This essay addresses the affective and social components on online teaching, components that have been neglected in much research on distance learning. The essay offers accessible and practical advice for online teachers to create a "context of care" in their classrooms, thus minimizing student anxiety and maximizing student learning.

This article presents an interview with Ken Udas, chief executive officer of UMassOnline. During the past decade, Udas has held leadership positions in online university initiatives and has served the field through his leadership in organizations including the Association of Public Land Grant Universities, EDUCAUSE, IMS, Sloan-C, and the American…

Harry Keller is president and a founder of Paracomp, Inc., creator and marketer of Smart Science Education. In this interview, Keller talks about himself and what led him to develop Smart Science labs as an online learning technology. He discusses how schools integrate Smart Science labs into their K-12 science curriculum, the major weaknesses in…

In the recent past, the proliferation of digitally available content heralded the beginning of serious problems for the business models of publishers. The ease with which content can be accessed, copied and distributed disrupts the control of those whose role has been to manage and profit from the intellectual property rights of content producers.…

Online teaching and learning has been in transition for its entire existence. The number of courses offered at a distance has grown rapidly. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (Waits & Lewis, 2003), in 2000-2001 more than 56% of four-year colleges and universities in the United States offered distance education degree…

This paper describes the advantages of using computer bulletin boards systems (BBS) for distance learning, including the use of the New York City Education Network (NYCENET) to access various databases and to communicate with individuals or the public. Questions to be answered in order to determine the most appropriate software for running a BBS…

Distance learning and collaboration software is beneficial to on-site students as well as off-site students. Collaborative learning (CL) allows students to work together in small groups to help each other master academic material. CL helps teachers by exploiting the ability of students to communicate with each other, and more actively engages…

Discussion of how learner and teacher communicate in distance education focuses on Morre's concept of transactional distance in light of recent developments in telecommunications. Integrated telecommunications systems are described, adult learning and instructional transactions are discussed, and system dynamics are presented as a tool for…

From 2005 to 2008, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is funding a series of distance education (DE) studies in its Pan Asia Networking (PAN) region. Eight collaborative projects are under way in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The…

In his assessment of the current state of e-book technology, David Rothman illustrates the value of e-books for educators, accounts for why the technology has not been more widely embraced, and discusses new developments that suggest a better future for e-books. For educators, particularly distance educators, e-books hold great potential to…

Noting that the educational sector in Britain has been a small but influential user of videotex systems since the launch of the public Prestel service in 1979, this paper surveys the main trial uses in education. The studies reviewed begin with a 1-year trial of Prestel in 1980-81, which identified two applications as having further potential: as…

Focuses on the use of media technology to address worldwide demands for language and literacy training by means of distance instruction. In choosing technology to meet distance instructional purposes, it is necessary to use what's available, choose reliable over sophisticated technology, let program goals drive technological decisions, and…

"Looking for a Supplier? Use the E-Learning Scorecard" (Darin Hartley) discusses evaluating and selecting vendors. "Top Ten E-Learning Myths" is an interview with John V. Moran, president of a learning technologies company. "A Year in the Life of an E-Learning Project" (John Redmon, Jennifer J. Salopek) describes how to develop an electronic…

Visualizes the future of learning and considers current and new paradigms concerning technology and learning. Recommends high interactive tutorial learning for very large numbers of students in distance learning situations. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/YDS)

Microcomputers are advocated as a primary teaching tool for independent and correspondence study, provided suitable software is available and consideration is given to initial student attitudes, peculiarities in computer communication, and the low predictive power of psychological tests in computer-based learning. (Author/MSE)