Distance, Open & Online Education books

The pressures upon students from employers are greater than ever. Demands for a highly skilled workforce in a digitalized economy mean that higher education institutions need to do more to prepare their student bodies for this new way of working. The geographical boundaries set by traditional on-campus courses prevent most universities from allowing online students to engage in community service. Online service-learning responds to this limitation by initiating the transfer of in-person community service to the online environment. E-service learning addresses the growing demand for flexible online courses and programs. Anchored in research and supported by eight years of successful implantation, this book presents an award-winning e-service-learning model which allows students to enhance their employability with real work experience. Faculty can go beyond theory while building their service requirements, and may use e-service-learning to offer real world applications and hands-on experience. Clients benefit from pro bono services, and universities are able to fulfill their strategic goals, serve the community-at-large, and grow their online programs by offering students a unique online course experience. This book advocates a model and instructions for faculty to successfully integrate a remote service-learning and consulting component in an online course making this an illuminating text for higher education researchers and leaders alike.

Online learning has been one of the fastest growing areas of educational technology over the past few decades. With a rise of new online colleges and universities due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, as well as the adoption of online learning in traditional institutions, the adoption rate of online learning has moved from an optional service to a mandatory one, requiring higher educational institutions to completely rethink the nature of teaching and learning and how it can be provisioned to meet the needs of students, institutions, and society. This volume considers the technology implementation, faculty training and professional development, and adjustments of university and departmental budgeting required to meet this seismic and momentous challenge. Focusing on effective practices in online teaching, this volume of Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning begins with discussing the use of videos in online teaching and then pivots to consider methods for supporting and managing faculty who teach online. From there, authors focus in on different aspects of the online learning experience including lurking, student engagement, cultural implications for online instruction. Understanding that the greatest challenge for higher education institutions has been not so much how to implement online teaching and learning, but how to do it effectively, the collection closes with an analysis of online course syllabi and effective methods for facilitating tutoring online.

In the 21st century global knowledge economy, research based universities occupy prime position, and have multiple roles to play beyond teaching, learning and supporting the academic achievements of students. Offering an international perspective, this book demonstrates how these emerging trends are being viewed across different countries with a broad range of completely diverse socio-cultural backgrounds.   The authors explore the contribution of universities towards the advancement of global science and scholarship in countries like Turkey, Kosovo, Latin America and US. Delving into new information and processes across these countries, they investigate how the future of academic research is changing, evolving, and ultimately contributing towards emerging trends which are significant in shaping the academic and societal roles played by universities, and in understanding the human condition. It is by engaging in this research that the authors demonstrate to readers how culture, technology and society interact within and beyond the academic space, and are rooted in the foundation of intellectual and scientific trends.