The January issue of ITDL, the International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, went online a week or so ago.    There were four papers.

Mapping MLIS Asynchronous Discussions, by Barbara A. Frey, Millie S. Sass, Susan W. Alman, was a good-enough paper on an important subject:   asynchronous discussions are arguably one of the most important additional dimensions that the web brings to learning.    But, having finished it, I can’t honestly say “gosh, I’m glad I read that”.

Creating Concept Maps: Integrating Constructivism Principles into Online Classes by Brent Muirhead, however, was much better.    True, it’s a mildly intimidating topic.    But, as ever, Brent writes well, and manages to link broad, abstract notions with simple, practical advice.    The best of the bunch, and well worth the effort.

Promoting Comfort in E-Learning for Professional Women: Examining Access, Language and Culture, Learning Preferences and Role Integration by Mary-Anne Andrusyszyn is a worthy, middling-interesting discussion of the issues which make online learning easy or difficult.    Though it concentrates on the contrasting experiences of different groups of women, I suspect the observations have more general validity.    And the conclusions are sound, if hardly earth-shattering.

“Women who succeed in professional e-learning desire easy, flexible, and meaningful access to technology, have learning preferences but are able to adapt them to their learning contexts, and integrate e-learning into their existing multiple roles to make learning possible.   They tolerate technological problems or poor instructional design because, for them, the advantages of distance education outweigh the problems.   The women in our studies wove e-learning into their lives, mastered the technological requirements, and demonstrated successful achievement of course outcomes.”

A Longitudinal Study of the Uptake of and Confidence in using WWW Browsers among Parks Management Students by Dirk Spennemann, however, I found familiar, uninformative and, ultimately, forgettable.

Source:    ITDL