Going Online: Perspectives on Digital Learning

In Going Online , one of our most respected online learning leaders offers insights into virtual education—what it is, how it works, where it came from, and where it may be headed. Robert Ubell reaches back to the days when distance learning was practiced by mail in correspondence schools and then leads us on a tour behind the screen, touching on a wide array of topics along the way, including what it takes to teach online and the virtual student experience. You’ll learn about: how to build a sustainable online program; how to create an active learning online course; why so many faculty resist teaching online; how virtual teamwork enhances digital instruction; how to manage online course ownership; how learning analytics improves online instruction. Ubell says that it is not technology alone, but rather unconventional pedagogies, supported by technological innovations, that truly activate today's classrooms. He argues that innovations introduced online—principally peer-to-peer and collaborative learning—offer significantly increased creative learning options across all age groups and educational sectors. This impressive collection, drawn from Ubell's decades of experience as a digital education pioneer, presents a powerful case for embracing online learning for its transformational potential. Foreword by Katepalli R. Sreenivasan Acknowledgements Part I. Virtual Classes Dewey Goes Online Virtual Team Learning Active Learning: Interaction, Diversity and Evolution in Online Learning John Vivolo What You Can Do Online, But Not on Campus Why Faculty Don’t Want to Teach Online Blind Scores in a Graduate Test: Conventional Compared with Online Outcomes With M. Hosein Fallah Part II. Migrating Online Migrating Online with A. Frank Mayadas Who Owns What? Unbundling Online Course Property Rights The Road Not Taken: Divergence of Corporate and Academic Online Instruction Engineers Turn to Online Learning "The chapter on why faculty don’t want to teach online provides the best explanation yet for the critical question on why faculty acceptance of online education has barely budged in the face of dramatic growth of online enrollments. It is now our 'go to' resource for those who need to understand this important issue." —Jeff Seaman, Director, Babson Survey Research Group "Ubell describes in detail how new technology allows us to use online learning in new ways that are both more participatory and more effective. These assertions come from someone with a remarkable t