Online Distance Education

In the past, most laymen, practitioners, and even experts in the field described distance education very simply as a form of learning in which physical proximity is replaced by distance and oral dialogue by mediated communication. This simplistic understanding still lingers in many people's minds. This volume demonstrates instead that online distance education is a comprehensive, many-sided process and a multifunctional system. -- Otto Peters, FernUniversitat in Hagen

Offers a systematic overview of the major issues, trends, and areas of priority in online distance education research.

Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda offersa systematic overview of the major issues, trends, and areas ofpriority in online distance education research. In each chapter, aninternational expert or team of experts provides an overview of onetimely issue in online distance education, summarizing major researchon the topic, discussing theoretical insights that guide the research,posing questions and directions for future research, and discussing theimplications for distance education practice as a whole. Intended as aprimary reference and guide for distance educators, researchers, andpolicymakers, Online Distance Education addresses aspects ofdistance education practice that have often been marginalized,including issues of cost and economics, concerns surrounding socialjustice, cultural bias, the need for faculty professional development,and the management and growth of learner communities. At once soundlyempirical and thoughtfully reflective, yet also forward-looking andopen to new approaches to online and distance teaching, this text is asolid resource for researchers in a rapidly expanding discipline.