Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom (Google eBook)

Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt

John Wiley & Sons, Jul 20, 2007 - Education - 292 pages

Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include:

• Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community.
• Establishing a sense of presence online.
• Maximizing participation.
• Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection.
• Assessing student performance.

Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authorsâ many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

What people are saying

Review: Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom

User Review  - Paul Signorelli - Goodreads

Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt, building from work which began while they were Ph.D. students in 1993, offer an educators' view of how to create and sustain effective online learning opportunities which ...

Review: Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom

User Review  - Lyddie - Goodreads

I can't say I loved this book, or even liked it, but I did get some learning from it.

Contents

• When Teaching and Learning Leave the Classroom: 3
• Online Issues and Concerns: 6
• Students Online: 8
• Making the Transition and Establishing Presence: 10
• The Search for Knowledge and Meaning in the Online Classroom: 15
• Putting the Pieces Together: 17
• New Approaches New Skills: 19
• Implications: 22
• Recontextualizing Community: 25
• The Importance of Community: 27
• Community Online: 28
• The Element of Social Presence: 30
• Coalescense and Belonging Online: 32
• Recontextualizing Community: 34
• Community in the Virutal Classroom: 39
• Participation and Desired Outcomes in the Online Classroom: 42
• The Human Side of Online Learning: 45
• The Need for Human Contact: 48
• Connectedness and Coalescence: 50
• Shared Responsibility Rules and Norms: 51
• Roles and Participants: 53
• Other Psychological Issues: 55
• Ritual as the Psychological Expression of Community: 56
• Spiritual Issues: 58
• Culture and Language Issues: 60
• Vulnerability Ethics and Privacy: 61
• Final Thoughts: 64
• Practical Considerations in Online Learning: 67
• Group Size: 81
• Cost and Other Adminstrative Issues: 84
• Online Security: 87
• Managing the Relationship to Technology: 89
• The Relationship of Person to Machine: 91
• Technology as a Facilitative Tool: 96
• Excuse Us We Are Now Experiencing Technical Diffulties: 101
• Moving Teaching and Learning Online: 105
• Roles and Functions of the Instructor in the Online Classroom: 107
• The Role of the Learner in the Learning Process: 119
• The Hybrid Course and Online Community: 125
• Teaching and Learning in the Virtual Learning Community: 127
• Building Foundations: 129
• Constructing the Online Course Site: 144
• If You Build It Will They Come?: 150
• Final Thoughts: 153
• Evaluating an Effective Online Course: 154
• Promoting Collaborative Learning: 157
• Formulating a Shared Goal for Learning: 159
• Problems Interests and Experiences as Springboards for Learning: 167
• Dialogue as Inquiry: 170
• Encouraging Expansive Questioning: 171
• Sharing Responsibility for Facilitation: 173
• Promoting Feedback: 176
• Intergroup and Other Forms of Collaboration: 180
• Final Thoughts: 183
• Transformative Learning: 185
• The Process of Transformative Learning in the Online Classroom: 187
• Learning About Learning Through the Use of Technology: 192
• Creating Opportunities to Encourage Reflection on the Differences: 194
• Learning About Technology by Using It: 195
• Encouraging Questions and Comments About the Technology: 196
• SelfReflection: 198
• We Are the Experts When It Comes to Our Own Learning: 202
• Guiding Questions to Promote Tranformative Learning: 203
• Student Assessment and Course Evaluation: 205
• Student Performance: 206
• Course Evaluation: 216
• Program Evaluation: 220
• Final Thoughts: 224
• Questions to Consider in Student Course and Program Evaluation: 225
• Lessons Learned and a Look Ahead: 227
• The Six Essential Elements: 228
• Community: 231
• Unresolved Issues and Unaswered Questions: 232
• Lessons Learned and a Look to the Future: 235
• Extending Community Beyond the Classroom: 236
• Implications for Instructor Training: 237
• Examples of Course Syllabi: 239
• Glossary of Terms Used in Online Learning: 271
• Internet Resources for Distant Education: 275
• References: 277
• Index: 285

About the author

Rena M. Palloff, Ph.D., and Keith Pratt, Ph.D. are the managing partners of Crossroads Consulting Group. They are the authors of Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace, Collaborating Online, Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom, and The Virtual Student, all from Jossey-Bass.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom; The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series; Wiley Desktop Editions Series
• Authors: Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt
• Edition: 2, illustrated
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2007
• ISBN: 0787988251, 9780787988258
• Length: 292 pages
• Subjects: Education / Computers & Technology; Education / Distance & Online Education; Education / Higher