March 27, 2019 – 2pm EST – Instructional Design in Distance Education: From Theory to Practice – Rick Shearer and Eunsung Park – Zoom URL: https://psu.zoom.us/j/693151698 (additional meeting info below). A Microsoft Translator code will be provided for our non-English speaking colleagues.
The authors will present an overview of their current chapter from the 4th edition of the Handbook of Distance Education and will explore key design factors with the audience – and how they are related to the field.
About the presenters:
Dr. Rick L. Shearer
Director of Research – World Campus
The Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Shearer has been involved in the field of distance education for over 30 years. In his administrative and instructional design roles he has developed distance education courses for computer-based instruction, educational television, traditional print correspondence courses, two-way interactive video, and the internet. Dr. Shearer has worked for both private and public institutions of higher education and has consulted on distance education projects with community colleges, international institutions, and public school systems. His research interests include systems dynamic modeling of distance education processes, learner control in distance education, dialogue/interaction analysis, and current policy issues surrounding accreditation and copyright law. Dr. Shearer has published several articles, books, and book chapters on the field of distance education and presented at numerous conferences. His latest book with Dr. Saba explores the systems nature of higher education around the theoretical construct of transactional distance, and his 2010 book looks at the theoretical aspects of Transactional Distance and Dialogue in relation to the theory of transactional distance. His recent chapter in the fourth edition of the Handbook of Distance Education reviews the theory of transactional distance and the CoI model and how they impact instructional design and practice in distance education.
In his current role Dr. Shearer is responsible for overseeing the R&D unit for Penn State’s World Campus. In his position he works with a number of GA Fellows and other staff who are exploring a number of key theoretical and pragmatic areas related to distance education. Dr. Shearer also serves as an affiliate faculty member with the Department of Adult Education and teaches Instructional Design for Distance Education.
Prior to joining Penn State Dr. Shearer was the Director of Research and Instructional Systems at National University.
Dr. Shearer currently serves on the editorial board for the New Zealand Journal of Open and Distance Learning and is on the advisory board for the Advisory Board for UW-Madison’s Distance Education Professional Development (DEPD).
Dr. Shearer has co-authored a recent book 
entitled “Transactional Distance and Adaptive Learning: Planning for the Future of Higher Education” – which can be found here.
Eunsung Park
Eunsung Park is a doctoral candidate in Learning and Performance Systems at Pennsylvania State University. She has worked as a technology instructor in K-12 through higher education for over a 
decade. At PSU, she has been working as a teaching assistant for Penn State’s online courses, and a course developer and a designer across various Penn State online courses. Her current research interests include students’ learning experience in technology-enhanced learning environments such as adaptive learning and learning analytics dashboard, knowledge structure, and metacognition and calibration in a self-regulated learning environment.
