Course Textbooks and Learning Resources
EDUC 456/656: eLearning
You will be happy to discover that you do not necessarily need to purchase any textbooks for use in this course, because your course instructor has selected many engaging resources that are available freely online. For example, the following book is available free to UD students who can read it online or freely download it either as a PDF or an EPUB:
Piņa, Anthony A., Lowell, Victoria L., and Harris, Bruce R. (2017). Leading and Managing e-Learning: What the e-learning Leader Needs to Know. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. Available to UD users from https://link-springer-com.udel.idm.oclc.org/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-61780-0.
An excellent book that UD students can read freely online is as follows:
Darby, Flower and Lang, James M. (2019). Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Available to UD users from https://delcat.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1104058289.
The next three books listed below, however, are not available for free. After the course begins, you can decide whether to purchase one of them, depending on the focus of your interests and the platform you are considering for your eLearning network:
Harasim, Linda. (2017). Learning Theory and Online Technologies. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge. Available for purchase from https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Theory-Online-Technologies-Harasim/dp/113886000X/.
Clark, R. C. and Mayer, R. E. (2016). eLearning and the Science of Instruction. 4th edition. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Available for purchase from https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Science-Instruction-Guidelines-Multimedia/dp/1119158664/.
Patrick, S. What Works in K-12 Online Learning. (2007). Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education. Available for purchase from http://www.amazon.com/What-Works-K-12-Online-Learning/dp/1564842363/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280175001&sr=1-1.
In addition to the textbooks listed above, there are excellent research articles you can read about online learning. Some suggestions are listed as follows:
Means, B., Toyama, Y., and Murphy, R. (2010). Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. U.S. Department of Education: Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf.
Bacow, L., Bowen, W. and Guthrie, K. (2012). Barriers to Adoption of Online Learning Systems in U.S. Higher Education. Ithaka S&R Report. Retrieved from http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/barriers-adoption-online-learning-systems-us-higher-education.
Allen, E. and Seaman, J. (2012). Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012. Babson Survey Research Group. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/IHE-BSRG-Conflict.pdf.
Aslanianm, C. B. and Clinefelter, D. L. (2012). Online College Students 2012: Comprehensive Data on Demands and Preferences. Retrieved from http://www.learninghouse.com/files/documents/resources/Online College Students 2012.pdf.
Crews, T. B., Sheth, S. N., and Horne, T. M. (2014) Understanding the Learning Personalities of Successful Online Students. Educause Review. Jan/Feb 2014. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/understanding-learning-personalities-successful-online-students.
AECT Knowledge Base. For several decades, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) has been publishing a handbook of research that serves practitioners as a knowledge base of researched best practices in the field of educational technology. If you decide to study the AECT knowledge base, however, it requires a subscription. There is a substantial student discount as described at aect.org. University of Delaware students, however, can freely access the knowledge base by following this link to its online copy at Delcat Discovery. The bibliographic refence is: Spector, J. M. (Ed.) (2014). Handbook of research on educational communications and technology. 4th edition. New York: Springer.
Beyond books, all UD students, faculty and staff have access to LinkedIn Learning, as described at the following link:
Computers
To complete the hands-on computer assignments, each student will need access to a multimedia computer (Windows PC or Macintosh) that is connected to the Internet via the latest version of either Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge.
Computer Accounts
Every University of Delaware student automatically receives an e-mail account. You should visit www.udel.edu/network to manage your password, username, and quotas.
Computer Sites
All students registered in this class have the option of using the multimedia PCs and Macs in the campus computing sites. Use sites.udel.edu/computingsites to link to the general access site schedule. Please note that the use of the campus computing sites is totally optional in this course. If you have your own computer and Internet connection, you may never need to use the campus computing sites.
E-mail Addresses
Every student in this class must have an e-mail address on the Internet and read e-mail regularly. If you're enrolled in a University of Delaware course, and you do not have an e-mail account yet, go to the help center and follow the e-mail link for detailed instructions on how to activate your e-mail account. During the course, when your instructor sends e-mail to the class, the messages will go to your UD mail address. If you do not read your UD mail regularly, you should go to www.udel.edu/network and follow the instructions to forward your e-mail to your preferred e-mail address.