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researcher at the National Education Policy Center, said research has so far failed to prove that online instruction is superior to face-to-face education. Jeff Hunt, who runs Indian Prairie's online program, said such critiques are a caution to those who want to expand Internet-based learning. "We have to do this well because we can't do it over," he said. "(Poor results) will verify to critics that there's no quality there." Tribune reporter Lawerence Synett contributed. jkeilman@tribune.com Get the Chicago Tribune delivered to your home for only $1 a week > Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune Share61(2) RECOMMENDED FOR YOU 2 charged with prostitution at Evanston spa (Chicago Tribune) Ind. couple pleads guilty to duct-taping children (Chicago Tribune) Hospitals drowning in noise (Chicago Tribune) Chicago's at top as gas prices jump again (Chicago Tribune) Chicago discussed as terrorist target, document says (Chicago Tribune) FROM AROUND THE WEB What?! Prince in foreclosure?! (BankRate.com) Every Parent's Nightmare: Your Grad Is Moving Home (CNBC) Little-known credit card perks (BankRate.com) Riskiest Places to Use Your Credit Card (CNBC) Mary Robbins Dies Just 12 Days After Husband (The New York Times) [what's this]   Comments (2)Add / View comments | Discussion FAQ ckotarch at 10:55 PM April 25, 2011 Online learning offers the people who can learn faster than their peers the opportunity to work ahead and learn more and do more in the same amount of time.   The fact that students are graduating early is testament to the fact that there are some superior advantages to it when used that way.  Credit recovery too gives kids the opportunity to catch up to meet their goals of graduation where without it, they would not.  What more evidence does one need?   The benefits are self evident. Arrive2.net at 9:57 PM April 25, 2011 "Gene Glass, senior researcher at the National Education Policy Center, said research has so far failed to prove that online instr

There are several widely-accepted rubrics (Quality Matters, the ION one in Illinois, etc.), but in my opinion, they focus on course design, not on teaching the course. When I was at Black Hawk College, we created a Best Practices for Exemplary Online Teaching set of standards based on the Chickering and Gamson's "7 Principles of Good Practice for Undergraduate Education" meta-analysis. Individual best practices for online teaching were pulled from the literature and listed as possibilities under each of the 7 principles, and an 8th was added with some of the course design elements not already mentioned in the first 7. In other words, we created a local document that could assist faculty in doing self-assessment, peer evaluations of each other's courses, and potentially institutional review of online courses. However, our instrument was not used for institutional assessment because it was not approved as part of the faculty [union] contract. It is important for a document like this to be shared with the faculty ahead of time so that they know how their courses are going to be evaluated. I also think it is helpful to have several people evaluate various aspects of online courses, such as someone who is an expert in online education who can evaluate the learning experiences and course design elements of the course, someone from the faculty member's department who can evaluate the quality and accuracy of the course content, as well as the administrator whose job it is to evaluate teaching. If the institution uses a type of rubric or assessment document when evaluating face-to-face teaching, it needs to be vetted by online experts to determine if it emphasizes appropriate, comparable variables in the online environment. For example, if activities to promote student engagement is on that form...what does that look like online? Not all administrators or faculty who have not taught online would know what to look for as indicators of student engagement.

Colleagues, Last semester 30 faculty and staff participated in a reading group focused on Clayton Christensen and Henry Eyring's "The Innovative University." The reading group came together face-to-face on a number of occasions and continued the rich discussion online. It was a great experience and a fascinating book. This semester the faculty and staff participating in the American Democracy Project recommended that we invite the campus community to come together to read "A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy's Future." The work was completed by the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, under the leadership of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. It's a brief volume, rich in examples, on how colleges and universities must reclaim responsibility for civic learning. "A Crucible Moment" is available in PDF here: http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/college-learning-democracys-future/crucible-moment.pdf The reading group will meet once in March and once in April, with opportunities for online discussion. More information will follow later in the month. In the meantime, if you're interested in joining us for this discussion, please email Kim Schmidl-Gagne (kgagne@keene.edu). If you would like to commit to the reading group, but would prefer to read in hard copy, Kim will also order a copy for you. I look forward to this discussion, and I hope you will consider joining us for our spring reading group. Mel

"Faculty Competencies for Online Teaching Teaching in an online environment can be considerably different in nature from teaching face-to-face. The competencies listed on this site are intended to provide faculty and administrators with a better understanding of the instructional requirements of online teaching. Pedagogical Competencies Technical Competencies Administrative Competencies"

Students still want face-to-face contact with staff, but more use of the kind of technologies they have grown up with, though they need to be persuaded to use them to study. They also need to learn how to critically evaluate online sources, while academics need more help in using the technologies.

"Simply putting traditional courses online could have negative consequences, especially for lower-performing and language minority students."

"Lecture capture systems offer three important benefits: an alternative when students miss class; an opportunity for content review; and content for online course development. Lecture capture enhances and extends existing instructional activities, whether in face-to-face, fully online, or blended learning environments."

Wiki: Participatory media lesson plans These are a series of small lesson plans (I call them "labs") I've used as assignments for my students. These pages serve as more permanent reminders of what I show them during the face to face class meeting, as assignments, and as resource pages for further learning. Please feel free to add your own.

HyFlex is a course design model that presents the componentsof hybrid learning (which combines face-to-face with onlinelearning) in a fl exible course structure that gives students the option of attending sessions in the classroom, participating online,or doing both.

The classroom of the future features face-to-face, online, and hybrid learning. And the future is here.

Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010 is the eighth annual report on thestate of online learning among higher education institutions in the United States. The study isaimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of onlineeducation. Based on responses from over 2,500 colleges and universities, the report addresses thefollowing key issues:* Is Online Learning Strategic?* How Many Students are Learning Online?* Are Learning Outcomes in Online Comparable to Face-to-Face?* What is the Impact of the Economy on Online Education?* Proposed Federal Regulations on Financial Aid.* What is the Future for Online Enrollment Growth?

Designing a Blended course: Here is a three-step process: Establish clear learning goals for the topic. Design activities to help students meet the learning goals. Sort the activities into two categories: online and face-to-face. Very short article that might be useful in CELT's blended classes.

When designing a blended learning course, the instructor should remember to use the online portion as an opportunity to create more exciting face-to-face interactions.

The Online Faculty Competency Certification program is intended for future and existing online teachers. The program is designed to help faculty members become proficient in the use of Blackboard and to become effective facilitators in the online environment.

 technocentrism and pedagogical dogmatism. If the goals of technology integration are separated from the goals of educational reform, teacher educators are faced with an important choice. Should we, as educational technology leaders, concentrate our efforts upon developing, testing, and disseminating a wide range of educational technology uses that support a broad spectrum of pedagogical approaches? Or should we recommit-and state publicly-our intention to help schools change the nature of teaching and learning through particular applications of digital technologies?

a free website that makes it easy to create short (20 second) animated movie clips that can be customized with uploaded faces, customized text, music, movement and more. Here's a shot of a movie during playback.

Perhaps too simple for college students, but....

There's mounting evidence that personnel specialists are now scouring social media sites and job boards for potential employees. If you're wondering how to draw attention to yourself in the right way on social-media sites, help is at hand. We've put together a comprehensive action plan for you to follow: Recommends a "work" Facebook face, but most of it is about twitter. 10 expert tips on using social media to get the job you want:

Jaron Lanier's article in the NY times. --- Adding to an already rich life, my father decided in middle age to become an elementary-school teacher in a working-class neighborhood in New Mexico. To this day, people who run grocery stores and work on construction sites, and who are now in late middle age themselves, come out when I'm visiting to tell me how Mr. Lanier changed their lives. Go up to any adult with a good life, no matter what his or her station, and ask if a teacher made a difference, and you'll always see a face light up. The human element, a magical connection, is at the heart of successful education, and you can't bottle it.