Patterns of Engagement in Authentic Online Learning Environments
Australian Journal of Educational Technology
Proposes ten characteristics of authentic activities, based on educational theory and research, and discusses preliminary findings on students' willingness to engage in authentic tasks.

Improving Learning and Reducing Costs: New Models for Online Learning
Educause Review
Reports the preliminary results of course redesign projects using technology that show all 30 institutions reduced costs by about 40 percent on average, with a range of 20 percent to 84 percent.

LoD Survey: Quality and Effectiveness of E-Learning
Learning Circuits
Reports the results of a recent study on how practitioners rate the quality and effectiveness of their e-learning programs.

The Web's Impact On Student Learning
THE Journal
Reviews the research in three areas: The role of individual differences, instructional design, and specific skills that are enhanced by online environments.

Six Factors to Consider when Planning Online Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Reviews the literature on vision and plans, curriculum, staff training and support, student services, student training and support, and copyright and intellectual property.

Moving From Theory to Practice in the Design of Web-Based Learning From the Perspective of Constructivism
Journal of Interactive Online Learning
Describes how a course applied problem-based learning and collaborative interactions to adopt constructivist pedagogies and provide students with new aways of learning.

Spring issue on learner support
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL)
Several articles describe examples of services or instructional designs that support the distance learner and improve the students' academic experience.

Special Issue on Reusing Online Resources
Journal of Interactive Media in Education
This issue reprints chapters, along with commentary, from a new book on theoretical, pedagogical, and strategic perspectives on reusable learning objects/resources.

Distance Learning Graduate Degrees: Are They Really Any Good?
Virtual University Gazette
Discusses recent studies on reactions to online degree programs, including student satisfaction and employer perceptions.

The Standard Bearers Close Ranks
Syllabus Magazine
Discusses the development of e-learning specifications and standards, including their importance and the organizations involved.

Ten Damaging E-Learning Myths
elearningpost
Presents ten damaging myths that may contribute to the problems facing the e-learning industry in dealings with customers.

Considerations for Developing Evaluations of Online Courses
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
Compares principles of good practice, and provides a rubric for assessing and informing instruments used to evaluate online course instruction.

The Hype on Hyperstories
Learning Circuits
Describes how Boeing Leadership Center is using interactive digital movies (hyperstories) for soft-skills training.

Streaming Technology Improves Student Achievement
THE Journal
Study suggests the use of standards-based video content, powered by a new Internet technology application, increases K-12 student achievement.

Designing for Learning: The Pursuit of Well-Structured Content
Syllabus Magazine
Suggestions for selecting and structuring content to take advantage of technology and new digital media.

A Little Fun Goes a Long Way
Learning Circuits
Describes recent developments in game-based e-learning, including inexpensive, template-based games to make learning engaging.

December 2002

The Electronic Portfolio Boom: What's it All About?
Syllabus Magazine
Examines trends, advantages and disadvantages in the use of e-portolios and provides a list of tools and resources.

Institutional Challenges in the Creation and Delivery of an Online Degree Program
Technology Source
Describes how one university dealt with issues of funding, program development, marketing, online student services, faculty issues, and pay scale in creating an online degree program.

Preparing Teachers To Use Learning Objects
Technology Source
Describes learning objects, explores why teachers would want to use them, and explains how to facilitate their use.

Fine-Tuning an Online High School to Benefit At-Risk Students
THE Journal
Describes one virtual school's experience, lessons learned, and the adjustments it will make to improve the retention and learning outcomes of at-risk students.

Trends in E-Learning
Learning Circuits
Discusses ten trends to help understand why and how e-learning will continue to be a driving force in business and education in 2003 and beyond.

Handheld Devices: Toward a More Mobile Campus
Syllabus Magazine
Provides an overview of the acceptance and use of handheld devices on campus and explores the potential of mobile, wireless technology to enable people to learn and collaborate anywhere and anytime.

Wearing Four Pairs of Shoes: The Roles of E-Learning Facilitators
Learning Circuits
In this model, an e-learning facilitator "wears four pairs of shoes"--acting as instructor, social director, program manager, and technical assistant.

The eClassroom used as a Teacher's Training Laboratory to Measure the Impact of Group Facilitation on Attending, Participation, Interaction, and Involvement
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL)
Describes and quantifies the elements and stages of group interaction in a real-time, online course.

Using Quality Assurance Strategies for Online Programs
Educational Technology Review
This article organizes a quality assessment design around five components: administrative leadership and support, ongoing program concerns, course development, faculty support, and evaluation results.

Special Issue on Nursing
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
Four papers examine applications and issues in online nursing programs, including evaluations of costs, quality, and delivery methods.

Lens on the Future: Open-Source Learning
Educause Review
Discusses recent developments in open-source tools and content for online learning, and describes their benefits in fostering educational communities (PDF format).

Moving Past Time as the Criteria: The Application of Capabilities-Based Educational Equivalency Units in Education
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Argues that the century-old standard of using time in the classroom to determine equivalency of academic courses is outmoded due to the proliferation of instructional technologies and distance learning. Describes a capabilities-based standard.

Motivating and Retaining Adult Learners Online
Virtual University Gazette
This special edition features "A Journal of Research Articles and Practitioner's Tips." The free downloadable journal (151 pages) contains 13 articles on building virtual campuses that lead to better retention of the adult learner.

SCORM: Clarity or Calamity?
Online Learning Magazine
Raises questions about the long-term usefulness of SCORM standards unless they turn the focus from infrastructure to pedagogical soundness.

Cultural Adaptation: Necessity for Global eLearning
Learning in the New Economy
Provides strategies for adapting e-learning materials to cultural differences, including tips about when to localize, modularize, or originate content.

A Preliminary Look at the Structural Differences of Higher Education Classroom Communities in Traditional and ALN Courses
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
In comparing sense of community along ten dimensions, this study again provides evidence that it is the method and not the media that matters the most in learning effectiveness.

Start Measuring Your E-Learning Programs Now
Learning in the New Economy
Reviews a five-step methodology for measuring e-learning, how widely it is being used, how effective it is in transferring knowledge, and how much impact it has on the bottom line.

Toward an Effective Quality Assurance Model of Web-Based Learning: The Perspective of Academic Staff
Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Discusses 24 quality assurance benchmarks and survey results on commonly agreed elements that contribute and ensure quality in the Web-based learning environment.

Scenario-Based E-Learning: A Step Beyond Traditional E-Learning
Learning Circuits
Describes the differences between a traditional instructional design approach and a scenario-based approach and how to construct simple e-learning scenarios.

Designing Real Life Cases to Support Authentic Design Activities
Australian Journal of Educational Technology
Describes design and implementation decisions in developing two real life case studies for a graduate course on multimedia.

Special Issue--Accessibility...An Integral Part of Online Learning
Educational Technology Review
Five papers discuss electronic accessibility issues, including legal mandates, policies, assistive technology, and universal design.

Four articles on technology, teaching, and learning in higher education
Educause Review
Four educators provide their perspectives on six topics: (1) new technologies in teaching and learning, (2) return on investment, (3) mobility and wireless, (4) the "information grid", (5) leveraging technology for teaching, and (6) the digital divide.

Predictors of Performance in the Virtual Classroom
THE Journal
Discusses the characteristics of at risk students (those who may not do well in online learning) and practical interventions to help them succeed.

Maintaining Academic Integrity in Online Education
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Examines cheating and plagiarism as problems in both online and classroom education, and a makes a case that online education is more conducive to both detecting and combating plagiarism.

Digital Multimedia & Distance Education: Can They Effectively Be Combined?
THE Journal
Describes how a synchronous software package was used for desktop videoconferencing, online chat, whiteboard, polling, Web access, and multimedia enhanced lessons.

Creating Authentic On-Line Communities of Professional Practice
E-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology
Discusses how the concepts of situated cognition, the collective zone of proximal development (czpd) and the apprenticeship model were applied to an Educational Psychology training program to illustrate the potential of web-based learning to create a sustainable learning community.

(Learning) Objects of Desire: Promise and Practicality
Learning Circuits
Examines the learning object concept, technologies, and standards in relation to implementation practicality for e-learning programs. See the related story Case Study: Cisco Systems Ventures into the Land of Reusability.

Drafting a Faculty Copyright Ownership Policy
The Technology Source
Discusses major considerations facing colleges and faculty in undertaking copyright policy revisions and offers advice on how to approach the process.

Demystifying Learning Technology Standards Part I: Development and Evolution
Syllabus Magazine
An introduction to the concept of standards for meta-data coding, reusable learning objects, course structuring, and interoperable software platforms for e-learning. See the April issue for Demystifying Learning Technology Standards, Part II: Acceptance and Implementation.

ROI for E-Learning
Learning Circuits
Argues that efficiency and speed are rarely accounted for in ROI analyses but may provide a compelling argument for e-learning.

OpenCourseWare: Simple Idea, Profound Implications
Syllabus Magazine
Describes the controversial OpenCourseWare (OCW) project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to make almost all MIT course materials available free online to any user in the world.

Rethinking Teaching for the Knowledge Society
Educause Review
Discusses challenges facing higher education and teaching methods in responding to new learning needs and new learning providers (in PDF format).

December 2001

Bankruptcy-Proof Your E-Learning Project
LearningCircuits
Practical tips to keep an e-learning project in the black when working with suppliers. Also see Winning Strategies: Proven tips to do a lot with a little in e-Learning Magazine.

Pedagogical Challenges for the World Wide Web
Educational Technology Review
Argues that challenges in using the Web in university teaching are not new but reflect long-term issues about learning and pedagogy.

Effective Student Preparation for Online Learning
Technology Source
Describes the effects of an online student orientation course on learning and retention.

Know Thy Learner: The Importance of Context in E-Learning Design
LearningCircuits
Describes, with examples, how information about the intended audience affects course design and development decisions.

Distance Learning and Distance Libraries: Where are they now?
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Suggests strategies for libraries to participate in distance learning, including developing online courses that coordinate with college courses and developing a portal or gateway presence from their web pages.

Elearning – The Other White Meat? Industry Wide Promotion Campaign Takes Shape
Virtual University Gazette
Discusses why the Lexington Group, an informal association of 50 distance learning executives and deans, wants to promote the benefits of e-learning to the public to combat misperceptions.

Classroom Assessment Techniques in Asynchronous Learning Networks
Technology Source
Describes small-scale assessment techniques to gather student feedback and implement continuous quality improvement in online courses.

Assessing Teaching Presence in a Computer Conferencing Context
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
Presents a conceptual framework and tool to understand, measure and improve "teaching presence" within a computer conference environment.

Developing Science Students' Metacognitive Problem Solving Skills Online
Australian Journal of Educational Technology
Presents an instructional design model for developing students' metacognitive skills in problem-solving by
helping them to define, plan and self monitor their thinking.

Going the Distance: Developing a Model Distance Education Faculty Training Program
Syllabus Magazine
Reports the results of a faculty survey on preferences for training length, pace, content, and incentives.

New Aspects of Test Security
THE Journal
How secure are computerized exam files? Test your knowledge of file security by answering the survey questions and comparing your results with explanations and survey responses.

Learning Objects: Resources For Distance Education Worldwide
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
Describes learning objects from the viewpoints of need, theory, and practice.

Policies and Practices in the Utilization of Interactive Television and Web-Based Delivery Models in Public Universities
Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Reports the results of a survey of 83 Education Deans in 13 Midwestern states.

Goin' Mobile
Learning Circuits
Will wireless technology and handheld PDAs be part of e-learning in the future? Some industry analysts say the "personal digital assistant is about to step into the limelight as a valuable member of the e-learning troupe." For a related technology, see Digitizing Education: A Primer on eBooks in Educause Review.

Building Better E-Assessments
Learning Circuits
Practical advice about some potential pitfalls of online testing along with tips on how to construct good tests.

Exploring Collaborative Online Learning
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
Reports the results of a study on the collaborative learning behaviors of online groups and differences compared to face-to-face instances.

Creating Online Courses: A Step-by-Step Guide
Horizon/Technology Source
Addresses three major decisions and ten lessons learned in creating online courses.

E-learning Holds Promise, But Questions Remain
USA Today
As the Internet is blurring lines between teacher and learner, research suggests that we don't know as much as we thought about the way people use their computers.

ISD for Live E-Learning
LearningCircuits
Provides instructional design advice for live Internet courses, including strategies for interactivity, variety, chunked intervals, and follow-up. Also in this issue see Write Right: Polishing Your E-Learning Prose for tips about how to write clearly and concisely when developing Web text materials.

Learning Readiness Assessments and Organizational Culture: Keys to Effective e-Learning
Desien Newsletter
Draws parallels between the characteristics of a learning organization and its capability to embrace e-learning.

Bringing it all Together
Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Argues that not enough changes are being made in organizational structures to serve distance learners, including admissions process, advising, registration, technology support and other student services.

Deprogramming IT E-Learning
Learning Circuits
People solving IT problems need more than a cookbook approach to learning. Enter the constructivist model.

Designing Effective eLearning Across National Boundaries
Learning in the New Economy
Discusses eight lessons learned in designing online programs for international audiences with cultural, social, and technological differences.

Converting Student Support Services to Online Delivery
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
This case study describes the conversion of six student support services to online delivery, including the components and the resources required to convert and maintain them.

Developing Courses for Online Delivery: One Strategy
Technology Source
Describes a team approach to course development involving faculty, instructional designers, technology and production specialists, and graphics designers.

Faculty Rewards in Digital Instructional Environments
Syllabus Magazine
How does an institution measure and evaluate faculty work in using instructional technology? This article discusses curricular change, faculty rewards, institutional cultures, and tenure promotion review.

Some 2000 Articles
(many articles from the original 2000 listing have been deleted because the links no longer work)

A Day in the Life of a New Type of Professor
Chronicle of Higher Education
For faculty members at NYU's online subsidiary, selling goes hand in hand with teaching. Also examines the changing role of faculty as members of instructional development teams.

Hiring a Web Production Firm: Moving Beyond "Do It Yourself"
THE Journal
Shares experiences gained in hiring a Web production firm, from criteria for selecting a company to tips for writing a contract.

Special Issue on Evaluation of Learning Technology
Educational Technology and Society
Contains eleven articles on evaluation issues, frameworks, applications, and case examples.

Emerging Technology Trends in eLearning
Learning in the New Economy
Describes four trends shaping the growth of elearning: issues of technology infrastructure, workforce performance improvement, management of intellectual assets, and learning object standards

Special Issue on Learning Effectiveness
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
Contains seven papers that examine the effectiveness of online environments from various perspectives. Also see the related Special Issue on Faculty Satisfaction.

Coping in a Distance Environment: Sitcoms, Chocolate Cake, and Dinner with a Friend
First Monday
This research study examines the distance learning experience from the students' perspective and presents recommendations on how to help students adapt and know what to expect.

Theme Issue: The Problems and the Promise: Into the New Century
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning
The premier issue of a new online journal devoted to theory and research.

How Interactive are YOUR Distance Courses: A Rubric for Assessing Interaction in Distance Learning
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Presents a tool for assessing four dimensions that contribute to a course's level of interaction and interactivity.

Human Resource Skills: Learning Through an Interactive Multimedia Business Simulation
International Journal of Educational Technology
Evaluates the effectiveness of a multimedia simulation of business recruitment processes (results found the simulation was motivational and contributed significantly to conceptual understanding and skill development).

Distance Learning: Are We Being Realistic?
Educause Review
Discusses why higher education must understand the distance education market and assess learner segments, indicators of institutional readiness, and other factors before launching distance learning initiatives.

Early Patterns of Faculty Compensation for Developing and Teaching Distance Learning Courses
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
Analyzes the results of several studies on the direct and indirect compensation practices for faculty developing and teaching distance learning courses (including stipends, royalties, training, and professional recognition). Other articles in this issue include Faculty Participation in Asynchronous Learning Networks: A Case Study of Motivating and Inhibiting Factors.

Compensation Models in Distance Education
Journal of Distance Learning Administration
Reports survey results on practices for faculty compensation and incentives for participating in distance education. Also see the article Going the Extra Mile: Serving Distance Education Students in this Spring Issue.

Promoting Group Investigation in a Graduate-Level ITV Classroom: Reflections and Recommendations
THE Journal
Describes recommendations for the design of second generation ITV (video) classrooms that support interactive, participatory teaching styles.

Achieving Interoperability in E-Learning
LearningCircuits
Discusses new approaches to the integration and management of e-learning based on open protocols that enable content to be shared by separate tools and systems connected via the Internet.

As Distance Education Comes of Age, the Challenge Is Keeping the Students
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Discusses some of the problems and responses in retaining students enrolled in online college courses.

Special Issue on "Learning Individually: A Life-Long Perspective"
Educational Technology and Society
Contains six full papers describing web-based technology tools, cognitive methods, and other approaches to providing individual learning.

11/05