Abstract

Many higher education organizations are pressing ahead with the development of online education programs and, in so doing, are confronted with the multiple challenges of a new paradigm for course design, operations management, student and faculty support, and the measurement of learning outcomes. At the same time, a few universities offering Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are stealing the headlines. MOOCs may seem attractive and certainly are sensational, but they do not in and of themselves offer a practical foundation or business model for the provisioning of asynchronous learning experiences within a higher education setting. As a more measured starting point, this volume serves as a practicum for those who wish to develop a viable online program within their own institutions. Through a comprehensive collection of articles and case studies, The Online University provides a hands-on approach to the design, development, deployment, and management of higher education online course offerings. The volume begins with a series of chapters devoted to the online educational process. The technique section that follows drills down on a variety of core practices, including course design and construction, assessment, and teacher/student interaction. In so doing, Dr. Richard M. Kesner, an executive professor of MIS at Northeastern University, has brought together an accomplished team of online learning practitioners who share with the reader what they have learned and done. Those who are already involved in online education will find this volume useful in providing them with new ideas about how to extend and improve their current efforts. For those who are just engaging with the subject of online learning for the first time, this volume will offer a solid foundation of guidance, practical examples, and seasoned experience to draw upon as they move forward.