Motivation of the E-Learner

The study of motivation in E-learning is an emerging field but there is a paucity of data about what learners and facilitators believe are the important factors involving and sustaining the interest of the learner. It is emphasised that more prominence needs to be given to the key players’ perspectives in balancing what is known about E-learning motivation. In this literature review, consideration is given to how E-learning evolved and impacted upon learners. Theoretical approaches to understanding learning and motivation are discussed and the importance of instructional design as a motivating factor identified. Research concerning the motivational matrix of the E-learner, facilitator, and educational environment is then detailed to provide a context for understanding E-learner motivation. Following this, phenomenologically-oriented research related to learner and facilitator perspectives on what motivates the E-learner is discussed and links to the social cognitive theory are acknowledged. Implications and an exploratory model of E-learners’ motivation are detailed followed by recommendations for future research.

Using Virtual World Technology as a Faculty Development Tool in Higher Education

Higher education institutions are constantly challenged with the task of educating a technology savvy generation of students. Colleges must be able and ready to meet the needs of these digital-age students. What are the perceptions of college faculty of using virtual world technology as a teaching tool in the classroom? The purpose of this chapter is to explore how virtual world environments can be used as a faculty development tool in order to encourage the use of virtual worlds as a teaching tool in the classroom. This chapter references research from a mixed methods study exploring college faculty perceptions of the adoption of virtual world technology into the classroom, which in turn, provides insight to the willingness of higher education faculty to adopt this type of technology. In addition, the final section of the chapter includes a suggested guide on how to create a virtual world faculty development workshop based in Linden Lab’s Second Life.

Assessment Processes for Online Professional Development

Professional development (PD) assessment is an ongoing, integral activity in order to improve results at individual, training, program, and institutional levels. Principles of assessment are outlined, and the general processes of assessment design, delivery, and analysis are explained. Technology greatly expands the possible data that can be collected for assessment purposes. Emphasis is placed on online environments, noting the issues that are unique to that environment.

A Model for Online Instructor Training, Support, and Professional Development

Online learning is a popular learning option for millions of students in US colleges and universities. Online facilitation plays an important role in student learning. With a growing number of courses offered online, there are many challenges associated with the quality of online instruction. This chapter presents information on a large-scale online project for preK-12 educators. The author presents detailed information on a model for training, support, professional development, and monitoring of online instructors. The author also discusses implications for further development and monitoring of online instructors’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions that promote successful online experiences and learning for students.

Two Quadrants for the Development of Virtual Environments to Support Collaboration between Teachers

The purpose of this chapter is to outline how pre-service teacher education can be adapted to the emergence of virtual educational structures and processes that complement traditional classes. The chapter is based on research conducted in rural schools in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador that links in-service and pre-service teachers to provide insights for the latter into real-life, networked classrooms, particularly those located in communities located beyond major centres of population, to which most students were likely to be appointed. Face-to-face groups of pre-service teachers were able to include virtual practicing teachers in their discussions. The significance of this study will be judged by the extent to which professional discourse between pre-service and in-service teachers reflects the virtual challenge of intranets to the physical isolation of traditional schools.

Professional Development with Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) Teaching Online

As the number of online courses offered continues to increase, teaching online will become a standard expectation and responsibility for graduate teaching assistants (TAs). For TAs who will seek faculty positions, experience and self-efficacy teaching online are critical to their future career. The current and future university landscape and the higher education world these TAs will embody will require qualified individuals to be well trained in online course development and delivery. Of equal importance is the quality of teaching TAs provide for the large number of online undergraduate courses for which they have sole responsibility or provide instructional support. Colleges and universities need to develop professional development for TAs that reflects best practices in online teaching and learning and engages TAs in the instructional design as well as delivery process. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the literature on teaching assistant professional development and the implications for TAs teaching online.

Designing Effective Online Instructor Training and Professional Development

There are many ways to deliver engaging, effective, and efficient online instruction, but most higher education instructors do not know how. So while the demand for online learning has drastically increased, the efficacious training of instructors into how to deliver online courses lags far behind. In this chapter, the authors demonstrate how adult learning and instructional design principles, coupled with known best practices for online teaching, can facilitate the design of effective training and professional development for online instructors. Case study examples are used to illustrate key concepts, and a sample outline for training is offered. Administrators and trainers of online instructors will form the primary audience; other stake holders in online education will benefit as well.

Definition and History of Online Professional Development

There exists a consensus on the importance of teacher professional development. This chapter provides a knowledge base for environments, describes the benefits, best practices, and sources for quality online professional development. The attributes associated with online professional development can be examined within the framework of web conferencing, web cast, and online teaching and learning. An annotated bibliography and extensive glossary related to online professional development are included in this chapter.

Online Education

Young people will have to change their names in order to escape their “cyber past,” prophesized Eric Schmidt (Google’s CEO) in August 2010. This provocative thought from the principal opponent of Facebook may be considered a strategic maneuver, but it also highlights the deep societal changes coming with the continuing development of social media. From the instructors’ perspective, people may wonder if online education could help students develop their communication skills in the era of web 2.0. But others may contend that a priority has to be given to the class content, not to another use of the media, which simply provides a new channel to enhance the learning experience. This chapter proposes a first step to reconcile the two perspectives and shows that improving students’ communication skills and awareness when teaching in an online environment can enhance student learning and help personal branding, i.e. developing the ability to package their skills and to showcase their distinctive attributes. To help demonstrate this, results from the authors’ courses are provided.

Strategies for Online Instruction

With diverse options for teaching and learning, continued professional development is requisite for instructors in order to meet the needs of a growing online population of students. In online learning settings, if students are not engaged through various instructional techniques, students become easily distracted and miss valuable content necessary for learning. In traditional classroom settings, instructors can easily check for levels of engagement via a visual scan of the class. In an online environment, without the use of video, a visual scan is not possible. As a result, a productive way to ensure student engagement in asynchronous or synchronous courses is for instructors to implement modeling, graphic, manipulative, and simulation strategies into the online environment. This chapter reviews a variety of best practice strategies for engaging students in an online learning environment as part of faculty professional development to improve their teaching and learning. These practice strategies will be discussed, along with examples of how they can be implemented.