Global Perspectives on E-Learning: Rhetoric and Reality / Edition 1

by Alison A. Carr-Chellman

Overview

Global Perspectives on E-Learning: Rhetoric and Reality presents several cases of international online education and the rhetoric that surrounds this form of teaching and learning. Editor Alison A. Carr-Chellman examines the impact of online distance education throughout the world in an effort to understand more deeply the merits of such initiatives. Written from a critical perspective, the book sheds light on some of the problems faced by international distance educators. It particularly focuses on who benefits, and who does not, by the advance of international e-learning and how we can respond to the needs of the disenfranchised. This book is intended to supplement what has to this point been largely a positive, how-to literature in distance education. It offers a balanced perspective on the problems and possibilities of distance education worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412904896
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	12/15/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alison A. Carr-Chellman is an Associate Professor of Education, currently serving as the Professor in charge of the Instructional Systems program in the Department of Learning and Performance Systems. She earned her doctorate at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she studied Instructional Systems Technology with an emphasis in Educational Systems Design. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received an undergraduate degree and a masters in Education. She taught elementary school and worked in business and industry prior to taking on her current position. Her research interests include critiques of distance education and e-learning, systems theory and thinking, educational systems design, critical systems, and user-design. She resides outside of State College with her three children ages two, two, and one, her husband and in-laws on a family farm.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Alison A. Carr-Chellman
Online Education in Asia: An Analysis of China, Taiwan, and India - Alison A. Carr-Chellman
China's Online Education: Rhetoric and Realities - Ke Zhang
The Gap Between E-Learning Availability and E-Learning Industry Development in Taiwan - Jiang Jia qi
The Distance in Education and Online Technologies in India - Priya Sharma
Online Education in Europe: An Analysis of Ireland, UK, Turkey and International Study Circles - Alison A. Carr-Chellman
Online Learning and Differential Participation in a Democratic Society: Ireland as a Case Study - Sarah Fitzpatrick & Paul Conway
E-Learning Democracy and Social Exclusion-Issues of Access and Retention in the UK - Ormond Simpson
International Study Circles - Ben Salt
A Critical Look at Distance Education in Turkey - Husra Gursoy
Online Education in North America: An Analysis of the U.S. and Canadian Contributions - Alison A. Carr-Chellman
Canada's School Net: Wiring Up Schools? - Leslie R. Shade & Diane Y. Dechief
The New Frontier: Web-Based Education in US Culture - Alison A. Carr-Chellman
Online Education Down Under: An Analysis of Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia - Alison A. Carr-Chellman
New Zealand: Is Online Education a Highway to the Future? - Bill Anderson
Towards Borderless Virtual Learning in Higher Education - Colin Latchem
Online Education in Africa: An Analysis of Namibia and Sub-Saharan Africa - Alison A. Carr-Chellman
Development and Democracy in Namibia: The Contribution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) - R. Kavena Shalyef & Hilda Nakakuwa
Can You Lead From Behind? Critical Reflections on the Rhetoric of E-Learning, Open Distance Learning and ICTs for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - Wayne Mackintosh
Stalled: E-Learning as Thwarted Innovation - Robert Zemsky & William F. Massy
Conclusion - Alison A. Carr-Chellman

Editorial Reviews

"This is indeed a disturbing, informative, and readable book. I commend it warmly to those who may wish to find out about developments in e-learning around the world; to those who have consciences which will be disturbed by much of what is highlighted and summarized here; to those willing to re-examine their optimism about the potential and implications of e-learning; and to those similarly willing to reconsider their pessimism. Buy it, read it, re-read it, question-and keep seeking answers. "

BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

"A must-read for policy framers and curriculum shapers. "

The Hindu Business Line

"This volume brings together a number of reports on the global phenomenon of online distance education (referred to as e-learning) in several countries in Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and Africa. Editor Carr-Chellman and the respective chapter authors adopt a critical perspective of ‘international capitalist e-learning.’. . . . This book is for policy makers, practitioners, and the general public interested in gaining a more balanced perspective on how closely the rhetoric matched the reality of online distance learning."

CHOICE - P.S. Cookson

"Global Perspectives on E-Learning: Rhetoric and Reality will be useful to students and research of distance learning, as well as those interested in global education, policy, and the cultural and political context of learning. The book is successful in presenting a critical, if perhaps unpopular, analysis of the current international applications of e-learning, but it is certainly not a negation of the usefulness of e-learning itself. "

ETR&D - William Bescia and Kelly Schwartz

Global Perspectives on E-Learning offers an authoritative compendium of online teaching and learning in a cross-section of nations around the World. This is a state-of-the-art review of promising online programs by authors who have participated in the movement. Rarely do we find such current and authoritative information about educational technology developments in more than a dozen countries in six continents.

Don Ely

"The book is well written and well organized. It adds significantly to the literature that addresses global perspectives on e-learning, and is of particular interest to those seeking additional information about international programs. Cases represent different examples from five continents. Therefore the book is particularly useful for instructional designers, and policy makers who work for the disseminating online distance learning. "

Eskisehir, Turkey - Murat Ataizi

"Global Perspectives on E-Learning: Rhetoric and Reality will be useful to students and research of distance learning, as well as those interested in global education, policy, and the cultural and political context of learning. The book is successful in presenting a critical, if perhaps unpopular, analysis of the current international applications of e-learning, but it is certainly not a negation of the usefulness of e-learning itself. "— William Bescia and Kelly Schwartz

ETR&D

"This volume brings together a number of reports on the global phenomenon of online distance education (referred to as e-learning) in several countries in Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and Africa. Editor Carr-Chellman and the respective chapter authors adopt a critical perspective of ‘international capitalist e-learning.’. . . . This book is for policy makers, practitioners, and the general public interested in gaining a more balanced perspective on how closely the rhetoric matched the reality of online distance learning. "— P.S. Cookson

Choice Magazine

"This is indeed a disturbing, informative, and readable book. I commend it warmly to those who may wish to find out about developments in e-learning around the world; to those who have consciences which will be disturbed by much of what is highlighted and summarized here; to those willing to re-examine their optimism about the potential and implications of e-learning; and to those similarly willing to reconsider their pessimism. Buy it, read it, re-read it, question-and keep seeking answers. "

British Journal Of Educational Technology

I think this is an excellent text. It provides the reader with a broad international perspective of distance education, something that is in short supply.

Chris Zirkle

Global Perspectives on E-Learning is a fascinating expedition on the road to democratizing online/distance learning through the dichotomy of rhetoric and social realities in countries around the world.

Paul Gathercoal

We need more critical and reflective texts on distance education and its evolution within a global framework. The authors provide the reader a social and political context for thinking about global education.

Roberto Muffoletto