Teaching at Scale

Improving Access, Outcomes, and Impact Through Digital Instruction

Leveraging Scale to Improve Learning

Teaching at Scale explores the characteristics and parameters of large-scale online learning by identifying, in its perceived drawbacks, a wealth of educational opportunities in disguise. Scalable learning platforms have exploded in popularity over recent years, with MOOCS (massive open online courses), online degree programs, informal learning communities, and alternative credentials all drawing significant enrollments. But, as many educators are asking, are the challenges to delivering education at scale too great and the compromises too many? This book guides instructors to leverage their complex responsibilities—open-ended assessments at scale, individuated feedback to students, academic integrity in less controlled environments, and more—into significant assets. Informed by real-world institutional experience as well as key research in cognitive science and the learning sciences, each chapter provides practical strategies for educators and administrators seeking to solve problems and fulfill the high-quality, broad-access potential of large-scale instruction for lifelong learners.

About the author.

David Joyner is executive director of Online Education & OMSCS in Georgia Tech’s College of Computing and the inaugural holder of the Zvi Galil PEACE (Pervasive Equitable Access to Computing Education) Chair. He has authored over 50 papers and three books on online learning and CS education. He teaches five online classes reaching over 3,000 students per semester, and he has received several awards for his work in teaching online, including the 2022 College of Computing Outstanding Faculty Leadership Award, the 2019 USG Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award for Online Teaching, and the 2018 Georgia Tech Center for Teaching & Learning Curriculum Innovation Award. He has served as the chair of the ACM Learning @ Scale conference steering committee, as well as the conference’s General Chair in 2019, 2020, and 2024.