Innovative Learning & Teaching

For Distance Learning Administrators

Selecting a CMS/LMS:

In 2007 the University of Akron established a very successful, campus-wide process for selecting a new LMS. Here's a link to their Learning Management System Search website.

Listservs:

• Distance.learning national listserv.
• Distance Education Online Symposium (DEOS): Helpful and busy discussion forum on DL.
• Infobits, created by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ITS Teaching and Learning division, are a collection annotated helpful tips and ideas.
• Tomorrow's Professor listserv - Anyone can SUBSCRIBE to the Tomorrow's Professor Mailing List by addressing an e-mail message to: Majordomo@lists.stanford.edu. Do NOT put anything in the SUBJECT line but in the body of the message type: "subscribe tomorrows-professor".
• Yahoo Distance Learning group.

Journals:

• Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration.
• The Journal for Educators Online (JEO) is an online, double-blind, refereed journal by and for instructors, administrators, policy-makers, staff, students, and those interested in the development, delivery, and management of online courses in the Arts, Business, Education, Engineering, Medicine, and Science fields.
• International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning A refereed journal to advance research, theory and best practice in open and distance learning worldwide.
• Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology provides a multimedia forum for the advancement of scholarly work on the effects of technology on teaching and learning.
• Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN) from the Sloan Consortium.
• Educause Quarterly.
• The Journal of Educators Online.
• INNOVATE is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed online periodical published by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University. The journal focuses on the creative use of information technology (IT) to enhance educational processes in academic, commercial, and governmental settings.
• JOURNAL OF ONLINE LEARNING AND TEACHING (JOLT): Merlot has launched this free, peer-reviewed, online journal designed to address the scholarly use of multimedia resources in education.
• American Journal of Distance Education (AJDE): Three issues per year. 'Created to disseminate information and act as a forum for criticism and debate about research and practice of distance education in the Americas.
• Australian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET): A refereed journal publishing research and review articles in educational technology, instructional design, educational applications of computer technologies, educational telecommunications and related areas. AJET is published in three issues per year.
• DEOSNEWS is the most widely referenced online journal in the field.
• Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) is published online by Vanderbilt University for the Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN) Center .

Distance Learning Programs at Ohio Institutions:

Check out OhioLearns! for institutions offering distance courses and degrees.

Organizations:

• Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE): Extensive international organization covering just about everything related to computers in education. AACE offers several Conferences each year.
• Educause: “EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.”
• League for Innovation in the Community College.
• Canadian Association for Distance Education.
• Syllabus.

Resources:

• Excellent description and how-to information about effective distance learning, from the University of Idaho.
• “Ten Indicators of Distance Learning Program Accessibility” from DO IT, University of Washington.
• The Distance Education Clearinghouse provides a vast array of distance education resources, information, and databases, as well as numerous links to additional sites and resources.
• WICHE's Guidelines for Creating Student Services Online.
• “Six Factors to Consider When Planning Online Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education” (University of Georgia).

Surveys and Research:

• “Bounded Exuberance: e-Learning in Ohio” (Ohio Learning Network).
• Instructional Technology Council's (ITC) Second Annual Survey on Distance Education. Issues covered in the survey include challenges to distance learning programs, faculty training and compensation, enrollment caps, assessment, student services, and student demographics.
• Sherry, L. (1996). Issues in Distance Learning. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications, 1 (4), 337-365.

Library Services

Guidelines for distance Learning Library Services.

Resources for Online Students

89 Things Students Need to Know in the First 10 Days of an Online Course from Illinois Online Network.