Campus Technology (formerly Syllabus)
Executive Director; Program Director and co‑host, CREN TechTalks (audio webcasts), Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN)
Director, Office of Interactive Distance Learning; faculty member in Educational Research (College of Education), The Florida State University
Director, Education Technology Services, Center for Academic Computing, The Pennsylvania State University
Project Leader, Joe Wyatt Challenge (101 Success Stories), EDUCOM (Educational Uses of Information Technology – EUIT)
Instructional designer and manager for PLATO services; liaison to higher‑education associations, Control Data Corporation
Judith V. Boettcher is a U.S.-based consultant, author, and faculty developer widely known for scholarship and practice in online and distance learning, instructional design, and technology‑enhanced teaching in higher education. She is founder and principal of Designing for Learning and has held leadership roles including Executive Director of the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN), Director of the Office of Interactive Distance Learning at The Florida State University, and Director of Education Technology Services at The Pennsylvania State University. She co‑authored The Online Teaching Survival Guide (3rd ed., 2021) and the Faculty Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web (1999/2004) and served on editorial teams for the Encyclopedia of Distance Learning. Her work includes the LeMKE framework (Learner–Mentor–Knowledge–Environment) and widely cited guidance on best practices for teaching online.
A pedagogical design framework that centers four elements present in every learning experience—the Learner, the Mentor/Faculty, the Knowledge/Problem, and the Environment/Context—to clarify roles and align activities, interaction, and assessment in online and campus courses.
Journal of Computing in Higher Education • Journal
Argues that rapidly expanding access to information technologies reshapes education’s goals, pedagogy, and infrastructure. Proposes a new paradigm informed by cognitive science and the information‑rich environment, with implications for teacher–student interaction, institutional delivery systems, and the broader mission of higher education.
John Wiley & Sons / Jossey‑Bass • Book
A comprehensive, practice‑oriented guide to designing and teaching online or blended courses. The third edition presents a research‑grounded framework of instructional strategies mapped across the stages of an online course, with expanded coverage of problem‑solving and assessment strategies, learner independence and collaboration, synchronous teaching, and building students’ metacognitive skills. It reviews current findings in cognition and offers actionable tips on technology use, community building, discussion, and evaluation to help instructors plan, facilitate, and improve online learning.
Encyclopedia of Distance Learning (2nd ed.), IGI Global • Chapter
Outlines a six‑layered approach to designing online learning—aligning institution, infrastructure, program, course, unit/activity, and assessment. Drawing on Vygotskian perspectives, it centers four elements of learning experiences (Learner, Mentor/Faculty, Knowledge/Problem, and Environment/Context) and provides principle‑based questions that guide effective and efficient design of online programs.
Innovate: Journal of Online Education • Journal
Synthesizes insights from cognitive science with established pedagogy to propose 10 principles for designing learning in online and campus settings. Introduces the LeMKE framework—Learner, Mentor (faculty), Knowledge, and Environment—as a way to simplify and align instructional decisions, foregrounding the learner while clarifying roles for faculty, content, and context. The paper offers practical guidelines for structuring activities, interaction, and assessment in technology‑rich courses.
League for Innovation in the Community College • Book
Practice‑focused handbook for faculty transitioning courses online. Offers planning frameworks, activity and assessment templates, workload considerations, and examples that map instructional strategies to media and interaction modes to support effective web‑based teaching.
EDUCAUSE (formerly CAUSE) Professional Paper Series • Report
Provides a primer for higher education on planning and implementing interactive distance learning. Reviews delivery technologies and argues for design that enables rich interaction among students, faculty, and resources. Addresses faculty roles, course development costs, support infrastructure, and institutional change strategies, offering best‑practice guidance for program design and implementation.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning • Journal
Discusses principles and practical considerations for migrating courses to the web, including aligning goals, content, interaction, and support. Emphasizes the importance of faculty roles, student support, and infrastructure in successful web‑based teaching and learning.
The Technology Source (University of North Carolina) • Journal
A concise primer addressing common faculty questions about distance learning during a period of rapid change. Summarizes opportunities and challenges, suggests approaches to course redesign and communication online, and points to resources to support effective practice.