I have had my eyes on this book for several years, but the pandemic reality and our institution’s emergency pivot to online education this year compelled me to finally read it as part of my own preparation for teaching this year. I have met the author a couple of times, going back over 15 years to when she was a speaker at a couple of conferences I helped program.
This was a helpful book both in its attention to general educational pedagogy about how to cultivate transformation in the heart and mind of the learner and in its exploration into the various tools available in various learning management systems like Canvas, Moodle, or Blackboard. The book is a little bit older so there is much more available now than at the time of writing, but it was a really good guide for an online instructor in designing course activities for learner engagement and transformation and teaching online in ways that build trust and safety for authenticity in learning.
I especially loved the way she pushed for ways teachers can engage the heart of online learners and create online community through how to diversify and deepen learning activities.
I came away from the book with several ideas and notes on how to think about teaching online week by week given some of the limitations and challenges inherent to the medium. I’ve found it has helped my courses and approach to teaching online and just teaching in general. It wasn’t that long of a read, but really timely in a year where I was designing multiple courses for online delivery.
If you’re using an LMS to teach or do training, I think this is worth a read – especially right now when so much teaching and training is being adapted for online delivery.
