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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, September 14, 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54711-2002Sep8.html Online School's Military Focus Nets $10 Million Ellen McCarthy, Washington Post Staff Writer The American Public University System, an online university based in Manassas that offers military and general education courses, landed a $10 million round of funding from Baltimore-based ABS Capital Partners. The system was founded as a private, for-profit corporation in 1991 and serves more than 5,000 military and civilian students. The funding, its first institutional investment, is to be used to expand its course offerings and pay for accreditation initiatives. The system includes the American Public University, the American Military University and the American Community College.... (0) comments http://www.adec.edu/admin/papers/distance-learning_principles.html ADEC Guiding Principles for Distance Learning Design for active and effective learning. Support the needs of learners. Develop and maintain the technological and human infrastructure. Sustain administrative and organizational commitment.... (0) comments http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/SEP02_Issue/article04.html Distance Education: A Model for Providing Services and Bibliographic Instruction David Darryl Bibb, Southeast Missouri State University Abstract: The author discusses how Kent Library of Southeast Missouri State University is supporting distance education. The article includes information on how the library has responded to the needs of its students through the innovative use of technology and other services. Distance education is hardly a new development. It has been around in one form or another for centuries, and its sources and benefits are many and varied. Early scholars wrote letters back and forth to share their discoveries and thoughts. As time progressed, these letters were organized into nascent journals - and what is a journal but a method of distance education?... (0) comments http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/apr2001/hofmann.html Blended Learning Case Study Jennifer Hofmann Recipe for blended learning: Start with a few online tutorials, add one synchronous event and a pinch of discussion forums for flavor, and stir. Every few months a new trend hits the training industry. One of the latest trends revolves around the application of blended learning solutions. The idea behind blended learning is that instructional designers review a learning program, chunk it into modules, and determine the best medium to deliver those modules to the learner.... (0) comments Friday, September 13, 2002
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_feature.asp?articleid=24&zoneid=30 Learning Solutions - Learning Objects: Behind the Buzz Richard Clark and Allison Rossett At conferences and in planning meetings, people concerned with education, training and performance improvement are talking about learning objects. What are they? What do learning objects promise your organization? And are they delivering on their promises? Learning objects are digital libraries of useful materials cataloged for efficient access. Learning objects promise answers to pressing problems such as maintaining content currency, distributing standards and updates and replacing “one size fits all” training with tailored content and experiences. Objects come in many forms, from finished learning modules to the raw materials used to build them, such as text, photographs, job aids, tests and video presentations, digitized and ready to be combined in new forms.... (0) comments http://ncolr.uidaho.com/journal/current/lewis/1.html Telementoring: A Teacher's Perspective of the Effectiveness of the International Telementor Program Chance W. Lewis, Colorado State University Abstract: The purpose of this study is to inform the reader how K-12 teachers perceive the idea of using telementoring in their classrooms. Teachers in this study evaluated the effectiveness of the International Telementor Program (ITP), which is one of the world's largest formal telementoring programs. The International Telementor Program creates matches between industry professionals from ITP sponsor companies and students (4th grade through college) targeting specific communities around the world. The ITP program creates project-based online mentoring support for students and teachers in classrooms and home environments with a focus on serving a diverse student population. Since 1995 over 11,000 students have been served throughout nine countries. Teachers provided their insights of the benefits and challenges of working in the International Telementor Program in the K-12 setting. Teachers gave responses using both quantitative and qualitative formats.... (0) comments http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/SEP02_Issue/article07.html Teacher-as-Researcher Brent Muirhead, University of Phoenix Online Introduction: The concept of teacher-as-researcher is a popular idea that contemporary educational reformers have promoted through their books and articles. It is a perspective that views teachers as active participants in conducting research to enhance their working conditions, revise their curriculum, and assist in professional development planning. Contemporary distance education schools have often stressed teaching over research activities. Yet, there is a growing awareness that current teaching practices need to be built upon a stronger body of research studies (Saba, 2000). Ultimately, schools will need to provide more support for their teachers to enable them to effectively pursue writing and research oriented activities.... (0) comments http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96~3750~849892,00.html National security course taught online to high school students LINDA CONNER LAMBECK, Connecticut Post It's a subject too cutting-edge for any textbook to handle. So an American national security course is being taught in the only medium that can truly keep up online. It's the perfect online topic," said Jim Clifford, who will teach the national security course. Clifford, a history teacher at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, planned the course before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but said it is even more relevant today. Ten students are taking the course from Amity and 11 from East Haven High School. It is believed to be one of the first locally developed Web-based courses offered for credit by a public high school in the state.... (0) comments Thursday, September 12, 2002
http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=939 Tapping Community Resources: Course Development Through Collaboration Carol Stroud and Brenda Stutsky When both financial and human resources are limited, how can an institution establish a distance education program? In this case study, we detail how a nursing department overcame its lack of internal resources by tapping community resources in order to create a distance education course, Advanced Neonatal & Pediatric Assessment, that met the professional development needs of its community. Based upon our experience with this course, we offer suggestions for institutions facing similar constraints. We close the study by reflecting on the strengths and limitations of the means by which we were able to launch the course.... (0) comments http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/SEP02_Issue/editor.html The Cat and the Bag: An Alternative Ending Drs. Donald G. and Elizabeth Perrin Some time ago, we included a wry comment from Stephen Downes on the position of distance learning in the traditional academic setting. It is worth repeating. "Everybody keeps trying to stuff the DE cat back into the F2F bag. I’m going to do my damndest, in my own small way, to help the cat stay out. It is well and truly out. But that does not stop some people from holding and even defending the bag. My own interest, of course, is in the cat." Our new ending to the 'cat stuffing' is that the bag is no longer being defended. Indeed, the bag is in process of redesign and the cat is a welcome visitor! Distance learning teaching/learning design is more and more often made integral to on-campus classes. Several forces are at work to bring about this change. Faculty are becoming familiar with new learning technologies, integrating them with traditional methods of instruction.... (0) comments http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,54996,00.html Got Cheaters? Ask New Questions Dustin Goot Jamie McKenzie has spent his whole career trying to get schools "to ask better questions." But now that he preaches better questions as an antidote for rampant Internet plagiarism, a lot more teachers are listening.... According to McKenzie, however, students aren't solely to blame for this trend. Many assignments teachers give, he said, are conducive to cheating. "It is reckless and irresponsible to continue requiring topical 'go find out about' research projects in this new electronic context," McKenzie wrote in a 1998 article in "From Now On," an online educational journal he edits. Instead, teachers must distinguish between trivial research and meaningful research, which asks kids to "analyze, interpret, infer or synthesize" material they have read.... (0) comments http://chronicle.com/free/2002/09/2002091201t.htm Faculty Union Seeks Agreement With U. of Massachusetts on Distance Courses DAN CARNEVALE A faculty union wants to create a collective-bargaining agreement with the University of Massachusetts system to make sure its professors aren't overworked or underpaid when they venture into distance education. The university administration says it will go along with some of the union's proposals, but others will be subject to negotiation. Discussions are set to begin within two weeks, and both sides are optimistic that they can agree on policies that will encourage the growth of distance education and protect faculty rights.... (0) comments Wednesday, September 11, 2002
http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/SEP02_Issue/article05.html Talk Radio LIS: A Case Study Jim Grubbs, University of Illinois at Springfield Introduction: Creating and maintaining an effective online classroom is a formidable task. But what happens when the goal is to promote an entire online degree program?This paper presents a case study of Talk Radio LIS, a simulated radio program designed to enhance recruitment for the Liberal Studies Online program at the University of Illinois at Springfield. LIS Online was the first undergraduate completion degree program to be offered entirely online in the University of Illinois system. The degree program went "live" in Fall 1999. Prior to going online, the program created an attractive web site to enhance recruitment efforts. As the program grew, this site also became a resource for students, faculty, and our educational partners statewide and across the nation.... (0) comments http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/SEP02_Issue/article02.html Utopia2000: An Online Learning-Object Management Tool Macarena Aspillaga Introduction: Web-based Instruction (WBI) has become a widely used method of educating and training. However, the software tools used to develop it have not kept pace with changing instructional technology approaches. An Instructional Systems Design (ISD) shift to "learning objects" greatly enhances the ISD process while lowering training costs and development through reusability, adaptability and scalability, (Schatz, 2001; Wiley, 2000). "Learning objects," also known as "content objects," "instructional objects," "educational objects," "knowledge objects," and "instructional components"are the external representation of knowledge for purposes of instruction for different kinds of instructional outcomes (Gagné, 1965, 1985; Merrill, 2000). Learning objects as defined by Wiley (2000) are digital entities, which can be used, re-used or referenced and deliverable over the Internet. Consequently, many people can access and use them simultaneously. Learning objects were proposed for their productivity and standardization benefits, and as a means of making instructional design accessible to many untrained developers, (Gibbons, Nelson, & Richards, 2000).... (0) comments http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/SEP02_Issue/article03.html Technical Skills Required in Distance Education Graduate Courses Clarence Huff Learning independently is the way of the future. Regardless of time or place, students can access or download course material, and complete assignments at their leisure using the Internet. The list of technologies that are available today continues to grow. These technologies are powerful, exciting, readily available, and increasingly affordable. Because of the rapid development of technology, we need to maintain technical skills at the same pace. With a combination of new technology and lifelong learning, both complementing each other, most citizens can benefit indirectly from new ideas developed by the introduction of the new technology.... (0) comments http://education.independent.co.uk/higher/story.jsp?story=330506 Distance learning can be lonely, but now interactive teaching can be done by e-mail and students can take part in online tutorials Nicholas Pyke You can do it in the office, at home or at the internet café. Welcome to online graduation, the logical conclusion of the online degree. For the past two summers, students completing the Open University's Master's course in Education have been invited to receive their degrees by switching on their computers. They can watch the vice-chancellor take his place before the ceremonial webcam at the university's Milton Keynes HQ and listen to his short address. Or open a few more beers. The students' names flicker on to the screen accompanied by a film clip featuring their achievements, before their status as OU degree-holders is finally confirmed.... (0) comments http://www.msureporter.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/09/05/3d7807be9699e Earn a degree for special ed online from Minnesota State University Dan Dlugiewicz, Staff Writer Tired off wearing clothes when you go to class? The department of educational studies: special populations is now offering two new graduate degrees online. The department is offering degrees in learning disabilities, and emotional behavioral disorders. Dr. Andrew Johnson, the department chairman, said the online degrees will help to service people outside the normal range of the department. "There are people in northern Minnesota, Iowa, (and) South Dakota that need licensure so this is really to meet there needs," Johnson said.... (0) comments Tuesday, September 10, 2002
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,54963,00.html Thin Line Splits Cheating, Smarts Dustin Goot Most teachers wouldn't be surprised to hear that students have bribed friends or siblings to do their homework in exchange for a few bucks. What might surprise them is that Google Answers sometimes takes school kids up on the offer. Staffed by a cadre of 500-plus freelance researchers, the service takes people's questions -- for example, a calculus problem or a term paper topic -- and provides answers and links to information. Google charges a listing fee of 50 cents and, if someone comes up with a satisfactory response, the user pays that researcher a previously entered bid (minimum: $2). Although Google Answers has a policy encouraging students to use the service as a study aid rather than a substitution for original work, several cases show that students often ignore this advice. ... (0) comments http://ncolr.uidaho.com/journal/current/collier/1.html Requiring Independent Learners to Collaborate:Redesign of an Online Course Catherine Collier, University of Rochester Frances K. Morse, edwood City, CA Abstract: "Technology in the Language Arts Curriculum" is an elective course that falls midway through the eleven-course sequence for the Masters of Education in Technology in Education at Lesley University. When the course was prepared for online delivery it incorporated a major collaborative writing assignment that featured the use of networking and peer feedback in the writing process. Data collected during the first two sections of the course indicated serious problems with the collaborative writing assignment. The problems experienced by students and instructors were similar to those reported in the emerging literature about online teaching and learning. The course was redesigned to adjust for these problems. Data was collected for three additional sections, and the lessons learned will be useful to other online course designers and instructors. We point out faulty assumptions in the course design regarding student preparedness, and we recommend that, early in the course, instructors teach and test for mastery of technical and other skills normally assumed in graduate students. We emphasize the need for instructor-to-student and student-to-student trust prior to major collaborative assignments. We propose a thoughtful approach to options and accountability for collaborative assignments.... (0) comments http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A4122.cfm Administrative and Instructional Portals Dr. Sylvia Charp, Editor-in Chief Editorial: Ways to serve the educational community better through the use of technology have increased. This is also true in government and industry, where the need for efficiency is apparent. At the Society for Applied Learning Technology's (SALT) Education Technology 2002 Conference in July, the commonality of educators was noticeable in the subject areas that the organization focused on. This year's topics included "E-Learning in Education and Industry," "Knowledge Management" and "Technical Skills Training."... E-learning's future in education seems assured in both education and training, which is indicated in the chart below from research firm brandon-hall.com. In the SALT Conference keynote address Dr. Alan B. Salisbury, chairman of Avilar Technologies Inc., said we are still in an evolutionary mode and the revolution in education has not yet occurred. He also said that many learning issues need to be studied and resolved, including skill completion rates, time allocation, faculty acceptance and availability, domain applicability, and a special emphasis on quality.... (0) comments http://www.distance-educator.com/dnews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=7466 Course Quality Top Issue Of The Year Source: LERN Course quality and evaluation standards are the top issues of 2002 for faculty teaching online, according to a new survey. And the interest in class size and cheating online is down.... (0) comments http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=62587 Focus on e-learning challenges in Abu Dhabi Gulf News The Higher College of Technology (HCT) held its first E-Merging and E-Learning Conference yesterday at the Abu Dhabi Men's College. Dr Tayeb Kamali, Vice Chancellor of the HCT, said the two-day gathering will bring together online learning professionals from around the world to present and discuss challenges to develop and deliver quality education through technology. Participating institutions include IBM, Britain's Open University and India's Tata Interactive Systems.... (0) comments http://chronicle.com/free/2002/09/2002091001t.htm Ivey Business Journal Moves Online and Drops Fee KAREN BIRCHARD One of Canada's top business schools has decided to stop selling the paper version of its journal and will give the publication away online instead. The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Ivey Business Journal with the introduction of its new Web version on September 19. Although the print journal had both paid subscribers and what its managers describe as a "healthy" advertising base, the online publication will not charge readers and will not accept advertising.... (0) comments Monday, September 09, 2002
http://dce.ucf.edu/aln2002/ The 8th Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN), The Power of Online Learning: The Faculty Experience November 8-10, 2002 in Orlando Florida. The conference is being hosted by the University of Central Florida in cooperation with the Sloan Center for Online Education (SCOLE) at Olin and Babson Colleges, American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC) and The Pennsylvania State University. This year's conference will be more exciting than ever. It features a keynote speaker, five pre-conference workshops, an exhibit hall, and over 100 topics to choose from seven concurrent sessions. Featured Keynote Speaker……Chris Dede who is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. He is also Chair of the Learning & Teaching Area in the School.... (0) comments http://www.edpath.com/mitcaes.htm Interview with Richard C. Larson, MIT Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of MIT’s Center for Advanced Educational Services George Lorenzo ... A theme we’ve seen in some of your presentations centers around "inventing the global classroom." What’s going on at MIT to facilitate the growth of the global classroom? Larson: There are a number of issues. One is the question of improved pedagogical models for distance learning in general, nationally and internationally. How do you change the pedagogy of distance learning compared to an on-campus course to make it a good learning environment? We are trying to figure out the right pedagogical model within the context of the SMA program, and our newly evolving Cambridge/MIT Institute (and other CAES programs).... (0) comments http://naweb.unb.ca/proceedings/2000/weatherley-ellis.htm Online Learning: What do teachers need to know about communicating online? Robyn Weatherley, NSW Dept of Education and Training, Australia Allan Ellis, Southern Cross University, Australia Abstract: LearnScope is a national professional development initiative which has been operating in Australia since 1998. The aim of this initiative is to assist the professionals in the vocational education and training sector in Australia develop skills and capabilities in the application of new learning technologies. This development will enable the sector to provide greater choices to learners through the use of these technologies and assist in Australia’s move to the Information Economy. In support of this initiative a virtual learning community was established. This paper highlights the significance of interactivity derived from a detailed study of LearnScope’s Virtual Learning Community.... (0) comments http://www.aed.org/publications/TechEdInfo.html Technologies for Education: Potential, Parameters and Prospects (an online book) Wadi D. Haddad and Alexandra Draxler, Editors Prepared for UNESCO by Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. To "tech" or not to "tech" education is not the question. The real question is how to harvest the power of technology to meet the challenges of the 21st century and make education relevant, responsive, and effective for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Drawing on the wealth of worldwide knowledge and experience, this book outlines the rationales and realities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for education, examines the options and choices for applying them, and summarizes a series of case studies that illustrate modalities of integrating ICTs into learning systems in different settings. THE ENTIRE BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOADING (0) comments http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,508960,00.asp A Futuristic Library Paula Musich Imagine a library where you can walk in with your laptop, plug in to an unobtrusive network jack, and access both the library's resources and the Internet through a common portal. If the network doesn't yield what you're looking for, a librarian wearing a headset and carrying a personal digital assistant can find a particular book or get the answer in seconds. In the brief time you have to wait, you can interact via streaming video with staff members tending a 15,000-gallon saltwater tank or dial in from the office to a library videoconference that lets you watch your child at story time. This library of the future, dubbed the Millennium Library, provides patrons in the city of Cerritos, Calif., with networked access to a variety of applications integrated through a portal that patrons say makes information access itself a fun learning experience.... (0) comments Sunday, September 08, 2002
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue5_8/resnick/ The Virtual University and College Life David Resnick, University of Cincinnati Advocates of the Virtual University assume that the Internet can be used to replace the bricks and mortar campus. Even if the academic course work of higher education can be replicated online, what cannot are the organized extracurricular activities which have been a crucial component of a traditional college education. These activities create social capital, prepare students for civic engagement and combat the self-absorbed individualism which undermines democratic society. We would do well to think about their loss, and the unintended social consequences which flow from adopting the Virtual University as a model for higher education in the twenty-first century.... [NOTE: this is an August, 2000 article - ed.] (0) comments http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=1025 The Free Online Scholarship Movement: An Interview with Peter Suber James L. Morrison and Peter Suber Peter Suber has an unusual background. He has a PhD in philosophy (Northwestern), a law degree (Northwestern), and has worked as a research associate in an artificial intelligence lab (Indiana). He is currently a professor of philosophy at Earlham College, where he also teaches computer science and legal studies. One of his research interests centers on the migration of scientific and scholarly literature from print to the Internet. He is a leader in the free online scholarship movement; he founded The Free Online Scholarship Newsletter, which focuses on making scientific and scholarly literature available online to readers free of charge.... (0) comments http://naweb.unb.ca/proceedings/2000/lim.htm Integrating Courseware Management System with a Website Creation Tool Lilian Lim, Eugene Hiew and Ravi Chandran; National University of Singapore Abstract: The paper discusses the experience of integrating a Courseware Management System with a Website Creation Tool in a higher-learning environment. It outlines the benefits and problems encountered. It also covers an insight of the technology used and how it will benefit the lecturers and students. The Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE) began its development since June 1998. It is an online courseware management system designed and developed by Centre for Instructional Technology (CIT) to manage and support teaching, learning and courseware management over the Internet. Aside from facilitating the organization of course materials on the web, IVLE also provides a wide variety of tools and resources, which can be added to a course. Supplementing classroom teaching of more than 2,400 courses and reaching out to some 28,000 students, IVLE provides tools for discussion forums, online chat, quiz management system, class distribution lists, course FAQ builder, lesson plan, course website, electronic account, course calendar and assignment repositories and much more.... (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
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