The Sage handbook of e-learning research

2008 ChoiceReviews  
Andrews and Haythornthwaite set out their stall in the introductory chapter noting that e-learning research is research 'into, on, or about the use of electronic technologies for teaching and learning' (p.1). It is not difficult to appreciate then that this book considers a range of e-learning contexts among which are asynchronous learning networks, online gaming, mobile learning, computer-supported collaborative learning and digital video in the curriculum. The book has contributions from 34
more » ... searchers in the field of e-learning including for example Gráinne Conole, Linda Harasim, Star Roxanne Hiltz and the editors of the book, Richard Andrews and Caroline Haythornthwaite, names with which you may well already be familiar if you have an interest in e-learning. It has 23 chapters which are mostly suitably structured into five parts: I: Contexts for researching e-Learning; II: Theory; III: Policy; IV: Language and literacy; V: Design issues. The general format is that each contributor considers a bank of research relevant to their focus area and raises issues for further research. This allows each chapter to stand easily on its own for reading and certainly to provide a good basis to engage with an overview of research in an aspect of e-learning. Despite the volume of the book, I would have welcomed an additional chapter at the end, or even a summary after each part, which pulled together the emerging issues, but instead I will just have to do that for myself. You may think that the breadth of the book means that it lacks depth but, on the contrary, there are a number of pertinent issues raised within the book that encourage the reader to give greater consideration to the use being made of technology, how it relates to learning and the need for further research. The diversity of topics under consideration certainly raise issues that are worthy of consideration across the field of
doi:10.5860/choice.45-2982 fatcat:vyxojjfqqrfahhfyooa4mm5ig4