ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a view of Web-based education (WBE) in human services at the beginning of the 21st Century. It provides a literature review, theoretical perspectives, faculty perspectives on web-based courses, accessibility and the emotional dimension of web-based education. The book highlights two courses that focus on international collaboration and 'Special Features and Examples of Web-Based Courses' presents a variety of web-based courses that emphasize particular features or perspectives. A constructivist, emotionally-oriented (CEO) model of web-based education is presented and the author concludes with some ideas on how we can build more affect into course development and delivery. Employing a WebCam provided more direct contact and revealed some of the difficulties learners experienced in interpreting questions in English that was not readily apparent in chat and written material.
