Hiltz, S.R., & Goldman, R. (Eds.). (2005). Learning together online: Research on asynchronous learning networks

摘要

This collection of essays emanated from a 2-day workshop on teaching in asynchronous learning networks (ALN) organized in 2002 by the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The workshop brought together American and Canadian academic researchers in ALN drawn from faculties of business, management, and information technology. It is for this reason that the focus of the collection is upon adult education rather than ALN applications in primary and secondary schools. The stated purpose of the collection is to provide a state-of-the-art review of the ALN research literature. The review excludes the voluminous practitioners' literature on the subject that the editors characterize as "unsupported vitriol and hyperbole". This dismissive tone helps explain the emphasis in the collection upon educational theory rather than praxis.