Resources

Resources for Online Learning and Learning Technology

For massage therapy educators, download a copy of Whitney Lowe’s article  The Challenges and Promise of E-learning in Massage Therapy (republished with permission from Massage and Bodywork Magazine).

You can also link to Jan Schwartz’s research article published in the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, Vol 3, Issue 3 (2010)  on faculty perceptions of online education. Or download the pdf:  IJTMB article.

Recent Reports

• Allen, I.E. & Seaman, J. (2010). Class_differences: Online education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group & The Sloan Consortium.
• Brandon Hall Research (2010). Results of research on blended learning (pdf): BlendedLearning-Outcomes
• Picciano, A.G. & Seaman, J. (2010). Class_connections: High school reform and the role of online learning. Babson Research Group &  CUNY (Hunter College and Graduate Center)
• Strategies for increasing online student retention and satisfaction. www.facultyfocus.com (retrieved 10/15/10).
• Transforming American Education: Learning powered by technology. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Technology. National Education Technology Plan 2010.
• Emerging_technologies in distance education (2010).  Veletsianos, G., editor. Edmonton, Canada: AU Press, Athabasca University.  This is a book licensed under creative commons and down loadable as a pdf.
• Online teaching effectiveness: A tale of two instructors (2009). Gorsky & Blau. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.  There is a print version link to download.

Organizations

• Educause. This organization exists to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.
• E-Learning Guild. As a member-driven organization, the Guild produces conferences, online events, e-books, research reports, and Learning Solutions Magazine.
• Sloan Consortium. The Sloan-C is an institutional and professional leadership organization dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education, helping institutions and individual educators improve the quality, scale and breadth of education.
• United States Distance Learning Association. The mission of the USDLA is, “…to serve the distance learning community by providing advocacy, information, networking and opportunity.”

Software Tools

• Adobe eLearning Suite. Courseware tools for authoring, simulations and media editing.
• Articulate. A company that produces elearning software and authoring tools.
• Camtasia. Software for making a movie from things you capture on your screen or on a video camera (includes audio capability). Techsmith is the company that produced Camtasia and they have other cool applications as well.  There is also a Camtasia for Mac.
• Center for Learning & Performance Technologies. This site publishes resources about trends, technologies and tools for both formal education and training as well as next generation enterprise working/learning.
• Moodle. A course management system (CMS), also known as a learning management system (LMS), that is open source and allows educators to create online learning sites.
• Raptivity. Software to create rapid elearning through simulations, games, etc.
• Sakai. A course management system (CMS), also known as a learning management system (LMS), that is open source and allows educators to create online learning sites.

Research & Multimedia Educational Theory

• Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. U.S. Department of Education, 2009.
• The design of instructional multimedia in e-learning: A media richness theory-based approach.
• Future Directions of Blended Learning in Higher Education and Workplace Learning Settings
• Journal for Educational Technology and Change. A cooperative blog/journal that focuses on developments, trends, ideas, concerns, and issues related to the creative use of information technology to enhance education and training in academic, commercial and governmental settings.
• Journal for Online Learning and Teaching. A peer-reviewed, open access, online publication addressing the scholarly use of multimedia resources in online education.
• The Sloan Consortium website has many articles and reports available for download.
• Excellent articles and resources on elearning at George Siemens‘ site.
• Three websites that make learning theories more accessible: 1, 2, 3.
• A great site to see what technology is available for learning: Centre for Learning & Performance Technology. Jane Hart, the owner of the website, regularly updates this list.
  

Books

• Clark, R.C. & Mayer, R. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
• Fernandes, J.P.S. (2009). Moodle 1.9 multimedia. Birmingham, UK: Packt.
• Ko, S. & Rossen, S. (2010, 3rd ed). Teaching Online: A Practical Guide. New York: Routledge.
• Reynolds, G. (2010) PresentationZen Design. Berkley, CA: New Riders
• Rice, W.H. (2008). Moodle 1.9 e-learning course development: A complete guide to successful learning using Moodle. Birmingham, UK: Packt.
• Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M. & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education. Boston: Pearson.

Miscellaneous

For those of you on Twitter, here are several hashtags to follow:

• #lrnchat
• #edutech
• #Moodle
• #elearn
• #elearning
• #lms

There are many blogs you can follow that provide excellent information.  Here is an easy way to find the most popular: go to Tony Karrer’s Top 10 eLearning Blogs.