One of the primary questions the editors of this book address is how the state of online education has evolved over the past ten years. They are pressed to consider the question as a follow-up to their previous effort [1], which covered the state of the field ten years ago. Perhaps more important now, though, is their perspective, presented in the afterward, on the direction the field is likely headed over the next ten years. On this point, they state unequivocally that online education is here to stay, a point that was not clear earlier.

Today, online education is a fixture of higher education and “is neither better nor worse than traditional, face-to-face education, but different.”

A few of the offerings in the volume stand out. For example, in her chapter, “From Gamers to Grammarians,” Virginia Tucker examines how online gaming is changing the nature of discourse in the classroom. Tucker notes that gaming and social networking entail “participating in complex virtual societies in which language affects not just their message but their credibility in this digital world.” She reports that gamers earn respect because they use correct grammar and punctuation, like those students in education who project a “knowledgeable self in the virtual classroom.” Tucker makes a critical point by concluding that if students are responsible for their online discourse, then “we enable them to socially construct the rules of their own discourse as they would in a gaming environment and strengthen their bond as a knowledge-making community.”

Another notable contribution comes from Lesley Scopes and Bryan Carter, who discuss cybergogy, Second Life, and online communication. They make the dramatic claim that Second Life engages learners in exploiting the potential of the environment, and argue that beyond the “flatlands” of Web 1.0 lie the possibilities of an online persona not limited by physicality:

Collaborating with students or colleagues at other universities from around the world; interacting with those outside academia, and traveling to distant locations that enhance learning, multi-modal communication, and an alternate sense of presence when physicality is not always possible are just a few of the possibilities.

Second Life opens up a learning potential that is unavailable otherwise. This is the good news of cybergogy.

On the other hand, there is bad news for faculty. Those who have embraced cybergogy--the “new digitals”--may not have access to the perks of academia, such as tenure, which is a perennial issue for early adopters of technology. This situation may work out fine in the long run, but it does show that cybergogy remains on the “bleeding edge” and not simply the cutting edge of technology.

Three additional issues are addressed in the afterword: fiscal, technological, and theoretical. The fiscal topic concerns the “new austerity” of the budget crunch over the past five years. Program directors are doing more with less, using online instruction extensively, even without consistent faculty development. Nevertheless, students are taking more online classes because they require the convenience.

Finally, there is the theoretical question. Several contributors address rhetorical theory, with social construction a close second. Other common threads include the role of communities of practice, instructional design theories, and critical theories of technology.

The volume verifies that online learning is “alive and well.” It is “developing a sound theoretical basis” and is “grounded in theory.” The financial leanness has not slowed the growth of online learning, given that students require the learning opportunities afforded by online convenience. As more computer literate students enter the classroom, they are meeting enterprising faculty who are responding appropriately to their needs.

A couple of books complement this text [2,3].