The world of online education is full of new terms, acronyms, and old terms with new meaning. Consequently, this glossary gives you a basic definition with accompanying examples. If you need to look up any other 'tech' words, please consult the Tech Dictionary at http://techdictionary.com/ or Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.
| Educational Term | Definition | Examples/Uses/ Purposes |
|---|---|---|
| ACCESSIBILITY | Accessibility refers to ease of access for people with disabilities. Accessible Web sites can be used by those with visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments. Accessibility refers to the ease of access for people with disabilities. Accessible Web sites can be used by all people with visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments (World Accessibility Initiative [WAI], 2005). Accessible online courses in conjunction with specific software and hardware tools help to address the needs of visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. | Section 508 of the U.S. Government 1998 Rehabilitation Act says that all electronic and information technology procured, used, or developed by the federal government must be accessible to people with disabilities. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a way of implementing accessible educational digital resources. |
| ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION | Asynchronous means "not at the same time." Asynchronous communication is often used to refer to communication where the recipients do not have to be present at the same time and can respond at their own convenience. | Online discussions, journals, and wikis, and blogs in most courses are asynchronous, meaning that you, your co-learners, and the instructor do not have to be online at the same time to communicate. |
| BLENDED LEARNING | Integrates seemingly opposite approaches, such as formal and informal learning, face-to-face and online experiences, directed paths and self-direction, and digital references and collegial connections to achieve individual and organizational goals. | Blended learning environments combine face-to-face and online settings, human-based and technology-based media, or asynchronous and synchronous communication. |
| BLOG | A WEBLOG, usually abbreviated to BLOG, is an easy-to-use, Web-based self-publication environment. | See http://www.wordpress.com |
| BROWSER | Software that enables users to access and navigate the World Wide Web. | Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Safari, and Firefox are browsers that are in widespread use. |
| CHAT | A synchronous, mainly text-based communication facility, offering a Web-based environment where people either drop into or arrange to meet and "chat" at specific times. | In a chat room you communicate online in real time by sending and receiving text messages. |
| COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE | A group of individuals who share their knowledge and experience as they participate in a collection of activities. Together they form an interdependent network over an extended period of time with the shared goal of furthering their "practice" or increasing their work performance. | A group of instructors may get together (online or locally) to reflect on their own disciplinary practices as a means of improving their field of study. |
| DISCUSSION FORUM | In an online course, the discussion forum takes the place of the physical classroom discussion. It is a place to build knowledge through a primarily text-based interaction on topics worth exploring and to deepen understanding. | Discussions in an online course are asynchronous as they take place over an extended period of time and at the convenience of the learner. |
| EMOTICON | One of a variety of symbols depicting facial expressions that represent emotions. | Emoticons attempt to add emotion to text-based posts. They must be read sideways, as with the "smile" face. :-) |
| FACILITATING FROM THE SIDE/ FROM THE CENTER | Facilitating from the side demands that instructors become co-learners who guide others to deeper their learning by identifying and highlighting important points and by pushing thinking with interventions that sharpen the focus. | Typically, when you instructor adult learners you act as the guide on the side. Many traditional university professors take the role of the 'sage on the stage' serving as the focal point of all communications. |
| FACILITATOR | Facilitating discussions is part of the larger role of facilitating an online course. A facilitator has many roles including an intellectual, social, organizational, and technical role. | The primary role of the facilitator is to moderate discussions by deepening the learning and enhancing the outcomes. (See Collison et al., 2000. Facilitating Online Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderating) |
| GROUNDED DISCUSSION | Discussions where the participants base their contributions on specific events portrayed in a case or video examples. | Grounded discussions of a case study explore the complexity of the experiences represented by the case and embedded in the nuances of the portrayed events. |
| HTML | HTML or HyperText Markup Language is the code used for Web pages. The code tells the file how it should look in a Web browser. | This is some HTML code: <strong>This is bold text.</strong> In a Web browser, the text appears this way: This is bold text. |
| INTERACTIVE TOOLS / VIRTUAL MANIPULATIVES | Digital models with multiple representations of a learning experience using numeric, graphic, symbolic, and auditory learning objects. Typically, you can manipulate the model and its variables. | Simulations and games are typically interactive when the learner can manipulate the knowledge modeled with multiple representations. |
| LEARNING COMMUNITY | A learning community is safe environment based on trust where learners reciprocate information regarding the learning process and contribute an equally among community members. | The safe and trustworthy environment is rooted on credibility (i.e., another's word can be relied on) and benevolence, the extent to which learners are interested in the welfare of co-learners. |
| LEARNING OBJECTS/REUSABLE LEARNING EXPERIENCES (MODULES) | Typically, a learning object represents discrete digital media elements (text, graphics, audio, video, animations) that can be put together to form lessons, modules, or courses, then reused for other learning purposes. | A digital slideshow, video, interactive graphics, or department policies or procedures, all represent learning objects that might be used in other courses. |
| NETIQUETTE | Etiquette on the Internet, found in codes of conduct drawn up by users to encourage respect and/or curtail abusive behavior. | The online equivalent of the social skills and understandings covered by the term etiquette in face-to-face environments. |
| An abbreviation for Portable Document Format. This is a file that allows fully formatted documents to be transmitted across the Internet and viewed on any computer that has the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader. | PDF files end with .pdf and can be opened with the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader. | |
| PLUG-IN | An extra piece of software that a Web browser needs to run certain elements of a Web page. | Web pages incorporating multimedia files often need Flash, QuickTime, Shockwave or RealPlayer plug-ins. |
| PODCAST | A podcast is an audio file, typically in the MP3 format, that the learner can download from the internet and listen to at their convenience. The term podcast takes its name from a combination of iPod (Apple's portable digital audio player) and broadcasting, but podcasts do not necessarily require the use of an iPod. | Many instructors link to recent news and/or community events or instructor podcasts that contribute to the learning experience much like a video or multimedia presentation without the visual representation. |
| POST (or message) | To send an electronic communication, generally to a threaded discussion group or a listserv supports dialogue on a topic. | In noun from, a post (or posting) refers to that which a facilitator or participant "posts" for discussion. |
| SEARCH ENGINE | A website that enables the learner to search the Web for key words and phrases and to locate related Web sites. | Commonly used search engines are provided by Alta Vista, Google, Lycos, Ask, and Yahoo. |
| SIMULATION | Pre-defined but dynamic model of a situation, which allows the user to pretend to do things that might be impractical or dangerous in real life. | You can find simulations across the sciences and humanities and other real world applications such as evolution, physics, history, and health sciences. Visit www.merlot.org and search on "simulations" for more examples. |
| SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION | Digital communication that takes place at the same time. | Often used to refer to communication in a Chat Room or via Videoconferencing, where the participants have to be present at their computers at the same time. It is important to assess your audience and their respective time zones when you consider using any synchronous communication methods. |
| THREADED DISCUSSION | Threaded discussion refers to an asynchronous method of communicating where comments to an original post are listed below, and indented under, the original post. | A thread refers to a full list of comments participants have made to the original post. This is called the "thread starter" or "discussion prompt." Discussions are threaded in most online courses. |
| TONE | Tone in writing is usually defined as your attitude toward your audience, subject, and yourself. | Tones of voice include whimsical, curious, neutral, and nurturing. In online communication, which lacks visual and facial cues, text is used to convey the author's tone of voice. Consequently, you have to ensure you employ the proper tone to effectively communicate with your audience. |
| VIDEOCONFERENCING | A system that allows a group of users anywhere in the world to conduct a "virtual conference" using video and audio over a large screen or on your computer monitor. | Videoconferencing enables learners to see and hear one another as if they were in the same room participating in a real conference. Similar to a chat, videoconferencing is a synchronous communication method and you must consider your audience and their time zones prior to employing this method of communication. |
| VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE | A learning community distributed across space where groups of individuals participate in activities, share knowledge and expertise, and function as an interdependent network over an extended period of time, using various technological means to communicate with one another, with the shared goal of improving their practice. | For example, Scope is an e-learning virtual community of practice: http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/ |
| VOICE | A facilitator uses a particular voice in his or her online interventions (posts) to sharpen the dialogue focus or dig deeper into the discussion. | Voices include personal muse, conceptual facilitator, role play, and mediator, among others. |
| WEBQUEST | A task-oriented activity, originally created by Bernie Dodge, where the learner works draws on material primarily from different Web sites in order to achieve a specific goal. | For example, a webquest might include researching a topic and producing a short essay or answering a series of questions posed by the teacher. Most of the exercises focus on reading, listening, and writing; however, synchronous or asychronous communications may also be included in the exercises. WebQuests support the constructivist approach to learning. |
| WIKI | Wiki is an editable Web site where several authors come together online to generate and modify content easily. | Wiki also refers to the software used to create such a Web site. Wiki derives from the Hawaiian "wiki-wiki," meaning "quick." |
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