Making Contact with Students in Online Learning (Part 3 of 3)
Student Engagement
  Ken L. Haley

As the world shifts into the much-discussed information age, educators look for ways to adapt to new educational delivery systems to keep pace with this fundamental shift. As reported by Kadlubowski (1997) "more than 76 million American adults--40% of the adult population--participated in one or more adult education activities, up from 32% in 1991". Higher education is no longer limited to the population just out of high school. This trend seems likely to continue as employers demand an increasingly educated and specialized workforce with skills not easily acquired on the job. The educational community must meet the demand for continuing education and find ways to engage these students--both traditional and nontraditional--in an educational delivery system that can meet the increased pressures of students in need of education while they work and meet family obligations. We need to engage these busy students in the world of distance education.   full text

Editor's Note:
  Karen Heise

The View From Here:
Lynne Fukuda

Who are this issue's contributors?

Who is Responsible for English-Language Learners? A Case Study From a Third-Grade Classroom
  Clara Brown

While the number of English-language learners (ELLs) has grown drastically nationwide, so has a gap in academic achievement between ELLs and their fully English-speaking peers. Meanwhile, heightened accountability under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, has made it critical to find ways to meaningfully including ELLs in the accountability system. These situations beg two fundamental questions for ELLs in particular: First, how fairly are we assessing ELLs? Second, how appropriately are we teaching these students? Without knowing how well they have been taught in their classrooms, it is meaningless to assess how much they have learned. Assessment and instruction, often looked upon as separate entities, must be examined together so that we can understand the dynamics and interplay of the two. As a result, ELLs will be better served.   full text

Christine Chady
  Peru and Freedom

Using Minority Viewpoints in the Classroom as Learning Tools
  Amy K. Williamson

How will instructors respond to the call to diversify courses and curriculum content? Several methods are available and if we see the goal of education as simply passing on to students an existing body of knowledge, one that has shape and meaning independent of the individual, then education based solely in the cognitive system is appropriate. Many models of pedagogy address this cognitive system and the understanding of knowledge. However, another level of knowledge, which exists in the affective or emotional domain and can be used in the classroom. Others acknowledge the existence of an affective domain in their work.

Much of the current pedagogy does not make an effort to include both the experiential and the rational system (Epstein, 1994). Epstein's cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST) model provides a valuable framework and does so in a way that fosters application in the classroom. My belief is that models for teaching need to be driven by a theoretical perspective that includes both the affective and cognitive domains. Both of these areas are necessary for students to develop awareness, knowledge, and skills. Epstein's (1994) CEST model is one such theory.  full text

Call for Papers