Where do I begin? There are so many now. Here is just a selection of the sites that I find very useful on a regular basis:
Blogs
George Siemen’s eLearnSpace is always a good read.I don’t always agree with him, but George is a very thoughtful and often original writer about online and digital learning.
Richard Elliott’s e-Learning Watch. This is usually a monthly listing of the latest publications in educational technology and online learning that interest Richard, with a New Zealand focus
e-Literate is a weblog about educational technology and related topics that is co-published by Michael Feldstein and Phil Hill, who are also partners at MindWires, an educational technology analyst and consulting firm. It covers a broad range of topics related to trends in education—particularly teaching and learning in higher education—that are impacted by technology. It is particularly strong on learning management systems. Mainly focused on the USA.
Audrey Watters Hack Education. Audrey is a prolific and very readable blogger with often inside or breaking news about online learning and educational technology developments, particularly regarding commercial companies in the online learning business. Also mainly focused on the USA.
Stephen’s (Downes) Web: provides a stimulating and often controversial view of online learning developments in this blog, and also has a daily survey of developments in online learning in his OL Daily newsletter.
Royal Roads University: Elizabeth Wellburn’s Instructional Skill’s Workshop Online focuses particular on the role of social media in education. This is a ‘meta-blog’ covering all the posts from these workshops.
UK Open University: Nick Pearce’s Digitalscholarship Blog on, well, digital scholarship.
Also from the UK Open University: Martin Weller’s The Ed Techie.
Michael Trucano’s EduTech is an excellent World Bank Blog on ICT use in education.
Pedagogy.ir is a resource site in Iran (founded on July 2005 in Tehran, Iran), as an Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative.
Resources for students wanting to study online
There are now hundreds of thousands of online programs and learning modules across many different subject areas. I am focusing here on more specialist online resources.
Onlineschools.com covers all of the basics of distance education, from what equipment you will need to the types of online learning and online classes to transferring credits. It also has a list of online courses and programs available in the USA. However, most of these are private, for-profit institutions. Check with your local accreditation agency before enrolling.
Learning English as a Second or Foreign language? Click here for a guide to resources
In Australia, the TAFEs (Technical and Further Education colleges) provides a guide to a whole range of online courses available from TAFEs across Australia, as well as New South Wales TAFE eZine’s focus on vocational education and training.
The Consultants-E (UK) offer a range of services, from f2f, online and virtual EdTEch training to small & large scale consultancy projects worldwide.
Start4all has a wide range of resources on e-learning.
Learning Light e-Learning Centre A U.K. site with a focus on work-force training.
Doing research?
Digital Research Tools (DIRT). This wiki collects information about tools and resources that can help scholars (particularly in the humanities and social sciences) conduct research more efficiently or creatively.
See also: Research into e-learning/online learning.
Last updated: 10 August 2018.
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.