Category Archives:
Current Trends in Online Education

With all of the current coverage of online education projects such as edX from Harvard and MIT, Coursera, the Khan Academy, and many other new initiatives, it seems that online learning is more popular than ever, especially to those working in and writing about the online education industry. But how widespread is it, really? And […]

What is commonly referred to as texting, and sometimes Short Message Service (SMS), includes sending and receiving short messages via cell phones. This very specific functionality of mobile communication is gaining ground in education as a way for instructors to connect with students, especially those working at a distance, and even create new assignment options. […]

Calling all academic authors! The Saylor Foundation’s Open Textbook Challenge is expanding, and awarding $20,000 for accepted textbooks that align with eligible Saylor courses and are licensed through Creative Commons (CC-BY). The Saylor Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization currently offering over 200 open, online courses in 12 disciplines and a general education program covering topics from […]

Can you imagine being enrolled in a course with hundreds or even thousands of classmates? What about being responsible for teaching a course with that many students? It may seem like an impossible situation, but that’s exactly what’s happening at Virginia Tech in John Boyer’s World Regions geography course with over 2,600 students in the […]

According to the latest report on eReading from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, “the increasing availability of e-content is prompting some to read more than in the past and to prefer buying books to borrowing them.” Pew describes e-content as eBooks and “other long-form content such as magazines, journals, and news articles in digital […]

In last week’s #IOLchat, we asked participants to share the social networking platforms they preferred for professional and educational purposes. We were both pleased and surprised to see more than just Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn mentioned. With this post, my goal is to provide an introduction to other systems currently used by educators and students for both professional […]

You can probably remember a lesson or two delivered by one of your teachers in high school or college. It may have been something that changed the way you thought about the subject matter or helped you make a connection necessary to understand a tough concept. These kinds of lessons can make a real difference […]

My blog reader is filled these days with articles about the need for reform in higher education. The value of the traditional four-year degree is highly debated and there is a call for new approaches to the education system. There are also a lot of posts about recent unemployment trends and the need to better […]

The need for reform is at the top of many lists detailing current issues related to higher education. Concerns about ensuring quality and access, as well as funding and career preparation are all around us, discussed and debated by educators and administrators at all possible levels. Can online learning provide a viable response to these […]

I recently discovered an article entitled, “Grazing the Net: Raising a Generation of Free Range Students.” Written by Jamie McKenzie in 1998, it describes the then new generation of students with web access, exploring and learning on their own via the Internet. McKenzie addressed the rush to bring the Internet into K-12 schools. The infrastructure and […]