Student-Centered Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education

Book excerpt: Online and virtual education is continually integrated in university classrooms. While online learning provides a more cost-effective alternative for students, educators must also analyze the psychology of online learners and identify ways to support their growth and development in their respective instructional settings. Student-Centered Virtual Learning Environments in Higher Education is a collection of innovative research that focuses on connecting contextual analyses of student-focused online instruction with quality assurance principles to improve higher education. Highlighting a range of topics including instructional design, professional development, and student engagement, this book is ideally designed for educators, software developers, instructional designers, educational administration, academicians, and students seeking current research on emerging principles and practices related to designing, implementing, and evaluating virtual teaching and learning.