"Neither an academic tome nor a prescriptive 'how to' guide, The Theory and Practice of Online Learning is an illuminating collection of essays by practitioners and scholars active in the complex field of distance education. Distance education has evolved significantly in its 150 years of existence. For most of this time, it was an individual pursuit defined by infrequent postal communication. But recently, three more developmental generations have emerged, supported by television and radio, teleconferencing, and computer conferencing. The early 21st century has produced a fifth generation, based on autonomous agents and intelligent, database-assisted learning, that has been referred to as Web 2.0. The second edition of "The Theory and Practice of Online Learning" features updates in each chapter, plus four new chapters on current distance education issues such as connectivism and social software innovations."--BOOK JACKET.

In E-learning Theory and Practice the authors set out different perspectives on e-learning. The book deals with the social implications of e-learning, its transformative effects, and the social and technical interplay that supports and directs e-learning. The authors present new perspectives on the subject by exploring the way teaching and learning are changing with the presence of the Internet and participatory media; providing a theoretical grounding in new learning practices from education, communication and information science; addressing e-learning in terms of existing learning theories, emerging online learning theories, new literacies, social networks, social worlds, community and virtual communities, and online resources; and emphasizing the impact of everyday electronic practices on learning, literacy and the classroom, locally and globally. This book is for everyone involved in e-learning including teachers, educators, graduate students and researchers.

Distance education is practised in all parts of the world and in recent years, its scope has developed enormously and rapidly. It has become an intrinsic part of many national educational systems and an academic discipline in its own right. Research into the area has produced a body of theory which is now being used to improve its practice. This new edition of Theory and Practice of Distance Education has been thoroughly updated both by describing how practice has changed, and by examining recent research in the field. Like the first edition, this book provides a comprehensive survey of distance education, looking at it globally and discussing the different lines of thought and models used. It describes the place of distance education in educational thinking, its various theories, principles, and techniques of presentation, its organization and its administration.

Learning Theory and Online Technologies offers a powerful overview of the current state of elearning, a foundation of its historical roots and growth, and a framework for distinguishing among the major approaches to elearning. It effectively addresses pedagogy (how to design an effective online environment for learning), evaluation (how to know that students are learning), and history (how past research can guide successful online teaching and learning outcomes). An ideal textbook for undergraduate education and communication programs, and Educational Technology Masters, PhD, and Certificate programs, readers will find Learning Theory and Online Technologies provides a synthesis of the key advances in elearning theory, the key frameworks of research, and clearly links theory and research to successful learning practice.

Online Collaborative Learning: Theory and Practice provides a resource for researchers and practitioners in the area of online collaborative learning (also known as CSCL, computer-supported collaborative learning), particularly those working within a tertiary education environment. It includes articles of relevance to those interested in both theory and practice in this area. It attempts to answer such important current questions as: how can groups with shared goals work collaboratively using the new technologies? What problems can be expected, and what are the benefits? In what ways does online group work differ from face-to-face group work? And what implications are there for both educators and students seeking to work in this area?

This book contains a selection of contributions presenting the latest research in the field of computers in education and, more specifically, in e-Learning. It reflects the diverse scenario of the application of computers in the educational field by describing previous experiences and addressing some of the present key issues. These include issues such as Learning Management Systems as well as innovative aspects such as personalized or ubiquitous learning.

Web-Based Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice explores the state of the art in the research and use of technology in education and training from a learning perspective. This edited book is divided into three major sections: *Policy, Practice, and Implementation Issues -- an overview of policy issues, as well as tools and designs to facilitate implementation of Web-based learning; *Theory and Research Issues -- a look at theoretical foundations of current and future Web-based learning; the section also includes empirical studies of Web-based learning; and *Summary and Conclusions -- highlights key issues in each chapter and outlines a research and development agenda. Within this framework the book addresses several important issues, including: the primacy of learning as a focus for technology; the need to integrate technology with high standards and content expectations; the paucity of and need to support the development of technology-based curriculum and tools; the need to integrate assessment in technology and improve assessment through the use of technology; and the need for theory-driven research and evaluation studies to increase our knowledge and efficacy. Web-Based Learning is designed for professionals and graduate students in the educational technology, human performance, assessment and evaluation, vocational/technical, and educational psychology communities.