Conference (Re)Call

Reports   Reports: Colloquy - the Chronicle of Higher Education's Online Forum ~ The Learning MarketSpace (and The Center for Academic Transformation) ~ Leadership & the New Technologies - Online Workshops | Coming Events: TCC Online Conference 2000 - Registration ~ Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education ~ ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications About This Section | Top

Colloquy - the Chronicle of Higher Education's Online Forum

The Chronicle of Higher Education is a major news source for college and university faculty members in the United States, which is published weekly ina printed edition.  The Chronicle maintains a Website which offers free access to major segments of the journal, especially the regular feature articles on distance education and information technology in higher education, as well as job announcements from the previous issue of The Chronicle and full participation in Colloquy, an open forum on issues in higher education.

In the words of the home page, "Colloquy is your opportunity to comment on vital issues affecting higher education, to shed light (and heat, if you're so disposed) on issues raised here by your colleagues."  A very important current debate on the possible adverse impact of commercialising online course design and delivery is the focus of a Special Item in an earlier section of this issue of WEB.

The following selection of current and recent  Colloquy topics gives a broad indication of the varied range of issues to which participants are able to contribute:
 

• ARE ELITE COLLEGES WORTH THE MONEY?: Are the nation's most selective and expensive colleges a good economic investment for tuition-paying students and their families?  (current
• THE BIBLE AS HISTORY?: Has archaeology demonstrated definitively that the Bible is of little value as a document of historical events? (current)
• Do adjunct faculty members have enough academic freedom to teach effectively?
• Is the declining enrollment of male students a problem for higher education?
• Where is the debate over affirmative action in higher education headed?
• Should virtual universities be accredited?

In light of WAOE's abiding concern to improve the quality of online education, and the recurring moves in WEB and through WAOE-Views to stir debate about maintaining standards in the face of the increasing commercialisation of educational delivery via the Net, it is interesting to note that the topic on accreditation of virtual universities generated by far the greatest number of responses for any Colloquy forum during 1999.  All topics are archived, so you can easily review the shape and direction of any of the debates.  It's well worth the visit.

 

Reports: Colloquy - the Chronicle of Higher Education's Online Forum ~ The Learning MarketSpace (and The Center for Academic Transformation) ~ Leadership & the New Technologies - Online Workshops | Coming Events: TCC Online Conference 2000 - Registration ~ Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education ~ ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications About This Section | Top

 

The Learning MarketSpace (and The Center for Academic Transformation)

The Learning MarketSpace  is a monthly electronic newsletter written by Carol Twigg and Bob Heterick as a key component of the Leadership Forum, which is an initiative of the Center for Academic Transformation designed "to advance the growth of knowledgeable people to lead their institutions, companies and organizations in The Information Age."  The declared mission of the Center - part of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, located in Troy, New York - is  "to serve as a source of expertise and support for those in higher education who wish to take advantage of the capabilities of information technology to transform their academic practices."

The Learning MarketSpace promises to provide "leading-edge assessment of and future-oriented thinking about issues and developments concerning the nexus of higher education and information technology."  Commentary and analysis are organized around the following six themes:
 

• The value of corporate/higher education collaboration
• Virtual university initiatives and developments
• On-campus cultural resistance or backlash
• New developments in technology which force a re-thinking of assumptions about academic practices
• Cost containment efforts
• Public policy issues with implications for the learning marketspace

To subscribe, send an email message (with subject line left blank) to listproc@lists.rpi.edu. In the body of the message, type SUB LFORUM-L your name.

In addition to the Learning MarketSpace newsletter, the Learning Forum offers:

• Workshops and Seminars - one-day events focused on strategic issues facing higher education and designed to

   (1) enable leaders in higher education and companies interested in the intersection of higher education and information technology to develop a
        conceptual framework for understanding those issues and
   (2) facilitate an exchange between experts on a particular topic with those who will benefit from that expertise.
 

• Consulting Services
   

The Center for Academic Transformation also conducts a series of programs under grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts:
 

• The Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign - a three-year, $6 million program to encourage colleges and universities to redesign their instructional approaches using technology to achieve cost savings as well as quality enhancements.  Redesign projects are expected to focus on large-enrollment, introductory courses, which have the potential of impacting significant student numbers and generating substantial cost savings.
• The Pew Symposia in Learning and Technology - an ongoing "national conversation about issues related to the intersection of learning and technology that places the discussion in the context of student learning and ways to achieve this learning cost effectively. The goal is to marshal the thinking of acknowledged experts and frame the issues in ways that are useful to the higher education community as it incorporates uses of technology into the academic program. There will be two symposia per year from 1999 through 2002, each leading to the publication of a monograph available online and as a downloadable pdf (Acrobat Reader) file.  The first symposium, "Redesigning More Productive Learning Environments," was conducted in July 1999 and a monograph "Improving Learning & Reducing Costs: Redesigning Large-Enrollment Courses," was published in October last year.  The next symposium, "Who Owns Online Courses and Course Materials: Intellectual Property Policies for a New Learning Environment," starts in February.
• The Pew Program in Learning and Technology publishes a quarterly electronic newsletter (in March, June, September and December) comprising an in-depth case study of a redesigned learning environment, reports on redesign developments in higher education, and announcements of conferences, workshops and publications directly related to the case study topic. To subscribe, send e-mail to listproc@lists.rpi.edu. In the body of the message, type SUB PLTP-L your name. To submit items for inclusion, send e-mail to Wendy Rickard at rickard@rickardgroup.com.

 

Reports: Colloquy - the Chronicle of Higher Education's Online Forum ~ The Learning MarketSpace (and The Center for Academic Transformation) ~ Leadership & the New Technologies - Online Workshops | Coming Events: TCC Online Conference 2000 - Registration ~ Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education ~ ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications About This Section | Top

Leadership & the New Technologies - Online Workshops

The LNT Online Workshops are an initiative of the Education Development Center, Inc, a leading non-profit organisation conducting research and devleoping programs through some 250 projects around the world, concerned with learning technologies, early childhood and K-12 education, workforce preparation, health promotion, and institutional reform.  Each LNT workshop runs for about 8-10 weeks and involves online
discussions, readings, small projects, and the use of online resources.  Workshops are led by a group of LNT faculty and facilitators, and are designed primarily for school district decision-makers.  Participants are expected to devote at least 2 hours per week to the workshop in order to contribute to the discussions and complete the projects.  The first time a workshop is offered on a particular topic, it will be offered free of charge (not including any materials fees).  However, subsequent offerings may charge registration fees.

There is a brief description of all the 1998 and 1999 workshops at the LNT Home Page, and a public archive is available for all of these.  Forthcoming workshops are announced in LNT Perspectives, the online journal of the Leadership and the New Technologies community, which is now published on a quarterly basis.  As a sample of LNT's range of interests, here is the list of contents for the current (January) issue of the journal:

Feature Article: "Network Science, A Decade Later" by  researchers on the Testbed for Telecollaboration project at TERC.

"Digital Divide Network" Established To Tackle The Technology Gap

Teacher and Teacher-Directed Student Use of Computers and Software

Internet Access Spreads To More Classrooms, Survey Finds

New Web Site Aims to Help Teachers Find Learning Resources

Lack Of Training Wasting Schools' Computer Outlays

Tech Corps Launches Techs4Schools

New ISTE Book Assists Educating Technology-Capable Kids by Integrating Technology Standards into Classrooms and Curriculum

Businesses Cashing In On Learning

About "LNT Perspectives"

 
Coming Events

TCC Online Conference 2000 - Registration

The  5th Annual Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference will be held between April 12 and 14, 2000.  The Conference site is at http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon2000.  The Conference is sponsored by the University of Hawaii-Kapiolani Community College and Teaching in the Community Colleges Electronic Journal.

The Conference theme is:  "A Virtual Odyssey: What's Ahead for New Technologies in Learning?"  Registration is now available.  As from February 1, 2000, the registration fee is $US45, increasing to $US55 from March 16.  There is a $US10 discount for people who attended the TCCC in 1998 or 1999 (the registration form itself allows for this deduction with a simple response box).  The following further details are reproduced from the TCC site:

Registration provides full access to all conference activities, including keynote presentations, conference papers, email announcements, discussion forums, virtual tours, pre- and post-conference activities, etc. ... (Special pre-Conference technology workshops and their separate fees, if any, will be announced.)

The registration office will accept credit card payments (Visa and MasterCard only), purchase orders (from U.S. institutions only), and International money orders. Send purchase and money orders to:

  TCC Conference Registration
  Continuing Education and Training, Ilima 105C
  Kapiolani Community College
  4303 Diamond Head Road
  Honolulu, HI 96816 USA

If you are uncomfortable about sending personal information to our secure web server, you can print, complete, and send the registration form by mail to the address above or FAX it to 1-808-734-9447.

Registration Status. Registration payments are processed within two working days upon receipt. To check on the status of your registration, send email to tccreg@hawaii.edu.

Confidentiality. The conference coordinators and registration staff will use your personal information to contact you, compile demographic
statistics, or arrange payment for conference fees.  Personal information will not be shared or given to others without permission.

Additional Info.  For information other than registration, contact the conference coordinators, Jim Shimabukuro jamess@hawaii.edu or Bert Kimura bert@hawaii.edu.

Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

The following notice is being placed on various Websites by Dr Costas Spirou, Associate Professor of Social Science at the National-Louis University (Samos Island, Greece):

National-Louis University proudly announces a conference entitled "Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: An International Conference", to be held August 25-27, 2000 on Samos Island, Greece.  The conference is jointly organized with the Research Institute of East Aegean, Greece and WSB-NLU, Poland.  The focus of this international gathering is to address the various issues surrounding the uses and possibilities of technology in teaching and learning.  The forum will bring together faculty, staff, administrators and other interested parties involved with the organization and delivery of distance education and related technologies.

It is our strong belief that the island community of Samos will serve as an intimate setting, within which the exchange of ideas and reflections on the critical issues facing higher education, will take place.  Our goal is to provide conference participants with maximum opportunities for extensive engagement and interaction.

We would like to offer our invitation to you and your colleagues to participate in the conference. The Conference Planning Committee has set March 20, 2000 as the submission deadline for the Call for Papers.  Please review the conference web site at http://www.nl.edu/conferences/samos.html.

For more information please contact Ruth Richards at rric@wheeling1.nl.edu or (874) 475-1100, ext. 5251.

ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications

ED-MEDIA 2000 is an international conference organized annually by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).  It is the premier international conference in the field of multimedia/hypermedia and distance education, attracting more than 1,200 attendees from over 50 countries, and spanning all disciplines and levels of education.

The conference will be held between June 26 and July 1, 2000, in Montreal (Canada).  The organisers are now making their second and final call for participation.  You are invited to submit a proposal for either a Work-in-Progress Short Paper or a Poster/Demonstration.

Work-in-Progress Short Papers are brief presentations (15 minutes), giving a condensed resume of ongoing projects, applications, or research.

Posters/Demonstrations are informal presentations (2 hours) that enable researchers and non-commercial developers to demonstrate and discuss their latest results and work in progress.

The submission deadline is March 6, 2000.  For more details, consult the Final Call Website.

About Conference (Re)Call
The Conference (Re)Call column aims mainly to provide feedback from members on the new knowledge or other value they gained from attending a recent conference or other event to do with one aspect or another of online education. It also includes a Coming Events section, advertising relevant conferences, seminars, workshops or other forums which members will be able to attend at little or no cost. This section will concentrate mainly on online events, because that is WAOEâs special interest, and because the idea is to promote opportunities which are more or less equally available to WAOE members no matter what part of the world they live in.

The success of Conference (Re)Call therefore depends very heavily on input from members. WAOE officers are already out there reporting on events theyâve attended and spotting others to come. Weâd like to see all other members doing likewise. You will see from the items in this issue that reports donât need to be lengthy or detailed, let alone polished. We think the segment will work best on the simple premise that whatever any one member found worthwhile in attending an online education event, or attractive about an event in the offing is likely to benefit and interest other members. So, letâs keep those reports and notices coming in to the WEB Editor.