Internet Learning Volume 5, Number 1, Fall 2016/Winter 2017 | Page 70

A Review of “Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology”
an and novice educators, in both online
and live classroom settings.
The sixth chapter is noteworthy
and needs to be highlighted apart from
the other two chapters. This chapter
has the most information that would
be beneficial to those who are new to
teaching. Individuals, who are new to
higher education, but have a K-12 or
similar teaching background, will find
this information a bit elementary; however,
those who enter the education
field should not skip this chapter.
Chapters 7 and 8
The final chapters, Incorporating Multimedia
Effectively and Motivating Students,
are two of the strongest because
the context of the information is broad
and can be easily applied to different
learning environments. In the seventh
chapter, Miller explains the importance
of determining what role technology
should have in a course, how students’
learning styles need to be considered,
and how to accommodate diversity
among learners. One implication is that
students may or may not have sensory
limitations, and therefore may or may
not be overloaded from too much technology.
In the eighth chapter, Miller discusses
typical, but necessary, motivation
topics, including procrastination,
self-management skills, and growth
mindset. She includes a section on
gamification, in which students become
players in game-like activities that promote
learning. This topic is quickly
gaining attention, though resources
are not widely available in every field.
Hopefully, new research in this area will
spur the onset of software development
and branch out to a range of disciplines.
The topics covered in these two chapters
include information readers can
relate to in one way or another. Regardless
of teaching environment, Miller has
framed the material so that it is applicable
to various institutional settings.
Chapter 9
The closing chapter, Putting It All Together,
is the icing on the cake. Miller
lists cognitive principles with guiding
questions, and then pairs them with
tools and techniques, which are suggestions
of how or what to implement to
address specific issues. Following this
section is the Cognitively Optimized
Sample Course Plan, which is an author-created
syllabus demonstrating
how the principles would be applied in
a course. In 16 pages, the aptly named
chapter delivers a well-constructed syllabus
that demonstrates an application
of her guiding principles and practices
based on the psychology of online
teaching and learning.
Conclusion
New faculty members in higher education
have wide-ranging requirements as
part of their orientations or introductory
seminars. Some universities even require
the completion of a course prior
to being extended a job offer. Miller’s
text would complement any orientation/introductory
seminar because of
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