Alison A. Carr-Chellman is an Associate Professor of Education, currently serving as the Professor in charge of the Instructional Systems program in the Department of Learning and Performance Systems. She earned her doctorate at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she studied Instructional Systems Technology with an emphasis in Educational Systems Design. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received an undergraduate degree and a masters in Education. She taught elementary school and worked in business and industry prior to taking on her current position. Her research interests include critiques of distance education and e-learning, systems theory and thinking, educational systems design, critical systems, and user-design. She resides outside of State College with her three children ages two, two, and one, her husband and in-laws on a family farm.
This is indeed a disturbing, informative and readable book. I commend it warmly to those who may wish to find out about developments in e-learning around the world; to those who have consciences which will be disturbed by much of what is highlighted and summarised here; to those willing to re-examine their optimism about the potential and implications of e-learning; and to those similarly willing to re-consider their pessimism. Buy it, read it, re-read it, question - and keep seeking answers' - John Cowan Visiting Professor, Educational Development Unit, Napier University, British Journal Educational Technology Global Perspectives on E-Learning presents several international case studies of online education written by authorities on e-learning and discusses the rhetoric that surrounds this form of teaching and learning. Illustrative sase studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and Australasia are provided.
