Managing the design and production of online courses is challenging. Insufficient instructional design and inefficient management often lead to issues such as poor course quality and course delivery delays. In an effort to facilitate, streamline, and improve the overall design and production of online courses, this article discusses how we…

High-ranking officers require advanced military education in war tactics for future combat. However, line officers rarely have time to take such courses on campus. The conventional solution to this problem used to take the inefficient correspondence courses. Whereas Internet technologies progress, online course is the current trend for military…

Drawing on research literature on online discussion and on reading and learning from the text, we argue that research on learning from text has much to offer but has been largely absent in informing the design and study of online learning environments. We propose several key issues to be considered in research and development of online discussion,…

Two distance education courses presented via teleconferencing by the University of Calgary were redesigned to include graphic support utilizing Canada's Telidon videotex system. Data were gathered on both the instructional effectiveness of and student responses to the graphics. While the evaluation pointed out a number of features that needed to…

Practical guidelines are offered for the use of synchronous online conferencing software by session administrators and moderators. The configuration of the software prior to conferencing sessions is discussed, and the planning and implementation of useful collaborative activities such as "synchronised browsing." The combination of these…

This paper describes the process of creating an online course at the Northwestern Technical Institute (Georgia) using locally produced lessons, supplemental text, threaded discussion groups, online examinations, and student access to a transparent third party URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The course, developed for the Microsoft Office User…

Focuses on software for distance education. Discusses the cost of course development and highlights three classes of distance education tools: communication tools, course development tools, and digital imaging and video production software. Presents three scenarios that reflect the most likely approaches to course development and presentation.…

The overarching focus of the International Conference on Technology and Education (ICTE) Tampa 1999 conference was "Preparing for a New Century of Learning: Technology, Education, and the Internet." Twelve themes supported this focus: "Implementation in the Classroom"; "Educational Tools"; "Information Technology…

The Graduate Diploma in Education Technology (GDipEdTech) was developed at the UNITEC Institute of Technology (New Zealand) in 1993 as an open and distance program to meet the needs of teachers in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. The program aims to integrate the use of new and emerging technologies into their classroom programs. It…

In 1998, faculty members at the University of Cincinnati started a project as an interdepartmental collaboration to investigate the use of World Wide Web-based instructional (WBI) tools. The project team included representatives from various areas such as information engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology, chemical technology,…

One of the most significant events that heralded the Department of Defense's commitment to distance education was the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, which held its kickoff meeting in Washington, DC in 1997. This meeting provided the army and other military services the endorsement that had been lacking relative to implementing…