Category: IRRODL

Dear Colleagues

We are pleased to present another fine issue of the International Review of Research in Open  and Distance Learning.

This issue is packed with 8 research articles and 3 book reviews. You notice as well that all content is formatted in HTML, PDF, MP3 and EPUB to maximize your accessibility and learning. Finally don’t miss the opportunity to download two of the books reviewed in this issue which are available in open access format from www.AUPress.ca

Our thanks (on your behalf) to authors, reviewers and IRRODL staff for their contributions.

We trust you will enjoy and learn from the issue and I hope you go to WWW.IRRODL.ORG to register for free subscription or to volunteer as a reviewer.

Terry Anderson

Editor,

International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning

Athabasca University

Table of Contents

Editorial

Research Articles

Book Notes

Dear Friends We are pleased to announce issue 11(1) of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. This is a general issue featuring 7 research articles, 2 articles from the field, 3 CIDER session recordings, and 1 book review.

In the issue editorial, I discuss changes to our Creative Commons license and to IRRODL’s policy on papers previously distributed via blogs or conference proceedings.

We are confident that you will both enjoy and learn from the knowledge freely shared by our authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher. Enjoy.

Terry Anderson, Editor

Table of Contents

Editorial

Research Articles

Field Notes

Book Notes

CIDER Notes

George Siemens sent me a link  to a post by Cameron Neylon that attempts to pound yet another nail in the coffin of peer review. As an editor of a peer reviewed Journal (IRRODL) I was naturally both curious and a bit defensive about the charges.

Neylon argues that for peer review “ Whatever value it might have we largely throw away. Few journals make referee’s reports available, virtually none track the changes made in response to referee’s comments enabling a reader to make their own judgment as to whether a paper was improved or made worse. Referees get no public credit for good work, and no public opprobrium for poor or even malicious work. And in most cases a paper rejected from one journal starts completely afresh when submitted to a new journal, the work of the previous referees simply thrown out of the window.

Let me respond by describing some  IRRODL practices. We don’t make referee’s reports public, mostly because of the work that would be involved in cleaning them up, getting permissions and my questioning the value of these reports. Do the readers really care if reviewer A doesn’t like the wording of the abstract, or Reviewer B’s thinks the author has missed a major reference, or reviewer C says the statistical analysis of the data is weak? We return all these comments to the reviewer and ask them (using tracked changes and a point form response) how they responded (or why they choose not to respond) to the concerns and suggestions of the reviewers. Now of course this applies only if we want to see the article again for further review or publication. As Neylon suggests if we decline the offer to publish, the process may start anew with a second journal, but the work of the reviewers is not “simply thrown out the window”. In some cases the author gives up (often appropriately so, as the reviewers found fatal flaws or ones that demand more work than the author is willing to give to the paper). The author also gains the lesson learned and experience (hard though it may feel) of  how NOT to write a scholarly article. But in other cases, a smart author will take into account the comments of the reviewers and improve the paper- thus increasing its chances of successful publication elsewhere. This demonstrates the ongoing value of the reviewers’ work, even if the article is, or is not, published elsewhere.Read More

Happy Holidays!
For your holiday reading, The International review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) offers a final edition, featuring 6 research articles, one note from the field, a book review, and 5 web conference recordings from the Canadian Institute for Distance Education Research.

This issue marks our tenth year and largest number – 6 of issues.  This success makes us mindful of the support of our publisher, Athabasca University Press, our sponsor, Athabasca University, and the many academics and students who volunteer their time and talents in creating, reviewing, and promoting open education research.

Best wishes for a rejuvenating, yet learning-filled holiday and New Year!

Terry Anderson, Editor

IRRODL and the Virtual Canuck

Table of Contents  from www.irrodl.org

Editorial

Research Articles

Field Notes

Book Notes

We are pleased to present this very topical issue of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) on openness. Notions of open scholarship, open access publication, open educational resources, tuition-free institutions, and open source software continue to gain popular, research, and commercial interest. Thus, I was very pleased to receive an email 18 months ago from David Wiley offering to guest edit a special issue of IRRODL on openness.

He and his colleague John Hilton III coordinated a call for proposals and had over 25 responses. From these, 12 were selected for full paper development, and 8 survived peer review and appear as the contents of this issue. Brigette and I would like to thank David and John for their considerable efforts in very actively managing the editorial work involved. I am sure you will join me in congratulating David and John as well as the authors for contributing to this very important and timely special issue. Finally, links are provided to the archived recordings of 5 sessions presented by Athabasca University as part of our Open Access Week celebrations. Enjoy!
Terry Anderson
Editor, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning

Special Issue: Openness and the Future of Higher Education

International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 10(5)

Table of ContentsRead More