IRRODL June 2011

For the very few readers of this site who are not already subscribers, the latest edition of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning is now available.

First of all, congratulations to Terry Anderson and his team at Athabasca University for gaining recognition of IRRODL by its being indexed in Thomson’s Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), apparently essential for authors if they are to be recognized for their publications by tenure and promotion panels. It shouldn’t really be necessary, because it is the outstanding journal in its field, in terms of the quality and frequency of its publications.

There is no single theme in this edition so I will plagiarize (sorry: reference) Terry Anderson’s own editorial to summarize what’s in it:

Research articles in this issue cover

• study orchestrations (a nice alternative to learning styles): Anderson et al., New Zealand
• the business of publication of open textbooks, John Hilton III and David Wiley, USA
• the liminality (don’t worry I had to look up the word too!) experienced in real-time online communications, Una Cunningham, Sweden
• a critique of the familiar community of inquiry model and the perhaps oversold impact of social presence, David Annand, Canada
• an evaluation of role play learning designs, Cornelius et al., Scotland
• a review of the use of video in distance education trades instruction, Francis Donkor, Ghana
• an important investigation of time-on-task while learning, Margarida Romero and Elena Barberà, Spain
• an analysis of cross-cultural influences on instructional design practices,, Mamta Saxena, USA
• a fascinating qualitative study on changes in student-teacher, student-content and student-software interaction at a distance, Peter Bergström, Sweden.

We also include a research note on the value of start-of-class surveys and a book review that looks at the impact of e-learning on globalization of higher education.

As always, issue 12.5 features contributions from many countries. There are three articles from the USA, two from Sweden, and one each from Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ghana, and Spain.