Distance Learning Books

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, Revised and Updated Edition

Susan Wise Bauer, Jessie Wise

Amazon Price: $26.37 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $24.27

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Homeschooling -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Homeschooling -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 212 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

homeschooling resource 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It's quite a book to undertake, but I'm tackling it in bits and pieces. It has been a useful tool in homeschooling my child.

The Well-Trained Mind 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am a certified teacher with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. This book is an excellent reference book for teaching using the classical education method. The resources in this book are invaluable! From schedules, to internet links, to subject studies, and clear definitions; this book has it all. I borrowed it from the library at first. Then when I read it, I decided to buy it so I can refer back to it. I found the "How to do it" sections fantastic (especially the advice given on working with babies and toddlers). It's organized well and in a easy to read format.

Overwhelming 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I think this book tries to overwhelm someone trying to teach their child. I can't imagine a child being happy being taught so rigorously and will be isolated and overstressed with such intense hours of school. (A lot of public and private schools have the same problem) I don't trust the advice of teaching about all religions at such young ages. They need to be grounded in their own culture and religion first. I'd get a simpler construct of a classical education or you'll go nuts. Also, read John Taylor Gatto for guidance.

Editorial Review:

Offers step-by-step instruction on how to enable an academically rigorous, comprehensive education for children from preschool through high school, outlining a classical educational model while providing book lists, ordering information, and Internet links.

Using Moodle: Teaching with the Popular Open Source Course Management System (Using)

Jason Cole, Helen Foster

Amazon Price: $35.99 List Price: $39.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $26.24

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Programming -> Software Design, Testing & Engineering -> Software Development
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Programming -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Using Moodle is a complete, hands-on guide for instructors learning how to use Moodle, the popular course management system (CMS) that enables remote web-based learning and supplements traditional classroom learning. Updated for the latest version, this new edition explains exactly how Moodle works by offering plenty of examples, screenshots and best practices for its many features and plug-in modules. Moodle gives teachers and trainers a powerful set of web-based tools for a flexible array of activities, including assignments, forums, journals, quizzes, surveys, chat rooms, and workshops. This book is not just a how-to manual. Every chapter includes suggestions and case studies for using Moodle effectively. By itself, Moodle won't make your course better. Only by applying effective educational practices can you truly leverage its power. With this book, you will: Get a complete overview CMS in general and Moodle in particular. Review Moodle's basic interface and learn to start a course. Learn to add Moodle tools to your course, and how different tools allow you to give quizzes and assignments, write journals, create pathed lessons, collaboratively develop documents, and record student grades. Discover some of the creative ways teachers have used Moodle. There are plenty of ideas for effectively using each tool. Effectively manage your Moodle course, such as adding and removing users, and creating user groups. Learn to use Moodle's built-in survey functions for assessing your class. Find out how to administer an entire Moodle site. A system administrator usually handles these functions, but if you're on your own, there's a lot of power behind the curtain. Using Moodle is both a guide anda reference manual for this incredibly powerful and flexible CMS. Authored by the Moodle community, this authoritative book also exposes little known but powerful hacks for more technically savvy users, and includes coverage of blogs, RSS, databases, and more. For anyone who is using, or thinking of using, this CMS, Using Moodle is required reading.

The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child: Your Complete Guide to Getting Off to the Right Start

Linda Dobson

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Three Rivers Press Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $6.03

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Homeschool the right way from day one.
Are you considering homeschooling for your family? Today, many parents recognize that their child's school options are limited, inadequate, or even dangerous, and an increasing number are turning to homeschooling. But where do you start and how do you ensure the highest-quality educational experience, especially in that pivotal first year?
This comprehensive guide will help you determine the appropriate first steps, build your own educational philosophy, and discover the best ways to cater to your child's specific learning style, including:
·When, why, and how to get started
·The best ways to develop an effective curriculum, assess your child's progress, and navigate local regulations
·Kid-tested and parent-approved learning activities for all age levels
·Simple strategies for developing an independent child and strengthening family and social relationships
·And much, much more!
"To the thousands of requests we receive for help from families new to homeschooling, we will now recommend this warm and knowledgeable book. It will ensure that all families make it to the second year—including yours!" —Elizabeth Kanna, editor in chief, Homeschool.com
"Linda Dobson addresses all the issues facing parents as they consider the task of homeschooling over other educational options. Those who wonder whether they really can or want to do the job will find unique perspectives in this well-researched work."—Beverly K. Eakman, author and cofounder, National Education Consortium

Engaging the Online Learner: Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction (Online Teaching and Learning Series (OTL))

Rita-Marie Conrad, J. Ana Donaldson

Amazon Price: $24.30 List Price: $27.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Jossey-Bass Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $20.33

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Worth the read 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I found the book to be a good read and had a lot of interesting things to say and good examples of activities for online participants.

The book focuses solely on the online learner, which is good, but if you teach students in a classroom setting and are looking to extend their learning online in the evenings and between classes you need to 'read between the lines' to pull out the pieces that you need (which are many and included in this book).

Editorial Review:

Engaging the Online Learners includes an innovative framework—the Phases of Engagement—that helps instructors become more involved as knowledge generators and cofacilitators of a course. The book also provides specific ideas for tested activities (collected from experienced online instructors across the nation) that can go a long way to improving online learning. Engaging the Online Learner offers the tools and information needed to:

• Convert classroom activities to an online environment and use online activities in a classroom-based course

• Assess the learning that occurs as a result of collaborative activities

• Phase-in activities that promote engagement among online learners

• Help online learners use online tools

• Build peer interaction through peer partnerships and team activities

• Create authentic activities

• Implement games and simulations

Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom (Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series)

Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt

Amazon Price: $35.75 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Jossey-Bass Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $26.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include:

• Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community.
• Establishing a sense of presence online.
• Maximizing participation.
• Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection.
• Assessing student performance.

Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authorsâ many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The MIT Press Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $15.00

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Editorial Review:

Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available—from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for students, self-learners, faculty, and educational institutions—we have yet to take full advantage of shared knowledge about how these are being used, what local innovations are emerging, and how to learn from and build on the experiences of others. Opening Up Education argues that we must develop not only the technical capability but also the intellectual capacity for transforming tacit pedagogical knowledge into commonly usable and visible knowledge: by providing incentives for faculty to use (and contribute to) open education goods, and by looking beyond institutional boundaries to connect a variety of settings and open source entrepreneurs.

These essays by leaders in open education describe successes, challenges, and opportunities they have found in a range of open education initiatives. They approach—from both macro and micro perspectives—the central question of how open education tools, resources, and knowledge can improve the quality of education. The contributors (from leading foundations, academic institutions, associations, and projects) discuss the strategic underpinnings of their efforts first in terms of technology, then content, and finally knowledge. They also address the impact of their projects, and how close they come to achieving a vision of sustainable, transformative educational opportunities that amounts to much more than pervasive technology.

Contributors: Richard Baraniuk, Randy Bass, Trent Batson, Dan Bernstein, John Seely Brown, Barbara Cambridge, Tom Carey, Catherine Casserly, James Dalziel, Bernadine Chuck Fong, Richard Gale, Gerard Hanley, Diane Harley, Mary Huber, Pat Hutchings, Toru Iiyoshi, David Kahle, M. S. Vijay Kumar, Andy Lane, Diana Laurillard, Stuart Lee, Steve Lerman, Marilyn Lombardi, Phil Long, Clifford Lynch, Christopher Mackie, Anne Margulies, Owen McGrath, Flora McMartin, Shigeru Miyagawa, Diana Oblinger, Neeru Paharia, Cheryl Richardson, Marshall Smith, Candace Thille, Edward Walker, and David Wiley

Through the support of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, an electronic version of this book is openly available under a Creative Commons license on The MIT Press website.

Moodle E-Learning Course Development

William Rice

Amazon Price: $35.99 List Price: $39.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Packt Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 24 new & used starting at $31.23

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A complete guide to successful learning using Moodle
- Straight-forward coverage of installing and using the Moodle system
- Working with Moodle features in all learning environments
- A unique course-based approach focuses your attention on designing well structured, interactive, and successful courses

A complete guide to successful learning using Moodle, focused on course development and delivery and using the best educational practices. Moodle is relatively easy to install and use, but the real challenge is to develop a learning process that leverages its power and maps effectively onto the content established learning situation. This book guides you through meeting that challenge.

This unique book gives you more than just a guide to the Moodle software; it uses Moodle as a route to better teaching, more motivated students, and more successful courses. Moodle is the leading Open Source learning management system. Using Moodle, teachers can easily construct richly textured web based courses. A course can consist of a number of lessons, with each lesson including reading materials; activities such as quizzes, tests, surveys, and projects; and social elements that encourage interaction and group work between students.Moodle E-Learning Course Development shows you how to use Moodle as a tool to enhance your teaching. It will help you analyse your students' requirements, and come to an understanding of what Moodle can do for them. After that you'll see how to use every feature of Moodle to meet your course goals.

The social constructionist learning philosophy is at the heart of Moodle: we all "construct" knowledge through interation with one another and with learning materials in a social way. Moodle E-Learning Course Develelopment will show you how to add static learning material, interactive activities, and social features to your courses so that students reach their learning potential. Whether you want to support traditional class teaching or lecturing, or provide complete online and distance learning courses, this book will prove a powerful resource throughout your use of Moodle.

- Understand what Moodle can do, how it compares to other e-learning packages, and how it can support your teaching strategies
- Install the Moodle software on your own computer or a server, and understand your way around it
- Know how to create different kinds of courses. Moodle can support courses where the group works through the classes with a shared schedule, or where individual students work through at their own pace, or courses where students are free to explore the different topics in their own time. This book will show you how.
- Understand all of Moodle's learning features. Moodle provides features for managing course content, interactive resources, and social activities such as forums and wikis. This book explains what each of these features are, how they work, and most importantly how and when to use them effectively.
- Manage students – so that you can ensure that the right students are going to the right classes; allow students to enrol themselves, or invite students to join a course. You can even set up commercial courses where students pay to sign

William Rice is an experienced trainer and expert on learning and teaching practices. This experience and expertise forms the foundation of his approach: What do we want to teach? How would this best translate into a course? How best can Moodle support these course objectives?Of course, the book contains everything you'd expect from an introduction to Moodle: clear step-by-step instructions, plenty of screenshots, explanations and guides through the many features and options that you have to choose from. Throughout the book, William develops an example course. He uses this example to explore the sort of decisions, design considerations, and thought that goes into developing a successful course.

This book is written for everyone who wants to get the most from Moodle. Beginners to the software will get a thorough guide to how the software works, and some great ideas for getting to a good start with their first course. More experienced Moodlers will find powerful insights into developing more successful and educational courses.

Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling

John Holt, Pat Farenga

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Da Capo Press Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $4.79

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Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Today more than one and a half million children are being taught at home by their own parents. In this expanded edition of the book that helped launch the whole movement, Pat Farenga has distilled John Holt's timeless understanding of the ways children come to understand the world and added up-to-the-moment practical advice. Rather than proposing that parents turn their homes into miniature schools, Holt and Farenga demonstrate how ordinary parents can help children grow as social, active learners. Chapters on living with children, "serious play," children and work, and learning difficulties will be of interest to all parents, whether home schooling or not, as well as to teachers. This new edition is supplemented with financial and legal advice as well as a guide to cooperating with schools and facing the common objections to home schooling.Teach Your Own not only has all the vital information necessary to be the bible for parents teaching their own children, it also conveys John Holt's wise and passionate belief in every child's ability to learn from the world that has made his wonderful books into enduring classics.

The Well-Adjusted Child: The Social Benefits of Homeschooling

Rachel Gathercole

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Mapletree Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 32 new & used starting at $7.88

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Outstanding Job Rachel Gathercole: Excellent For Minorities 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Thus far, this book has been extremely: informational, detailed oriented, and reassuring. It gives you an opportunity to know and understand just what socialization "looks" like in the day to day of lives of homeschoolers versus these false assumptions many have about home schooling being isolated endeavor.

I also like that fact that's it's not bogged down in any religiosity from any tradition. Many home school writers loose creditability with many in the public because; so much of their work is steeped in religiosity. Unfortunately, there are people who believe that religion can't co-exist with science, logic, and reason thus turning off potential home schoolers. I really appreciate the evidence, research, and field interviews presented here versus a sermon. Being in the early stages or preparation phase this book has been a major blessing.

Never did I ever question what "socialization" or "childhood" was. This writer has encouraged me to question, and to observe. I always considered myself an independent thinker, but after reading just the first three chapters I realized I'm not.. I just automatically adopted the fast food approach to "socialization" or "childhood".

I'm a triple minority--black, Muslim, and female. I encourage other African Americans, and other Muslims who are also in the preparation stage to read this book. The chapter on diversity is excellent, and is not based off the traditional Eurocentric view of diversity: "color blindness" but rather color, ethnic, and tribal consciousness.

Outstand Rachel Gathercole, outstanding.

Editorial Review:

Socialization may well be the single most important aspect of education today. With high and rising rates of divorce, drug abuse, youth violence, alcoholism, teen promiscuity, and so forth, we cannot afford to let this issue go unexamined.

To cling to the idea that what we, as a culture, are doing now is the right and best way for all children simply because it is what we are used to is to shut our eyes and minds to other possibilities--possibilities that may well afford greater happiness, success, peace, and safety to our own children.

At a time when people feel more disconnected than ever before, we cannot afford to overlook or allow ourselves to be blinded to an option which offers great benefits, including a rich, fulfilling, and healthy social life, that our children may well need for the future. Homeschooling offers great social benefits to kids and parents. And when we understand them, our children are the ones who will win.

Bears Guide To Earning Degrees By Distance Learning (Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees By Distance Learning)

Mariah P. Bear, Thomas Nixon

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ten Speed Press Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $9.91

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Resource 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

If you are looking for a resource that will provide literally thousands of addresses (snail mail, e-mail, web addresses, phone numbers) with a brief annotation about each school that offers distance learning, then this is an excellent resource. If you are wanting to learn the very basics of accreditation of online schools, this will be a starting point. If you want a detailed, technical look at online learning and about higher education accreditatiion, this is not the purpose of Bears Guide.

Reviewer: Dr. Kellemen is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction .

inaccurate in places. preachy about accreditation in others 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 14 people found this review helpful.

After ripping on many, many schools that are not "accredited", the book goes on to mention, how you can get a "real" credit by buying a persian rug. Because everyone knows how difficult it is to buy a rug, let alone a Persian one.

Anyway bears lists "accredited schools with degrees entirely by distance learning"
and lists Alberta's Athabasca U as an "accredited school" = the have been open for a number of years and only in 2005 did the received accreditation- just look it up on their site. So basically if your school is "unaccredited" they you don't have a real degree, tell that to Royal Roads, UBC, Uvic, Uof Manitoba, and on an on. Because if you read the "university and college act" you will know that you can accredit yourselves, mind you with a bunch of paper work. oh, Devrey accredits themselves, so their degrees are not worth the paper they are printed on.


IF you want to look at the world of education the way the book looks at it, you are limiting yourself. Education should be just that an education, but whether you come out of UBC or Harvard with an undergrad, you basically know nothing. Ever have to write a 500 word essay at your current job? most of you can say no.

I say revamp the system and get to the meat of the degree in 2 years or less- of a a 4 year degree 2-3 years of it is spent entirely on basic courses.

Editorial Review:

As more schools bring the classroom to the student through the mail, video, and the Internet, the need for an accurate, technically savvy resource is more crucial than ever. This guide will help those looking for career advancement, returning to the workforce, or advancing their education.