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.

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

About the Author

Olaf Zawacki-Richter is professor of educationaltechnology at the University of Oldenburg, and also teaches in theonline Masters of Distance Education and E-Learning program offeredjointly by the University of Oldenburg and the University of Maryland,University College.

Terry Anderson is professor and researcher in theTechnology-Enhanced Knowledge Research Centre at Athabasca University.His research interests focus on interaction and social media ineducational contexts. He is the editor of The Theory and Practice ofOnline Learning, 2nd ed., winner of the 2009 Charles E. WedemeyerAward.

Book Information
ISBN 9781927356623
Author Olaf Zawacki-Richter
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint AU Press
Publisher AU Press
Weight(grams) 820g