Jean R. Strait - Böcker

As a new generation of practitioners engages with service learning, at a time when higher education faces questions about learning outcomes and costs, and in the context of such issues as globalization and the environment, this book poses important questions about practice, institutional sustainability, and future directions. Among these are:What counts as service learning? What value does it bring to institutions? Is it appropriate for all students? How is globalization impacting service learning? Divided into three thematic parts, this book successively covers institutional and administrative issues; service learning as a springboard for research; and presents new practices that address emerging challenges and changing student populations. The contributors review how different institutional types have structured their service learning activities; address the issue of centralization or decentralization; propose better ways to form community partnerships; consider promotion and tenure implications; postulate framing service-learning and community engagement as scholarship; and examine service-learning as a springboard for research. Further chapters offer a new blueprint for funding to achieve sustainability; examples of international service learning from a European perspective; a case study and framework for using on-line formats to extend the reach of a program; raise the urgent issue of the experiences and contributions of underrepresented students; and present the rationale and processes for developing effective student-led evaluation of programs.

This book serves as an introduction to using online teaching technologies and hybrid forms of teaching for experiential learning and civic engagement. Service-learning has kept pace neither with the rapid growth in e-learning in all its forms nor with the reality that an increasing number of students are learning online without exposure to the benefits of this powerful pedagogy.Eservice-learning (electronic service-learning) combines service-learning and on-line learning and enables the delivery of the instruction and/or the service to occur partially or fully online. Eservice-learning allows students anywhere, regardless of geography, physical constraints, work schedule, or other access limitations, to experience service-learning. It reciprocally also equips online learning with a powerful tool for engaging students.In eservice-learning, the core components of service, learning, and reflection may take a different form due to the online medium—for example, reflection often occurs through discussion board interactions, journals, wikis, or blogs in an eservice-learning course. Moreover, the service, though still community-based, creates a world of opportunities to connect students with communities across the globe—as well as at their very own doorstep.This book introduces the reader to the four emerging types of eservice-learning, from Extreme EService-Learning (XE-SL) classes where 100% of the instruction and 100% of the service occur online, to three distinct forms of hybrid where either the service or the instruction are delivered wholly on-line – with students, for instance, providing online products for far-away community partners – or in which both are delivered on-site and online. It considers the instructional potential of common mobile technologies – phones, tablets and mobile reading devices. The authors also address potential limitations, such as technology challenges, difficulties sustaining three-way communication among the instructor, community partner, and students, and added workload.The book includes research studies on effectiveness as well as examples of practice such drafting grants for a community partner, an informational technology class building online communities for an autism group, and an online education class providing virtual mentoring to at-risk students in New Orleans from across the country.

This book serves as an introduction to using online teaching technologies and hybrid forms of teaching for experiential learning and civic engagement. Service-learning has kept pace neither with the rapid growth in e-learning in all its forms nor with the reality that an increasing number of students are learning online without exposure to the benefits of this powerful pedagogy.Eservice-learning (electronic service-learning) combines service-learning and on-line learning and enables the delivery of the instruction and/or the service to occur partially or fully online. Eservice-learning allows students anywhere, regardless of geography, physical constraints, work schedule, or other access limitations, to experience service-learning. It reciprocally also equips online learning with a powerful tool for engaging students.In eservice-learning, the core components of service, learning, and reflection may take a different form due to the online medium—for example, reflection often occurs through discussion board interactions, journals, wikis, or blogs in an eservice-learning course. Moreover, the service, though still community-based, creates a world of opportunities to connect students with communities across the globe—as well as at their very own doorstep.This book introduces the reader to the four emerging types of eservice-learning, from Extreme EService-Learning (XE-SL) classes where 100% of the instruction and 100% of the service occur online, to three distinct forms of hybrid where either the service or the instruction are delivered wholly on-line – with students, for instance, providing online products for far-away community partners – or in which both are delivered on-site and online. It considers the instructional potential of common mobile technologies – phones, tablets and mobile reading devices. The authors also address potential limitations, such as technology challenges, difficulties sustaining three-way communication among the instructor, community partner, and students, and added workload.The book includes research studies on effectiveness as well as examples of practice such drafting grants for a community partner, an informational technology class building online communities for an autism group, and an online education class providing virtual mentoring to at-risk students in New Orleans from across the country.

Service-learning is a powerful method of teaching and learning that has been used effectively for more than two decades. Its efficacy has been researched in a variety of ways and this volume continues to expand that research base. In particular, in this volume, Service-Learning Pedagogy: How Does It Measure Up?, we explore three broad areas of service-learning research and practice that reflect broader discussions of the role of pedagogy in today’s educational reform efforts: Teacher Education, Crossing Boundaries: Deepening Relationships in Service-Learning and New Paradigms/Conceptual Frameworks.Many have called for more rigorous methods when researching service-learning pedagogy. That has been the major impetus for this volume. We seek to generate knowledge regarding service-learning pedagogy, while developing theories about it. We surface some elusive affective characteristics of the pedagogy, which we know has the power to produce transformational learning. To this end, the authors who have contributed to this volume effectively add to the growing body of knowledge in the field and help us get closer to understanding the extent to which service-learning does and does not measure up.

Service-learning is a powerful method of teaching and learning that has been used effectively for more than two decades. Its efficacy has been researched in a variety of ways and this volume continues to expand that research base. In particular, in this volume, Service-Learning Pedagogy: How Does It Measure Up?, we explore three broad areas of service-learning research and practice that reflect broader discussions of the role of pedagogy in today’s educational reform efforts: Teacher Education, Crossing Boundaries: Deepening Relationships in Service-Learning and New Paradigms/Conceptual Frameworks.Many have called for more rigorous methods when researching service-learning pedagogy. That has been the major impetus for this volume. We seek to generate knowledge regarding service-learning pedagogy, while developing theories about it. We surface some elusive affective characteristics of the pedagogy, which we know has the power to produce transformational learning. To this end, the authors who have contributed to this volume effectively add to the growing body of knowledge in the field and help us get closer to understanding the extent to which service-learning does and does not measure up.

When considering inequality, one goal for educators is to enhance critical engagement to allow learners an opportunity to participate in an inquiry process that advances democracy. Service-learning pedagogy offers an opportunity to advance engaged-learning opportunities within higher education. This is particularly important given the power dynamics that are endemic within conversations about education, including the conversations around the Common Core, charter schools, and the privatization of education.Critical inquiry is central to the ethos of service-learning pedagogy, a pedagogy that is built upon community partner participation and active reflection. Within higher education, service-learning offers an important opportunity to enhance practice within the community, allowing students to engage stakeholders and youth which is particularly important given the dramatic inequalities that are endemic in today’s society.

When considering inequality, one goal for educators is to enhance critical engagement to allow learners an opportunity to participate in an inquiry process that advances democracy. Service-learning pedagogy offers an opportunity to advance engaged-learning opportunities within higher education. This is particularly important given the power dynamics that are endemic within conversations about education, including the conversations around the Common Core, charter schools, and the privatization of education.Critical inquiry is central to the ethos of service-learning pedagogy, a pedagogy that is built upon community partner participation and active reflection. Within higher education, service-learning offers an important opportunity to enhance practice within the community, allowing students to engage stakeholders and youth which is particularly important given the dramatic inequalities that are endemic in today’s society.

The chapters in this book provide an excellent story of the growth of e-learning and eService-learning over the past many years. Strait takes us from the first chapter examining current issues and considerations for eService-Learning, to a second chapter that documents the growth and maturation of a program at Missouri State University, to chapters that introduce “critical” e-service learning with a social justice orientation (Gordon and Jackson-Brown), and chapters that address international experiences (Ong, Tan, et al., and Dietrich and Ekici) that involve eService-learning in Singapore and long-distance relationships between the U.S. and Afghanistan, to illustrate the multiplicity and diversity of current models of service and learning that occur through electronic means.The importance of the book and its chapters is that change happens. What was occurring in the early 21st century was altered by situations, such as the global pandemic of COVID-19, to increase the reliance on e-educational systems and promote the increased use of electronic educational programs that covered almost all areas of educational systems. While early mobile phones existed in the 1970s (Teixeira, T. 2010), they evolved, and more sophisticated versions were produced throughout the 20th century. By the end of the century, phones that could easily transmit emails were developed, and then came camera phones and then smart phones by 2003. And phone communication has continued to change, existing today as a total communication device used by people all over the world.Similarly, video, and visual systems have evolved and continue to change. Zoom was developed in 2011 and has continued to evolve and expand services all over the world. People are now able to visually and orally communicate with others on every continent 24 hours a day, and the complexity and utility of communication has similarly expanded. Now phones can instantaneously translate between languages and people in all parts of the world can share experiences and visual products without barriers of language, country, or time. Indeed, the electronic world is an amazing entity and continues to evolve each year.So, what are the implications of all these changes for education and service? Simply put, they are and will continue to evolve to more complex and more useful forms for all communication and interaction. And this current volume gives us much insight into the important areas of change in both e-learning and eService-learning. All the chapters add great insight and information about important issues in the field and highlight some of the critical concepts embedded in its development.