Introduction to the special section of the Internet in Higher Education: The American Educational Research Association's Online Teaching and Learning Special Interest Group

摘要

Writing an introduction to a section such as this is not an easy task. Long past are the days of looking at the very basic "effect of x on y" in an online program; we are now faced with really digging deeper by focusing on pedagogy and process in online learning. It is clear, from reading these exemplar articles that the idea of community in our virtual classrooms is of utmost important. As I tell my students, connectivity is the key; we can learn as much from interacting with our colleagues as we can in the classroom. We've come a long way in supporting that dynamic in only a few short years but the rapid change in the number of online programs, the diversity of our student bodies and the mind-boggling rate of technological change means we can't stop now. We still have a lot to learn.