a distance. This widely anticipated book harnesses the dispersed knowledge of international experts who highlight pedagogical, organizational, cultural, social, and economic factors that influence the adoption and integration of emerging technologies in distance education.

Three-dimensional (3D) immersive virtual worlds have been touted as being capable of facilitating highly interactive, engaging, multimodal learning experiences. Much of the evidence gathered to support these claims has been anecdotal but the potential that these environments hold to solve traditional problems in online and technology-mediated education-primarily learner isolation and student disengagement-has resulted in considerable investments in virtual world platforms like Second Life, OpenSimulator, and Open Wonderland by both professors and institutions. To justify this ongoing and sustained investment, institutions and proponents of simulated learning environments must assemble a robust body of evidence that illustrates the most effective use of this powerful learning tool. In this authoritative collection, a team of international experts outline the emerging trends and developments in the use of 3D virtual worlds for teaching and learning. They explore aspects of learner interaction with virtual worlds, such as user wayfinding in Second Life, communication modes and perceived presence, and accessibility issues for elderly or disabled learners. They also examine advanced technologies that hold potential for the enhancement of learner immersion and discuss best practices in the design and implementation of virtual world-based learning interventions and tasks. By evaluating and documenting different methods, approaches, and strategies, the contributors to Learning in Virtual Worlds offer important information and insight to both scholars and practitioners in the field. Contributors include Paul M. Baker, Francesca Bertacchini, Leanne Cameron, Chris Campbell, Helen S. Farley, Laura Fedeli, Sue Gregory, Christopher Hardy, Bob Heller, Vicki Knox, Shailey Minocha, Jessica Pater, Margarita Pérez García, Mike Procter, Torsten Reiners, Paul Resta, Corbin Rose, Miri Shonfeld, Ann Smith, Layla F. Tabatabaie, Assunta Tavernise, Robert L. Todd, Steven Warburton, and Stephany F. Wilkes.

In this important collection of essays by practitioners and scholars that has been downloaded nearly half a million times is an overview of some of the most pressing issues in online education. By addressing transformations arising from educational technology advances and the new business conditions and modes of delivery of education, the contributors to The Theory and Practice of Online Learning provide insights into this complex, diverse, and rapidly evolving field.

Flexibility has become a watchword in modern education, but its implementation is by no means a straightforward matter. Flexible Pedagogy, Flexible Practice sheds light on the often taken-for-granted assumptions that inform daily practice and examines the institutional dynamics that help and hinder efforts toward flexibility. The collection in international in scope, drawing on the experience of specialists in distance education from North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, and Japan. Contributors to the volume were asked to reflect candidly and critically on a series of questions, including: What precisely is flexible learning? Who or what is driving the flexibility agenda, and for whose benefit? And who or what is resisting it? What challenges must be overcome in order to achieve flexibility, and what are some of the compromises it can entail?

As Canadian universities work to increase access to graduate education, many are adopting blended modes of delivery for courses and programs. Within this changing landscape of higher education, The Finest Blend answers the call for rigorous research into these methods to ensure quality learning and teaching experience and presents case studies of French and English universities across Canada that are experimenting with blended learning models in graduate programs. Drawing on various research methods, the contributors to the volume investigate the sustainability of blended learning, shifts in pedagogical practices, and the role of instructional designers. They share key practices for both graduate students and instructors and emphasize the importance of institutional and departmental support for both students and faculty transitioning to blended delivery modes. Touching on theory, design, delivery, facilitation, administration, and evaluation, this book provides a comprehensive overview of current practices and opportunities for blended learning success. With contributions by Alicia Adlington, Shaily Bhola, Denise Carew, Jane Costello, Daph Crane, Jane Hanson, Michael Fairbrother, Wendy Kraglund-Gauthier, Shehzad Ghani, Michele Jacobsen, Carol Johnson, Sawsen Lakhal, Yang (Flora) Liu, Dorothea Nelson, Pam Phillips, Marlon Simmons, Kathy Snow, Maurice Taylor, and Jay Wilson.

In this lively and approachable volume based on his popular blog series, Martin Weller demonstrates a rich history of innovation and effective implementation of ed tech across higher education. From Bulletin Board Systems to blockchain, Weller follows the trajectory of education by focusing each chapter on a technology, theory, or concept that has influenced each year since 1994. Calling for both caution and enthusiasm, Weller advocates for a critical and research-based approach to new technologies, particularly in light of disinformation, the impact of social media on politics, and data surveillance trends. A concise and necessary retrospective, this book will be valuable to educators, ed tech practitioners, and higher education administrators, as well as students.

Teaching in Blended Leaning Environments provides a coherent framework in which to explore the transformative concept of blended learning. Blended learning can be defined as the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies. A direct result of the transformative innovation of virtual communication and online learning communities, blended learning environments have created new ways for teachers and students to engage, interact, and collaborate. The authors argue that this new learning environment necessitates significant role adjustments for instructors and generates a need to understand the aspects of teaching presence required of deep and meaningful learning outcomes. Built upon the theoretical framework of the Community of Inquiry – the premise that higher education is both a collaborative and individually constructivist learning experience – the authors present seven principles that provide a valuable set of tools for harnessing the opportunities for teaching and learning available through technology. Focusing on teaching practices related to the design, facilitation, direction and assessment of blended learning experiences, Teaching in Blended Learning Environments addresses the growing demand for improved teaching in higher education.

Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda provides 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 relevant issue in online distance education, discussing theoretical insights that guide the research, summarizing major research on the topic, 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 takes care to address aspects of distance education practice that until now have often been marginalized, including issues of cost and economics, social justice implications, cultural impacts, 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.

The interest in and demand for online terminal degress across disciplines by professionals wishing to conduct research and fulfill doctoral degree requirements at a distance is only increasing. But what these programs look like, how they are implemented, and how they might be evaluated are the questions that challenge administrators and pedagogues alike. This book presents a model for a doctoral program that bridges theory, research, and practice and is offered completely or largely online. In their described program model, Kumar and Dawson enable researching professionals to build an online communtiy of inquiry, engage in critical discourse within and across disciplines, learn from and with experts and peers, and generate new knowledge. Their program design is grounded in the theoretical and research foundations of online, adult, and doctoral education, curriculum design and community-building, implementation and evaluation. The authors, who draw on their experience of implementing a similar program at the University of Florida, not only share data collected from students and faculty members but also reflect on lessons learned working on the program in diverse educational contexts. An important guide for program leaders who wish to develop and sustain an online professional doctorate, An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals will also be a valuable resource for higher education professionals seeking to include e-learning components in existing on-campus doctoral programs.

This collection is for anyone interested in the use of mobile technology for various distance learning applications. Readers will discover how to design learning materials for delivery on mobile technology and become familiar with the best practices of other educators, trainers, and researchers in the field, as well as the most recent initiatives in mobile learning research. Businesses and governments can learn how to deliver timely information to staff using mobile devices. Professors can use this book as a textbook for courses on distance education, mobile learning, and educational technology.

In this engaging volume, Jon Dron views education, learning, and teaching through a technological lens that focuses on the parts we play in technologies, from language and pedagogies to computers and regulations. He proposes a new theory of education whereby individuals are not just users but co-participants in technologies-technologies that are intrinsic parts of our cognition, of which we form intrinsic parts, through which we are entangled with one another and the world around us. Dron reframes popular families of educational theory (objectivist, subjectivist, and complexivist) and explains a variety of educational phenomena, including the failure of learning style theories, the nature of literacies, systemic weaknesses in learning management systems, the prevalence of cheating in educational institutions, and the fundamental differences between online and in-person learning. Ultimately, “How Education Works” articulates how practitioners in education can usefully understand technology, education, and their relationship to improve teaching practice. Acknowledgements Prologue Introduction Preamble:  Elephant Spotting 1. A Handful of Anecdotes about Elephants 2. A Handful of Observations about Elephants Part I:  All about Technology 3. Organizing Stuff to Do Stuff 4. How Technologies Work 5. Participation and Technique Part II:  Education as a Technological Phenomenon 6. A Co-Participation Model of Teaching 7. Theories of Teaching 8. Technique, Expertise, and Literacy Part III:  Applying the Co-Participation Model 9. Revealing Elephants 10. How Education Works Epilogue References In this absorbing volume, Jon Dron views education, learning, and teaching through a technological lens. Focusing on the parts we play in technologies-from language and pedagogies to computers and regulations-Dron posits that individuals are not just users but technical coparticipants. An engaging proposal for a new theory of education, diagraming how humans and technology can maximize learning for students.

For many learners assessment conjures up visions of red pens scrawling percentages in the top right-hand corner of exams and feelings of stress, inadequacy, and failure. Although negative student reactions to evaluation have been noted, assessment has provided educational institutions with important information about learning outcomes and the quality of education for many decades. But how accurate is this data and has it informed practice or been fully incorporated into the learning cycle? Conrad and Open argue that the potential in many of the new learning environments to alter and improve assessment has yet to be explored by educators and students. In their investigation of assessment methods and learning approaches, Conrad and Openo aim to explore assessment that engages learners and authentically evaluates education. They insist that moving to new learning environments, specifically those online and at a distance, afford educators opportunities to embrace only the most effective face-to-face assessment methods and to realize the potential of delivering education in the digital age. In this volume practitioners will find not only an indispensable introduction to new forms of assessment but also a number of best practices as described by experienced educators.

Accessible Elements informs science educators about current practices in online and distance education: distance-delivered methods for laboratory coursework, the requisite administrative and institutional aspects of online and distance teaching, and the relevant educational theory. Delivery of university-level courses through online and distance education is a method of providing equal access to students seeking post-secondary education. Distance delivery offers practical alternatives to traditional on-campus education for students limited by barriers such as classroom scheduling, physical location, finances, or job and family commitments. The growing recognition and acceptance of distance education, coupled with the rapidly increasing demand for accessibility and flexible delivery of courses, has made distance education a viable and popular option for many people to meet their science educational goals.

The rapid migration to remote instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic has expedited the need for more research, expertise, and practical guidelines for online and blended learning. A theoretical grounding of approaches and practices is imperative to support blended learning and sustain change across multiple levels in education organizations, from leadership to classroom. The Community of Inquiry is a valuable framework that regards higher education as both a collaborative and individually constructivist learning experience. The framework considers the interdependent elements of social, cognitive, and teaching presence to create a meaningful learning experience. In this volume, the authors further explore and refine the blended learning principles presented in their first book, Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry, with an added focus on designing, facilitating, and directing collaborative blended learning environments by emphasizing the concept of shared metacognition. Introduction Chapter One - Conceptual Framework Chapter Two - Design and Organization Chapter Three - Facilitation Chapter Four - Direct Instruction Chapter Five - Assessment Chapter Six - Leading Collaboratively Conclusion Appendix A: Blended Learning Design Process Appendix B: Community of Inquiry: Teacher Self-Assessment and Exploration Tool Appendix C: Community of Inquiry: Student Self-Assessment and Exploration Tool Appendix D: Community of Inquiry Survey Instrument Appendix E: Shared Metacognition Questionnaire References Norman D. Vaughan is a professor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University. He has co-authored Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry (2013), and Blended Learning in Higher Education (2008). In addition, he has published a series of articles on blended learning and faculty development. Dr. Vaughan is the co-founder of the Blended Online Design Network (BOLD), a founding member of the Community of Inquiry Research Group, the associate editor of the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning and he is on the editorial boards of numerous national and international journals. Deborah Dell completed her Doctor of Education in Distance Education at Athabasca University. Debra is a long-time distance education learner and facilitator. Her research and practice work focuses on the integration of emotion and cognition and building collaborative learning and practice communities. She has a special interest in self and co-regulation and the enactment of emotional presence and attunity in education and training programs. Martha Cleveland-Innes is professor of Open, Digital, and Distance Education at Athabasca University. She is editor-in-chief of the bilingual Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, and the co-author of open source publications The Guide to Blended Learning (2018) and Participant Experience in an Inquiry-Based Massive Open Online Course (2022). In 2019 Martha received an Honorary Doctorate from Mid-Sweden University, served as a member of the Advisory Group for Digital Literacy with the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education (2021–2022), and was the virtual educator in residence, National University of Singapore (Fall, 2022). She is currently visiting professor of Pedagogy at Mid-Sweden University. D. Randy Garrison is professor emeritus at the University of Calgary. Dr. Garrison has been dean of Extension at the University of Alberta and director of the Teaching and Learning Centre at the University of Calgary. He has published extensively on teaching and learning in adult, higher and distance education contexts. Dr. Garrison has authored, co-authored or edited fifteen books and well over 100 refereed articles/chapters. In this volume, the authors draw on the Community of Inquiry, a framework that regards higher education as

Instructors across higher education require inspiring and practical resources for creating, adapting to, and enhancing, online teaching and learning spaces. Faculty need to build collaborative, equitable and trusting online learning communities. This edited volume examines the experiences that interdisciplinary and global feminist educators have had-both their successes and their challenges-in infusing feminist pedagogical tenets into their online teaching and learning practices. Contributors consider how to promote connection, reflexivity, and embodiment; build equity, cooperation, and co-education; and create cultures of care in the online classroom. They also interrogate knowledge production, social inequality, and power. By (re)imagining feminist pedagogy as a much-needed tool and providing practical advice for using digital technology to enact these tenets in the classroom, this collection will empower educators and learners alike. Jacquelyne Thoni Howard is a professor of Practice of Data at the Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science at Tulane University. She is a founding co-editor of the nationally recognized guide, Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Online, and has published journal articles and chapters about social and cultural topics relating to the History of Science and Technology Studies and Digital Humanities Labs. Enilda Romero-Hall is associate professor in the Learning, Design, and Technology program at The University of Tennessee Knoxville. She is the author of the edited volume Research Methods in Learning Design and Technology. Clare Daniel is an administrative associate professor at Newcomb Institute of Tulane University, where she teaches in the Department of Communication. She is the author of Mediating Morality: The Politics of Teen Pregnancy in the Post-Welfare Era. Her work has also appeared in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Feminist Media Studies, and elsewhere. She is a founding editor of the Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Online digital guide. Niya Bond is an online educator, faculty development facilitator, and PhD candidate at the University of Maine studying online teaching and learning. Her publications focus on empowering online learners and educators, creating and sustaining virtual communities of practice (both formal and informal), and facilitating equitable, belonging, and inclusive educational experiences. Liv Newman is administrative assistant professor and Associate Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching at Tulane University. She has worked in higher education for nearly 25 years spanning both teaching and administrative roles. Her scholarly interests focus on the intersection of race and class, inequities in education, and enhancing the online educational experience for faculty and students. With contributions by Nadia Awaida, Maha Bali, Karen Samantha Barton, Aras Bozkurt, Amy M. Collier, Rebecca Cottrell, Rujuta Date, Kathryn E. Frazier, Staci Gilpin, Ashley Glassburn, Letizia Guglielmo, Nandita Gurjar, Priya Gurjar, Nadia V. Jaramillo Cherrez, Bridget A. Kriner, Jo Krishnakumar, Steven James Mockler, Jana Lo Bello Miller, Sarah Lohnes Watulak, Ann Obermann, Sarah Payne, Chloe Raub, Xinyue Ren, Dana Rognlie, Stephanie Rollag Yoon, Saanchi Saxena, Catharyn C. Shelton, Elizabeth A. Siler, and Sukaina Walji. Instructors across higher education require inspiring and practical resources for creating, adapting to, and enhancing, online teaching and learning spaces. This edited volume examines the experiences that interdisciplinary and global feminist educators have had-both their successes and their challenges-in infusing feminist pedagogical tenets into their online teaching and learning practices. By (re)imagining feminist pedagogy as a much-needed tool and providing practical advice for using digital technology to enact these tenets in the classroom, this collection will empower educators and