ABSTRACT
All media both afford and constrain learning in their own particular ways and accordingly afford and constrain the efficacy of differing pedagogical approaches. This chapter explores what eLearning leaders should know about teaching in online and blended learning environments. It begins with brief reviews of the more relevant pedagogical approaches and then examines online teaching and instructional design for eLearning environments. The chapter examines constructivist and connectivist pedagogies and andragogical and heutagogical approaches that inform eLearning in higher education today. It considers the CoI framework as a way of conceptualizing learning processes in collaborative online environments and the research supporting the importance of developing teaching presence and instructor (social) presence in such spaces. The chapter provides new and emerging technologies that are affecting or will soon affect eLearning in higher education, specifically, learning analytics, massive open online courses, competency-based and adaptive learning systems, and artificial intelligence.
