Student engagement with digital learning resources and online social networking are
strong forces in education today. How can these resources best be utilized by educators
and course designers in higher education?
This book aims to provide the reader with enough background information to
appreciate the value of social networking, especially for distributed education.
Through highlighting the most relevant, interesting, and challenging aspects of
e-learning the book provides practical advice for using social networking tools in course
design. This volume covers the following issues of course design using social networking:
- key issues of social networking as an educational technique
- designing for a distributed environment
- strengths and weaknesses of delivering content in various formats: text, audio
and video
- specific media: blogging, wikis, podcasting, webcasting
- constraints on course design
- implementation, evaluation, induction and training
Illustrated by short descriptive case studies, it also highlights contact addresses,
websites, and further reading to help readers find resources and enhance their design.
This practical guide will help all those involved in the design and delivery of online
learning in higher education make the best choices when preparing courses for distributed
learning.
Robin Mason is Professor of Educational Technology at the Open
University where she is a specialist in the design and practice of online teaching and
learning.
Frank Rennie is Professor of Sustainable Rural Development at the UHI
Millennium Institute in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
Table of Contents
Ch. 1 Social Networking as an Educational Tool 1
Ch. 2 Designing for a Distributed Environment 25
Ch. 3 Selecting the Media Palette 43
Ch. 4 The Tools in Practice 61
Ch. 5 Constraints on Course Design 133
Ch. 6 Evaluating Course Design and Understanding Its Implications 155
References 179
Index 193
208 pages