Recommended Reading: Issues in Distance Education
Distance education is the fastest growing mode of both formal and informal teaching, training, and learning.
Athabasca University Press’s Issues in Distance Education series is a valuable (and free!) resource that will help guide any educator working in an online environment. This series presents informative and accessible overviews of research results and discussions, explorations of current issues related to technologies, and services used in distance education.
Not sure where to start?
Here are some of the recent books in the series.
25 Years of Ed Tech by Martin Weller is a lively and approachable volume that 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.
Assessment Strategies for Online Learning: Engagement and Authenticity by Dianne Conrad and Jason Openo argues that online and distance learning environments present an opportunity to realize the potential of engaged learning 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.
An Online Doctorate for Researching Professionals: Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation by Swapna Kumar and Kara Dawson considers the interest and demand for online terminal degrees across disciplines by professionals wishing to conduct research and fulfill doctoral degree requirements at a distance. Kumar and Dawson draw on their experience of implementing such a program at the University of Florida to share data collected from students and faculty members and to reflect on lessons learned developing the program in diverse educational contexts.
Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry discusses the transformative innovation of virtual communication and online learning communities and the resulting blended learning environments that allow for new ways for teachers and students to engage, interact, and collaborate. Authors Norman D. Vaughan, Martha Cleveland-Innes, and D. Randy Garrison focus on teaching practices related to the design, facilitation, direction and assessment of blended learning experiences
Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning: Foundations and Applications edited by George Veletsianos collects the dispersed knowledge in online education to provide a one-stop locale for work on emergent approaches in the field.
