HOBOKEN, N.J. — Now that global industry generates products in every corner of the world, employees must be skilled, not only interacting with co-workers in an office down the hall, or at a neighboring facility, but often they must collaborate with team members in other states, other countries, and in ever more distant time zones.
Virtual Teams, to be published by John Wiley & Sons next year, shows how faculty in universities and leaders in industry can effectively exploit the fast-growing adoption of virtual teaming in online classrooms, in R&D labs, and on the factory floor. It is edited by the leading international online learning expert, Robert Ubell at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Just as the Internet gives millions of workers incredible ease in collaborating around the globe, online learning opens education to millions who might not be able to attend class because of demands at home or at work or because they are too far from campus. More than 3.5 million college students now take courses online, translating to nearly one in five of all university enrollments and growing at a rapid rate.
Contributors to Virtual Teams are drawn from faculty who teach online at Stevens' award-winning WebCampus and by scholars at other schools and companies. Based on best practices generated over the last decade, Virtual Teams reveals how to manage teams successfully, with chapters on how to build intimate virtual relationships and how to communicate creatively online. Other chapters cover international virtual teams, competition, mentoring, psychology, and how to handle conflict.
Robert Ubell, Executive Director, Stevens Institute for the Advancement of Online Learning and Professional Education, founded WebCampus in 2000. Earlier, he was Editor of the National Magazine Award-winning monthly, The Sciences, and American Publisher of the premier British science weekly, Nature. He was also founding publisher of Nature Biotechnology. He is author or editor of nearly 100 contributions to the online learning literature and other topics.
About WebCampus
Since it was launched almost a decade ago, WebCampus has enrolled nearly 20,000 students. It offers more than 160 courses, with 17 online Master's degrees and an MBA, as well as 37 graduate certificates in science, technology and management. Students from 47 states and 44 countries have taken WebCampus courses. In 2003, the Sloan Foundation named WebCampus the "Best Online University" in the nation. Last year, the school's blended learning China program received Sloan's award as best teaching and learning program internationally. In 2005 and again this year, the US Distance Learning Association (USDLA) presented WebCampus with its "21st Century Best Practices Award."For further information, please contact Elaine Cacciarelli, (201) 216-8569, elaine.cacciarelli@stevens.edu
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, systems and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master's and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens' graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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