Chapter One including the abstract Dissertation

Chapter One including the abstract - Dissertation Example It is on this basis that faculty-designers have emerged as critical a component in the development of online courses. Given the importance of faculty-designers, there is need to ensure that these faculty-developers possess requisite skills and competencies that are key in maintaining the quality of online courses. This chapter presents issues surrounding the skills, competencies and best practices for designing online courses. In addition to these issues, this chapter will present the purpose of the research, research questions and hypotheses, justification and significance of the research, as well as limitations and assumptions for the research. Keywords: Faculty-designers, Skills and Competencies, Instructional Materials, Online Courses and Best Practices Chapter One Introduction Online education has experienced unprecedented growth in the last decade. Rapid growth of online education has emergence along with sophisticated information and communication technologies. Information tec hnology tools have been integrated into online platforms and enhance delivery of learning materials. Proponents of distance education have applauded the flexibility and convenience of online learning studies. However, dissenting voices have increasingly raised concerns over the quality of online courses. ... Many of the decisions influencing the successful delivery of course materials take place prior to commencement of online classes. Course design stage requires careful planning to not only make teaching more enjoyable and easy, but also to facilitate effective student learning. Well-designed courses facilitate smooth implementation of course content on a day-to-day basis (Anderson, 2008). Faculty-designers require requisite skills and competencies that will assure the effectiveness and quality of online learning (Weston, 2009). Increasing demands for online courses stimulated many institutions of higher learning to offer online courses. As the number of middle-level colleges and fully fledged universities offering online courses continues to grow, a pressing need has arisen for highly skilled and competent faculty-designers (Salmon, 2004). Skilled and competent faculty-designers are needed in crafting professional development and technical training online courses (Watson, Watson and R eigeluth, 2012). The quality of online courses has been compromised, in part, by hastily-developed learning materials (Hsu and Lin, 2008). Much as information technology has the potential to develop and implement effective online learning, the quality of this modern pedagogy is compromised by lack of competent faculty-designers (Anderson, 2008). The rapid growth of online learning has focused increasing attention to components that constitutes a quality online course (Reigeluth, 2011). Understanding of how to design an online course and what is needed to be an effective online instructor has deepened significantly (Hsu and Lin, 2008). Technologies used to design and access online courses have also improved tremendously. Equally important, faculty-designers have

The different directions in Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The different directions in Judaism - Essay Example Most people translate the Halakha as a Jewish law, however, in the real sense, it means the path. That is the manner in which people ought to live. On this basis, most Jews who lived in the diaspora used the Halakha as a source of their religious and civil laws. In the contemporary and modern Jewish society, the personal and the family laws are always under the authority of the rabbi courts. On this basis, the family and personal values are always under the guidance of the Halakha. In interpreting the Halakha, there are three main Jewish directions, namely the Orthodox, the liberal, and the Hasidism directions. The Orthodox Jews believe in the Halakha as a religious system (Landesmann and Jones, 2012). They believe that the Halakha is a revelation of the will of God. Orthodox Jews believe that the Rabbis have a duty of interpreting the written Torah, where its provisions are not clear. However, they must only to do so with the regulations specified by Moses, at the mountain of Sinai. These regulations under consideration were transmitted orally, and they are clearly explained in the book of Talmud. Orthodox Jews believe that no rabbi has an authority to change the Jewish laws contained in the Talmud and the Torah, all they can do is to give an interpretation of these laws. However, their interpretations are subject to change, and reconsideration. According to the Orthodox Judaism, the role of a woman is dynamic and complex. Women under the Orthodox Judaism are allowed to engage in business, to observe the Sabbath, to engage in activities aimed for their personal development, and this includes academics, etc. The role of Jewish Orthodox women revolve around the mentioned areas. However, the Halakha does not identify the specific duties and roles of women amongst the Orthodox Jews; however, the orthodox Jews believe that the Halakha only provides guidance on how women should live. The orthodox Jews believe in the role of a