New versions available

New versions of the E-Primers are now available through the Ako Aotearoa Web site. The new versions include a numbering system (which will be keyed to future blog entries) and CC licensing.

The series of E-Primers to date includes:

#1 - E-learning in context - An introduction to e-learning and the international experience; definitions of terms; a theory for e-learning; technologies; benefits

#2 - E-education and faculty - Education theory and e-learning; the changing role of faculty; workload issues; quality

#3 - Designing for e-learning - Instructional design; learning objects; constructing a hybrid course

The following two e-Primers are being written under funding from Ako Aotearoa's Northern Hub Fund:

#4 - Online discourse Synchronous and asynchronous communications; designing online discourse; online facilitation.

#5 - E-xtending possibilities Web 2.0; ePortfolios; virtual worlds; lifelong learning.

#4 is progressing well, though I am very self-conscious about how discussion forums seem passe in an age when wikis, blogs and additional forms of Web 2.0 interaction are the rage. Given the widespread use of discussion forums (and their centrality for most forms of distance and online educaiton at the moment) I have foucssed on these in particular in the draft for E-Primer 4 to date. Wikis, blogs, ePortfolios and additional elements will appear in E-Primer 5, as initially planned.