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Inside Online Learning
An Education Writer for OC.org, Melissa's background includes work in higher education...
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Meet Eric Stoller, our blogger who's an expert in higher education, student affairs and e-learning...
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The Latest
#IOLchat Report: Finding Professional Development OpportunitiesEach week we meet via Twitter for #IOLchat to discuss current issues related to online learning. Participants include students, instructors, eLearning companies, schools, publishers, and instructional designers. As we approach the summer months, …
Inside Online Learning
A blog by Melissa A. Venable, PhD
An Education Writer for OnlineCollege.org, Melissa's background includes work in higher education – private, public, and for-profit – as an instructional designer and curriculum developer. Melissa is also an experienced instructor, academic advisor, and career counselor... more
The Future of Computer Science
While many educators and employers agree that computer technology related skills are necessary for today's workforce in an increasing variety of career fields – not to mention careers of a technologically advanced future – several schools have recently decided to end their computer science programs. The State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo's computer science program [...]
Social Learning Summit 2012
On April 21st, thousands of educators convened online for a completely free day of professional development. The Social Learning Summit 2012 virtual conference took place via live presentations using the Blackboard Collaborate synchronous classroom system. Most sessions were 30 minutes in length and accompanied by a great backchannel on Twitter through the #sociallearningsummit hashtag. With a theme of [...]
Want a Career Crash Course in Technology? Try Tech Trip 2
If you are looking for a new kind of adventure, one that combines learning, career exploration, and technology, Tech Trip 2 may be for you. Sponsored by Lenovo and Intel, this contest will soon award three students with an opportunity to meet and work with professionals working in these companies, as well as new partner Vuguru. [...]
#IOLchat Report: Evaluating Online Courses
Each week we meet via Twitter for #IOLchat to discuss current issues related to online learning. Participants include students, instructors, eLearning companies, schools, publishers, and instructional designers. How can students and instructors have an impact on their academic programs? As we near the end of the spring semester at many schools instructors are asking students [...]
Rethinking Digital Literacy
This topic is not new to Inside Online Learning, but it's one that seems to be evolving as technologies advance and new approaches to online delivery are made available. Almost a year ago I described the basics of the new literacies in terms of access, analysis, media creation, and implementation, but last week I was introduced [...]
8 Ways to Prepare for Technology Trouble
As an online instructor you may have found yourself on the front lines when the technology fails. Whether it's the school website, course management software, or email, when a large system goes offline it can create a lot of problems for you and your students, directly impacting progress and assignment due dates. One of the sessions [...]
Is Facebook Part of Your Professional Network?
Last year I wrote about a Facebook app called CareerAmp that was designed to help users discover more about how their friends are connected from a job search perspective through profile information about their employers. Networking was the long-term goal, but the app was unfortunately short-lived, although it evolved into a new format included in [...]
#IOLchat Report: Twitter in Education
Each week we meet via Twitter for #IOLchat to discuss current issues related to online learning. Participants include students, instructors, eLearning companies, schools, publishers, and instructional designers. Our moderator, Melissa, and social media manager, Laura, are participating in two conference sessions (TCC Online Conference and Social Learning Summit) this week to discuss the use of Twitter in online [...]
What Are Your Expectations of Online Learning?
"Taking an online class" can mean many things and vary greatly by course, program, and school. Students entering online programs often have a preconceived notion of what it will be like, which could be based on traditional courses taken years ago or assumptions about the requirements of distance learning. These impressions, when not accurate, can [...]
I’m Exploring the BadgeStack Project and You Should, Too!
Last week I attended an online presentation from Learning Times that focused on digital badges for learning and professional enhancement. The session, Badge-based Learning and 21st Century Skills [recording], described "a digital badge ecosystem" that aims to help all kinds of learners capitalize on "living in an age of opportunity for learning, specialization and innovation like [...]
