Web-based learning (a major subcomponent of the broader term "e-learning") is one of the tools with which education is delivered. In traditional academic institutions, web-based learning systems are generally housed administratively in a "distance education" department alongside other at-distance delivery methods such as correspondence, satellite broadcast, two way videoconferencing, videotape and CD-ROM/DVD delivery systems. All such systems seek to serve learners at some distance from their learning facilitator. Many such systems attempt to serve learners interacting with the learning source at different chronological times (for example, email). Distance Education, then, is often referred to as those delivery modalities that seek to reduce the barriers of time and space to learning, thus the frequently used phrase "anytime, anywhere learning". Be careful, however, with that euphemism as not all topics or learning goals lend themselves to "anytime" as a delivery method.

As the field is evolving rapidly, I offer several different ways to categorize or think about web learning tools and strategies as a preface to listings of the tools and resources themselves:

Defining eLearning - Different Shades of "Online" ... a definitional protocol by R. H. Jackson

I've had several problems talking with colleagues  about "online courses" as the term seems to be used in radically (and confusingly) different ways by different people. To help clarify these discussions, I use this definitional dichotomy:

•Technology-Enhanced Learning

	Learner audience has frequent opportunities to meet face-to-face with the instructor
	Technology is used to supplement (and is generally subordinate to) traditional face-to-face classes May replace materials previously delivered to student through "Shrink wrap" course kits, packets or copy centers. Typically includes online syllabi, bibliographies (often hyperlinked), faculty and class backgrounds.
	Instructor-led sessions are live, face-to-face in traditional classrooms
	Technology components are typically asynchronous, implemented through either a web editor or an asynchronous course management system (see below)

•Technology-Delivered Learning

	Learner audience is never (or very rarely) in physical proximity to the instructor
	also known as “Distance Education”, "Distributed Education" or "Distance Learning"
	Instructor-led traditional classroom sessions are either eliminated, adjusted for some different form of non-real time interaction, or replaced with real-time “virtual classrooms”
	May be delivered via blend of asynchronous & synchronous technologies
	Note that this category might also be broken down into two important subcategories: Course Sharing - using technology to share a scarce resource (instructor) among geographically disbursed learners in order to create economic economies of scale. Typically, the learner audience will be comprised of multiple groups of traditional on-campus learners gathered together in an electronically-facilitated group setting and may often involve a proctor/site coordinator that may enhance the group educational content with local customization (thus they may blur into technology-enhanced classes in some cases). Some forms of academic videoconferencing - especially those utilizing H.323 over Internet II to share graduate courses among higher education institutions - are examples of this subcategory. Course Sharing is typically the initial reason many colleges (particularly networks of community colleges) get into "online learning". Non-Traditional Audiences   uses technology to deliver courses or programs to learning constituencies that would not typically attend a traditional bricks-and-mortar campus. The focus of this subcategory is creation or sustaining of new, non-typical or underserved audiences (for instance: working adults, homebound caregivers, homeschoolers, military, special education, etc.) These two subcategories are important to appreciate because faculty and learner needs, Androgogical issues, and infrastructure designs may differ dramatically between these two subcategories.

Neither delivery format may be appropriate for for kinesthetic learners who focus best by doing it themselves instead of listening or watching or reading. Kinesthetic learners remember and grasp things better if they engage in physical activity as they learn. In fact, a definitional protocol categorizing learner styles and types of content and prescribing appropriate tools is called for. Sounds like a good grant opportunity....

It is equally important to understand that within a programmatic curriculum, its is highly likely that combinations of various delivery methods (of which Technology Delivered and Technology-Enhanced learning are subsets) may be the most appropriate vehicle for learning. By extracting the best of the classroom model and digital environment to create an integrated learning program, we touch on an area referred to Blended Learning.

This web site serves audiences interested in both "technology-enhanced" AND "technology-delivered" educational opportunities - particularly in a higher education, academically biased context. Howevver, this web site is strongly biased towards technology-delivered education.

Categorization by Learning Context ... researched and developed by R.H. Jackson

It may be helpful to think of learning (web-based or otherwise) within "Learning Contexts"; i.e. how and when a learner encounters and undertakes the content. There are at least three general formats in which students learn:

(1) Self Study (a.k.a. Asynchronous "Directed Study")

	Self Study learning experiences rely on some structured plan that directs the learner through learning experiences without real-time interaction from an instructor. CD-ROM based tutorials, paper-based correspondence and "Click-to-learn" web based systems are examples of this learning format.
	Self Study may be supplemented by asynchronous interaction with the instructor, for instance through email, voice mail, comments from threaded discussions.
	Traditional "homework" assignments also meet this criteria; thus requiring accredited academic institutions to think about what activities constitute accreditation-based "contact hours" and which activities constitute "homework" not considered to be part of contact hours.  The vast majority - probably well over 90% - of today's "on-line learning" is in the directed study format.
	Learning experiences based solely upon "Self Study" require the learner to have a highly developed internal self-motivation characteristic. Failure to have such internal drive tends to result in high attrition rates for self-study; this higher attrition rate can be seen in the historically higher dropout rate of correspondence student compared to traditional residential students on most campuses.
	Self Study can be used to develop and certify Capability by creating learning Foundations (Contextual background, Factual Knowledge/course readings, Skills Practice/homework, and facilitate rote memorization if needed. facilitating learning Process (embracing Syllabus delivery, assignment dropbox and receipting, course rolls, and learner accessable grade reporting) allowing opportunities for Assessment (through Objective and Quantifiable methodologies, Pre and Post-tests, and Gap Analysis & Gain Scores

(2) Instructor-led Events (a.k.a. synchronous "live, real-time" learning) 

	Instructor-led learning events are distinguished from Directed Study in that some commonly shared experience or event - generally occurring in real-time with highly interactive and structurally dynamically characteristics - is led by the instructor.
	Instructor-led events have the capability to dynamically react to real-time environments and change the plan of study or flow of learning to meet the needs of learners at that particular time. This engagement style helps sustain learner interest and probably contributes to reduction of attrition rates. Traditional seminar-style classrooms and field trips are classic examples of instructor-led events.
	Instructor-led events have traditionally been the differentiating characteristic of accredited higher-education institutions. Yesterday's "For-profit" correspondence school formats (often maligned by higher education as "Diploma Mills" for their purported lack of rigor) either limit or fail to include instructor-led events as part of their curriculums.
	Instructor-Led events over the web have some or all of the following capabilities:

	Awareness means a learner is aware of when other members are present online.
	Shared Objects capabilities enable instructors and learners to view learning content simultaneously. Some shared objects may be interactively shared, such as the group viewing of live documents or applications with others.

Instructor-led or Instructor-moderated communication -  May allow selective interaction between learners and/or instructor, but allows (requires?) the instructor to control and guide the flow of interaction.  Two delivery models are commonly seen: Broadcast model - "Sage on the stage", seminar/lecture style. Instructor delivers a monologue with little, if any, interaction from the audience. Since this model scales easily to accommodate large numbers of learners, it is probably most frequently implemented at this point.  Dialog model - small group setting with an instructor (a.k.a. subject matter expert) creating a learning experience - often highly interactive - and dynamically monitoring and adjusting the flow of dialog/learning. This Socratic model is typical of university graduate schools, and tends to degrade with class sizes greater than 40 students.

Instructor-led events can be used to create both a Catalyst for stimulating desire for planned future learning  and/or maintaining learning progress a Capstone for application of previous  learning (often from self directed or small group collaboration contexts) and allowing subjective expert assessment of cognitive application of abstract learning progress

(3) Small Group Collaboration 

Small group collaboration is an informal context defined as that informal education that goes on student-to-student gathering in hallways and libraries between classes and informally digest and share their learning experiences. This category embraces learning methods dependent on learner-learner interaction rather than learner-content interaction, and includes models such as such as constructivism, action learning, conversational learning. Sometimes called "community" in the distance education/e-learning literature, this format also embraces one-on-one interaction with mentors/instructors and faculty. Traditional faculty "office hours" fall into this format.

	Learning experiences using Small Group Collaborative formats often address development of practical application of abstract ideas. Small study groups working on a team project learn not only cooperative teamwork skills, but the interpersonal structures and goal setting strategies needed for career-oriented work.
	Small Group Collaborative activity may utilize asynchronous tools common to "Directed Study" (such as email, threaded discussion groups, listserves) as well as use of synchronous tools common to "Instructor led events" (such as telephone, voice-over-ip, and text chat)
	Early research indicates that successful incorporation of small group collaborative learning activities both increase the learner's satisfaction with the learning process (especially as compared to Directed Learning) and can decrease the time required from an instructor in administering and structuring a course or program.
	Small Group Collaborative events over the web require the following capabilities: Awareness means a learner is aware of when other learners in the same cohort are present online. Shared Objects capabilities enable instructors and learners to view and interact with content simultaneously. Typically, shared objects may be interactively shared, such as the group viewing and modification of live documents or applications with others. Peer to Peer interactive communication - multi-way interaction between individual learners and the faculty member and commonly between learners and the learning group. This features is most often implemented with text chat; more sophisticated communication options are implemented with voice communications. May allow selective interaction between learners and/or instructor, but control of the conversation is shared equally among all participants.
	Small Group Collaboration is often used to build Community through Mentoring via instructor office hours,  technical support and peer-to-peer support or Team Building through projects, simulations, and ad-hoc or instructor-facilitated group study sessions

Blended Learning - Some thoughts by R.H. Jackson

"Blended Learning" has been a hot topic at both academic and corporate online learning conferences lately. As with all coined terms, "Blended Learning" seems to mean different things to different people. 

"Blended Learning" is often used to indicate the combination of asynchronous self-study with traditional classroom, face-to-face activity. We can easily validate this type of "blend" since traditional colleges and universities has used it for 200 years: faculty teach in live, instructor-led events and then assign homework (an asynchronous activity) as follow up.

Broader uses of the term "blended learning" suggest an even more sophisticated and useful approach: that of considering a wide range of traditional and elearning delivery modes to educate a learner/learners. In my experience, blended learning - broadly interpreted - is a great opportunity for learner-centric curricular design, especially for long-duration, "suitable-for-framing" outcomes such as certificates and degrees.  Using the contextual framework I propose above, we know of many different ways to achieve each context in both traditional and elearning formats. Blended learning would therefore seek the optimum blend of self study, instructor-led events, and group collaboration - each potentially deployed in a blend of asynchronous or synchronous modes -  appropriate for a learning outcome. It would embrace all delivery vehicles (traditional, web-based, computer-based, etc) and select for that "Blend" that best fits the needs of its stakeholders (which would include instructors, students and supporting institutions). Web based delivery is attempting to address all three Learning Formats, with varying degrees of maturity and success. Successful distance education programs seek to combine (or "blend") all three formats of learning (self study, instructor-led events, and group collaboration) delivered in both delivery deployments (asynchronous and synchronous) within programs of study. Individual courses within a learning program (such as a Master's degree) may not have elements of all three, but often do.

As examples of variations on the blended learning theme with a given course, consider the following designs featuring different blends of instructor involvement and interactivity:

	A non-interactive, asynchronous e-course composed of mostly text based readings and on-line tests with little or no instructor feedback. A "correspondence-course-on-the-web" metaphor. Sadly, I suspect that the vast majority of today's on-line courses fall into this category.
	A limited interaction, asynchronous or synchronous e-course delivered via one or more streaming audio/video broadcasts, For live webcasts, perhaps supplemented with telephone bridges or email for Q&A. A webized version of broadcast TV or satellite presentations. Since live webcasts can be archived and therefore transformed into asynchronous events, this form would constitute a webized version of videotape playback.
	An interactive, instructor-led, asynchronous e-course featuring one-on-one contact with an instructor via discussion threads and e-mail.
	An interactive, instructor-led, asynchronous e-course including student activities required within a given time frame. Such a course may focus on collaboration and group problem- solving, including peer evaluation -- a more learner-centered approach with student-to-student as well as student-instructor interaction via discussion threads and e-mail.
	An interactive, asynchronous e-course, requiring fairly sophisticated simulations employing canned or model-driven responses to student input. Could be supplemented with synchronous collaborative tools for team conferences, a technique used by the University of Tennessee's full time MBA program's internship course.
	An interactive, instructor-led, asynchronous e-course as above but with synchronous components, such as a live virtual classroom for class, help sessions, group or one-on-one presentations, office hours, chat.
	An interactive, instructor-led, synchronous e-course delivered via a series of one or two-hour live Webcasts, often supplemented by notes, syllabi and grade management via an asynchronous learning management system. Note, although longer duration webcasts are rare, some highly focused programs demonstrate success with longer webcasts where deliberate, regular interactivity is part of the webcast plan (see for instance the Physician Executive MBA program at the University of Tennessee).

Generally speaking, as the level of instructor involvement and class collaboration goes up, development cost goes down -- and delivery cost goes up (since synchronous technologies are generally more expensive per hour to deploy than asynchronous). However, early research among adult non-traditional learners also indicates that synchronous, interactive and collaborative activities (a) are more satisfying and (b) better meet individual expectations and needs for a learning experience.

There is growing evidence to suggest that a broad blend of learner contexts not only provides interesting variety in programs (which may help to reduce dropouts) but may actually improve learning outcomes. It is possible that both positive outcomes may derive from addressing students' different learning styles via a broad range of learning contexts.

Categorization by Function

It may also be useful to think of software tools used in web-based learning in the context of what general and administrative functions they address. There are several Functional Categories of software tool suites covered in this web site:

	Authoring Tools - Essentially, multimedia creation tools. Typically used on an individual computer workstation by a multimedia professional to create media that can either stand-alone or be added as a module into a management system. Examples range from simple tools like Microsoft Powerpoint to sophisticated, programmable tools like Macromedia's "Director" and "Authorware" software. SCORM as an industry testbed for interchangeability is relevant to this category. Used to develop content for all the content delivery systems mentioned below.
	Real-time Virtual Classrooms (a.k.a. "live elearning") - a software product or suite that facilitates the synchronous, real-time delivery of content or interaction by the web, but is not necessarily intended to comprehensively measure performance over time or handle course administrative tasks. Placeware Auditorium and Centra's Conference product are examples of real-time virtual classrooms.  May also be called an "Advanced collaboration tool" .
	Learning Management Systems (LMS) - This author will use this term broadly to embrace a wide range of learning management and asynchronous delivery tools. Within an LMS, learners generally are provided an integrated view of all their active coursework and assignments in a "to-do list/syllabus" spanning multiple courses and that provides comprehensive assessment and goals tracking. Within the learning management systems category, there exist at least 3 subsets of tools: Course Management Systems (CMS) - an LMS that facilitates web delivery and management for instructor-led topics (typically called "Courses" in traditional academic educational institutions and most often facilitated via asynchronous-based formats) and provides integrated tools for measuring outcomes and reporting progress for individual or groups of students. Tend to be very textual and template oriented to provide ease of use, but limiting flexibility. Tend also to be less interested in industry standards for interchange, preferring proprietary approaches to modularity and import/export. CMS systems are most popular for traditional higher education institutions that are inclined to think of on-line development as course-centric. Examples include Blackboard and WebCT. Generally consists of functions including Content manager, asynchronous collaboration tool, and learning record-keeper. May include integrated but limited authoring tools. Most CMSs aspire to evolve into either an LMS or an LCMS (below) BEWARE: "CMS" is sometimes used in industry trade journals to indicate "Content Management Systems", a term applied to systems that organize, retrieve and present modularly packaged content. Such a reference is typically used for web-based portals or as the predecessor to LCMS systems (below). Enterprise Learning management - an LMS that provides teams of developers a platform for content organization and delivery for a variety of content types. LMS systems are most often found in large corporate training departments and corporate universities. They tend to be relatively expensive compared to CMS systems and require significant customization, but return a great deal of power to both the corporation and the users engaged in multiple learning projects. Examples include Docent Enterprise, Sun/ISOPIA ILMS and Knowledgesoft Enterprise. Typically adds "Learning portal",  "competency-management system", pre-testing, and "Skills-assessment tool" to the list of characteristics found in a Course Management System. May also embed or provide transparent linkage to a virtual classroom product or suite. Probably the largest and most competitive market segment of web-based learning management systems today; ripe for dramatic consolidation in the next few months. Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) - A relatively recent subcategory with basic characteristics of a standard Learning Management System (LMS), but enhanced with strong, integrated authoring tools and the data management capabilities of a knowledge management/enterprise database system. Centra's Mindlever, Total Knowledge Management System by Generation 21, Knowledge Producer from IBM Mindspan Solutions and Aspen from Click2Learn are examples of an LCMS. Learning content management systems are most frequently applied on corporate intranets as a solution to warehousing previously developed learning modules. These learning modules can then be recalled on-demand and theoretically joined together in personalized sequences appropriate to the individual learner. While conceptually a powerful idea for training and other "just-in-time" knowledge delivery applications, current implementations of LCMS system rarely realize this potential. Additionally, the on-demand, available-to-anyone nature of these systems makes them largely ignored by academic institutions.

Interestingly, these LMS subcategories claim similar roots, but have diverged dramatically with regards to the institutional audiences they serve. Course Management Systems and Enterprise Learning Management Systems (with its derivative LCMS category) both derived from early attempts to provide standardized administrative and asynchronous web-based instructional delivery tools to instructors/faculty unfamiliar with web-based technologies.

To accommodate higher education faculty and supplement the on-going traditional face-to-face classroom model, Course Management Systems (CMSs) tended toward embedding simple authoring tools for text and rudimentary graphics within a rigid, predefined template. Since higher education has a long history of feeling that its deliverables are unique to each instructor and based on multiple-hour semester credit segments, the systems were designed to be developed and instructed by one faculty member (a.k.a  subject matter expert) and cared little for subdivision/modularity within a course or interchangeability with other courses or learning management systems. CMSs tend to support cohort-based learning rather than personalized independent study. Because of the limited and relatively frugal nature of the existing market (i.e. institutions of higher education), there are relatively few CMS vendors. Indeed, industry analysts for LMS products often overlook or exclude CMS vendors due to their relatively small and specialized market share.

Enterprise Learning Management Systems (ELMSs) accommodated the tendency for learning projects to be driven by committees populated with technical professionals and programmers and thus attempted to create an open architecture platform supporting several authoring tools. Authoring tool vendors and prepackaged learning content vendors sometimes accidentally or deliberately encouraged this strategy by developing (or acquiring) Enterprise Learning Management Systems uniquely adapted to their products, while allowing limited use of other vendors products.  Enterprise learning management systems catered to technical professionals who valued programming modularity from computer language programming projects and are therefore today generally supportive of efforts to standardize learning modules and interchangeability.  This valuing of sub modules of learning begat the category of Learning Content Management Systems which allows modules to (theoretically) be freely recombined and personalized to each individual learner's needs. Enterprise Learning Management systems tend to support both cohort based learning and personalized independent study, since both forms of training are used in ELMS' target market of corporations and government agencies), but tend to better support asynchronous independent study. Learning Content Management Systems seem designed to exclusively support prescriptive or personalized independent study.

 

Categorization by Capability to Accommodate Third Party Materials ... a categorization developed by Bryan Chapman

Another way to think about these systems is to consider whether they accommodate learning content from other sources than that they themselves deliver. Bryan Chapman of www.brandon-hall.com. ( email at  bryan@brandon-hall.com) suggests this organizing principle in shopping for learning-management systems: Distinguish between vendors who offer computer-managed instruction (CMI) systems and those offering what he calls "Internet-infrastructure" (or integrated infrastructure) systems. Knowing the difference will cut your work approximately in half, Chapman claims, because CMIs and integrated-infrastructure systems provide distinct sets of services -- for now. First, back to the great divide as shopping tool: Will you buy third-party courseware to use with your learning-management system? "That immediately divides the whole world in half for you," Chapman says. If third-party courseware is among your priorities, choose a CMI system. Integrated-infrastructure systems, Chapman said, don't accommodate third-party courses as well. On the other hand, if you want a mix of self-paced, virtual and live-classroom training, an Internet-infrastructure system is the way to go. 

Both product types have benefits and drawbacks. CMIs are open systems -- you can attach third-party courses. CMIs also tend to focus on self-paced courses. They are like "vending machines that dispense learning," says Chapman. The drawback: CMIs focus little on the community aspect of learning. CMIs include Docent, Ingenium, Manager's Edge, Librarian, Phoenix and WBT Manager, said Chapman. Internet-infrastructure systems tend to be quick starters: "Buy it, drop it on your server, and you have all you need for collaboration and student tracking," said Chapman. Integrated-infrastructure systems tend not to be self-paced, instead focusing on collaboration and involvement of an instructor. The drawback: Integrated-infrastructure systems may not recognize courses created elsewhere. Examples of integrated-infrastructure systems include Generation21, Mentorware, TopClass, Virtual U, Web Course in a Box, WebCT, and WebMentor. If you use Chapman's great divide, use it soon. He expects the line to blur and vanish as vendors borrow ideas from the other side. IBM Corp.'s LearningSpace has already crossed the line to CMI-like status by acquiring and incorporating Macromedia Inc.'s Pathware into its Mindspan service. Other vendors are likewise crossing, combining CMI and integrated-infrastructure traits -- and ruining Chapman's shopping shortcut. That's OK with him if it means a wider range of services from individual vendors. "I'm hoping that in a year to two years," Chapman told participants, "that line doesn't even exist."

What to Call the Thing

Web Based learning goes by many names. Here's an excerpt from a good article covering this confusion:

By DAN CARNEVALE.  A readership poll by a learning-and-technology research group has found that very few people actually call distance education "distance education." What term is used depends on whom you ask. Some people say "e-learning," some say "distance learning," and others say "Web-based training," according to the Masie Center, based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. In fact, a discrepancy exists between those who offer courses online and those who take them. Among people who work for institutions and vendors that offer course material online, 40 percent prefer "e-learning," which was the most widely used term. But, according to the professionals, a plurality of students -- 21 percent -- say "computer-based training." About 10 percent of students say "e-learning." Kristin Barton, director of development for the Masie Center, says the discrepancy probably stems from the rapid growth of learning technology, which she says has caused a rhetorical rift between those who stay on top of developments in the technology industry and those who have better things to do. "The learners are not in the industry, so they are more likely to use a term that's more outdated," she says. In late October, Masie conducted an Internet survey of 2,227 learning-and-training professionals who subscribe to the center's publications. People were asked what term they would use to describe "learning with technology." The respondents were given a list of possible names, as well as the opportunity to write in their own choices. People made some suggestions, but nothing new seemed very popular, Ms. Barton says. The poll asked Masie's subscribers what terms they use themselves and also what terms their customers use, but it did not survey students directly. 

Does the proliferation of terms cause confusion? "Absolutely", says Jamie Morley, director of Trinity Learning Solutions. Trinity provides computer-certification courses using what she refers to as distance education. Ms. Morley, who earned her Ph.D. in adult education, found while doing research for her dissertation that, within the distance education community, different groups attach different meanings to the same terms and concepts. Some students assume that distance education involves technology, while others still think of correspondence schools, she says. Even some of those who expect a technology component assume that they will use a CD-ROM and don't immediately understand the practice of taking a course on the Internet. "We have people who call and ask for kits, and we don't have any kits," Ms. Morley says. "You enroll in a course." Even as the Masie poll results were coming in, Ms. Barton found that people disagreed with what different terms meant. Some people, she says, argued that "online training" is a subset of "e-learning." Others contended that "computer-based training" is a broad term that may include both CD-ROM's and the Internet, while "online training" involves only the Internet. Ms. Morley says it's up to individual institutions to explain in detail what they offer and what students should expect when they enroll. It's important to keep in mind that different terms have different meanings to different people, she says. Masie conducts polls on education and technology every month. "Whatever tickles our fancy that month, that's what we survey," Ms. Barton says. Other than "e-learning," few terms seem to be widely used by people who offer the courses. The poll listed 14 other terms and phrases that people in the industry use, but respondents did not appear to favor one consistently, Ms. Barton says. Terms that didn't win endorsements from even 1 percent of those surveyed include some obscure options, such as "electronic-performance support" and "i-learning." Vague terms like "learning" and "training" fared almost as poorly. The confusion over names isn't limited to those in the education industry. Someone who combed through federal documents would probably conclude that officials tend to use the term "distance learning." But when Congress organized a group of higher-education experts and members of Congress to study learning on the Internet, that group was called the "Congressional Web-Based Education Commission." From the Chronicle of Higher Education, issue dated January 12, 2001 Section: Information Technology Page: A33

Quality Criteria and Proposals

Much is being written about how to establish standards of quality practice in distance education. A deeper look at the debate will establish that education is at a critical crossroads which would have been reached without web-based learned but which web-based learning techniques are escalating more rapidly than expected.  Quality and performance measurement, access vs economics, intellectual property and business models in education are all in play.  Below are links to proposals and discussions on broad, overarching criteria for standards that begin to address these items with particular emphasis for web-enabled e-learning.

	Michigan Virtual University has released a comprehensive set of standards that can be used to develop and evaluate the quality of online courses. Developed by MVU instructional designers Noel Estabrook and Peter Arashiro, the standards are based on research and best practices in the field of instructional design.
	Digital Diploma Mills: ... (Part 1) - "Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education," by David F. Noble. This paper argues that the trend towards automation of higher education as implemented in North American universities today is a battle between students and professors on one side, and university administrations and companies with "educational products" to sell on the other. It is not a progressive trend towards a new era at all, but a regressive trend, towards the rather old era of mass-production, standardization and purely commercial interests.
	Digital Diploma Mills, Part II - The Coming Battle Over Online Instruction - Confidential Agreements Between Universities and Private Companies Pose Serious Challenge to Faculty Intellectual Property Rights
	U of Illinois Report - 1998-99 Faculty Seminar Website for the Report of a 1998-1999 University of Illinois Faculty Seminar, "Teaching at an Internet Distance: The Pedagogy of Online Teaching and Learning." This document is the product of the University of Illinois Teaching at an Internet Distance Seminar. The group met throughout 1998-99 to study the pedagogy of online learning, to examine what made teaching to be good teaching, whether in the classroom or online, and to suggest how online teaching and learning can be done with high quality at the University of Illinois.

Newsletters, Listserves, and eZines in Distance Education

	Distance Learning.net - a nicely done portal for all things distance
	Eclipse: -  the e-Learning Centre's (in the UK) e-zine for learning professionals in higher education, corporate training and continuing education
	e-Learning Developer Forum 's goal is to expand the e-Learning community, provide a source of help and support as well as a place for e-Learning developers to share ideas and techniques. There are active discussion group forums covering most major authoring tools, instructional design, industry related gossip and news
	A bibliography of print books relevant to Distance Education, maintained by Badrul H. Khan, Ph.D. Associate Professor, The George Washington University
	Prof. Ray Schroeder, a faculty member at the University of Illinois at Springfield (and a Faculty Fellow in the University of Illinois Online office), recently created two different Web Logs ("blogs" for short) - one dealing with online learning, the other dealing with technology in general. These blogs are timely and well worth visiting on a regular basis.  The blog about online learning has the "Latest News in Online Learning in Higher Education".  The blog about technology provides "Technology News for Higher Education".  "Blogs?" Dr. Schroeder is using the free Blogger software to create and manage these sites. See: http://www.blogger.com/ For more information about blogs, see: http://www.blogger.com/about.pyra
	Multiple Technology Sources: The Technology Source was a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical published 1997-2003 by the School of Education, UNC-Chapel Hill, to assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching and into managing educational organizations.
	Distance Educator.Com - a nicely designed portal targeted at distance education's learners, faculty and administrators covering the use of integrated telecommunications systems such as the Internet for teaching and learning.
	The Encyclopedia of Educational Statistics - The Encyclopedia of ED Stats brings together data from several National Center for Educational Statistics sources including: The Condition of Education, The Digest of Education Statistics, and Projections of Education Statistics.
	Elearning Start4All - A very nicely categorized links list to elearning resources worldwide.
	Distance Education in Latin America - a Spanish language web reference for distance education and virtual learning managed by the UNESCO Chair in Distance Education, held by the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) of Spain.
	eLearningPost - Daily links to corporate learning, community building, instructional design, knowledge management, personalization and more.
	Learning Circuits: A nicely done Web ezine on e-learning, presenting a monthly suite of feature articles, departments, and columns that examine new technologies and how they are being applied for workplace learning. A periodic emailed newsletter compilation of this magazine called "Learning Circuits Express" is available.
	Campus Technology - An online version of a commercial magazine regarded as a mainstay for K-12 and higher education technology-based learning ideas.
	The Masie Center - Hosted by Elliott Masie, a highly regarded and articulate reviewer of trends and technologies in at-distance and technology-based delivery. Has a nice links list and opportunity to subscribe to a listserve. Also offers a for-pay monthly newsletter.
	Distance Learning on the Net - Hosted by Glenn Hoyle, this site helps teachers and administrators with screened links.
	the Node - theNode.org provides networked support for instructors, trainers, designers and administrators with a professional interest in teaching with technology. It delivers timely, targeted resources that will help you make effective use of learning technologies. Anytime. Anywhere.
	The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks - The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) is published on-line by Vanderbilt University for the ALN Web.
	Asynchronous Learning Networks Magazine - The ALN Magazine, a publication of the Sloan Consortium, now discontinued, was devoted to topics in ALN that do not fall in the traditional journal format. These topics included reports of uses of technology, experiences with ALN courses, reports of activities on various campuses or in industry.
	The Journal of Interactive Learning Research - The Journal of Interactive Learning Research (JILR) publishes papers related to the underlying theory, design, implementation, effectiveness, and impact on education and training of the following interactive learning environments: authoring systems, cognitive tools for learning computer-assisted language learning, computer-based assessment systems, computer-based training, computer-mediated communications, computer-supported collaborative learning, distributed learning environments, electronic performance support systems, interactive learning environments, interactive multimedia systems, interactive simulations and games, intelligent agents on the Internet, intelligent tutoring systems, microworlds, virtual reality based learning systems.
	The American Journal of Distance Education - designed for professional trainers; teachers in schools, colleges, and universities; researchers; adult educators; and other specialists in education and communications. Created in 1987, The Journal disseminates information and acts as a forum for criticism and debate about research in and the practice of distance education in the Americas. Distance education describes teaching-learning relationships where the actors are geographically separated and communication between them is through technologies.

Professional Organizations and Community Listserves

A listserve is an email mailing list that works like a magazine subscription, except it is free.  Listserves are ways of creating and sharing timely content with a large group of similarly interested individuals. Listed below are some of the listserves useful to those developing web-based instruction. Additionally, I list here a number of professional organizations contributing to the field of web-based learning, many of which have listserves of interest themselves.

	The eLearning Guild - a member-run Community of Practice for designers, developers, and managers of e-Learning.
	Elearning Forum - Founded in 1999 as the Silicon Valley eLearning Network, eLearning Forum is a recognized thought leader on eLearning trends and best practices. Members of its community of practice include corporate chief learning officers, eLearning executives, investment analysts, researchers and developers. eLearningForum promotes understanding of eLearning in industry and government worldwide provides a forum for resolving issues impeding the progress of eLearning identifies and publicizes new developments and emerging best practices hosts a global virtual conversation of vital eLearning issues. Individual, virtual membership is complimentary. Monthly meetings are for experienced professionals; a nominal fee is charged to cover expenses. eLearningForum member services include: participation, in-person or virtual, in monthly forums and executive sessions participation in special-interest task forces information website at www.elearningforum.com
	Educause - an international, nonprofit association whose mission is to help shape and enable transformational change in higher education through the introduction, use, and management of information resources and technologies in teaching, learning, scholarship, research, and institutional management. It has many subsidiary conferences and committees, including:
	IEEE Learning Technology Task Force (LTTF) Newsletter - This Learning Technology newsletter is an effort to document the lessons learned from the integration of existing technologies, as well as new developments, in modern education. It will also report the activities of the IEEE Learning Technology Task Force, announcements of various conferences and other events in this field, and opportunities for participation various projects. Back issues are available at this same site.

New York Times' College Times - The New York Times has launched its College Times Web site, allowing college students and faculty to more easily locate information related to their specific areas of interest. Visitors to the college site can search for recent Times articles by subject and can sign up to receive free e-mail alerts when new articles related to their specific fields of study are published on NYTimes.com. In addition, users can access a number of additional resources, from career- planning information for students to instructional resources for faculty. The Faculty section includes Teaching with The Times, a set of free curriculum guides that offer innovative ideas about how to augment course content with The New York Times and suggest tips for lectures, discussions, research essays and tests in various subject areas. Faculty will also find direct links to education news and other relevant content from NYTimes.com.

 

	©Primer - developed by The Center for Intellectual Property and Copyright, University of Maryland University College this is an online, interactive tutorial on copyright basics. The Primer is a free interactive online tool to assist educating faculty, staff and students about copyright principles and compliance.
	Chilling Effect.org - A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, and University of San Francisco law school clinics will help you understand the protections intellectual property laws and the First Amendment give to your online activities.
	Copyright or CopyWrong - A web site on intellectual property and copyright resources, with special attention to higher education issues. Maintained by Dr. George Hoemann, University of Tennessee.
	Cornell University's site outlines fair use under U.S. copyright law.
	Stanford University's site lists resources and Web sites covering fair use.
	U.S. Copyright Office site provides copyright basics and information about fair use.
	Digital Millennium Copyright Act's bearing on education by Educause, a Washington, D.C., non-for- profit that works on issues of technology in education.
	Crash Course in Copyright - gives excellent and extensive copyright information, especially for online-course development. Creator of the crash course is Georgia K. Harper, manager of the intellectual-property section for the University of Texas System's general counsel in Austin.
	The Power of the Internet for Learning: Final Report of Web-Based Education Commission - Published on December 19 and recently placed online by the US Department of Education, the final report of the Web-Based Education Commission (WBEC) constitutes the "most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of education and the Internet." Chaired by Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, the WEBC urged the new administration and Congress to fully embrace e-learning, address gaps in Internet access, and revise certain regulations that they believe impede >innovation. Users can read the full text of the 169-page report its >entirety or in five parts in .pdf format.
	The Issue of Intellectual Property Rights at a University Policies for ownership of online courses has been a contentious issue for higher education. Some institutions retain ownership themselves, some allow faculty members to retain ownership, and some create arrangements under which ownership is shared.
	Model Agreements Intellectual-Property Policy at Stevens Institute of Technology - faculty members at the New Jersey institution will be paid to develop online courses, will own the material in the courses they develop, and will control how and when that material can be used. The institution will control the copyrights of the online courses and will manage the courses' distribution. In return for giving up the copyright on a course, a faculty member will receive a third of the revenue whenever a business or other institution purchases use of the course, says Robert Ubell, director of Web-based distance learning at Stevens and is also chairman of the committee that developed the policy. He says that faculty members, who usually don't have the resources to market courses themselves, will benefit from Stevens's handling of promotion and distribution chores. "It's very much like a traditional publishing agreement," Mr. Ubell says. "The model has been in place for centuries." A faculty member who leaves Stevens can take his or her courses to a new institution if it pays Stevens a licensing fee -- in which case the professor would get a third of the money. The policy offers incentives that let faculty members know "that what they are creating is valuable both financially and in terms of developing a quality relationship with the institution and community." Excerpted from an on-line article, Nov 2000, in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
	Copyright Office Study on Distance Education