https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/ Daily News by Farhad Saba, CEO, Distance-Educator.com en-us https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/images/logo.gif https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/ none@none.com https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=196 A Publication of The Institute for Higher Education Policy Date: February, 2005 Publication Type: Policy Reports Subject: Equal Opportunity,Technology and Distance Learning,States,Maryland,Massachusetts,North Carolina,California,New Jersey,Minnesota,Nebraska,Missouri,Arkansas,Florida,New Mexico,New York,Texas,Illinois,Ohio,Pennslyvania,Vermont,Virginia,Georgia,Indiana,Oklahoma,Rhode Island,Washington,Wisconsin,Finance in Higher Education,Student Aid and Financing,Institutional and Governmental Finance Policies,Tax Issues in Higher Education,Cost and Price Issues in Higher Education,Quality Assurance & Accountability,Access and Success Project: Lumina Foundation https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=195 An analysis of regional and demographic differences in United States Internet usageSource: firstmonday The Pew Internet and American Life Project collects data on overall Internet usage in the United States. This study reviews data gathered by Pew in December 2002 and tests the overall premise that regional differences exist in Internet usage in the U.S. Today.Through Chi–square analysis this report tests whether observed regional and demographic differences in Internet usage are statistically significant.Read the Full Story https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=194 By Tamar Elkeles, Ph.D.Vice PresidentLearning and DevelopmentQUALCOMMAgendaWireless growth and mobilityWireless devices and servicesThe global focus on M-Learning M-Learning Case StudiesBenefits and ChallengesHow to begin your own M-Learning initiativeReview the Slide Presentation https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=193 DISTANCE EDUCATION: Improved Data on Program Costs and Guidelines on Quality Assessments Needed to Inform Federal PolicyWhy GAO Did this Study?Distance education—that is, offering courses by Internet, video, or other forms outside the classroom—has changed considerably in recent years and is a growing force in postsecondary education. More than a decade ago, concerns about fraud and abuse by some correspondence schools led to federal restrictions on, among other things, the percentage of courses a school could provide by distance education and still qualify for federal student aid. Given the recent changes in distance education, GAO was asked to review the extent to which the restrictions affect schools’ ability to offer federal student aid and the Department of Education’s assessment of the continued appropriateness of the restrictions.What GAO FoundWhile federal restrictions on the size of distance education programs affect only a small number of schools’ ability to offer federal student aid, the growing popularity of distance education could cause the number to increase in the future. GAO found that 14 schools were either now adversely affected by the restrictions or would be affected in the future; collectively, these schools serve nearly 225,000 students. Eight of these schools, however, will remain eligible to offer federal student aid because they have been granted waivers from the restrictions by Education. Education granted the waivers as part of a program aimed at assessing the continued appropriateness of the restrictions given the changing face of distance education. In considering the appropriateness of the restrictions, there are several policy options for amending the restrictions; however, amending the restrictions to improve access would likely increase the cost of the federal student aid programs. One way to further understand the effect of amending the restrictions would be to study data on the cost of granting the waivers to schools, but Education has yet to develop this information.Read the Full Report https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=192 This poster session held at the Eleventh International World Wide Web Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii reviews faculty perceptions of the outcomes of using online technology in their courses. Most thought it improved their teaching and improved student learning, and some helped identify future steps they might take to make these improvements more quantifiable.After developing 29 online projects at CLU, we conducted post-project evaluations and interviews to determine faculty impressions of the projects' effects on teaching and learning. Faculty reported that the implementation of their projects prompted them to envision new and more effective ways to teach and that they observed improved student learning. The post-project evaluations also demonstrated, however, that in order to enhance and quantify these improvements, faculty needed to identify and incorporate new assessment strategies. Carefully constructed measures of teaching and learning will therefore be integrated into the organization and interface of the project revision process.Read the Full Article https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=191 TEMPE, Ariz.— The 2003-2004 Profiles of For-Profit Education Management Companies released today by Arizona State University’s Education Policy Studies Laboratory finds continued growth of the for-profit education management sector, primarily led by growth in the management of charter schools.The report documents the continued growth of the for-profit management of charter schools. Of 463 for-profit schools listed in the directory, 375 (81 percent) were identified as charter schools. The percentage of Education Management Organization (EMO)-managed schools that are charter schools is up from the figure of 74 percent reported in the 2002-2003 Profiles.Read the Full ReportThe Commercialism in Education Research Unit (CERU) conducts research, disseminates information, and helps facilitate a dialogue between the education community, policy makers, and the public at large about commercial activities in schools. CERU is the only national academic research center dedicated to schoolhouse commercialism.Visit the EPRU website https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=189 This article helps you if you are taking a course as a new distance learner. It also provides tips and ideas to distance instructors to improve their teaching at a distance.Despite the recent popularity of distance education, only 8% of undergraduate, and 10% of graduate students in institutions of higher education have been exposed to it. Learning at a distance, however, is growing rapidly; in some institutions the number of learners double each year. Others offer distance learning opportunities to their students at a slower rate. New learners, and instructors can benefit from reading this article alike, given the growing popularity of distance education. Farhad Saba, Ph. D.CEO, Distance-Educator.com https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=187 Instructional Immediacy and the Seven Principles: Strategies for Facilitating Online CoursesA Framework for Expanding Pedagogical Approaches to Enhancing Web-Based InstructionHolly M. HutchinsDoctoral CandidateDepartment of Technology and Cognition College of EducationUniversity of North Texas, Denton TXHutchins@unt.eduSource: The Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=186 If you are just beginning your college education, or have a few years to finish, the chances are high you will be faced with the choice of taking a course on the Internet at a distance, or through television. Take our online quiz to see if this kind of education is for you. https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=185 On Saturday, November 2, 2002 President Bush signed into law the21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act (H.R. 2215), which includes the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH)Act as well as technical amendments to the Copyright Act. The TEACH Act amends the Copyright Act to provide increased flexibility for accredited nonprofit educational institutions, as part of "mediated instructional activities," to use the Internet to provide copyrighted materials to students enrolled in distance education programs. The text of the TEACH Act, previously introduced as S. 487, and the Copyright Technical Corrections Act, previously introduced as H.R. 614, may be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:S.487.ES: The American Library Association provides guidance to help interested persons so that they may better understand the new law and implement its requirements. Watch for developments at this dedicated website: http://www.ala.org/washoff/teach.html The Copyright Management Center (CMC) serves the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and larger Indiana University community with the management of copyright issues arising in the creation of original works and in the use of existing copyrighted works for teaching, research, and service. Access the website at: http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/about.htm The U.S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=184 Recently, Dr. Donn Ritchie, Chairman of the Department of Educational Technology at San Diego State University announced the online M. A. program in Educational Technology, and the Certificate Program in Distance Education. Distance-Educator.com held an interview with Dr. Ritchie about these programs. https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=183 The SALT Project is a collaboration with the IMS Global Learning Consortium to make online learning resources accessible to people with disabilities by developing and promoting specifications and effective models that will help level the playing field for learners with disabilities. http://ncam.wgbh.org/salt https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=182 By: Rick Shearer, M. A., M.B.A. There are many ways we can examine differences between distance education and face-to-face instruction, but using the idea of no significant difference is probably a mis-directed approach. In the Pew Learning and Technology Study "Innovations in Online Learning" authored by Carol Twigg (2001) the issue of no significant difference and equivalent learning outcomes is commingled with the idea of whether distance education is as good as, better, or worse than traditional face-to-face instruction. Here the author has taken a concept, that has been argued by Richard Clark and others in regard to educational technologies, and has applied the idea to the broader topic of distance education. The two issues are not the same. https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=181 By: Gary Avánt, M.A. Avánt Consulting Knowledge Management (KM) is a maturing discipline that has entered a new era. Please join me in a brief high-level journey of past, present, and future - explore recent corporate KM experience including some lessons learned, the current state of KM affairs, and finally the future of KM. https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=180 In an interview with Distance-Educator.com, Jonathan Levy, Vice President of Harvard Business Online Enterprise Solutions offered a panoramic view of the mission Harvard Business OnLine and his vision for the future of online performance support. https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=179 Who are we on-line? And is our identity on-line important? These are questions many of us may not consider as we negotiate our way through the electronic world of e-mail, on-line chats, and listserves. It is, however, interesting to consider the possibility of individuals escaping the constraints of socially acceptable norms and taking on completely new personas in the faceless on-line world. https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=178 Farhad Saba, Ph. D. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Abstract Since the 1950s and expansion of social science research, distance education has been studied in comparison to face-to-face or classroom instruction. Although researchers continue to conduct comparative studies, their usefulness in revealing more information has diminished over the years; invariably, they have returned a o signicant dierence" result between various forms of instruction. In recent years, researchers have moved beyond atheoretical, experimental comparative studies and have introduced new methods, such as discourse analysis, and in-depth interview of learners. These new methods overcome many methodological and theoretical limitations of the physical science view of distance education. These studies have further revealed the complexity of distance education, indicating the many variables involved in the concept. Starting with the core issue of instructional interaction and grounded on the theory of transactional distance, a new strand of research using methods related to systems dynamics, hierarchy and complexity theories, promises a more comprehensive understanding. Read Article in PDF format What Works Clearinghouse The What Works Clearinghouse is a project of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences established to provide educators, policymakers, and the public with a central, independent, and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. It is administered by the Department through a contract to a joint venture of the American Institutes for Research and the Campbell Collaboration. What education areas should the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) review? Please go to the WWC Topics Page to offer your suggestions. What Works Clearinghouse 2277 Research Boulevard, MS 6M Rockville, MD 20850 Email: wwcinfo@w-w-c.org Phone: 301-519-5444 Fax: 301-519-6760 https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=177 Fred R. McFarlane, Ph. D., Annemiek Baars, Boukje Stevens, and Michelle Warn, M.A. https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=176 Adobe Blackboard.com Centra Click2Learn DigitalThink Docent eCollege.com Elluminate First Virtual Communications FirstClass Future Media GeoLearning Generation21 IBM Lotus IBM MindspanInterwise Latitude360 LearnFrame LearnTone Macromedia Mentergy Microsoft Open Text Pathlore ReadyGo Saba SmartForce Solstra THINQ WBT Systems WebCT https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=173 The Hybrid Course Project is a University of Wisconsin (UW) system funded initiative developed by UW-Milwaukee. It was developed to help seventeen UW instructors move part of their courses, currently taught face-to-face in a traditional classroom or lab setting, onto the web. The redesigned courses will replace a percentage of the lectures or labs with an equivalent amount of online learning. The site provides practical information about re-purposing courses for online teaching. Designing and Teaching Technology Learning Technology Center Hybrid for Faculty https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=172 The UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology This site has been developed by the University of Maryland University College with the support of Verizon. IThe UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology consists of two modules: Module 1 provides resources for use in the selection of appropriate media to accomplish specific learning objectives. Module 2 provides resources for faculty using technology in research assignments, small group projects, and discussions to encourage activity. The UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=170 Robert Fox, Anna Boyd & Allan Herrmann Teaching Learning Group Curtin University Table of Contents Abstract What did the project hope to achieve? How was the project undertaken? What did the project achieve? What did the project cost? Where to from here? References Student Evaluation Of Distance Education https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=169 The purpose of evaluation is to find out the extent to which the goals or objectives of an educational activity are being achieved. Reiser and Gagne state that selection of media is a "burning" question in order to make instruction optimally effective (1983, p. 3) and they observe that much instruction is not planned to be optimally effective.Evaluation Instruments and Models for Distance Education Materials https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=168 Hoi K. Suen (HKS1@PSUVM.PSU.EDU) Jay Parkes Department of Educational and School Psychology The Pennsylvania State University The two disciplines of distance education and educational assessment have seen dramatic changes and growth recently. Although the two areas have been developing concurrently, they have been doing so rather independently. For example, technology has been and will continue to be a boon to both distance education and educational assessment. Challenges and Opportunities in Distance Education Evaluation https://www.distance-educator.com/de_ezine/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=167 If a primary aim of evaluating instruction is to improve the quality and effectiveness of the teaching and learning involved, there are a variety of procedures that can be adopted to inform the activities of those involved in providing and supporting instruction. In this article the authors discuss both formative evaluation and summative evaluation at the course level.Evaluation in Distance Learning: Course Evaluation Allan Woodley and Adrian Kirkwood