The Internet can be a useful tool that can enhance interactivity in classes. Accordingly, offering distance learning courses using the Web, especially in the asynchronous mode for the additional flexibility of time, is becoming an established practice in higher education. Web-based distance learning comes with numerous benefits, but not without…

This article is aimed at educators who find themselves facing the need to develop their e-teaching skills, with little or no formal training or institutional support. It explores how this can be achieved using the notion of "teacher autonomy" in combination with standard professional development measures for language teachers. The…

This paper reports on a study carried out in Thailand investigating the relationship between students' use of an e-learning system and their learning outcomes in a course on Business Statistics. The results show a clear relationship between accesses to the e-learning system, as measured by number of "hits", and outcomes, as measured by…

"Cases on Global E-Learning Practices: Successes and Pitfalls" looks into global practices of e-learning, examining the successes and failures of e-learning professionals. It provides a judicious mix of practical experiences and research in the form of case studies. Written by experts from all over the globe, this book shows how to…

The authors work as online tutors for a BSc (Hons) physiotherapy programme at Coventry University in the United Kingdom. This paper represents a stage in our developing understanding, over a 3 year period, of the impact of group dynamics on online interaction among physiotherapy students engaged in sharing with their peers their first experiences…

From its beginnings 25 years ago, the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu (UH-West O'ahu) has strived to provide its students, mostly working adults with an average age of 32 years, with easy access to classes and advising by maintaining flexible class schedules and office hours. When UH-West O'ahu initiated a distance education program in 1981, the…

The E-School Technology Innovation Challenge Grant of 1996 was the genesis of the Department of Education's (DOE's) efforts to initiate a multi-prong approach to bring standards-based curriculum to the children of Hawai'i and use technology to upgrade professional development for its teachers. In this article, the authors describe how various…

"Keeping Pace" has several goals. First, it strives to add to the body of knowledge about online education policy and make recommendations for advances. Second, it serves as a reference source for information about programs and policies across the country, for both policymakers and practitioners who are new to online education as well as those who…

This report is the third in a series of annual reports looking at the state of online education across the country. The goal of "Keeping Pace" is to be a useful document for policymakers and practitioners, and as such it takes a journalistic approach to research and writing instead of an academic approach. This report has two goals: first, to add…

The goal of "Keeping Pace" is to to serve as a useful document for policymakers and practitioners, and as such, it takes a journalistic approach to research and writing. Most state and program profiles include footnotes that reference state laws, state policies, and websites of programs. However, in some cases, the information is general and was…