Purpose: This study traces the development of China's online education policy over the past 20 years. Design/Approach/Methods: Employing a textual research method, this study examines online education policymakers, policy content and influence, and related policies and regulations. Findings: This study identifies the starting point of China's…

This article describes a professional development initiative facilitated through a transformational partnership model. In this context, we discuss our experience of piloting an online continuing professional development course in the area of online teaching, which offered a digital badge for successful participants. The course was the result of a…

One potential policy challenge in the COVID-19 context is how to evaluate and provide teachers feedback and support in a virtual learning environment. State education agencies (SEAs) sought to address this policy challenge by revising teacher evaluation policy during the 2019-20 academic year to lift requirements. However, given the new dynamics…

The COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020 and forced the various higher education institutions in Israel and around the world to promptly embrace the online teaching method, placed on the agenda the question of this method's efficacy as well as deliberations regarding its future implications. The current study reviews the…

The COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelming the functioning and outcomes of education systems--some of which were already stressed in many respects. The shutdown of schools, compounded by the associated public health and economic crises, poses major challenges to students and their teachers. The public education system was not built, nor prepared, to…

The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the state of provision of continuing professional development (CPD) for vocational teachers and trainers across nine different countries: Albania, Algeria, Belarus, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia and Turkey. However, rather than simply investigating CPD, the study examines CPD in…

Rapid advances in information and communications technology in the digital age have brought about significant changes in the practice of distance education (DE) worldwide. DE practitioners in the Philippines' open university have coined the term "open and distance e-learning" (ODeL) to refer to the new forms of DE, which are…

This chapter assesses the potential for several prominent technological innovations to promote equality of educational opportunities. We review the history of technological innovations in education and describe several prominent innovations, including intelligent tutoring, blended learning, and virtual schooling.

The Internet has disrupted or threatened to disrupt the traditional business models in many different areas, including publishing, record companies, retail sales, motion pictures, and advertising. One potential source of disruption for higher education is online learning, especially the recent focus on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Can…

Globalisation, the shift to a knowledge economy, and changing demographics are increasingly challenging higher education systems. The move from elite through mass to universal education, coupled with the internationalisation of higher education, has profoundly influenced the system, especially in terms of academic mobility. It has created new…

Online education has been increasing at an astounding rate, and advocates contend this trend will transform schooling as we know it. The current research has been centered on the student outcomes in online education. However, this myopic focus on outcomes underestimates the broader systemic factors that may be driving the implementation and…

Online education has become an accepted part of the educational landscape over the past two decades. Digital resources are the norm in classrooms. The expectation is that all students will benefit from technology some way. In order for that to be the case, however, sometimes more overt action is needed to ensure that all students do in fact get…

The function of leadership is to create a vision for the future, establish strategic priorities, and develop an environment of trust within and between organizations. Great leadership is a process; leadership involves motivational influence, leadership occurs in groups, and involves a shared vision (Northouse, 2010). Instructional designers are…

The inspiration for this timely book is the pressing need for fresh ideas and innovations in U.S. higher education. At the heart of the volume is the realization that higher education must evolve in fundamental ways if it is to respond to changing professional, economic, and technological circumstances, and if it is to successfully reach and…

The instructional delivery mode in distance education has been transitioning from the context of a physical classroom environment to a virtual learning environment or maintaining a hybrid of the two. However, most distance education programs in dual mode institutions are situated in traditional face-to-face instructional settings. Distance…