Online Education: Learning and Teaching in Cyberspace

Kearsley's book provides a comprehensive list and short discussion of many of the issues that face faculty who are considering teaching online. "Online Education" is an excellent introduction to many of the issues of online education and (re-) developing courses for this new medium. After some background on the history of computers in Education, the author introduces the elements, research and design of online learning environments. He also discusses policies and barriers and provides lots of links to examples on the Internet. What he does is take all those words you've been hearing lately, like threaded discussions, moos/muds, desktop video, learning communities etc. and clearly define them. He also reviews many of the 'real' issues in online education, such as what it can be and how to design it.In fact, the companion website for the book ... has short paragraph summaries of what is covered in the book and their associated web links.The book has, but is not limited to, a University / College orientation. Kearsley has plenty of experience in this area as a past faculty member at Nova Southeastern and George Washington Universities, as the author of research and writings in the field of education and, recently, as a consultant to the complete redesign of the University of Wisconsin's Engineering Program.A great read for anyone starting out in thinking about online education.