Reviewing the research on distance education and e-learning

Reviewing the research on distance education

and e-learning

Dr. Brad MehlenbacherLeadership, Policy &Adult & Higher EducationNC State [email protected] www4.ncsu.edu/~brad_m

ACM SIGDOC ‘10, Brazil

Krista Holstein, Brett Gordon, Khalil Khammar

Co-authors :

Overview of presentation

Capturing the research territory of DE Examining models of instruction and learning

with technology Summarizing the models Developing research issues (keywords) Building and elaborating on models, Developing a model of learning situations, and Re-viewing the research territories.

Mehlenbacher, B. (in press). Instruction and technology: Designs for everyday learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Adopted from:

Publishing on DE and e-learning has …

Digital libraries and the paroxysmal spread of research literatures, methodologies, and peer-reviewed journal publications have generated a mass of research that promises to overwhelm us.

The research literatures related to instruction and learning with technology are both ubiquitous and simultaneously hidden everywhere for researchers and practitioners trained in traditional disciplines

Challenges faced by communication design researchers have followed similar path.

Johnson, K., & Magusin, E. (2005). Exploring the digital library: A guide for online teaching and learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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… been transformed

“Literally thousands of studies related to computers and learning have been published during the past three decades. The problem has been one of making sense of the enormous, and growing, body of available research.”

“The range and volatility of instructional information technologies … may … produce a fragmentation that will put knowledge development itself at risk of bogging down in a flood of studies based on a single course, single learning settings (let alone single institutional) which have few characteristics in common whether in their independent or dependent variables.”

Orrill, C. H., Hannafin, M. J., & Glazer, E. M. (2004). Disciplined inquiry and the study of emerging technology. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology, 2nd Edition (pp. 335-353). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (1998). Studying college students in the 21st Century: Meeting new challenges. Review of Higher Education, 21 (2), 151-165.

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Tracing theoretical underpinnings

“… the vast bulk of literature on eLearning is practice-based and is typically presented in a descriptive format. The majority of conference presentations consist of a ‘here’s what we did and here’s the evaluation’ format which do little for transferability to other institutions or even other courses.”

“It is unlikely that eLearning practice will continue to evolve unless the theoretical underpinnings of eLearning are explored and debased, providing a wider platform and a common philosophy for eLearning development.”

Nichols, M. (2003). A theory for e-learning. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 6 (2). Available online http://www.ifets.info/journals/6_2/1.html.

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Balancing proximity & distance

Technologies that distribute my professional activities across time and space necessitate a re-articulation of what I value as natural about my non-distributed (“traditional”) activities.

Mehlenbacher, B. (in press). Instruction and technology: Designs for everyday learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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Alienation from a natural milieu

Most compelling rationale for a thorough investigation of distance teaching and learning is that it by its very nature artificializes our definitions of learning and the learner instruction and its relationship to the classroom environments and artifacts for instruction the lifelong learning that pervades our

professional and personal lives, and the traditional distinctions between particular

academic subject matters and disciplines.

Mehlenbacher, B. (2005). eLearning and the design of everyday instruction. The Joseph D. Moore Chair Colloquium Series. Raleigh, NC: College of Education, NC State.

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Defining the territory: Journal clusters

Developed eight very broad clusters of research on instruction and learning with technology

Grouped English-language journals addressing subjects that fell under those clusters.

300 peer-reviewed journals

1. Distance education & eLearning

29 peer-reviewed journals, 1979-2006

Dabbagh, N., & Bannan-Ritland, B. (2005). Online learning: Concepts, strategies, and application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Adopted from:

Distance Education & eLearning (27)

• American Journal of Distance Education (1987-present, www.ajde.com)

• A sian Journal of Distance Education (2003-present, www.asianjde.org)

• D istance Education (1979-present, www.tandf.co.u k/journals/carfax/01587919.html)

• European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning (1997-present, www.eurodl.org)

• Indian Journal of Open Learning (1992-present, www.ignou.ac.in/ijol/ijol.html)

• Innovate: Journal of Online Education (1997-2003 as The Technology Source, 2003-present, innovateonline.info/index.php?)

• Interactive Learning Environments (1990-present, www.tandf.co.u k/journals/titles/10494820.asp)

• International Journal of Distance Education Technologie s (2003-present, jdet.mine.tku.edu.tw)

• International Journal of Interactive Technology a nd Smart Education (2004-present, www.troubador.co. uk/itse)

• International Journal of Learning Technology (2004-present, www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php)

• International Journal of Web-based Learning and Teaching Technologies (2006-present, www.idea-group.com/journals/details.asp?id=4286)

• International Journal on E-Learning (1995-2001 as International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 2002-present, www.aace.org/pubs/ijel)

• International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning (2004-present, http://www.itdl.org)

• International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (2000-present, www.irrodl.org/inex.php/irrodl)

• Internet and Higher Education (1998-present, www.scis.nova.edu/ihe/default.htm)

• Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (2000-present, www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/index.asp)

• J ournal of Distance Education (1986-present, cade.athabascau.ca)

• J ournal of Educators Online (2004-present, www.thejeo.com)

• J ournal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society (2005-present, www.je-lks.it /homepage.html)

• J ournal of Interactive Learning Research (1999-present, www.aace.org/pubs/jilr)

• J ournal of Online Learning and Teachin g (2005-present, jolt.merlot.org)

• Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration (1998-present, www.westga.edu/%7Edistance/jmain11.html)

• Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning (1999-present, www.tandf.co.u k/journals/carfax/02680513.html)

• Quarterly Review of Distance Education (2000-present, www.infoagepub.com/products/journals/qrde/index.htm)

• Texas Journal of Distance Learning (2004-present, www.tjdl.org)

• Turk ish Online Journal of Distance Education (2000-present, http://tojde.anadolu.edu/tr)

• USDLA Journal (1999-present, www.usdl a.org/html/resources/usdlaJournal/currentissues.htm)

“Distributed learning, open or flexible learning” (Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland, 2005, p. 22)

2. Educational, instructional, & communication technology


Educational, Instructional, & Communication Technology (42)

• AAC E Journal • Au stralasian Journal of Educational

Technology • Associatio n for Learning Technology

Journal • Behaviour and Information Technology

• British Journal of Educational Technology

• Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology

• Computers and Education • Computers in Human Behavior

• Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education

• Education and Information Technologies*

• Educational Media International • Educational Technology Research &

Development • Education Technology Review

• Educational Technology & Society • Educause Quarterly

• e-Journal of Instructional Science and Technology

• Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education

• First Monday • Interactive Educational Multimedia

• Interactive Multimedia Electronic Journal of Computer-Enhanced Learning

• International Journal of Educational Technology • International Journal of Education and

Development using ICT • International Journal of Instructional Media

• Journal of Computing in Higher Education • Journal of Computing in Teacher Education

• Journal of Educational Computing Research • Journal of Educational Multimedia and

Hypermedia • Journal of Educational Technology and Society

• Journal of Information Technology Education • Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems

• Journal of Interactive Instruction Development • Journal of Interactive Media in Education

• Journal of Research on Technology in Education • Journal of Technology Education

• Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment

• Journal of Technology and Teacher Education • Learning and Leading with Technology

• Learning, Media & Technology • Media, Culture & Society

• Techné: Research in Philosoph y and Technology • Technology and Culture

• The Information Society

Learner background and knowledge, learning environments and artifacts

Mehlenbacher, B. (2010). Instruction and technology: Designs for everyday learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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3. Teaching & learning sciences


Learners and social dynamics, quantitative research emphasizing cognition


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Teaching & Learning Sciences (40)

• American Educational Research Journal • App lied Cognitive Psychology

• Assessmen t in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice

• British Educational Research Journal • British Journal of Educational

Psychology • Cambridge Journal of Education

• Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology

• Cognition and Instruction • Cognitive Science

• Cognitive Psychology • College Teaching

• Contemporary Educational Psychology • Current Directions in Psychological

Science • Current Issues in Education

• Educational Psychologist • Educational Psychology in Practice

• Educational Psychology Review • Educational Research and Evaluation

• Educational Researcher • Educational Studies

• Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology

• European Journal of Education • Instructional Science

• Innovations in Education and Teaching International

• International Education Journal • International Journal of Educational Research

• Journal of Applied Psychology • Journal of Educational Psychology

• Journal of Experimental Education • Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning,

Memory, and Cogni tion • Journal of Instructional Psychology

• Journal of the Learning Sciences* • Learning and Instruction

• New Directions for Teaching and Learning • PsychNology Journal

• Review of Educational Research • Studies in Learning, Evaluation, Innovation and

Development • Technology , Instruction, Cognition and Learning

• Theory i nto Practice • The Au stralian Educational Researcher

4. Communication & information design


Instructor and learner tasks and activities, influence of multimedia elements on designs for instruction and learning


Adopted from:

Communication & Information Design (35)

• Argumentation • Assessin g Writing

• Business Communication Quarterly • Canadian Journal of Communication

• College Composition and Communication

• College English • Computers and Composition

• Document Design • Human Communication Research

• IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

• Information Design Journal • Information Research

• Journal of Academic Librari anship • Journal of Advanced Compositio n

• Journal of Business Communication • Journal of Business and Technical

Communication • Journal of Communication

• Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

• Journal of Design Communication • Journal of Digital Information

• Journal of Library Services for Distance Education

• Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

• Journal of the American Society of Information Science

• Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology

• Journal of Visual Literacy • Kairos: A Journal for Teachers of Writing in

Webbed Environments • Language, Learning & Te chnology

• Quarterly Journal of Speech • Rhetoric Society Quarterly

• Technical Commu nication • Technical Commu nication Quarterly

• Technology i n Society • TEXT Technology

• V isual Communication • Written Communication*

5. Human-computer interaction & ergonomics


Interaction between technologies, tasks, and humans


Adopted from:

Human-Computer Interaction & Ergonomics (13)

• AC M Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

• ACM Transactions on Information Systems

• App lied Ergonomics • Ergono mics

• Ergono mics in Design • Human Factors

• Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing?

• Human-Computer Interaction

• Interacting with Computers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Human-Computer Interaction

• International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction

• International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

• Journal of Usability Studies

• Personal and Ubiquitous Computing • Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science

6. Training, adult education, & the workplace


Landscape and demographics of audiences for distance education beyond higher education settings

Mehlenbacher, B. 2010). Instruction and technology: Designs for everyday learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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Training, Adul t Education, & the Workplace (39)

• Academy of Management Journal • Academy of Management Learning and

Education • Academy of Management Review

• Ad ministrative Science Quarterly • Adu lt Education Quarterly

• Adu lt Learning • Advances in Developing Human

Resources • California Management Review

• Cognition, Technology and Work • Computer Supported Cooperative Work

• Convergence • Educational Gerontology

• Education and Training • Emergence: A Journal of Complexity

Issues in Organizations and Management?

• Employee Assistance Quarterly? • European Journal of Work and

Organizational Psychology? • Gender, Work and Organization?

• Group and Organization Management? • Human Performance?

• Human Resource Development International

• Human Resource Development Quarterly • Human Resource Development Review

• Human Resource Management • Human Resource Management Review

• Human Systems Management? • International Journal of Human Resource

Management? • International Journal of Lifelong

Education • International Journal of Organization

Theory and Behavior? • International Journal of Productivity and

Performance Management? • International Journal of Training and

Development • International Review of Industrial and

Organizational Psychology?

• Journal of Behavioral Decision Making? • Journal of Business and Psychology?

• Journal of Career Assessment? • Journal of Career Development?

• Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization?

• Journal of Economic and Social Measurement? • Journal of Education and Work

• Journal of Education for Business • Journal of Employment Counseling?

• Journal of Experiential Education • Journal of European Industrial Training

• Journal of Management? • Journal of Management Development?

• Journal of Managerial Psychology? • Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis?

• Journal of Occupational Health Psychology? • Journal of Occupational and Organizational

Psychology • Journal of Organizational Behavior

• Journal of Organizational Behavior Management?

• Journal of Organizational Change Management • Journal for Quality and Participation?

• Journal of Vocational Behavior • Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health?

• Journal of Workplace Learning • Leadership and Organization Development

Journal? • Management Learning

• MIS Quarterly • New Directions for Adul t and Continuing

Education • Organization

• Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

• Organization Science • Peabody Journal of Education

• Performance Improvement Quart erly • Studies in Continuing Education

• Studies in the Education of Adults • Work and Occupations

7. Education in the humanities & social sciences


Education research emphasizing instruction and learning with technology in the humanities and social sciences disciplines


Adopted from:

Education in the Humanities & Social Sciences (51)

• American Journal of Education • Annua l Review of Psychology

• Anthropolog y and Education Quarterly • Assessment and Evaluation in Higher

Education • Assessmen t Update

• Basic and Applied Social Psychology • Change

• College Quarterly • Communication Education

• Communication Quarterly • Decision Support Systems

• Electronic Network Applications and Policy

• Eq uity and Excellence in Education • Higher Education Quarterly

• Information and Management • Innovative Higher Education

• International Journal of Inclusive Education

• International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

• International Journal of Testing • Issues in Accounting Education

• Journal of Agricultural Education • Journal of Applied Business Research

• Journal of College Science Teaching • Journal of Criminal Justice Education

• Journal of Dental Education • Journal of Education for Business

• Journal of Environmental Education • Journal of Experimental Psychology:

Applied

• Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance

• Journal of Experimental Social Psychology • Journal of General Psychology

• Journal of Higher Education • Journal of Higher Education Policy and

Management • Journal of Management Education

• Journal of Management Information Systems • Journal of Nursing Education

• Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior • Journal of Statistics Education

• Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice

• Language Teaching Research • Linguistics and Education

• Oxford Review of Education • Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

• Research in Higher Education • Review of Higher Education*

• Roeper Review • Social Science Computer Review

• Sociology of Education • Teachers College Record

• Teaching i n Higher Education • Teaching of Psychology

8. Education in science, technology, engineering, & mathematics


Education research emphasizing instruction and learning with technology in the sciences, technical, engineering, and mathematics disciplines

Mehlenbacher, B. 2010). Instruction and technology: Designs for everyday learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Adopted from:

Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (19)

• American Biology Teacher • Bioscience Education E-journal

• BMC Medical Education • Computer Science Education

• Educational Studies in Mathematics • European Journal of Engineering

Education • International Journal of C omputers in

Mathematical Learning • International Journal of Electrical

Engineering Education • International Journal of Engineering

Education

• International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology

• International Journal of Science Education • Issues in Science & Technology

• Journal of College Science Teaching • Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges

• Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education*

• Journal of Science Education and Technology • Medical Education

• Medical Teacher • Technology Teacher

Defining the territory: Individual journals

Journal, Written Communication, under the research cluster, Communication & Information Design, which contains 36 peer-reviewed journals.

Selecting models of instruction and learning with technology

13 theoretical models drawn from various research literatures

Online and Web-based learning, the design of learning environments, computer-based collaboration and work studies, educational and cognitive psychology, communication studies, and journals emphasizing the relationships between technology, pedagogy, and learning in higher education.

1. Anderson's (2004) model of online learning

Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson & F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and practice of online learning (p. 49). Athabasca, AB: Athabasca U. Available online: http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch2.html

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2. Astleitner's (2005) model of Web-based learning

Astleitner, H., & Steinberg, R. (2005). Are there gender differences in Web-based learning? An integrated model and related effect sizes. AACE Journal, 13 (1), 50.

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3. Bain, et al.'s (1998) dimensions of computer-facilitated learning

Bain, J. D., McNaught, C., Mills, C., & Lueckenhausen, G. (1998). Describing computer-facilitated learning environments in higher education. Learning Environments Research, 1 (2), 172-173.

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4. Benbunan-Fich, et al.'s (2005) inputs informing instruction and learning

Benbunan-Fich, R., Hiltz, S. R., & Harasim, L. (2005). The online interaction learning model: An integrated theoretical framework for learning networks. In S. R. Hiltz & R. Goldman (Eds.), Learning together online: Research on asynchronous Learning Networks (pp. 19-37). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence, p. 24.

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5. Biggs, et al.'s (2001) presage-process-product model of teaching and learning

Biggs, J., Kember, D., & Leung, Y. P. (2001). The revised two-factor study process questionnaire: R-SPQ-2F. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71 (1), 136.

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6. Bryant, et al.'s (2005) model of distance education

Bryant, S. M., Kahle, J. B., & Schafer, B. A. (2005). Distance education: A review of the contemporary literature. Issues in Accounting Education, 20 (3), 255-272.

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7. Dabbagh's (2005) theory-based design framework for E-learning

Dabbagh, N. (2005). Pedagogical models for E-learning: A theory-based design framework. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 1 (1), 25-44. Available online: http://ijttl.sicet.org/issue0501/DabbaghVol1.Iss1.pp25-44.pdf

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8. Garrison, et al.'s (2000) elements of an educational experience

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2 (2-3), 87-105.

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9. Jenkins's (1978) tetrahedral model (adapted by Bransford, et al. 2004)

Bransford, J., Vye, N., Bateman, H., Brophy, S., & Roselli, B. (2004). Vanderbilt’s AMIGO project: Knowledge of how people learn enters cyberspace. In T. M. Duffy & J. R. Kirkley (Eds.), Learner-centered theory and practice in distance education: Cases from higher education (p. 212). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Jenkins, J. J. (1978). Four points to remember: A tetrahedral model of memory experiments. In L. S. Cermak & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.), Levels of procession and human memory (pp. 429-446). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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10. MacDonald, et al.'s (2001, 2005) demand-driven learning model

MacDonald, C. J., Stodel, E. J., Farres, L. G., Breithaupt, K., & Gabriel, M. A. (2001). The demand-driven learning model: A framework for Web-based learning. Internet and Higher Education, 4 (1), 9-30.MacDonald, C. J., & Thompson, T. L. (2005). Structure, content, delivery, service, and outcomes: Quality e-learning in higher education. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 6 (2). Available online: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/237/321

Adopted from:

11. Richards's (2006) pedagogical process, technological infrastructure and convergent interactivity

Richards, C. (2006). Towards an integrated framework for designing effective ICT-supported learning environments: The challenge to better link technology and pedagogy. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 15 (2), p. 245.

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12. Shea, et al.'s (2003) conceptual framework for high quality, higher education, online learning environments

Shea, P. J., Pickett, A. M., & Pelz, W. E. (2003). A follow-up investigation of “teaching presence” in the SUNY learning network. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 7 (2), 61-80.

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13. Siedlaczek's (2004) factors affecting teaching online

Siedlaczek, K. (2004). Perceptions about teaching online versus in a classroom environment. College Quarterly, 7 (3). Available online: http://www.senecac.on.ca/quarterly/2004-vol07-num03-summer/siedlaczek.html

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Understanding the models

Seven general attributes

13 models of instruction and learning (with technology) emphasize Student characteristics, learner factors Instructor, teacher characteristics Learning framework or direction,

instructional events or strategies, teaching and learning activities

Knowledge focus, material, nature of content, technology, system, learning technologies

Group characteristics, interaction Learning process, criterial tasks,

outcomes, and Context, course, administrative

policies and procedures.

Understanding the models (1). . .

Mehlenbacher, B. (2008). Modeling everyday instructional situations: Frameworks for distance teaching and learning. Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning 2008. Madison, WI.

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Defining the territory: Research issues

Learning styles (published across 100s of journals)

Research on Web-based instruction, e-learning, WBT, CBT?

HCI/CD’s narrowing of learning DE’s narrowing of HCI

(performance) HE’s narrowing of technology (tool

versus mirror) Behavioral, cognitive, social

continuums.

Essential questions: What do we talk about when we talk about teaching and learning with technology? How do we define effective instruction? How do people learn and how do we design instruction that supports it? What do we mean by technology?

Summarizing: Five dimensions of everyday instructional situations


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Highlights learners, collapses instructors with strategies, views content as shared by learners, instructors, and social dynamics, sets learning outcomes and institutional contexts outside the focus of attention, and argues for importance of learner tasks and activities and learning environments and artifacts.

Characterizing learners, their background and knowledge


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Summarizing: Re-viewing research — matrix for the five dimensions


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The distant research future

“There is no prior history or tradition for this strange half-real, half-fantasy learning space.”

In the meantime, continue Reviewing and organizing of (300) peer-reviewed journals

divided into eight research clusters related to distance teaching and learning

Developing an heuristic tool for designing and evaluating distance teaching and learning environments

Exploring keyword/tagging/analytic methods of accessing research on instruction and learning with technology (learning, social networking, collaboration, knowledge managment).

Polin, L. (2004). Learning with dialogue with a practicing community. In T. M. Duffy & J. R. Kirkley (Eds.), Learner-centered theory and practice in distance education: Cases from higher education (pp. 17-48). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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Documents

Reviewing the research on distance education and e-learning