Designing Online Learning: A Primer for Librarians

115 Pages·2012·1.47 MB·English

by  Susan W. Alman

DESIGNING ONLINE
LEARNING
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DESIGNING ONLINE
LEARNING
A Primer for Librarians
Sue Alman, Christinger Tomer, and
Margaret L. Lincoln, Editors
Copyright2012bySueAlman,ChristingerTomer,andMargaretL.Lincoln
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
system,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recording,orotherwise,exceptfortheinclusionofbriefquotationsina
revieworreproducibles,whichmaybecopiedforclassroomandeducationalprograms
only,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Designingonlinelearning:aprimerforlibrarians/SueAlman,ChristingerTomer,andMargaretL.
Lincoln,editors.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978–1–59884–637–9(pbk.)—ISBN978–1–59884–638–6(ebook)(print)1.Web-basedinstruc-
tion—Design.2.Web-basedinstruction—Evaluation.3.Educationaltechnology.4.Informationliteracy—
Web-basedinstruction.5.Electronicinformationresourceliteracy—Web-basedinstruction.6.Library
education—Web-basedinstruction.7.Librariesanddistanceeducation.8.Schoollibrarianparticipationin
curriculumplanning.9.Academiclibraries—Relationswithfacultyandcurriculum.I.Alman,Susan
Webreck.II.Tomer,Christinger.III.Lincoln,MargaretL.
LB1044.87.D48 2012
371.33—dc23 2012017614
ISBN:978–1–59884–637–9
EISBN:978–1–59884–638–6
16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5
ThisbookisalsoavailableontheWorldWideWebasaneBook.
Visitwww.abc-clio.comfordetails.
LibrariesUnlimited
AnImprintofABC-CLIO,LLC
ABC-CLIO,LLC
130CremonaDrive,P.O.Box1911
SantaBarbara,California93116-1911
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Toourfamiliesfortheirsupportandtoleranceofouronlineschedules.
TheTomerFamily:Julie,Cait,Will,andNora
TheAlmanFamily:RJ,Jennie,Chris,andHoover
TheLincolnFamily:Gary,Ben,Ruth,Geoff,Angela,andArianna
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Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xiii
1. InstructionalDesignBasics 1
BarbaraA.Frey
2. FacultyDevelopmentinOnlineEducation 13
KellyOtter
3. LearningTechnologies 27
ChristingerTomer
4. StudentAssessmentinOnlineLearning 37
LornaR.Kearns
5. Overview,BestPractices,andLiteratureReview 53
ArianneHartsell-GundyandBethTumbleson
6. OnlineEducationinSchools 67
MargaretL.Lincoln
Index 91
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Preface
My10yearsorsoinonlineeducationhavebeenanadventure,andoneinwhichIhave
probably learned more—and more about myself—than ever before. There are more
thanafewreasonsforthis,butasIlookbackIthinkthemainreasonisthatinthedays
whenIfirstenteredthedomainofonlineeducation,itwasnewandlargelyuncharted
territory,anditquicklybecameclearthatmanyoftheoldhabitsandtricksofteaching
thathadworkedinthetraditionalclassroomwouldn’twork.Inventionwastheorderof
theday,andIwasatapointinmylifeandcareerwheretheneedtoinvent,howeverfee-
ble my inventions proved to be, made the prospect of online education all the more
attractive.
WhatIdidn’tfullyunderstandwhen webeganplanninganonlineprogramatthe
UniversityofPittsburgh’sSchoolofInformationSciencesin2000wasthatonlineedu-
cationwasaboutfurtherempoweringstudents(bygivingthemanewarrayofchoices
abouthow,when,andwheretolearn).NordidIfullyunderstandthatonlineeducation
was,amongotherthings,arealandconstructivethreattoaneducationalorderthatwas
characterizedbyoldhierarchies,smugcomplacency,andmorethanalittleintellectual
stagnation. The realization that online education was something genuinely new and
importantcame slowly—Iam, in general, discouragingly slowonthe uptake—butI
knowthatitbegan—the realization, thatis—inthe summerof 2001.When ourpro-
gram’sfirstcohortofstudentscametocampusforafewdaysaboutmidwaythrough
theirfirstterm,itbecameclearthattheyhadformedstrongpersonalbondsinamatter
of eight weeks, working separately and together in an online learning environment
(supplementedbytheuseofvariouspersonaltechnologies,mostnotablycellphones).
It also became clear that therewere dimensions to this process that didn’t occur in
face-to-faceclassroomsandthatcouldnotbeduplicatedintraditionaleducationset-
tings. More than 10 years on, I am not appreciably better at articulating what I saw
and feltwhenthose studentscametogetherforthe firsttime, saveto saythatitcon-
vincedmethatonlineeducationrepresentedanopportunitytobreakoutofold,tired
moldsandgetaboutthechallengingbusinessofrethinkinghowbesttoeducatepeople.