News Update on Online Education: July 21

[1] Going the Distance With Online Education

This article charts the promissory notes and concerns related to college-level online education as reflected in the educational literature. It is argued that, to appreciate the potential and limitations of online education, we need to trace the issues that bind online education with distance education. The article reviews the history of distance education through the lenses of three historical themes—democratization, liberal education, and educational quality—and charts the current scene of online education in terms of three educational visions that may inform the development of online initiatives: the presentational view, the performance-tutoring view, and the epistemic-engagement view. The article emphasizes the potential contributions of online education to democratization and the advancement of the scholarship of teaching.

[2] Shift happens: online education as a new paradigm in learning

This article addresses that paradigmatic shift. It begins by presenting an overview of the history of online education as a context and framework for understanding the state of the art today, especially the use of network technologies for collaborative learning in post-secondary education. Beginning with the innovations of early pioneers as contributing to the paradigmatic shift, it provides a framework for understanding this new field. The article then focuses on the Virtual-U, a Web-based environment especially customized to support advanced educational practices. The Virtual-U research team hosts the largest field trials in post-secondary education in the world with empirical results and insights generated from over 439 courses taught by 250 faculty to 15,000 students, attesting to what works in online education. This article concludes by discussing the signposts to future advances that these data suggest.

[3] Critical success factors in online education

The Internet is a major technological advancement reshaping not only our society but also that of universities worldwide. In light of this, universities have to capitalise on the Internet for teaching, and one progressive development of this is the use of online delivery methods. This paper draws upon the results of a survey conducted amongst students enrolled in one online management course at an Australian university. Three critical success factors in online delivery are identified: technology, the instructor and the previous use of the technology from a student’s perspective. We also argue that the lecturer will continue to play a central role in online education, albeit his or her role will become one of a learning catalyst and knowledge navigator.

[4] Analysis of the Arguments Presented in Response to the Allegations against an Online Education Website

This paper aims to analyze the arguments in an article written by an online education website in response to accusations of fraud and misconduct levelled in another article published by a popular news magazine. This paper aims to analyze the arguments by applying Damer’s model of argument analysis. The analysis follows the arguments criteria of structure, relevance, acceptability, sufficiency and effectiveness of rebuttal. The paper also aims to unravel the fallacies used in the arguments that violate the criteria of construction of good arguments. The analysis may help to find out whether the arguments presented by that website were strong enough or simply deceptive in trying to prove the accusations as false.

[5] Attitude of Social Science Scholars of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University towards Online Learning Management System in Agriculture

This paper deals with the attitude of students towards online learning management system in agriculture. Electronic learning or online learning technologies have great potential to spread learning. Much of the success of e-learning can be attributed to the availability of Learning Management Systems (LMS), also known as Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) or learning platforms. Online LMS has been successfully used for agricultural education though it has content issues. Globally there are lots of organizations that provide online agricultural courses ranging from certificate courses to doctoral programmes. Online LMS for Agricultural Education is used for almost all subjects including Crop science, Animal science, Poultry science, Soil science and Water management, Plant/Animal protection, Plant/Animal breeding. This paper is an attempt to explore the attitude towards online LMSs among the Post Graduate students of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) India. A sample size of 30 students pursuing master’s programme under the Directorate of Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development Studies of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, was selected by random sampling technique, with the prime objective to study the attitude of students towards Online LMS in agricultural education.

Reference

[1] Larreamendy-Joerns, J. and Leinhardt, G., 2006. Going the distance with online education. Review of educational research, 76(4), pp.567-605.

[2] Harasim, L., 2000. Shift happens: Online education as a new paradigm in learning. The Internet and higher education, 3(1-2), pp.41-61.

[3] Volery, T. and Lord, D., 2000. Critical success factors in online education. International journal of educational management.

[4] Rustam, R., 2017. Analysis of the arguments presented in response to the allegations against an online education website. Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, pp.1-16.

[5] Nisha, R. and Arunachalam, R., 2018. Attitude of Social Science Scholars of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University towards Online Learning Management System in Agriculture. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, pp.1-4.