Tuesday 28 April 2015

Free pdf eBook: theory & practice of #online teaching and learning

Routledge offers a free (pdf) eBook on the subject of "the theory and practice of online teaching and learning: a guide for academic professionals". It is an eBook comprising 60 pages of useful eLearning information. The authors are known UK experts: Gilly Salmon, Diana Laurrilard,  Allison LittleJohn to name but a few. It is a nice synopsis describing key concepts and basic practical options.

Although it is a free eBook, your contact details are required before Routledge sends you the download link.

The eBook has 6 chapters that are taken from other Routledge books mentioned at the beginning of this eBook:

Chapter 1: the basics: This chapter takes on some basic but important questions about online teaching: how is it different from teaching in a traditional classroom environment? Do I need to be a computer expert? How can teaching online benefit my students? How can it benefit me? In answering these questions (and more), the book offers practical tips designed to help instructors make the most of their online teaching, regardless of their level of experience with Internet instruction.

Chapter 2:: In this chapter, from Essentials of Online Course Design, Marjorie Vai and Kristen Sosulski run through the basics of an online course and address questions such as how the timing of online teaching and learning differs from the timing of onsite teaching and learning. They also give you a sense of what sort of preparation and maintenance work goes into designing and teaching an online course, and provide some useful time-saving tips.

Chapter 3: This chapter introduces you to what author Gilly Salmon calls ‘e-tivities’: “frameworks for enabling active and participative online learning by individuals and groups.” These collaborative activities can be adapted to a wide array of different situations.

Chapter 4: Here authors Barbara Means, Marianne Bakia, and Robert Murphy take on the issue of establishing some sort of typology for online learning. As the practice of learning online is such a wide and varied endeavor, it can be difficult for researchers to draw conclusions about the field. To address this issue, the authors of Learning Online propose a system that classifies online teaching methods using four categories: context, design, implementation, and outcomes.

Chapter 5: In this chapter from Reusing Open Resources, authors Allison Littlejohn and Chris Pegler explore how the use of open resources expands the definition and outcomes of teaching and learning. By including open resources in educational experiences, opportunities for learning increase dramatically.

Chapter 6: CHAPTER 6 In this chapter, Diana Laurillard examines the relationship between technology and education and issues a call to action to fellow educators: “it is imperative that teachers and lecturers place themselves in a position where they are able to master the use of digital technologies, to harness their power, and put them to the proper service of education. Education must now begin to drive its use of technology.”

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