Review of Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning On-Line (Hardcover)

I appreciated this "field guide" and think it should be a recommended read for educators who are new to technology.Itprovides a thorough overview of teaching and learning even though it includes"outdated" information. What was interesting to me, as a HigherEd faculty member, was the number of K-12 activities of which I wasunaware. The chapter on Problems in Paradise really rings true in Higher Edas well; lack of support, lack of planing, lack of time, limitedaccess....yikes. I think a wonderful ancillary might be an updated CD/ROMwith the newest links and information on distance learning programsavailable, similar to the "old fashined" yearbook.

Product Description
"[A] book that should be on the shelf of every educator, elementaryschool teachers as well as university professors, interested inexploring CMC technologies....Learning Networks is an importantcontribution to computer science, information sciences, and education."-- J. R. Miller, Information Processing and Management

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) technologies such as electronicmail, bulletin board services, computer conferencing systems, and theWorld Wide Web are having a profound effect on education. LearningNetworks is a complete guide to the use of these new technologies atthe primary, secondary, university, and adult education levels. Drawingon the authors' own considerable experience of teaching and learningonline, it describes the learning networks that are available as well asnew examples of learning networks that can be created.

Part I provides a selective survey of the field: what are learningnetworks and who is using them, what kind of courses can be taughtonline, what approaches to teaching and learning are most successfulonline, what curriculum can best be supported by networking, and whatkinds of teachers and learners benefit from this medium. Part II dealsexhaustively with the design and implementation of learning networks aswell as the roles of teachers and learners and gives a realisticassessment of potential pitfalls. In Part III the authors discuss CMCtechnologies as a paradigm for education in the next century.

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