Monthly Archives: January 2012
In its first post-Steve Jobs product unveiling on Thursday, Apple announced its plans to shake up the world of education with a series of new textbook products that could drastically affect how students and professors receive and disseminate information. From today’s Los Angeles Times news article on Apple’s bold move: With the new iBooks 2 app, students can download interactive textbooks to their iPads, usually for $14.99 or less, eliminating the need for … out-of-date, hundred-dollar textbooks. IBooks Author enables … Continue reading
[Summary from: Merlot's Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, December 2011] Numerous studies have compared student outcomes in online classes and traditional classes, but with mixed results. This paper adds to the existing body of evidence through an examination of students in personal finance courses. Primary results indicate that the delivery method made little difference in student performance. Secondary results identify pre-course GPAs, and to a lesser extent ACT scores, as predictors of student success in personal finance. Ary, Eddie … Continue reading
Tony Bates is a researcher, author and consultant in the field of online learning, and last week he gave a forecast of what 2012 likely will bring to distance education and its constituents. Among Bates’ predictions is the increased availability of analysis that dissects how students learn online, which — in turn — will improve the instruction in distance-ed courses. Additionally, the author says we should be on the lookout for further integration of social media into formal class settings, … Continue reading
Here’s an intriguing paper from the current issue of The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. With the term “quantum perspective,” the three authors — Katherine Joyce Janzen, Beth Perry and Margaret Edwards — are referring to a holistic approach to learning and instructional design that views learning environments as “living systems.” Several conclusions are drawn for instructional design, including the need to construct classes that are multidimensional, interactive on multiple levels, and that continue to develop … Continue reading