Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series) [Paperback]

Rena M. Palloff (Author), Keith Pratt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787955191 | ISBN-13: 978-0787955199 | Publication Date: March 12, 2001 | Edition: 1

Authors Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt have written a comprehensive reference for faculty to use to hone their skills as online instructors and for students to use to become more effective online learners. Filled with numerous examples from actual online courses and insights from teachers and students, Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom covers the entire online teaching process. This essential guide offers helpful suggestions for dealing with such critical issues as evaluating effective courseware, working with online classroom dynamics, addressing the needs of the online student, making the transition to online teaching, and promoting the development of the learning community.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Palloff and Pratt (Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace), experienced college instructors and experts in the field of developing online learning communities, have written a handy, well-structured, and commonsense guide for setting up and delivering a course for college-age students and above. The authors offer practical advice on all aspects of the online learning and teaching experience, from planning and conducting a course to choosing software and hardware and dealing with students in the unique online learning environment. Packed with useful examples, along with actual course outlines, lists of additional resources, and a well-constructed index, this thorough reference is highly recommended for academic and public libraries serving communities with institutions offering online courses, as well as for students and faculty developing them. Mark Bay Indiana Univ.
Purdue Univ. Lib., Indianapolis
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A comprehensive and concise description of key issues faced by every online educator, administrator, and developer. Following the tips provided by Palloff and Pratt will move online instruction beyond being merely electronic correspondence education." (Rita-Marie Conrad, online instructor, Florida State University)

"Gives comfort and aid to online teachers not by giving easy answers to hard questions, but by raising all the questions and issues that online faculty are concerned with and by showing where the research and national discussion is on these important issues." (Donald B. Hart, assistant director for faculty development, Thomas Edison State College)

"Will resonate with professional development staff who are seeking guidance in preparing faculty to be effective online teachers and students to be successful online learners. . . .the 'bible' for online course development." (Jessica A. Somers, director, Academic Innovation, Advanced Learning Technologies, University System of Georgia Board of Regents)

"Very practical and applicable . . .an invaluable tool for any faculty preparing to teach in the virtual world." (Gary A. Girard, director, off-campus programs, University of South Dakota)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (March 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787955191
• ISBN-13: 978-0787955199
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Reality Check for Distance Learning, June 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series) (Paperback)

If "the devil is in the details" of online learning, Paloff and Pratt have done an excellent job exploring the promise and pitfalls of distance learning programs. Anyone in the process of designing online courses or programs in higher education should read both this book and their earlier book before they launch a new course or program. Personally, this book helped me avoid several mistakes I otherwise would have made in my first distance learning adventure.

The book looks at both teacher and administrator perpsectives, and understands that both insitutional support and instructor skill are key elements for success. While the authors are genuine advocates for the medium, they understand that interactivity does not equal mouse clicks, and that building learning communities takes skill, practice, and structures. The book is full of very helpful examples, learning constructs, and realistic assessments of distance learning successes and failures.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fosters Community Among Educators And Their Students!, February 10, 2002

By 

Jim Moran - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series) (Paperback)

Growing numbers of K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and businesses have begun offering online instruction, taking advantage of computer and Internet technologies to deliver instruction once confined to the realm of physical classrooms. Indeed, the Internet, so-to-speak, has become a virtual classroom and community where all kinds of instruction can take place - anytime day or night, anywhere around the world.

Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom offers readers a broad treatment of the issues involved in planning, creating, and carrying out distance education via the Internet. In a concise manner the book introduces the issues, raises many serious questions, and provides many solutions to help meet the educational goals of instructors, their learning institutions, and their students.

The real beauty of the book lies in its effort to motivate instructors and learning institutions to think through the issues for themselves - to evaluate the unique circumstances they face and to encourage them to seek more effective ways of accomplishing their goals. Because each virtual learning experience will be unique, a number of important considerations should be weighed to determine course structure, content, and delivery, such as:

What technologies should be used?
Who will create the course?
Who will own the course material(s)?
How will the course be delivered?
How will assignments, projects, and exams be administered?
How will instructors and students be prepared?
How will student participation be controlled?
How will student behavior be controlled?

Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom does a superb job of fostering community among educators and their students. The authors express the importance of creating learning communities were serious dialogue takes place - dialogue that enhances the learning process and leads to achieving specific educational goals. This book is must reading for online educational course development.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom, March 16, 2005

By 

Neil Fujinaga (Honolulu, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series) (Paperback)

"Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The realities of Online teaching" is a great book for someone who is interested in the possibilities of online education and teaching. Palloff and Pratt offer a lot of great tips and ideas that are very concise and easy to understand. They provide commonsense guidelines in conducting online teaching in a way that is simple to digest, entertaining, and useful to teachers, administrators, or whoever else is interested in the realm of online teaching and education.

I personally liked the way the authors really tried the simplify their views on how to make a successful online teaching experience. Their "Keys to Success" seemed to be very helpful and realistic for many institutions to implement with careful planning.

Another especially helpful idea throughout the book was their tips at the end of some sections. By providing these simple tips it helps readers summarize the section and allows readers to easily review the material after they have read though the book once or twice.

I feel that this book is a "must-have" for people who have some interest in this relatively new and every changing field of online teaching.