As faculty and instructors return to campus, here are some publications that may be of interest, if you can find the time during the pressure of starting a new semester:
Contact North’s Online Learning News:
After a short summer break, Contact North’s two-weekly newsletter is back, promoting (among other things):
- a webinar on September 6 with Phil Hill and colleague on ‘The five pathologies of ed tech discourse about new technologies’
- a webinar on September 26 with Lydia Cao and Chris Dede on ‘Navigating a world of generative AI: suggestions for educators’
- an article on 10 Practical Ways Faculty and Instructors can use AI
- a ‘must-read’ book: Awkward Intelligence: Where AI Goes Wrong, Why it Matters and What we Can do About It, by Katherina Zweig
The Online Learning Journal
The September edition of this open access journal from the Online Learning Consortium has several interesting articles, including the following topics:
- supporting refugees in online settings,
- the importance of relationships in remote education settings,
- online engagement and how it may vary by cultural context,
- cognitive presence,
- online mentoring,
- modelling online student satisfaction,
- diversity, equity, and inclusion
A fascinating new book
Conrad, D. (ed.) (2023) Research, writing and creative process in open and distance education Cambridge UK: Open Book Publishers
Dianne Conrad has pulled together 15 chapters from some of the world’s leaders in open and distance education that explore their personal dynamics of researching and writing in this field. I will be doing a full review of the book in a later blog, but in the meantime I fully recommend this fascinating, free, open access book, especially to those who are fairly new to the field of open and distance learning, although we can all learn a great deal from the book.
Good luck!
After the two and a half years of disruption due to the pandemic, I wish you all the best in what I hope will be a satisfying and productive new academic year.
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
