Increasing Productivity and Efficiency in Online Teaching (Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design)

Distance learning has become very popular in recent years, making evident some of the problems inherent to online classes as they are today. High attrition rates, driven in part by student isolation and low satisfaction, have plagued online courses. For an online class to succeed, it must be built upon engaging media and meaningful interaction. Increasing Productivity and Efficiency in Online Teaching provides a reference for educators in virtual classrooms and enumerates strategies to foster instructor engagement and support. Because co-construction of information, opposed to rote memorization of disseminated facts, engages students and develops critical thinking skills, online education must shift to reflect this. Drawing from learning theory, this publication focuses on the ways educators can shape their online classes to best suit their students and leave them with knowledge and course satisfaction. This book is recommended for researchers, developers, students of education, administrators, and online educators in all subject areas.

Patricia Dickenson is Lead Faculty of Teacher Education at National University in San Jose. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Southern California in Educational Psychology. Her research focuses on the sociocultural aspects of motivation, engagement, and instruction, within mathematics, technology and standard-based teaching practices of Latino English learners. Dr. Dickenson began teaching for the Los Angeles Unified School District. She has taught elementary, middle and high school. In addition to classroom teaching Dr. Dickenson was a Mathematics Coach. She believes strongly in the use of alternative assessments such as performance based tasks, project-based learning and authentic assessment to measure students knowledge and skills. Dr. Dickenson has worked as a teacher trainer and consultant for Princeton Review and Harcourt Publishing. She has taught courses in Teacher Education at University of California Santa Cruz, University of Southern California and University of Phoenix.

James J. Jaurez, PhD, is an Associate Professor with National Universitys School of Engineering and Computing. Dr. Jaurez teaches courses in Computer Science, Educational and Instructional Technology, and Digital Media Design programs, which has lead him to pioneer a fusion of the education and computing technology disciplines. As lead researcher and co-PI on Hewlett Packard Technology for Teaching Higher Education Leadership Grant 2008 and Catalyst Grant 2010, Dr Jaurez has worked extensively in Game Design Methodology as a novel teaching framework for STEM+ courses. A PhD from Nova Southeastern University, his dissertation work is in Research and Development in the discipline of Computing Technology in Education. As board member for an organization called Learning for Life, Dr. Jaurez also uses video game technology and coaches robotics to inspire juvenile court system kids in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). His aim is to encourage academic and professional career paths in gaming, and inspire ""at risk"" youth to enroll in college. Dr. Jaurez also sits on the board of his local church and assists with outreach programs and ministries.