OVERVIEW OF TOPIC AREA

Technology has created a shift leading from traditional classrooms to environments unhindered by space or time. Online education has grown rapidly in recent years with nearly four million students taking online courses in the United States alone, and an expected further demand for online education due to the global economic downturn (Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, 2008, http://www.sloanc.org/publications/survey/pdf/staying_the_course.pdf). Those individuals teaching in traditional, online, and hybrid environments must therefore adapt their teaching approaches and communication methods to address the evolution of technology in education. Within this context, computer mediated communication brings about issues and opportunities in education such as new pedagogical approaches, teaching methods, the changing pace of instruction, opportunities for collaboration, and more.

This edited collection will examine the implications and effects computer mediated communication has had on instruction and education. The chapters in this collection will, in turn, provide perspectives that can help instructors/teachers, students, trainers, and other professionals involved in education and training better understand and better address teaching, training, and learning in online environments.

AUDIENCE FOR THIS PROPOSED TEXT

The primary audience for this book would include: