December 2004

Online Classroom December 2004 full issue PDF
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Blogs, Threaded Discussions Accentuate Constructivist Teaching
The use of Weblogs (blogs) for educational purposes is a recent phenomenon, and educators are engaging in, as one professor puts it,“wild experimentation” to develop ways of using this promising tool. In this issue, Online Classroom looks at the use of blogs by two instructors: Alex Halavais, graduate director of informatics at the University at Buffalo, and Pedro Hernández– Ramos, professor of education at Santa Clara University.

Tips from the Pros
Barbara McKenzie, chair of the department of media and instructional technology at the State University of West Georgia, conducted a study titled “Making Distance Education Work,” for which she surveyed distance education experts from business and industry as well as from universities. The following are recommendations from survey participants.

The Changing Role of the Online Learning Advocate
Early advocates of online learning focused their efforts on demonstrating online learning’s legitimacy to the broader community. Now, as an increasing body of literature supports the notion that there are no significant differences in learning outcomes between online and face-to-face courses, these advocates have expanded their efforts to address issues of student and faculty support and resource allocation.

Obstacles to Using Learning Objects
Although learning object repositories like MERLOT, CAREO, and WiscOnline are amassing, cataloging, and offering for use a wide assortment of learning objects, relatively few instructors or course developers are taking advantage of these resources.

Blogs Move Student Learning Beyond the Classroom: An Interview With Alex Halavais
Alex Halavais, assistant professor of communication and graduate director of informatics at the University at Buffalo, has incorporated blogs in his courses to encourage students to think beyond a single course, to integrate their learning across the curriculum, and to provide opportunities for feedback as students’ work evolves. Halavais has written a chapter on this topic for the forthcoming book International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments (Kluwer Academic Publishers). Online Classroom recently spoke with Halavais about the evolving pedagogical uses of blogs.

Teaching People Skills Online
Is it possible to teach leadership, negotiation, and interviewing totally online? At first Jay Liebowitz, associate professor of organizational behavior & human resource management at Duquesne University, didn’t think so. But then he gave it a try in his master’s-level organizational behavior course after a promising experience with a senior-level hybrid course on strategic management.