This semester, as part of my Instructional Systems Design Master’s program, I am taking EDC 605: Distance Learning Research and Design. I’m really excited about taking this course, as I think it will greatly benefit the work I currently do in Online Ed. What I’m really interested in is one of the books that we are assigned: Face to Face Communication over the Internet: Emotions in a Web of Culture, Language and Technology, edited by Arvid Kappas and Nicole C. Kramer. I think this is a really interesting topic, as I had never really thought about how emotions and nonverbal communication could affect online F2F communication, using tools such as Skype and Adobe Connect. There are also several articles which discuss race and gender and how these affect communication online. I’m really excited to begin reading this book, and hopefully I will be able to write another blog post once I have begun reading the articles.