IRRODL New Issue: Vol. 12, No. 5

We are pleased to present two announcements and offer our best wishes from
your colleagues at the International Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning (IRRODL).

First, please follow the links below to articles from one of our largest and
most eclectic issues to date. Issue 12(5) has 9 research articles, 1
research note, and a book review. You will also note the addition for the
first time of author images.

Second, I am pleased to announce that effective January 2010 all research
articles in IRRODL are indexed by Thompson’s Social Science Citation Index.
With the addition of the prestigious SSCI index, IRRODL is now indexed and
searchable in 12 research or professional practice indices.

Finally, as always we extend our thanks to our authors and reviewers, our
editors, and our loyal readers. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, we
wish to you a relaxing summer holiday.

Terry Anderson
Editor,
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning

Table of Contents

Editorial

[2]Editorial
Terry Anderson
Links:
2. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1052/1879

Research Articles

[3]Study orchestrations in distance learning: Identifying dissonance and its
implications for distance educators
Links:
3. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/977

_Bill Anderson, Scott W F Lee, Mary G Simpson, Sarah J Stein _

[4]Open access textbooks and financial sustainability: A case study on Flat
World Knowledge
Links:
4. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/960

_John Levi Hilton III, David Wiley_

[5]Liminality and disinhibition in online language learning
Links:
5. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/950

_Una Mary Cunningham_

[6]Social presence within the community of inquiry framework
Links:
6. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/924

_David Annand_

[7]Role engagement and anonymity in synchronous online role play
Links:
7. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/923

_Sarah Cornelius, Carole Gordon, Margaret Harris _

[8]Assessment of learner acceptance and satisfaction with video-based
instructional materials for teaching practical skills at a distance
Links:
8. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/953

_Francis Donkor _
[9]Learner analysis framework for globalized e-learning: A case study
Links:
9. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/954

_Mamta Saxena _
[10]Shifting the emphasis from teaching to learning: Process-based
assessment in nurse education
Links:
10. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/957

_Peter Bergström _
[11]
Quality of e-learners’ time and learning performance beyond quantitative
time-on-task
Links:
11. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/999

_Margarida Romero, Elena Barberà _
_Research Notes _
[12]Beginning course surveys: Bridges to knowing and bridges to being
Links:
12. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1000

_David Starr-Glass_

_Book Notes_
[13]The impact of e-learning programs on the internationalization of the
university
_Nataly Tcherepashenets_
Links:
13. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1051/1876

Edtech Posse Podcast 7.1: Civil discourse and digital writing

EdTech Posse Podcast 7.1 – Civility disobedience

In this program, we talk about civil discourse in digital spaces and just about everywhere. We turn our attention to writing .epub documents, and then go back to civil discourse in the coverage of the job action and negotiations of Saskatchewan teachers for a new contract.

Civility – can’t we get along?

Last night, the EdTech Posse had a wonderful conversation. One of our dirty little secrets is that we mainly get together whenever we can to talk about whatever is on our minds, and record whatever happens to share with others. It’s intentionally unstructured.

Well, the conversation last night started with Dean’s encounter with John Gormley (a local conservative talk show host) about an open letter Dean posted to his students where he commented about the absurdity of assigning a single mark to represent their learning. Then we moved onto other things, and at the end talked about the hostility of public rhetoric around the recent job actions and negotiations by Saskatchewan Teachers. Funny how these conversations spiral in on themselves—the bookends of our session both centred on the unfortunate tendency in media (broadcast media and social media alike) to polarize, attack, vilify, and even ridicule other people or their positions.

It got me thinking about Rodney King. Remember Rodney? He is the African American fellow who was pulled over by police in Los Angeles in 1991 and beaten, purportedly for resisting arrest. Somebody videotaped the incident, and it went viral, or at least as viral as it could twenty years ago. And Los Angeles went up in flames when the officers involved in the beating were acquitted in May, 1992. It really was a scary time. My kids were living in Los Angeles, and so I went to be with them. The city was under curfew, and there was a strong military presence from the National Guard. You haven’t lived until you’ve been on a walk with your kids to the video store, and passed by armoured vehicles in the parking lot, and beneath army snipers on the roof of the store. My kids thought it was cool. I didn’t.

How did things settle down? I’m not 100% sure they entirely have, but one thing helped a lot. A kind, humble, and civil Rodney King went on television and made the most remarkable statement. He haltingly and nervously said, “Can we all get along?”

What a simple and meaningful statement.

Back to Gormley and Saskatchewan teachers. During Gormley’s lead in rant, I was really steamed by the inflammatory and belittling statements he made about Dean’s ideas, and by association, Dean himself (he had no intention of actually talking to Dean–just to attack a couple of points in his blog post). Then I heard his tone change when Dean surprised him and phoned in to discuss the issue with him. I wondered about the initial lack of civility, and the subsequently civil conversation they started to have. I think the tone changed abruptly because:

1. Gormley was now confronted by the person he was trying to discredit; and,
2. Dean was civil and open, and invited a discussion of the issue, not a fight about it.

We have also seen many media attacks carried out on Saskatchewan teachers, including some attack ads that seemed ill-advised, not just inaccurate. These kinds of approaches don’t invite meaningful conversation, and they serve to polarize the public and possibly do damage to the reputation of teachers that can linger for a long time. And how does that serve the education of our children? What kind of example does it set for them?

I think all of this underscores the need for all of us who embrace social media to promote civil discourse. It starts with us.

We don’t have to agree with each other, and in fact we can all benefit from open conversations when we have vehement disagreements. But we don’t have to attack. We don’t have to simplify our discussions and reduce our points to cleverly phrased uppercuts. We don’t have to win.

We can listen. We can ask others to listen. We can walk away and refuse to engage in conversations that turn ugly. And we can say that’s why we’re doing it.

I was astonished when I first heard the courage and forgiveness spoken by Rodney King. I was proud to know somebody like Dean Shareski, who refused to be sucked into a confrontation, and instead invited open dialogue.

It was, for me, an important example that I will carry with me. I’m going to do my very best to be civil and open, to listen before I speak.

Can’t we get along?