Distance Learning in Higher Education: A Programmatic Approach to Planning, Design, Instruction, Evaluation, and Accreditation

This useful resource describes best practices for designing online programs and courses. Translating research on the learning characteristics of adult university students and their experiences with online learning into practical guidelines, the authors address topics such as: program and course planning, design and delivery; multicultural and gender issues; program evaluation; student evaluation of online teaching, and institutional and program accreditation.The text includes resources, such as online course materials and assessment tasks that are culturally responsive and implement the strategies presented in the book. Providing a roadmap for those wishing to design and implement a distance learning program, this up-to-date volume explains how to facilitate and moderate interactions using a constructivist approach, presents strategies that respond to race- and gender-related challenges, provides a model for evaluating distance education programs, identifies strategies that promote valid and reliable evaluations of online teaching, and addresses institution and distance education program accreditation issues.