Book review of Transactional Distance and Adaptive Learning
Susan S. Ko
OLJ Editorial Board
Saba, Farhad and Shearer, Rick (2018). Transactional Distance and Adaptive Learning: Planning for the Future of Higher Education. 212 pages. Paperback: New York:
Routledge.
ISBN: 9781138302327
ISBN-10: 1138302325
Keywords: book review, transactional distance, Michael Moore, adaptive learning
Michael Moore’s theory of transactional distance (TDT) is a fundamental pedagogical theory and systematic way to analyze the practice of distance education. First articulated under that name nearly 40 years ago, TDT has by now attained the status of an
essential distance learning theory, one that will not be unfamiliar to most working today in the field of online education. This new book demonstrates how this deceptively simple and elegant theory continues to hold currency in the midst of the disruptive and sometimes confusing changes we are witnessing in higher education.
The authors of this book, Farhad Saba and Rick Shearer, are well-known and respected figures in online education, and they bring rich experience and a depth of perspective that allows them to both measure the distance we have come in technology mediated education and, at the same time, to demonstrate a heightened awareness of the perils and potential benefits of new communication and technology tools.
