The latest edition of the (Canadian) Journal of Distance Education is now out.
This is a somewhat slim edition, with just six articles, one of which is a short research project up-date but no results yet, and two book reviews.
One of the articles though is essential reading for those wishing to develop critical thinking skills in online discussion forums. Tene Barber is an instructor at Vancouver Community College. From the abstract:
Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s (2000) Community of Inquiry (COI) model is applied in tandem with the design process to develop a blended approach to the traditional critique. The appropriate alignment of curriculum and faculty and student interactions to the environments best suited is determined. Guiding principles and learning objectives and tasks are developed to support cognitive, social and teaching presences essential to foster critical discourse in asynchronous discussion environments.
Barber, T. (2100) The Online Crit: Community of Inquiry meets Design Education, Journal of Distance Education, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp.
The book reviews cover di Petta’s The Emperor’s New Computer and Michael G. Moore’s Handbook of Distance Education – 2nd edition.
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
Thanks for mentioning the publication of latest issue of JDE Tony. It is slim because we have moved to a continuous publication model which means we start publishing as soon as articles are ready to go. This “slim” edition will gain weight over the coming weeks as new articles are added. So stay tuned.
Mark Bullen
Editor, JDE