Online Distance Education ― Towards a Research Agenda

Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda offers a
systematic overview of the major issues, trends, and areas of priority
in online distance education research. In each chapter, an
international expert or team of experts provides an overview of one
timely issue in online distance education, summarizing major research
on the topic, discussing theoretical insights that guide the research,
posing questions and directions for future research, and discussing the
implications for distance education practice as a whole. Online
Distance Education addresses aspects of distance education
practice that have often been marginalized, including issues of cost
and economics, concerns surrounding social justice, cultural bias, the
need for faculty professional development, and the management and
growth of learner communities. At once soundly empirical and
thoughtfully reflective, this text is a solid resource for researchers
in a rapidly expanding discipline.

Olaf Zawacki-Richter is professor of educational technology at the University of Oldenburg, and also teaches in the online Masters of Distance Education and E-Learning program offered jointly by the University of Oldenburg and the University of Maryland, University College. Terry Anderson is professor and researcher in the Technology-Enhanced Knowledge Research Centre at Athabasca University.