Issue 10(3) of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) was released a couple of hours ago. I take the liberty of reprinting my editorial here, but see below for hotlinked table of contents.

This issue is notable as it is the largest single issue ever published by IRRODL! The issue contains fourteen peer-reviewed research articles, two technical reports, and links to five recordings and Powerpoint slides from research presentations to IRRODL’s sister organization, the Canadian Institute for Distance Education Research (CIDER). It also contains two articles formatted for mobile devices (EPUB), and we welcome feedback, particularly from Amazon Kindle and Stanza users.

As usual, the subject and research methods employed in the articles are heterogeneous, though all content has a focus on distance education. Ten of the articles relate to innovations in teaching and learning in distance contexts. Issues covered include synchronous technologies, multimedia training in industry contexts, web conferencing in high schools, strategies to create online group collaboration, and effective and ineffective instructor behaviours We also have two very interesting conceptual pieces, one on the role of culture in online learning and the other highlighting the effect of transparency on cooperative learning. The issue begins with two excellent articles relating directly to distance education research. The first presents the results of a Delhi study in which international experts prioritized distance education research issues and trends. The second is an article that provides a ranking system and the results when it is used to assess computer-mediated learning journals. I confess that I cannot resist bringing to your attention that IRRODL rates as the top-ranked journal amongst 46 contenders!!

The ratings game, while potentially both ego boosting and deflating for editors and authors, has very serious implications in academia. Enormous attention is placed in tenure and promotion hearings on not only the number of publications a scholar produces but also on the quality of the journals in which this work appears. Unfortunately, like many other measures of quality, determining the quality (often referred to as ‘impact factor’) of scholarly journals raises many issues including the validity of the results, the reliability of the measurement scales, and the effect of regional, linguistic, and pecuniary bias. Much work has been done to create valid indexes of journal quality, and Elbeck’s and Mandernach’s (this issue) innovative assessment strategies add to this literature. The digitization of articles and their accessibility on the web (either through subscription to databases of commercial publications or through open access) creates opportunity for new metrics to calculate impact. These include the number of downloads and links from other sources. However, citation of the work by one’s peers remains the most credible measurement of impact.

Thus, I was very pleased to bump into the work of Australian researcher Anne-Wil Harzing and the interesting tool she has developed and released freely for non-commercial use. The downloadable tool Publish or Perish uses the Goggle Scholar database to aggregate the number of articles and the number of times they have been cited by others. These citation numbers are then used to calculate an ‘impact factor” of both individual authors and journals. The tool also provides a number of algorithms that attempt to resolve the problem of multiple authors and also allow one to restrict publications used in the calculations by date or subject matter. Although Google Scholar’s data collection methods remain clouded in commercial obscurity, Harzing’s tool is at worst very entertaining and at best a very informative means by which researchers can select appropriate journals for publication and quantitatively measure the impact of their own and their colleagues’ work. I won’t give the results away (yet), but please feel free to spend a few entertaining minutes comparing the 12 distance education journals currently publishing or calculate your own and your colleagues’ impact factors!

June 2009 Open Issue

Table of Contents

Editorial

The Ratings Game HTML PDF MP3
Terry Anderson

Research Articles

Research Areas in Distance Education: A Delphi Study Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Olaf Zawacki-Richter Article 10.3.1
Journals for Computer-Mediated Learning: Publications of Value for the Online Educator Abstract HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
Matt Elbeck, B. Jean Mandernach Article 10.3.2
Cognitive, Instructional, and Social Presence as Factors in Learners’ Negotiation of Planned Absences from Online Study Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Dianne Conrad Article 10.3.3
Effect of Instructor-Personalized Multimedia in the Online Classroom Abstract HTML PDF MP3
B. Jean Mandernach Article 10.3.4
Virtual Spaces: Employing a Synchronous Online Classroom to Facilitate Student Engagement in Online Learning Abstract HTML PDF MP3
J. Lynn McBrien, Rui Cheng, Phyllis Jones Article 10.3.5
Video-Driven Multimedia, Web-Based Training in the Corporate Sector: Pedagogical Equivalence and Component Effectiveness Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Katherine Pang Article 10.3.6
Sage without a Stage: Expanding the Object of Teaching in a Web-Based, High-School Classroom Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Elizabeth Murphy, Maria A. Rodriguez-Manzanares Article 10.3.7
Transparency in Cooperative Online Education Abstract HTML PDF MP3 EPUB
Christian Dalsgaard, Morten Flate Paulsen Article 10.3.8
Preferences of Residents in Four Northern Alberta Communities Regarding Local Post-Secondary Programming Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Patrick J. Fahy, Nancy Steel, Patricia Martin Article 10.3.9
Online Teaching Effectiveness: A Tale of Two Instructors Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Paul Gorsky, Ina Blau Article 10.3.10
Creating Effective Collaborative Learning Groups in an Online Environment Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Jane Brindley, Lisa Marie Blaschke, Christine Walti Article 10.3.11
Teachers’ and Students’ Experiences of Simultaneous Teaching in an International Distance and On-Campus Master’s Programme in Engineering Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Oleg Popov Article 10.3.12
Questions of Culture in Distance Learning: A Research Review Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Sedef Uzuner Article 10.3.13
The Retention of Experienced Faculty in Online Distance Education Programs: Understanding Factors that Impact their Involvement Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Tim Green, Jeffery Alejandro, Abbie H. Brown Article 10.3.14

Technical Notes

Appropriate Distance Education Media in the Philippines and Mongolia Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Brenda McDonald
Distance Education in China and India: Collectivism and Connectivism Abstract HTML PDF MP3
Deborah Carter

CIDER Notes

A Snapshot State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada Elluminate / Powerpoint / MP3
Michael Barbour
Can Mobile Learning Enhance Nursing Practice Education? Elluminate / Powerpoint / MP3
Richard Kenny
Using Second Life to Promote Students’ Engagement Elluminate / Powerpoint / MP3
Martha Burkle
Presence Pedagogy: Building Communities of Practice in Virtual Worlds Elluminate / Powerpoint / MP3
Amy Cheney, Rob Sanders, John Tashner, Nita Matzen, Steve Bronack
Re-Thinking E-Learning Research Powerpoint / MP3
Norm Friesen