An Online Journal as a Virtual Learning Environment: The Case of the Teachers College Record

The Teachers College Record is an academic journal that has been published by Teachers College at Columbia University since 1900. For most of its first 95 years the journal appeared in print on at least a quarterly basis. During that time it has featured the work of most of the leading names in the field of education and educational research, including early papers by Thorndike (1901), Dewey (1914), Kilpatrick (1918) and more recently articles by Berliner (1997), Apple (1993), and Greene (1994), among many others.

Over the years the journal has taken seriously its mission as a vehicle for education. In its earliest volumes, the journal published original syllabi drawn from courses in such areas as the principles of education (Butler, 1900), the history of education (Monroe, 1900) and school administration (Dutton, 1900) offered as part of the curriculum of Teachers College. The journal has also co-ordinated its publishing program with various workshops and colloquia in conjunction with degree and non-degree programs at the College. It has published sets of papers and special issues derived from conferences and special educational events. Throughout its existence, the journal has sought to maximize its educational impact.

In this article, we report on recent efforts to extend the educational impact of the journal through online publishing activities. We begin by reviewing our early attempts at establishing an online presence for the journal. We then consider the impact of developments in academic publishing, the changing online experiences of readers, and our educational goals on the design of our current online journal site.We discuss the current publishing site in detail and examine data on user patterns over the past several years. Finally, we outline the major features of a next generation publishing site designed to enhance and expand the educational program of the journal.