Resources

From the Publisher Eric Law draws on his years of experience with congregations of all denominations to spell out processes for achieving genuine transformation in a congregation attempting to be multiculturally inclusive.

A report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation has found that distance — or online — learning is on the rise and women make up the majority of students. Sixty percent of these nontraditional online learners are over 25 years of age and female. Working mothers interested in furthering their education are doing so online and adding a difficult "third shift" to their responsibilities as mothers and employees, according to the study, by Cheris Kramarae, the AAUW Educational Foundation's 1999-2000 Scholar-in-Residence. The report examines the benefits as well as discouraging factors women experience with online learning and concludes with several recommendations to help women with their third shift. (From the Publisher)

Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig argues that cyberspace is not inherently a libertarian's dream come true. The architecture underlying cyberspace determines its character. If and when that architecture is changed, cyberspace can become highly regulated. Already issues of privacy and tracking are of major concern. Lessig explains how cyberspace is evolving. A must-read for those interested in the laws surrounding cyberspace, as well as concerned private citizens. (From the Publisher)

In this paperback edition of The Social Life of Information, the authors dispel many of the futurists' sweeping predictions that information technology will obliterate the need for everything from travel to supermarkets to business organizations to social life itself. But beaten down by info-glut, exasperated by computer crashes, and burned by dot-com stocks, individual users find it hard to get a fix on the true potential of the digital revolution. A new preface updates and expands on the ideas of the original text, in which John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid argue that the gap between digerati hype and end-user gloom is largely due to the "tunnel vision" that information-driven technologies breed. We've become so focused on where we think we ought to be that we often fail to see where we're really going. We need to look beyond our obsession with information and individuals to include the critical social networks of which these are always a part. The Social Life of Information shows how a better understanding of the contribution that communities, organizations, and institutions make to learning, working, and innovating can lead to the richest possible use of technology in our work and everyday lives. (From the Publisher)

The Web doesn't exist in space, yet we talk about going to sites, entering them, and leaving. Diaries move online and suddenly they're more about creating selves than writing about them. Web sites don't have fences, yet a site for auction hunters was found to have trespassed on eBay, a metaphorical offense for which it paid a very real price. Companies invest heavily in professional, polished Web sites, but the Web rewards sites that revel in imperfection. Bits are the "atoms" of the Web, but they have no weight, no size and no real existence. These anomalies are just a few that show how uncomfortable the fit between the Web and the real world is -- and how deeply weird the ordinary life of the Web is. In this one-of-a-kind book of social commentary, David Weinberger takes us beyond the hype, revealing what is truly revolutionary about this new medium. Just as Marshall McLuhan forever altered our view of broadcast media, Weinberger shows that the Web is transforming not only social institutions but also bedrock concepts of our world such as space, time, self, knowledge -- even reality itself. The Web would be important enough if it hooked up our species on a global scale. But, Weinberger argues, it is doing much more than that. Unlike previous technologies such as the phone or fax, the Web is a permanent public space that gathers value every time someone posts a Web page, responds on a discussion board, or replies to a mail list. More and more of our lives together are being lived in this new, second world that intersects the real world in ways we have only begun to understand. Weinberger introduces us to the denizens of this second world, people like Zannah, whose online diary turns self-revelation into play; Tim Bray, whose map of the Web reveals what's at the heart of the new Web space; and Danny Yee and Claudiu Popa, part of the new breed of Web experts we trust despite their lack of obvious qualifications. Through these stories of life on the Web, an insightful take on some familiar -- and some unfamiliar -- Web sites, and a pervasive sense of humor, Weinberger is the first to put the Web into the social and intellectual context we need to begin assessing its true impact on our lives. The irony, according to Weinberger, is that this seemingly weird new technology is more in tune with our authentic selves than is the modern world. Because the Web foils our conventional assumptions about concepts like space and time and self, we are led back to a more authentic view of what it means to be a person sharing a world with others -- whether it's the world of the Web or the real world of atoms. Our experience on the Web enables us to recapture the truth of our experience of the real world. Funny, provocative, and ultimately hopeful, Small Pieces Loosely Joined makes us look at the Web as never before. (From the Publisher)

Distance learning offers unprecedented access to higher education, to people from all walks of life. A person can now easily take a college-level course without ever setting foot on campus or meeting with his or her professor face to face. Well-credentialed authors collaborate in "Distance Learners in Higher Education", designed to give faculty unique perspectives on a variety of issues in higher education today. Edited by Chere Campbell Gibson, this volume encompasses the full realm of teaching and learning at a distance from both an administrative and faculty viewpoint. Connecting the demographics of the distance learner, cultural considerations, academic self-concept and support, and learning strategies, "Distance Learners" is of interest to faculty and administrators in higher education. This book focuses on the learner and the conditions for learning, and is essential for those who need to stay current in this rapidly changing area. (From the Publisher)

In The Color of Faith, Fumitaka Matsuoka provides a theological perspective on racial and ethnic plurality by exploring such issues as alienation across shifting race lines, race and justice; the interworkings of race, class, and culture; and signs of hope amid an enduring culture of opposition. Interdisciplinary in its approach, this is a constructive theological work that reflects on the role Christian faith communities play in a multiracial society and forges a new vision of human relatedness and community building. (From the Publisher)

This groundbreaking new book considers what is required of good moderators and presents practical information for their training and development, set in the context of the rapid development and combination of Information and Communications Technologies and the wide impact these are having in open and distance learning.In addition, this highly topical and forward looking book introduces the reader to the latest thinking in online computer mediated education, and explores the key role of the trainer, teacher or tutor as moderator. Tried and tested techniques are outlined and the book explains how to set up an online environment that will maximize the success of the moderator when working with students. Moderators, trainers, lecturers, academics, and course developers currently working in or planning to move towards online teaching will benefit from this book. E-Moderating is a new addition to the leading edge Open and Distance Learning series. (From the Publisher)