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<tt><font size=+2>World Association for Online Education</font></tt> <br>
<b><tt><font size=+2>W E B</font></tt></b> <br>
<tt><font size=+1>WAOE Electronic Bulletin</font></tt> <br>
<tt>Volume 2, No. 3</tt> <br>
<tt>March 31, 2000</tt> <br>
<tt>(PART A)</tt>
<p><a name="Contents"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Contents</font></tt></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/#FromEditor">From the Web Editor</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Editor1">Late again!! ... and Why PART A?</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special3">Magic Numbers ... Try This</a>
<p><b><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Write">Members Write ...</a></font></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Write1">Bill Purdy appreciates ...</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Write2">So does Mary Ellen Nourse ...</a>
<p><b><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special">Special Items</a></font></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special1">Announcing WAOE's First Supportive Affiliates</a>
<br>
<a href="#Special#3">Appointment of WAOE Officer - Karen O'Connor</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special5">Update on the WAOE Logo Design Contest</a>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special4">Streamlining WAOE Communication Channels</a>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/#New">Welcome to New Members</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Orientation">Orientation Course</a></tt>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Profile">Memberâs Profile</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Member">George Brown</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Member2">Introducing the Coordinating Ring -
John Spiers</a></tt> <br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#About_Profile">About Member's
Profile</a></tt></i></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Conference">Conference
(Re)Call</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Reports">Reports:</a></tt></i></b>
<br>
<a href="#Reports#1">EASI Online WOrkshops ... etc</a> <br>
<a href="#Reports#2">SchoolWorld Newsletter</a> <br>
<a href="#Reports#3">ITrain Modules</a> <br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Coming">Coming Events:</a></tt></i></b>
<br>
<br>
<p><b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Feature">About Conference (Re)Call</a></tt></i></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#New_Links">New Links</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Ideas">Web Ideas and
Issues</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<p><b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#What">About Web Ideas and Issues</a></tt></i></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Briefs">News Briefs</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#News1">Call for Papers : Technology &
Society Special Issue</a> <br>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Policies">WAOE Policies
and Procedures</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Release">Release of Personal Information</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>Waiver of Membership Fees/Dues - <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Waiver1">Policy
</a>and <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Waiver2">Procedure</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Change">Notifying Change of Email
Address</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Resign">How to unsubscribe or resign</a></tt>
<br>
<i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#About_Policies">About Waoe
Policies and Procedures</a></tt></i>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Forth">Forthcoming
Meetings</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<tt>No items for this issue.</tt> <br>
<i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#this">About this Section</a></tt></i>
<br>
<i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Time">Time Conversion Site</a></tt></i>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#About">About WEB</a></font></tt></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#WAOE">About WAOE</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Aims">WAOE's Objectives</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Meaning">The Meaning and Exercise
of Membership in WAOE</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#System">WAOE's Communications and
Discussion System</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#WAOE_Committees">WAOE Committees
and OCREWs</a></tt>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Links">WAOE Links</a></font></tt></b>
<p><tt>############</tt>
<p><a name="FromEditor"></a><b><font size=+2>From the WEB Editor</font></b>
<p><a name="Editor1"></a><b><font size=+1>Late again!! ... and Why PART A?</font></b>
<p>I will soon run out of valid (or at least interesting) reasons for getting
WEB out beyond the promised end-of-the-month deadline. This time,
I wanted to hold back until the conclusion of the Special Emergency
Directors' Meeting held on March 30 and 31, where some important operational
decisions were taken and major developments occurred in WAOE's efforts
to achieve affiliation with other online education organisations.
See <a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special">Special Items</a>.
<p>The significance of the outcomes of this meeting of the Board of Directors
means that reports of the decisions taken, and the background to them, tend
to dominate this issue of WEB.
<p>And Why PART A? <br>
I will be out of town from April 3 until April 12 on consultations in six areas
across the centre and north Australia with Indignenous community leaders, tour
operators, training providers, cultural centre managers, and other key persons
to identify ways and means of ensuring that the components of national tourism
training which call for researching, interpreting or presenting aspects of Indigenous
society and beliefs are culturally appropriate, accurately and sensitively reflect
the individuality of local customs and rituals, and have the endorsement and
support of community elders.
<p>(I thought you might like to know the kind of thing I try to do when I'm not
fully engaged with WAOE!)
<p>So, given my imminent departure to carry out this project, and given also my
deliberate delay to pull this issue together until the close of the Special
Directors' Meeting, it was a diabolical blow to lose my Internet connection
entirely for several hours this afternoon. Although things are now back
to normal, with absolutely no explanation in sight for why they went wrong
in the first place - alas, technology! - I simply do not have the time to complete
and check the <tt>Coming Events, New Links, Web Ideas and Issues, and News Items
sections.<b><font size=+1> </font></b> I will put out a Part B around mid-April.</tt>
<p>******************* <br>
<a name="Special3"></a><b><font size=+1>Magic Numbers ... Try This</font></b>
<p>1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have
a hot dinner, make love, walk the dog, or whatever. <br>
2. Multiply this number by 2 (pushing your luck or chances, perhaps). <br>
3. Add 5 (for Sunday). <br>
4. Multiply the resulting number by 50. <br>
5. If you've already had your birthday this year, add 1750. If you haven't,
add 1749. <br>
6. No substract the year in which you were born, using all four digits (be honest!).
<br>
7. You should now have a three digit number. The first digit (on the left)
is your original number from 1. The remaining two digits are your age.
<p>Please - someone, anyone - write and tell me how or why it works.
<p><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">David Wyatt</a>, WAOE Membership Officer
and WEB Editor
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Write"></a><b><font size=+2>Members Write ...</font></b>
<p><a name="Write1"></a><b><font size=+1>Bill Purdy appreciates ...</font></b>
<blockquote>Dear David,
<p>Just a short note to thank you for the evident hard work you put into publishing
WEB. I always find something of great usefulness in each issue.
<p>Bill Purdy <br>
Student - BIS Program <br>
"New Media and Distance Education" <br>
George Mason University
</blockquote>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt> <br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Write2"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>So does Mary Ellen Nourse ...</font></tt></b>
<br>
<blockquote>WEB looks great! Thank you, David and Robert, for including
my request for input regarding online conferences/conventions. I'll be
glad to share my findings in an upcoming edition of WEB.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Mary Ellen Nourse</blockquote>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt> <br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Special"></a><b><font size=+2>Special Items</font></b>
<p><a name="Special1"></a><b><font size=+1>Announcing WAOE's First Supportive
Affiliates</font></b>
<p>The Special/Emergency Meeting of the WAOE Board of Directors which has only
just concluded as this issue of WEB goes to press designated three organisations
as Supportive Affiliates.
<p><b><i><font size=+1>Child Research Net (Japan)</font></i></b> <br>
Child Research Net (CRN), a non-profit branch of Benesse (correspondence education)
Corporation, maintains a comprehensive bilingual Website dedicated to Japanese
children's education and well-being. The Japanese language site <a href="http://www.crn.or.jp/">http://www.crn.or.jp/</a>
attracts much public perticipation, while the English site <a href="http://www.childresearch.net/">http://www.childresearch.net/
</a>serves international academics, educators, professionals, policy-makers
and youth. Educational data, surveys, statistics, professional articles,
and essays by Japanese young people are featured. A free weekly e-mail
newsletter is available by request to <br>
<a href="mailto:http://www.childresearch.net/">info@childresearch.net.</a>
There are also several avenues for interaction including a "Let's Talk" bulletin
board.
<p>Academic collaboration between WAOE and CRN began in 1999. In discussions
with the WAOE President in Tokyo, CRN representatives have agreed verbally at
this point to grant WAOE monthly authoring honoraria equivalent to over $200
for the Japanese fiscal year from April 2000 to March 2001.
<p>It was resolved that directors award "WAOE Supportive Affiliate" status to
Child Research Net in recognition of the organisation's parallel interests and
objectives, and its support for WAOE. It was further resolved that WAOE
will display CRNs logo and/or hyperlink within our Website in a place designated
for Supportive Affiliates, and that we will give a WAOE "Supportive Affiliate"
logo to CRN to display at Miksike's Websites should the organisation's officers
wish to do so.
<p><b><i><font size=+1>Miksike (Estonia)</font></i></b> <br>
<a href="http://www.miksike.com">Miksike</a> creates and makes available interactive
K-12 online educational materials and lends assistance to teachers who wish
to use them. Miksike also arranges collaborations online between classrooms
internationally. Miksike is located in Estonia and maintains sites and
online educational materials in Estonian and English.
<p>Through our Vice President Mihkel Pilv's efforts, Miksike established the domain
name and server account for WAOE, and paid for most of our online operations
the first year and a half of our existence. Thus, Miksike is our first
actual sponsor. We owe a debt of gratitude to Mihkel and Miksike for
donating time and money to WAOE when we most needed it.
<p>It was resolved that directors award "WAOE Supportive Affiliate" status to
Miksike in recognition of Miksike's voluntary support of WAOE during its early
stages of development and on the grounds that Miksike's activities and goals
are directly related to WAOE's mission.
<p>It was further resolved that WAOE will display Miksike's logo and/or hyperlink
within our Website in a place designated for Supportive Affiliates, and that
we will give a WAOE "Supportive Affiliate" logo to Miksike to display at Miksike's
Websites should Miksike's officers wish to do so.
<p><b><i><font size=+1>NonCreditEd (Learn Online! - Omega College, Washington
State, USA)</font></i></b> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Member2">John Spiers</a> is Dean of Omega College,
a Web-based association of noncredit online instructors which is based
in Washington State, USA, and which maintains a catalog of online courses
for adults interested in life-long education. These online classes are
taught by faculty in association with Omega College, Ltd. Omega
College does not offer credit for hese courses, but other colleges sometimes
give credit to students who take courses that are listed from Omega
College's <a href="http://www.noncredited.net/wileyccc/index.html">Learn
Online!</a> site.
<p>John Spiers has offered to give WAOE an introduction to teaching on the Web
course that is already in place through Omega College's "Learn Online" catalog,
to list any courses WAOE may want to offer to educators and collect any fees
for those taking WAOE's courses, and to pay WAOE a percentage of fees for any
other course WAOE members take after being directed to Omega College's site.
After including WAOE's Orientation at the Learn Online! site and accepting fees
to register for it, John Spiers has processed over a thousand dollars worth
of Bankcard fees to WAOE through his merchant account (absorbing the per transaction
fees and returned fees himself). Without Omega College's assistance, WAOE
could not have collected sufficient members' fees in 1999 to continue operating
online. I feel we should .
<p>Wising to express appreciation for these voluntary efforts to assist WAOE in
the most tangible way possible, the Directors resolved to award "WAOE Supportive
Affiliate" to NonCreditEd/Omega College, Ltd, in recognition of its voluntary
support of WAOE and on the grounds that its activities and <br>
mission are directly related to WAOE's own mission.
<p>It was further resolved that WAOE will display NonCreditEd/Omega College's
online logo and/or hyperlink within our Web site in a place designated for Supportive
Affiliates and that we will give a WAOE "Supportive Affiliate" logo to the organisation
to display at its own Websites should its officers wish to do so.
<p><b><i><font size=+1>Background</font></i></b> <br>
The relevant legislation behind these decisions was passed at the Directors'
Meeting in February this year, and part of it - the part applying to all members
of the Association - was described under Special Items in WEB for January 31,
2000 (see <a href="http://www.waoe.org/web/vol2no1/special.htm">Membership Privilege
- WAOE Logo</a>).
<p>To give you the background to the important decisions the Directors took to
recognise organisations having similar aims and a special relationship with
WAOE, the full wording of the motion passed in February is set out below:
<p>Motion for a WAOE Policy on Criteria for Use of WAOE's Logos and other Intellectual
Property:
<p><b><u>Introduction</u></b> <br>
The WAOE name and logos are intellectual property of the organization, a non-profit
public benefit corporation (NPO). Only WAOE members with dues currently paid
or waived may exercise the membership privilege of placing the WAOE logo on
their Web pages (criterion 1 below). They may also indicate their WAOE
membership on curriculum vitae and other documents as well as in their signatures
in e-mail and so forth. Conversely, non-members of WAOE may make reference
to WAOE intellectual property and make links to WAOE Websites, but non-members
are not authorized to use the intellectual property of WAOE unless they are
awarded the privilege by criteria 2 or 3 below.
<p><u>1. WAOE Membership Privilege</u> <br>
Upon initial registration for membership (as an Associate or Voting Member)
and payment of dues or waiver approval, the nominal WAOE Member logo may be
used on one's personal or professionally related Web sites, provided the directions
are followed in the notice to members "<a href="http://www.waoe.org/web/vol2no1/special.htm">Use
of the WAOE Logo as a Membership Privilege</a>". Use of this logo may
continue as long as the member continues active enrollment and payment or waiver
of applicable dues as required with annual renewals. Authorization of use of
the logo as a WAOE membership privilege terminates upon termination of membership
or failure to complete annual renewal requirements.
<p><u>2. WAOE Supportive Organization</u> <br>
Awarding of the privilege to use the WAOE Supportive Organization logo shall
be determined by the WAOE Affiliate Liaison Committee, composed of a <br>
Chairperson, ratified by the Board of Directors, and approximately four additional
reviewers who volunteer from the WAOE membership. At least three members
of the Affiliate Liaison Committee must not be associated with an organization
under consideration for potential award unless a waiver agreement is issued
by the WAOE Board of Directors.
<p>Any WAOE member may nominate an organization to the Affiliate Liaison Committee
for consideration for awarding use of the Supportive Organization logo.
The committee shall use, as a minimum, the following criteria for consideration
in the awarding process: <br>
(1) does the organization provide direct or indirect support to WAOE by way
of monetary, publicity, services or in kind assistance; <br>
(2) does the organization provide a favorable, professional image to WAOE and
education; and <br>
(3) will the organization provide reciprocal, Web-based recognition?
<p>The organization may be either for-profit or non-profit in structure and may
be nominated by one of its representatives.
<p><u>3. WAOE Awarded Organization</u> <br>
Awarding of the privilege to use the WAOE Awarded Organization logo shall be
determined by the WAOE Affiliate Liaison Committee, composed of a <br>
Chairperson, ratified by the Board of Directors, and approximately four additional
reviewers who volunteer from the WAOE membership. At least three members of
the Affiliate Liaison Committee must not be associated with an organization
under consideration for potential award unless a waiver agreement is issued
by the WAOE Board of Directors.
<p>Any WAOE member may nominate an organization to the Affiliate Liaison Committee
for consideration for awarding use of the Awarded Organization logo. The
Committee shall use, as a minimum, the following criteria for consideration
in the awarding process: <br>
(1) does the organization (or individual) receiving the award show a deep commitment
to education and is it actively engaged in activities compatible <br>
with WAOE's mission as stated in the WAOE Bylaws; <br>
(2) does the organization provide a favorable, professional image to WAOE and
education; and <br>
(3) will the organization provide reciprocal, Web-based recognition?
<p>The organization may be either for-profit or non-profit in structure, and the
organization may request self-nomination. To maximize the recognition
of this award, it shall be presented at an international conference whose proceedings
are available at least in part online.
<p><a name="Special#3"></a><b><font size=+1>Appointment of WAOE Officer</font></b>
<p>Please welcome Karen O'Connor to the Coordinating Ring of WAOE. Also
at the March Special Meeting, the Directors endorsed the appointment of Karen
O'Connor to a position on the Membership Committee, where she will, in particular,
supervise the WAOE <a href="http://www.waoe.org/web/vol1no13/special.htm">Fellowships</a>
established in honor of her late colleague Carlton Scott, a WAOE founding member.
<p>Karen is Department Head of Applied Business Technology & Distance Education
at Selkirk College, British Columbia, Canada. She also is a founding member
of WAOE, since the TCC 98 days.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Special5"></a><b><font size=+1>Update on the WAOE Logo Design Contest</font></b>
<br>
The following announcement about the WAOE Logo Design Contest, which was
originally advertised on WAOE-Views (see the archived message at <a href="http://www.egroups.com/group/waoe-views/1368.html">http://www.egroups.com/group/waoe-views/1368.html</a>
for information about the conditions and criteria) comes from Mike Warner.
<blockquote>I have posted a last call for entries on the waoe-views listserve
and the deadline of March 31st has past. I have six entries posted at the following
URL and still am expecting at least three more entries which have been held
up by technical difficulties (read over committed school teacher with too many
irons in the fire). Here is the game plan unless someone comes up with a more
inspired idea: all Ring members please access the site, and submit your comments
and constructive criticisims on each submission for each of the two categories
"Supportive" and "Awarded." The voting/comments should be sent to the
WebBoard <a href="http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe">http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe</a>
per the instruction at the site below. Please rank each submission using
a 1 to 10 scale with 1 being <br>
highest, 10 lowest. If you feel that none should be selected or you would
rather see more entries or you would like to see an edited version of one or
more, please make that clear in you comments. When I have secured the
last remaining entries I will add them to this site and send you all another
update posting. But please start the evaluation process now so that the
selection and/or modification(s) can be expedited.
<p>WAOE Logo Design Contest Site: <a href="http://www.interdigm.com/mwarner/WAOE/logo.html">http://www.interdigm.com/mwarner/WAOE/logo.html</a>
</blockquote>
Although judging of the entries is in the hands of the Coordinating Ring,
all WAOE members are very welcome to look them over.
<p><a name="Special4"></a><b><font size=+1>Streamlining WAOE Communication Channels</font></b>
<p>This report from President Steve McCarty is intended to announce an administrative
policy change and to set the historical record straight.
<p>WAOE was organized through a list to discuss the first keynote address of the
TCC98 Online Conference based at the U of Hawaii, which continued from April
to October 1998 with a total of 320 posts, still archived on the Web at: <a href="http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/discuss/keyone-l">http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/discuss/keyone-l</a>.
<p>Another list designed for announcements of milestones in WAOE's organizational
development was hosted by the U of Idaho, and provides a historical record from
April 1998 to June 1999. Posts totaled 71, and are archived at: <a href="http://www.uidaho.edu/list-archives/waoe-news">http://www.uidaho.edu/list-archives/waoe-news</a>.
<p>Plagued by technical problems with the Majordomo mail server and insufficient
staff support, it simply became impossible to post messages from June 1999.
WAOE members had been urged to join waoe-news, but we must rescind this administrative
decision and streamline WAOE communication channels. Meanwhile, an e-newsletter
WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB), 15 issues as of this writing and currently monthly,
has superseded the role of waoe-news in its present form, and is announced to
official members by e-mail as being available on the WWW at: <a href="http://www.waoe.org/web">http://www.waoe.org/web</a>.
<p>We would like to continue to urge members and allow non-members to participate
in the unmoderated discussion list <a href="mailto:waoe-views@waoe.org">waoe-views@waoe.org</a>,
which has <br>
received over 1,400 posts so far from July 1998 through February 2000, and is
archived at: <a href="http://www.eGroups.com/group/waoe-views/">http://www.eGroups.com/group/waoe-views/</a>
and its mirror sites.
<p>The WAOE Coordinating Ring relies on a closed list with many messages daily,
courtesy of California State U.
<p>Besides mailing lists, there are other types of WAOE communication channels
such as WebBoards, MOO and chat rooms, virtual learning environments (Blackboard,
etc.) and virtual organization environments (QuickTeam, etc.) available for
WAOE activities. Thus we would like to streamline WAOE's communication
channels as indicated above.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
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<p><a name="New"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Welcome to New Members</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>On behalf of all the existing members, the Board of Directors and the members
of the Coordinating Ring (WAOE's management executive) extend a very warm welcome
to members who have registered to join the Association in the past few weeks.
We look forward to your becoming active participants in WAOE discussions and
other activities.</tt>
<p><tt>As with any unfamiliar organisation, there must be a lot of questions
in the minds of recent joiners. The first place new members should
go to for answers is the WAOE </tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Orientation">Orientation
Course</a>.<tt> As well, this section of WEB tries to anticipate
and answer one or two of the questions new members could be pondering
by providing some <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Meaning">fundamental
information</a>.</tt>
<p><tt>New members - and existing members - might also explore the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Policies">WAOE
Policies and Procedures</a><b><font size=+1> </font></b>section of WEB
and the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#WAOE">About WAOE</a> section.</tt>
<p><tt>If you have any question at all about the Association, send it to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Web
Editor</a> so we can respond to it in an appropriate section of WEB.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Orientation"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Orientation Course</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>Thanks to generous support from long-standing member John Spiers and his<font color="#FF172A">
<a href="http://noncredited.net/wileyccc/">LearnOnline </a></font>organisation,
and to the hard conceptualising and drafting work of Treasurer, Jenna Seehafer,
WAOE has established an Orientation Course which will provide essential information
on a continual basis about the organisation and how it operates. Please
note that the Web pages for the Orientation Course are still under construction.
Jenna and other WAOE Officers will add sections and items - including parts
of WEB as it now looks - as time permits and opportunity presents. You
can go to the pages in progress either through <font color="#FF172A"><a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient.htm">Orientation
Course</a></font>, or through the View Course link on the WAOE Orientation Course
<a href="http://noncredited.net/wileyccc/worasofonedo.html">enrolment page</a>.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
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<p><a name="Profile"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Memberâs Profile</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="Member"></a><b><font size=+1>George Brown</font></b>
<p>This profile is a reproduction, with links added, of the feature article VIRTUAL
UNIVERSITIES by Brian Donaghy, which appeared in the March 1-7, 2000 issue of
the Australian higher education newspaper, CAMPUS REVIEW.
<blockquote>"I just want to ensure that people get a Îlegitâ education.ä
<p><a href="mailto:agbrown@cobweb.com.au">George Brown</a> already works for
an institution providing ãlegitä education ? he is the coordinator of a group
of accredited degrees at a highly regarded Australian tertiary institution.
<p>But in his spare time he surfs the web and the worldâs newsgroups, identifying
the fraudulent or dubious distance education universities which have proliferated
with the internet, and he e-mails Australian politicians and public servants,
providing information on the latest scams and finding out what has been done
about them.
<p>ãThere needs to be a fair and equitable system out there that can provide
people with legitimate education and currently there is a huge batch of accrediting
agencies around the world that no-one understands,ä Brown says.
<p>He has set up a web-site (<a href="http://www.virtu-aluniversities.net">http://www.virtualuniversities.net</a>)
where he posts news of the latest developments in dubious distance education,
lists a number of worthless ãaccreditingä agencies, and provides hints on
how to spot a degree mill.
<p>The site also provides links to relevant articles and publications including
Campus Review, to the newsgroup alt.education.distance and to websites around
the world run by similar cyber sleuths in pursuit of cybershonks. The
site lists eight virtual universities currently based in Australasia ? the
University of Asia, Greenwich University, St Clements Pacific International,
St George University International, Marlborough University, IOND University
& International Hypnotism College, and the Global Virtual University.
<p>They range, Brown says, from the fraudulent to legitimate educational institutions.
He names names and makes it quite clear which ones he thinks are conmen.
He has already had some menacing phone calls, and asked that his workplace
not be identified in this story.
<p>ãWhat I want (my) web pages to do is create an awareness of the market and
what is out there, so that students can make an informed decision. Physical
location means nothing in this world of virtual education, itâs a global market
... and the bottom line is that anyone can publish anything on the internet.ä
<p>Brown believes that what is needed now is some form of recognised global
accreditation. The system that is now being developed by the government
will be excellent, he says, but it will only cover one country.
<p>Many of the fraudulent operations used all the right words and all the right
symbols and there was no obvious place for a potential student to check them
out. ãYou can look into the domain name registration and do background
checks from there, but the average person looking for a qualification takes
it at face value.ä
<p>So for a start he would like to see a centralised website listing, by country,
the accreditation status of providers of virtual courses. ãThis listing
should be of only those institutions which have degree-granting authority
in their own countries.ä
<p>However, the American system for accrediting universities is a perfect example,
he says, of the chaos out there. ãIf students are considering an American
degree and want to know what it will be worth, they are faced with a regional
accreditation system, with state licensing, and with unaccredited universities.
Which one do they choose? All three are legal and legitimate, and as far as
acceptability of the qualifications are concerned, there may be no difference.ä
<p>So even compiling a global accreditation registry would require an enormous
amount of work and, therefore, money. He hasnât quite worked out where
that might come from, but in the meantime he is getting his website listed
on the search engines and finishing a masters degree on cyber unis at Flinders
University.
</blockquote>
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<p><a name="Member2"></a><b><font size=+1>Introducing the Coordinating Ring -
John Spiers</font></b>
<p>This issue's Member's Profile is the first of a series of short pieces introducing
the members of the Coordinating Ring, particularly the more newly appointed
ones. I've asked each member to provide just a brief description of background,
especially experience in online education, including links to any course sites
or other sites of relevance, plus reflections along the lines of why you joined
WAOE, and what you hope to give to - and what you hope to get out of - the organisation.
<i><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Web Editor</a></i>
<p>We'll kick off with John Spiers, whom many of you will have met already
online as the owner/manager of <a href="http://www.NonCreditEd.Net">Learn
Online!</a>, the site where you enrolled for the WAOE Orientation Course
and thereby paid dues or obtained waiver from dues for 1999/2000.
<p>John Spiers is an international trader by profession who has taught his
expertise since 1984. In 94 he began teaching online, and now
leads some 60 instructors at <a href="http://www.NonCreditEd.Net">www.NonCreditEd.Net</a>
in providing noncredit course online by instructors around the world
to schools around the world. John's goal is to <br>
promote free trade in education worldwide, and WAOE is the right organization
to promote that end.
<p>See <a href="http://members.aol.com/wileyccc">http://members.aol.com/wileyccc</a>
for a photo and more information about John's work and achievements.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
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<p><a name="About_Profile"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About Member's Profile</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>In each issue of WEB a different member introduces him- or herself and
talks about experiences and interests in online education and training. Drawing
on the information and URLs provided on their registration forms, the WEB Editor
is targetting individual members who are doing especially innovative and exciting
things in online education with requests to provide a brief profile.</tt>
<p><tt><u>But why wait to be asked?</u> All WEB readers are urged to use
the Memberâs Profile to help flesh out the person behind the impersonal email
address youâre known by in WAOE. We are a member's organisation - reMEMBER!!
Just a short piece will do. As well as giving us some background information,
weâd like you to tell colleagues why you joined WAOE, what you hope to gain
from your involvement, and what you would like to contribute.</tt>
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<p><a name="Conference"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Conference (Re)Call</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="Reports"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+2>Reports</font></tt></i></b>
<p><a name="Reports#1"></a><b><font size=+1>EASI Online Workshops ... etc</font></b>
<p>Arun Tripathi passed on information about <a href="http://www.rit.edu/~easi/">EASI</a>,
"Equal Access to Software and Information," to WAOE-Views in early March.
This article takes a closer look at what the organisation has to offer.
<p>Here are the organisation's main objectives and its claims for the attention
of online and other educators concerned in particular with addressing the needs
of people with disabilities:
<blockquote>" We cover Internet media dealing with educational technologies and/or
also information technology for people with disabilities. This <br>
includes audio and video presentations on these topics available on the
Internet."
<p>"EASI's mission is to serve as a resource to the education community by providing
information and guidance in the area of access-to- <br>
information technologies by individuals with disabilities. We stay informed
about developments and advancements within the adaptive <br>
computer technology field and spread that information to colleges, universities,
K-12 schools, libraries and into the workplace."
<p>"Our supporters and friends comprise people from colleges, universities,
businesses and other institutions. They include computing staff, <br>
disabled student services staff, faculty, administrators, vendors, representatives
of professional associations, private consultants, heads of <br>
both non-profit and for-profit organizations, faculty and staff from
K-12 schools, and students."
</blockquote>
EASI is a project of the <a href="http://www.tltgroup.org/">TLT Group</a> (Teaching,
Learning & Technology), which is an Affiliate of the American Association
for Higher Education. <br>
Projects, Activities and Publications. From the WWW home page you can access
a wide variety of services:
<blockquote><b><u>SEMINARS AND ONLINE WORKSHOPS</u></b>: <br>
In conjunction with the Rochester Institute of Technology (which offers
course credits for them), two <a href="http://www.rit.edu/%7Eeasi/workshops.html">workshops</a>
are offered online several times a year. The registration fee
of $275 each was a little steep to pay up for the purposes of review
- and it may be beyond the means or willingness to pay of some WAOE
members (although the cost is not that high by developing Internet standards)
- so the following statements come straight from the relevant Web page.
<p><b><i>Barrier-Free Web Design</i></b> <br>
This is a four-week workshop offered every couple of months. It is designed
to demonstrate how to create web pages that are both visually appealing and
fully accessible to users with print disabilities. The workshop is largely
self-instruction and self-paced, but it also includes frequent interaction
with instructors and participants. It includes multimedia slides with
narated audio, video clips, audio discussions and text and graphic materials.
Besides teaching universal web design, it is intended to model how to use
multimedia on the web in ways that enhance access for all users. By
combining multiple communication modes, the workshop increases its accessibility
for everyone. The guidelines recently announced by the World Wide Web
Consortium's Web Access Initiative are included in the course. The workshop
focus is on accessibility features in web design rather than being an in-depth
course in HTML. It is aimed at people who know web design and want to
understand accessibility issues, and for those wanting to understand access
issues to better talk with designers.
<p><b><i>Barrier-Free Education Technology</i></b> <br>
This is also a four-week online workshop available bimonthly. It provides
an overview to the topic of adaptive computing technology and is ideal for
administrators, teachers, librarians, computer support staff, ADA compliance
officers and service providers. The workshop is delivered using e-mail and
multimedia materials on the web. Multimedia presentations both enriches the
content and makes it more accessible to participants with different learning
styles and different disabilities. The workshop is designed to encourage and
facilitate interactions between instructors and participants and among participants.
<p><b><u>ELECTRONIC DISCUSSION LISTS</u></b>: <br>
EASI supports three major public discussion lists: EASI, AXSLIB-L and EASI-SEM.
The EASI List focuses on general discussion about adaptive equipment, access
issues and other disability and computer topics. AXSLIB-L is the library
access list, called. EASI-SEM specializes in materials to advance access
to science, engineering and math for students and professionals in those areas.
<p>We looked just at the EASI list, which has 589 subscribers and is archived
back to January 1998. The following selection of topics covered in February
and March 2000 looks fairly representative, and well illustrates the highly
practical bent of the list:
<blockquote>
<li> Accessible prototyping software?</li>
<li> Blind Community E-Mail Directory</li>
<li> The Good Side Of Regulation - Internet World</li>
<li> Question re accessibility features of WebCT and Blackboard au thoring
tools</li>
<li> ALA Draft Policy on Disabilities Service</li>
<li> Braille displays with more than one line</li>
<li> Website accessibility</li>
<li> Appropriate typing programs</li>
<li> Do's and Don'ts</li>
<li> IBM Accessibility Guidelines (2 messages)</li>
<li> Scanning with Text Bridge (4 messages)</li>
<li> Successful Strategies for Getting What You Want from Government</li>
<li> What comes after high school for teens with disabilities?</li>
<li> Free opportunity from Canada: Online Learning and Students with Disabilities</li>
</blockquote>
To subscribe to the EASI list, send e-mail to <a href="mailto:listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu">listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu</a>
saying sub easi (and include your first and last names). <br>
To subscribe to the AXSLIB-L list, send e-mail to <a href="mailto:listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu">listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu</a>
saying sub axslib-l (and include your first and last names). <br>
To subscribe to the EASI-SEM list, send e-mail to <a href="Mailto:listserv@listserver.isc.rit.edu">listserv@listserver.isc.rit.edu</a>
saying sub easi-sem (and include your first and last names).
<p><b><u>ELECTRONIC JOURNAL</u></b>: <br>
EASI publishes a quarterly electronic journal, "Information Technology and
Disabilities," which focuses on technology issues that relate to people with
disabilities. It is published and archived (incompletely) on the Web,
with hyperlinks to articles, back to January 1994. Again, a small sampling
of article titles will give some idea of the range and interest of the content
and the wide professional (and geographic) spread of contributors. As
with the EASI discussion list, a hands-on, down-to-earth focus is very evident:
<blockquote>
<li> Apart or a Part? Access to the Internet by Visually Impaired and Blind
People, with Particular Emphasis on Assistive Enabling Technology and User
Perceptions. Jonathan Berry, Information Services, Cardiff University,
UK (November 1999)</li>
<li> Delivering Accessible Library Services in a Distance Learning Environment.
Steve Noble, Manager, Product Development Recording for the Blind
and Dyslexic (April 1999)</li>
<li> Distance Education and Individuals with Disabilities. Ron Stewart,
Coordinator Northwest Center for Technology Access, Oregon State University
(APril 1999)</li>
<li> K-12 Web Resources for Science, Engineering and Math. Audio Presentation.
Dick Banks, EASI Electronic Resource Manager</li>
<li> Audio-Assisted Reading: Access for Students with Print Disabilities.
Carol Evans, Graduate Student in School Psychology, University of Utah</li>
</blockquote>
The journal is available in two ways. First, it is on EASI's web at <a href="http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd.html">http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd.html</a>.
Second, it is available through a listserv list, itd-jnl. To subscribe
send e-mail to: <a href="mailto:listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu">listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu</a>
with this one line: sub itd-jnl followed by your "first name last name."
<p><b><u>WEBCASTS</u></b>: <br>
This component of EASI is probably the one that nos obviously lives up to
the project's by-line, "Students and professionals with disabilities must
have the same access to multimedia as everyone else! The archive of
weekly Webcasts is found on the same page as Adaptive Tech Video, Math
and Graphics Video, and Lab Access Video.
<p>Here is a selection of recent Webcast items. Each is hyperlinked to
an audio version (requiring RealPlayer) and a transcript.
<blockquote>
<li> Interview with Dianna Muldrow, New Jersey Institute of Technology. Dianna
talks about personal and professional experiences with k-12 issues in educating
students with special neeeds.</li>
<li> Interview with Jeff Senge about his work in adaptive computing for students
with disabilities at Fullerton in California.</li>
<li> Interview with Tom Mcnulty on Access to Libraries for Patrons with Disabilities</li>
<li> Carmela Cunningham talks with A mother of two autistic children and her
involvement in the schools system.</li>
<li> K-12 Monthly K-12 Assistive Technology Webcast Preview (Hosted by Carmela
Cunningham, UCLA</li>
<li> National Science Foundation Projects for Person's with Disabilities Webcast
Preview (Hosted by Dr. Larry Scadden)</li>
<br>
Adaptive and Information Technology in Post Secondary Education Preview Webcast
(Hosted by Dr. Leah Vickery)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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<p><a name="Reports#2"></a><b><font size=+1>School World Newlsetter</font></b>
<p>It's been quite a while since we featured this publication linked to a <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/">Website</a>
aimed squarely at schools, teachers, students and parents. SchoolWorld
calls itself "The Global Internet Classroom for K-12 Teachers and Students."
The "It's Happening" column from No. 2/2000 (27 February, 2000) demonstrates
why by underlining the existing and prospective benefits of the site to its
client groups:
<blockquote><b><i>Innovations Learning Center</i></b> <br>
With schools back from holidays and settling in over February, SchoolWorld has
used this month to work on new projects and to establish our new sites for this
year. The first pages for the <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/lic/">Innovations
Learning Center </a>are well underway with Stu Cart and his team working on
over 100 pages currently available. If members have suggestions for this site
then please write to SchoolWorld as Stu is working hard to combine his team's
new ideas with the suggestions from members.
<p><b><i>SchoolWorld Medical Centre</i></b> <br>
The <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/medical/index.html">SchoolWorld
Medical Centre</a> outlines are in place and this month SchoolWorld is meeting
on-line with a number of medical experts from around the world to encourage
their participation. By the end of the month this new site will allow
members and parents to approach these experts with questions on child related
illnesses and disabilities.
<p><b><i>SchoolWorld Foundation</i></b> <br>
Paperwork is nearly complete for the establishing of the new <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/foundation/index.html">SchoolWorld
Foundation</a>. As most of you would be aware this process takes time with
tax and government applications needing approval before we can go ahead.
This new program has taken a little longer to establish than envisaged but
it is hoped that all paperwork should be complete and approved in the next
week or so. Once this is done then we will advise members what the new site
will entail.
<p><b><i>Teachers' Forum</i></b> <br>
Our Education Directors are looking at a brand new site for SchoolWorld, <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/lic/index.html">The
Teachers' Forum</a>. Steve Bruce, our graphics artist is working on the front
pages for this and our panel will be working on outlines and inclusions. This
site is for our member teachers and will cover an excellent cross-section
of traditional teaching, offer areas for teacher generated discussion and
also cater for new ideas in which SchoolWorld will assist in implementing.
<p><b><i>New Software Program</i></b> <br>
In the next month or so SchoolWorld is looking to have a new software program
available to us. This is a remote control program that allows our experts
to virtually 'hack' into a members computer with their approval and then use
the program to assist that member in designing projects, writing html pages
for the internet and fixing any problems that member may have with their system.
When complete the member just removes the clone program from their computer
and access ceases. John Halse and Karen Walkowiak from SchoolWorld tested
the program some months ago with excellent results. It has since been
refined to provide faster access and it's a eerie sensation watching your
cursor flash around your screen while another user works within your desk-top
area. The program is NOT a 'hacking' program, the 'guest' member needs
to place a small software program on to their computer for this to work, which
means that they give permission for work to be carried out within ther system.
</blockquote>
SchoolWorld is rich with other innovative approaches to global cooperation in
K-12 education. Take a look at <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/projects.html">SchoolWorld
Projects</a> such as:
<blockquote><b><i>The Great Debate Project</i></b> <br>
Debating teams from SchoolWorld member schools match wits with teams in other
schools in this unque on-line, interactive debating project. Suitable for Grades
Six to Twelve.
<p><b><i>The World Weather Watch Project</i></b> <br>
Learn about the climate in other parts of the world in this information gathering
and comparison project.
<p><b><i>The International Cook-Book Project</i></b> <br>
On on-going project open to all grades and designed to combine recipes from
international member schools into our very own SchoolWorld International Cook-Book.
An excellent idea for schools to raise funds for themselves.
<p><b><i>The SchoolWorld Zoo</i></b> <br>
A combination of projects on animals and plants including the SchoolWorld
Endangered Species Reports, Ask An Expert, The SchoolWorld Adoption Center
and Letters From Around The World.
<p><b><i>The K12 Student Poetry Project</i></b> <br>
An international project featuring student poetry from around the world, lesson
plans and resources from many countries.
</blockquote>
And there's lots more, including (currently) two <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/project3.html">Special
SchoolWorld Member Projects</a> :
<blockquote><b><i>The Great Novel Quest</i></b> <br>
A new project from Australia, The Great Novel Quest looks for the most popular
novels and books read by students in Grades Five to Eight. A great email based
project.
<p><b><i>The International Transport Project</i></b> <br>
This project focuses on the different ways students travel to schools in their
own countries. Use email to provide descriptions, tell stories and send
pictures and photos.
</blockquote>
and a host of Selected International Projects with intriguing titles like Acid
Rain; Backpack Buddy; Electronic United Nations; Generations CANConnect; Global
Grocery List; Live From The Rainforest; Virtual Trip To Rome, Italy; and WhaleNet.
<p>Then there is the SchoolWorld Species Adoption Centre, from which students
"adiopt" and care for endangered species, with over 60 new animals being added
in March, including to this program from the rattlesnakes, white rhino, lions
and tigers.
<p>And the <a href="http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/resource/tteacher.html">Tek
Teacher Program</a>, in which volunteers around the world answer questions from
teachers, students and parents in the classroom and at home about a compreensive
list of topics: Art| Chemistry | Computer Studies |Geography | Gifted | History
| Integration - Information Literacy (IT) | Language Arts | Languages | Literature
| Marine Biology | Mathematics | Music | Reading | Science | Social Studies
| Space Science | Special Education | The Internet |
<p>We could go on. This is a must-see site, colourful and exciting in looks,
but highly organised and very easy to navigate and, above all, full of great
ideas.
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<p><a name="Reports#3"></a><b><font size=+1>ITrain Modules</font></b>
<p>Not exactly a conference or workshop, perhaps, but <a href="http://unganisha.idrc.ca/itrain/materials.html">ITrain
Internet training</a> modules for instructors and students offer a comprehensive
range of opportunities to pick up highly useful information technology and online
education knowledge and skill in short bursts comparable to attending a conference
but more narrowly focused and perhaps more immediately and practically beneficial.
Best of all, no doubt, all the courses are free.
<p>Many or the courses are specific to particular software like Eudora Light 3,
Pegasus 2.5, Outlook Express, and the major Internet browsers, but some newer
or re-developed ones - Website Construction, Effective Internet Searching, List
Faciitation - offer broader challenges to people seeking to develop greater
understanding of aand proficiency with applications of the Internet.
<p>The course materials are availabe in both Microsoft Word form (*.doc) and in
Adobe Acrobat form (*.pdf). The Word documents are compressed with WinZip
for faster downloading.** PDF files can be viewed and printed with the
Acrobat Reader but are not modifiable in this form. Copies of Acrobat Reader
or WinZip may be obtained from ITrain's op[ening page. A small group
of courses is also available in Spanish.
<p>** I found - sigh! for yet another failure of technical compatibility and user-friendliness
in the so-called information age - that the compressed files could not readily
be opened in Nestscape Navigator on a PowerMac machine. Perhaps I'll try
again when I've got hold of ZipIt or some other recognised decompression software,
because the pdf approach looks a bit daunting ... all those words!
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<p><a name="Coming"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+2>Coming Events</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<p>*********************************************
<p><a name="Events1"></a> <br>
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<p><a name="Events2"></a> <br>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
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<p><a name="Events3"></a> <br>
<br>
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<p><a name="Feature"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About Conference (Re)Call</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<tt>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. We also try to promote events which are
free or low-cost, even if they are f2f.</tt>
<p><tt>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 <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">WEB Editor</a>.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
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<p><a name="New_Links"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>New Links</font></tt></b>
<p>For this issue's interesting Websites, we are indebted to the regular gleanings
of the World Wide Web that "tireless" Arun Tripathi undertakes for his <a href="http://www.onelist.com/group/distancelearning">Distance
Learning</a> list.
<p>**************************** <br>
<a name="Link1"></a> <br>
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<p><tt>*****************************</tt> <br>
<a name="Link2"></a> <br>
<p><tt>******************************</tt> <br>
<a name="Link3"></a> <br>
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<p><a name="Ideas"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Web Ideas and Issues</font></tt></b>
<p>As always, if any member feels stirred by the snippets on basic or controversial
issues offered here, please feel free to send me a comment, or kickstart
a discussion on <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Views">WAOE-Views</a>.
<i><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Web Editor</a></i>
<p><a name="Ideas1"></a> <br>
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<p><a name="Ideas2"></a> <br>
<br>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="What"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About WEB Ideas and Issues</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>The issues and other matters raised in this section of WEB are intended
to derive from membersâ concerns and suggestions.</tt>
<p><tt>Input to WAOE-Views during the recent Annual General Meeting showed us
that members are looking for opportunities to engage with important issues and
ideas affecting the Web-based delivery of teaching and learning, but also that
we need to do more to spell out to our members details of the organisational
procedures through which they will get to know more frequently and reliably
what goals the Association is pursuing, what action is being taken to realise
these goals, and - most importantly - how members may make the most effective
contributions to WAOE.</tt>
<p><tt>As a result, a new column, <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Policies">WAOE
Policies and Procedures</a>, has been split off from WEB Ideas and Issues.
This will free the WEB Ideas and Issues column to be taken up more and
more by topics of interest arising from the thinking of the members
at large about their own professional practice in online education,
and the role that WAOE as a whole and the sub-groups in which members
are most actively engaged might play in lifting the standards and quality
of Web-based teaching and learning.</tt>
<p><tt>If you have a concern to express, an idea to suggest, a question to
raise, a point to make about online education in general and about WAOE's
work in relation to online education in particular, write a short item
for the WEB Ideas and Issues column and send it to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">WEB
Editor</a>. On a smaller, less formal scale, you might prefer
to air your views first of all in the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Say">Your
Say</a> section of WEB. Depending on the nature and volume of
early responses to the Your Say item, matters raised may spark an article
in the Web Ideas and Issues section of WEB, a free-ranging discussion
on WAOE-Views, or a structured debate or online chat via the WAOE WebBoard.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Briefs"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>News Briefs</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="News1"></a><b><font size=+1>Call for Papers: Journal of Library Services
for Distance Education</font></b>
<p>The <a href="http://www.westga.edu/~library/jlsde/">Journal of Library Services
for Distance Education</a> requests submissions of manuscripts for its
next issue (anticipated publication date June 2000).
<p>This international scholarly, peer-reviewed e-journal publishes refereed articles
focusing on the issues and challenges of providing research/information services
to students enrolled in formal post-secondary distance education. It particularly
strives to meet the continuing education needs of practitioners by providing
a forum for the discussion of extended learning policies and practices, and
trends in information technology as they impact the delivery of library services
for distance learners and faculty. Articles may be philosophical and/or
quantitative analyses of off-campus library issues, and may take the form of
case studies, research studies, or general interest reports.
<p>Sample topics: role/history of library services to distance education, standards
for such services, organization/planning of new services, library instruction
for remote users, document delivery, inter-library cooperation, providing/creating
access to bibliographic and other library resources, costs of such services,
research on remote users' information-seeking behaviors, etc. Book reviews,
conference reports, literature reviews, news items, URLs for homepages of off-campus
library services worldwide, announcements of conferences and publications, and
letters to the editor are also invited.
<p>Original manuscripts will be accepted by email or on IBM-compatible 3.5 HD
diskette (WordPerfect preferred), and must not have already been published or
submitted elsewhere. Receipt of all manuscripts will be acknowledged.
You may contact the editor at the address below if you wish to discuss the suitability
of your proposed writing project prior to actual submission. Articles
will be evaluated using a blind-reviewing process. Authors are responsible
for obtaining permission from the copyright owner to use any material from another
source. Authors will retain copyright. Citations in bibliographies
must be formatted according to the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual
of Style.
<p>Carol Goodson, Head / Library Access Services <br>
STATE UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA, Carrollton GA 30118 <br>
Voice: (770) 836-6496 | Fax: (770) 836-6626 | Message: (800) 295-2321 <br>
email: <a href="mailto:cgoodson@westga.edu">cgoodson@westga.edu</a> <br>
<a href="http://www.westga.edu/~cgoodson/">http://www.westga.edu/~cgoodson/</a>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><font size=-1>################</font></tt>
<p><a name="News2"></a> <br>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><font size=-1>################</font></tt>
<p><a name="Policies"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>WAOE Policies and Procedures</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="Release"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Release of Personal Information</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>You might recall that the top of the registration form in the Membership
pages of the <a href="http://www.waoe.org">WAOE Website</a> contains the statement,
"This information will be stored in the WAOE database, and will not be made
publically available without your prior consent." This gives a clear
indication of our commitment to respect members' privacy and to maintain strictly
the confidentiality of personal details provided through the registration process.
Unfortunately, however, it would be a nearly impossible task to apply the statement
literally at the individual level of membership.</tt>
<p><tt>No addresses or other personal information about members will be released
to persons or organisations outside WAOE. However, to make the
various parts of WAOE functional, it is essential that Officers are
able to communicate freely with members, and members are able to contact
each other. This necessitates the distribution of personal information
within the organisation, but normally only names and email addresses
will be required. It would obviously be a wasteful and unmanageable
burden for the members of WAOE's <a href="/vol1no10/index.htm#Ring">Coordinating
Ring</a> to have to seek permission on an individual basis for the release
of some 900 members' names and email addresses. Therefore, we
need to obtain permission in a more efficient way for lists containing
your first and last names and your email address to be distributed to
members of the Ring, in the first instance, and thereafter to the Committees
or OCREWs in which you have expressed an interest; to project, discussion
and other groups that are started from time to time; and to members
of WAOE at large. All other information in the membership database
will be kept confidential, accessible only by the <a href="/vol1no10/index.htm#Ring">Coordinating
Ring</a>, as WAOE's executive management body.</tt>
<p><tt>We are (still) in the process of finalising a new registration form which
will automatically authorise the release of names and email addresses according
to the policy described above. Until that form comes into use as part
of our totally re-organised registration, database management and fee-payment
procedures for the new 1999/2000 financial year and beyond, we need to take
a simple collective approach to securing the authorised release of limited personal
information within the Association.</tt>
<p><tt>This article constitutes a notice to all members of WAOE requesting
the release of personal information within the Association, normally
limited to members' names and email addresses. If, after reading
the notice, you have an objection to these details being made known
or distributed to other officers and members of WAOE than the Directors
and the Coordinating Ring, please advise the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#David">Membership
Officer</a> immediately. If you do so object, the Membership Officer
will need to discuss with you some other appropriate way or ways in
which you will be able to participate fully in the main activities of
WAOE. Any suggestion you can make when sending your message of
objection would be very welcome.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Waiver1"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Waiver of Membership Fees/Dues -
Policy</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>WAOE has adopted the following policy on waiver of/exemption from payment
of membership fees/dues for the 1999/2000 period. This statement is summarised
from the official Minutes of the Planning and Finance Committee for April 1999.
If you wish to read the original resolution as it was subsequently adopted by
the Board of Directors, go to<font color="#FF172A"><a href="http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/read?558,24">http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/read?558,24</a></font>(If
you cannot get to this page, go to the<font color="#FF172A"><a href="http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe">WAOE
WebBoard</a> </font>and login by entering the first part of your email address
(before @), and enter the password "waoe," without the quotes. If you
stil have difficulty, contact the WebBoard Manager,<font color="#FF172A"><a href="mailto:mwarner@embryriddle.k12.az.us">Mike
Warner</a></font>.)</tt>
<blockquote><tt>All members of WAOE are expected to pay the $US10 membership fee
or dues from July 1 1999, unless they have applied for and received waiver.
There are no provisions for waiver of fees or dues to be applied automatically
by or on behalf of the WAOE Board of Directors; all waivers must be applied
for by individual members.</tt>
<p><tt>Members may initiate requests to the Membership Officer for waiver of
fees on one or more of the following grounds:</tt>
<blockquote>
<li> <tt>They are providing service to the Association (eg convening a Committee
or OCREW or managing a project);</tt></li>
<li> <tt>The costs of funds transfer or currency exchange would be excessive
in relation to the fee amount of $US10 *;</tt></li>
<li> <tt>They are in a situation of severe financial hardship.</tt></li>
</blockquote>
<tt>* As an alternative to seeking waiver of fees on the basis of excessive
funds transfer or currency exchange costs, members may apply to have this expenditure
applied to any future costs they might incur for participation in WAOE activities
over the next two years (eg the online professional development course being
developed by Nick Bowskill).</tt>
<p><tt>Normally, applications will be considered by the Membership Officer in
terms of the policy as summarised here, and in consultation, if necessary,
with the Treasurer or with the full Board of Directors.</tt>
<p><tt>WAOE will accept at face value any member's statement of hardship or
excessive transfer/conversion fees, and we will make a standardized reply
emphasizing that the service-in-lieu will be the sole recourse for any future
application for waiver of fees. All service-in-lieu requests will be
confirmed by the applicable Committee Chair or OCREW Convener or WAOE Coordinating
Ring member.</tt>
<p><tt>In the event that a member's initial application for waiver of fees or
dues is not accepted, the member will have the right to seek a review of his/her
application by the full Board of Directors. Such members will be advised
of this right and the process to be followed as the occasion arises.</tt>
</blockquote>
**********************
<p><a name="Waiver2"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Waiver of Membership Fees/Dues -
Procedure</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>To apply for waiver of fees/dues, send an email message to the <font color="#FF172A"><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Membership
Officer</a></font>.</tt>
<p><tt>For convenience, applicants may copy/cut and paste the following text into
their email message:</tt>
<blockquote><tt>I wish to apply for waiver of the WAOE membership fee/dues for
the 1999/2000 period.</tt>
<p><tt>My application is based on the following ground(s):</tt>
<blockquote>
<li> <tt>I am providing service to the Association;</tt></li>
<li> <tt>The costs of funds transfer or currency exchange would be excessive;</tt></li>
<li> <tt>I am in a situation of severe financial hardship.</tt></li>
</blockquote>
<tt><b><u>Please strike through whichever ground(s) are NOT applicable</u></b>.</tt>
<p><tt>In support of my application I wish to present the following information:</tt>
<p><tt><u><b>Please insert an appropriate statement</b>, keeping it as brief
as possible</u>.</tt>
</blockquote>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt> <br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Change"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Notifying Change of Email Address</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>It can sometimes be a real headache keeping track of members who change
their email addresses, or who occasionally use a different email address for
corresponding with us than the one through which they registered and which therefore
is listed on the official database. Such changes or differences of address
account for at least some of the "permanent fatal errors" that get reported
with each large-scale mailing that goes out to members. No doubt time
wasted in contact the members concerned double-checking WAOE's membership records
and various mailing lists is greater now - while such details are captured and
maintained on an essentially manual basis - than they will be once our systems
become fully automated. However, it seem very probable that effective
communication within WAOE will <u>always</u> be reliant to a significant extent
on the willingness of members themselves to keep us informed of their whereabouts.</tt>
<p><tt>As soon as we are able to attend to this matter among the various priorities
for action to improve the database and query system, an electronic form for
notifying changes of email address will be provided on the WAOE Website and
in each issue of WEB. In the meantime, we request members who change their
contact details to take the initiative and trouble to notify us as soon as possible.</tt>
<p><tt><b><u>Procedure</u></b>: Send an untitled email message to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Membership
Officer</a> containing the text (without the quotes): "I wish to advise that
I have changed by email address. My new email address is < insert details
>."</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Resign"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>How to Unsubscribe from Listserves
or Resign from WAOE</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>For a quick check-list of the procedures for getting off WAOE's listserves
or the mailing list for WEB, or for resigning from the Association altogether,
go to the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient3.htm">WAOE's
Communications page</a> of the WAOE Orientation Course. Scroll down to
the heading "How to Unsubscribe from Listserves or Resign from WAOE," or use
the link in the frame on the left hand side of the page.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="About_Policies"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About WAOE Policies and
Procedures</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>In this still early formative period for WAOE, it is probably inevitable
that items for information and discussion put out by WAOE's elected and appointed
Officers will predominate in our information venues and discussion forums, because
we are all concerned to help members understand and reflect on what the Association
is about and to encourage them to be active in its work. In past issues
of the bulletin, there has been a tendency - in the absence of another column
better suited to that purpose - for managerial matters to take up a larger share
of the space under the WEB Ideas and Issues heading than they should.
This has tended to squeeze out other topics of broader interest to online educators
which might have appeared there, and perhaps even discouraged members from contributing
to discussion of those topics, or raising topics of their own.</tt>
<p><tt>As WAOE grows, we will dedicate space in the WAOE Policies and Procedures
column to updating information about WAOE as an organisation, and encouraging
the active involvement of members in our online meetings, Committees and OCREWs,
discussion forums, projects, special events etc and to take all other opportunities
that present themselves for making a contribution to WAOE.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Forth"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Forthcoming Meetings</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>No items for this issue.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="this"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About this Section</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>Each issue, this section of WEB will include information about meetings
of WAOE committees, OCREWs and other groups that are coming up within the ensuing
fortnight. All members of WAOE - both associate and voting members - are welcome
to attend these meetings and contribute to discussion. Of course, only the duly
elected or otherwise designated members of WAOE's organisational committees
may take part in any formal voting on matters for decision.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Time"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Time conversion site</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>To help arrange synchronous meetings, WAOE uses <a href="http://155.43.48.225:2020/timew.html">World
Time Zone in JavaScript</a>.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="About"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>About WEB</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>The WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) is the official newsletter of the World
Association for Online Education. WEB will raise issues relevant to the
conduct and development of the Association, convey important information to
WAOE members, encourage active participation in the affairs of the Association,
and provide a forum for members to make a contribution.</tt>
<p><tt>WEB will be posted at the end of every month, except December, to a mirror
Website - URL <a href="http://www.waoe.org/web/index.htm">http://www.waoe.org/web/index.htm</a>
(although the address or the links to the site may change from time to time).
At the time of publication each member will be sent an email message stating
the URL and listing the contents of the current issue. Those few members
who are unable to access WEB via the Website, or who prefer to receive the bulletin
via email, will be sent each issue both as an email message and as an attached
file in html format.</tt>
<p><tt>If you missed an issue and would like to look back, WEB is now <a href="http://waoe.org/webvol1/htm">archived</a>
on the WAOE Website.</tt>
<p><tt>Members are still expected to subscribe to WAOE-News (see <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Links">WAOE
Links</a>), because that listserve will continue to operate as the medium
for official announcements, which you may expect to become more frequent
as WAOE develops. WEB will adopt a more comprehensive, detailed
and newsy approach to providing items of useful and interesting information
to members than is appropriate via WAOE-News. In particular, it
will act as a gateway to the various and growing number of sites and
locations within WAOE where exciting things are happening.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="WAOE"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>About WAOE</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>The World Association for Online Education (WAOE) is a nonprofit public
benefit corporation, incorporated in the State of California, USA. WAOE is organised
for charitable purposes and not for the private gain of any person.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>##############</tt>
<p><a name="Aims"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE's Objectives</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>See the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient2.htm">WAOE's
Objectives and Associated Documents</a> page of the WAOE Orientation Course.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>##############</tt>
<p><a name="Meaning"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>The Meaning and Exercise of Membership
in WAOE</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>WAOE is incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit and public
benefit membersâ organisation. The membership owns it. We want all
members to be active in the Association in all the ways and to the greatest
extent that they wish to or can manage to be involved.</tt>
<p><tt>And because we are an incorporated professional <u>organisation</u> - as
well as a globally spread association of professionals - there are various policies,
rules and procedures that we are obliged to follow in order to maintain our
official standing under Californian law. Observance of these requirements
is an all the more sensitive matter for us because we are engaged in the delicate
process of securing recognition as a tax-exempt organisation for the purposes
of receiving grants, sponsorships and donations. Some of the most important
expectations of and obligations on our members are summarised below.</tt>
<p><tt>No doubt, many members will not be especially interested in the details
of the conduct of WAOE's affairs according to our legal obligations, and certainly
our hope is that this bulletin and other WAOE elements and activies will always,
ultimately, strike the balance of focus in favour of matters concerning the
best professional practice of online education rather than somewhat dry questions
of organisational policy and procedure. However, WAOE <u>is</u> an organisation,
a legal entity - and necessarily so in order to be able to fulfil its objectives.
In this still very early period in our establishment and growth, we are inevitably
pre-occupied with such questions - which are not necessarily dry to every intellectual
taste, of course, nor lacking in their own intrinsic interest. Please
bear with us and look to where we are headed, and not just at the sometimes
painstaking and tedious little steps we have to take along the road!</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Becoming a Member</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>If you're reading this article, you've already joined, of course.
This means you have filled out and submitted the registration form found through
the Membership link on the home page of the <a href="http://www.waoe.org">WAOE
Website</a>. And, from September 1999 onwards, it will also mean that
you have paid the annual subscription fee of $US10 (we are asking for renewing
members to pay the fee by September 1).</tt>
<p><tt>At this stage, there are only two categories of membership of WAOE:
associate members and voting members. For more information, have
a look at <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm#a12">Article
12</a> of the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm">Bylaws</a>
for more information. Also, our <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/corpfaq.htm">Incorporation
FAQ</a> page maintained by Treasurer, <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Jenna">Jenna
Seehafer</a>, sets the rights and responsibilities of members within
the context of Californian law. (Jenna is responsible, with help
from Parliamentarian Mike Warner on the organisation and conduct of
meetings in particular, for liaison with Californian authorities and
for ensuring we observe all legal requirements in our policies and procedures.)</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Associate Membership</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>Registration and payment of the fee automatically makes you an associate
member of WAOE. This basically means you can do or read or join anything
and everything that WAOE has to offer, except stand for office, nominate other
eligible members for office, or vote in our constitutional forums or occasional
ballots on issues of policy. As an associate member, you will receive
an email notice when the WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) appears on its Web site
every two to three weeks, along with a list of the contents of the current issue.
You'll have access to JOE, our refereed Journal of Online Education, and you'll
be able to join any of the Committees or one or other or more of the Online
Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroups (OCREWs) that are currently active.</tt>
<p><tt>In fact, as we become more established in our ways of operating we'll push
our constitutional expectation that every associate member should belong to
at least one OCREW or similar group as a minimum commitment to active participation
in the Association's affairs.</tt>
<p><tt>All associate members are expected to subscribe to the announcement
listserve, <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#News">WAOE-News</a>, as a
matter of course.</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Voting Membership</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>Voting members are those associate members who have formally identified
themselves as people who wish to participate in the governance of the Association.
They would attend formal meetings of the Association, make nominations and cast
votes in general elections for WAOE, and participate in the ballots through
which key decisions affecting WAOE are taken. Voting members are the "members"
referred to in the WAOE Bylaws in compliance with the requirements of Californian
incorporation law, which recognises voting members only, as we define them.
Thus, only voting members may be included in the quorum for formal meetings
of WAOE such as the recent Annual General Meeting, and have their votes counted
on motions proposed or in ballots conducted during such meetings or other official
events.</tt>
<p><tt>An associate member may become a voting member by the simple
act of sending an email message to the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#David">Membership
Officer</a> (officially titled the Chair of the Membership Committee)
- stating that he/she wishes to be recognised as a voting member.
Fo convenience, you could just copy/paste the following text into that
message: "I wish to be recognised as a voting member of WAOE" (without
the quotes). No additional fee payment is required.</tt>
<p><tt>Conversion of membership becomes effective within 10 days after the request
is received. Under this rule, the eligibility of voting members to be
included in the quorum count for any formal meeting or ballot is declared and
announced 10 days prior to the notified starting time for that meeting or ballot.</tt>
<p><tt>Once conferred, voting-member status will continue for as long as each
designated voting member wishes to retain that level of participation in WAOE.</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Relinquishing Voting Membership</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<tt>Voting members may revert to non-voting status (ie associate members)
simply by writing a letter or email to WAOE's <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Steve">President
</a>or <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Brian">Executive Secretary </a>explaining
their intention to become less active in WAOE and their wish to end
their membership or to convert it to an associate membership.</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Annual Renewal of Membership</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>Both associate and voting members are required to renew their membership
between July 1 and July 30 of each year, commencing in 1999. The conditions
of and procedures for renewal are decided annually by the Directors on advice
from the Planning and Finance Committee at its April meeting, and advised to
members shortly afterwards. Failing to renew membership, including payment
of (or waiver from) any subscription fee, will be understood as resignation
from WAOE membership (WAOE <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm">Bylaws</a>,
<a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm#a12">Article 12</a>,
Section 9).</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="System"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE's Communications and Discussion
System</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>The principal legal, structural and organisational way in which our
objectives are realised is through <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Meaning">The
Meaning and Exercise of Membership in WAOE</a>.</tt>
<p><tt>Less formally, perhaps, but no less crucially in their own ways,
WAOE maintains a system of listserves and discussion groups as our means of
establishing and maintaining communication between the management of the organisation
and the membership and between members themselves and encouraging active participation
in discussions, forums, projects and so on. This system is described in
the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient3.htm">WAOE's
Communications</a> page of the Orientation Course.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="WAOE_Committees"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Committees and OCREWs</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>When you filled in the membership registration form, you identified which
of the various Committees and Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroups
(OCREWs) you are interested in. This article is concerned with providing
members with more information about these major components of the structure
and organisation of WAOE, but it will concentrate mainly on OCREWs. The
article is based to some extent on an item about OCREWs originally included
in WEB Volume 1, Number 2 (March 28 1999).</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Committees</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>The purposes of the various Committees and how these might work
towards the fulfilment of WAOE's <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Aims">objectives</a>
is perhaps fairly readily understood from their titles and composition,
as they appear on the membership registration form:</tt>
<blockquote><tt>Membership Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Finance Committee (now the Planning and Finance Committee)</tt> <br>
<tt>Dissemination Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Records Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Web Design Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Online Educator Development Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Affiliate Liaison Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Research & Publication Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Online Academic Conferences Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Online Parliamentary Procedures Committee</tt></blockquote>
<tt>At this stage, with the notable exception of the Planning and Finance Committee
(which meets monthly) and the Online Educator Development Committee, none of these
bodies is active, and not even the exceptions are in fact completely established
and operational as yet, with a full complement of members networking to discuss
issues and proposals relevant to each Committee's brief, and making recommendations
to the Coordinating Ring and the Board of Directors. There are several probable
reasons for this:</tt> <br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>The list of Committees derives from a constitution drafted before WAOE
become incorporated and held its inaugural elections. Now that we are
learning from experience what kind of internal structure and organisation
will best suit the Association's needs, some aspects of the putative committee
system may well be adapted, coalesced or even abandoned. We think it
would be wise not to consolidate too soon a mode of operation that in the
long run may not prove the best for us.</tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>To make WAOE's structure and organisation operationally effective requires
the development of a quite sophisticated database of the names and addresses
of the members who expressed interest in different Committees and OCREWs at
the time of registration, and a system for generating mailing lists and searching
connection among sub-group members and between different components WAOE that
will facilitate communication, discussion, networking, conferencing, voting
and all other activities required to make the Association work. Database
development has long been a major priority for management action, but
it has also been thwarted by inadequate resources and by a variety of practical
difficulties in the way of coming up with the most appropriate combination
of server facilities, database design, technology services, hardware and software
compatibility among different operating systems and software.</tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>WAOE is still very much in formation. As at February 2000, we
have only just conducted our third meeting of the Board of Directors, and
barely six months have elapsed since we first crossed the Rubicon of sustainability
(!) by introducing a low-level membership fee with a waiver system.
Our first AGM was held last June. Partly because of the sheer organisational
challenge of making these things happen according both to constitutional requirements
and as smoothly as we can, the energies of the Board of Directors and the
Coordinating Ring have been highly focused in such managerial directions.
It will be time to turn our full attention to other more specific aspects
of WAOE's operations when we can distinguish the forest from the trees!</tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<p>
<p>******************************
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroups (OCREWs)</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<tt>According to the <a href="http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/WAOE-founding.html">Archive
of Founding Documents</a>, OCREWs could be described, at least in intention,
as the heart and soul of the Association. (Extending the metaphor, Committees
might be thought of as the bones and sinews.) OCREWs provide the main
locations and focal points for members to contribute in practical ways to the
enhancement of online education as a professional discipline. And that's
WAOE's core business.</tt>
<p><tt>In conception, OCREWs comprise groups of members interested in particular
aspects of online education and training who meet and work together online -
sharing ideas and information, discussing issues, making representations to
relevant agencies and other forums, pooling resources, and so on. And
in doing all this, such groups will make the strongest possible and most useful
contribution to realising the central purpose of WAOE. This is because
the contribution will be coming from professionals across the complex and rapidly
developing field of online education and training who are directly testing and
extending the possibilities of the field as they confront the problems posed
by their online students and clients, experiment with workable solutions to
them, and share what they learn with colleagues around the world.</tt>
<p><tt>Although OCREWs are given a defined place in WAOEâs structure and organisation,
and a list of them appears on the memberâs registration form, there
are no set ways by which their role can be carried out. The groups
are being set up which are not listed on the registration form (though
they may cover some of the territory) - the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Jenna">Education
Standards OCREW</a>, and the <a href="/index.htm#Robert">Educational
Software and Courseware OCREW</a>, the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Kate">Industry
and Academia OCREW</a> - and an invitation by Mihkel Pilv for members
to join a "learning by teaching OCREW initiative" stands on the home
page of the <a href="http://www.waoe.org/">WAOE Website</a>.</tt>
<p><tt>You could use the lists of the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Directors">Directors
</a>and the members of the <a href="/vol1no10/index.htm#Ring">Coordinating
Ring</a> to find out more about a particular structural group or an
initiative which interests you - better still, to make contact with
a view to joining an OCREW or other body - or perhaps to suss out how
members who have started groups went about it and what agenda and processes
they are establishing. Vice-President <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Mihkel">Mihkel
Pilv </a>carries particular responsiblity for encouraging and supporting
OCREWs and other action groups. He will be glad to answer any
queries you may have.</tt>
<p><tt>Members of the Coordinating Ring, WAOE's elected management executive,
are looking at ways of revising the registration form to better reflect the
flexibility that actually exists in the formation and operation of these vital
groups. As a result, the current request to check an OCREW box will be
replaced by a more open-ended invitation to identify interest in various aspects
of online education and training, perhaps using a checklist with scope for members
to add their own topics.</tt>
<p><tt>Although we plan to improve the information-gathering mechanism, notional
commitments to particular OCREWs already suggested through the registration
process already provide a useful basis for clustering members into potential
participants for WAOE officers and others starting up new groups to contact
in exploratory ways. In a still broader approach, personal contact with
members could be used, as time permits, to tease out more specific information
about what they are interested in, as well as what they hope to gain from joining
WAOE, and how they would like the organisation to run.</tt>
<p><tt>To an extent, the same organisational priorities and difficulties that
have slowed implementation of the committee system have inhibited the formation
of OCREWs, particularly the delays in setting up electronic communications among
members linked to a comprehensive and relational database. However, OCREWs
by their nature and intent are not so constrained, in structural and organisational
terms, as designated Committees. The W in the acronym stands for Workgroup,
after all, and there is great flexibility in the number and kind of OCREWs that
could be set up, as the presently active groups amply illustrate. In fact,
working groups of members that get established need not necessarily be called
OCREWs at all. They might be project teams, for example, or action research
groups, or discussion forums with specialised agenda like Web access for people
with disabilities.</tt>
<p><tt>The most important point to make about the specific action and discussion
groups that come into operation - whatever they may be called - is that, like
everything else in WAOE, they both belong to and depend on the membership. The
field of online education and training is wide open for effecting vital changes
and improvements, and WAOE needs the active participation and thoughtful contributions
of its members in order to carry out its part in this vital work.</tt>
<p><tt>All that is required to get an OCREW or other group started is for
a member to devise and promote a specific purpose for having a group
and then to enlist at least three other members to join him or her in
the enterprise. That's exactly how both the Education Standards
and Industry and Academia OCREWs began. <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Views">WAOE-Views</a>
or the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Say">Your Say</a> section of
WEB could be used to canvass interest and recruit like-minded colleagues.
The next step is to announce the formation of the group to the Vice-President,
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Mihkel">Mihkel Pilv</a>, who will give
all the advice and assistance he can.</tt>
<p><tt>So, itâs over to you. The agenda is yours. Its your Association.
Go to it!</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Links"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Links</font></tt></b>
<p><b><tt>This section lists URLs for key Websites within WAOE itself, and other
URLs related to online education which have been identified by members.</tt></b>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Organisation and Communication Sites</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>WAOE Home Page: <a href="http://www.waoe.org/default.htm">http://www.waoe.org/default.htm</a></tt></li>
<li> <a name="News"></a><tt>WAOE-News: To subscribe, go to <a href="mailto:majordomo@uidaho.edu">majordomo@uidaho.edu</a>.
Without a subject heading, send the text <subscribe waoe-news></tt></li>
<li> <a name="Views"></a><tt>WAOE-Views: To subscribe, go to <a href="mailto:majordomo@waoe.org">majordomo@waoe.org</a>.
Without a subject heading, send the text <subscribe waoe-views>. To contribute,
send email to <a href="mailto:waoe-views@waoe.org">waoe-views@waoe.org</a></tt></li>
<li> <a name="Board"></a><tt>WAOE WebBoard: <a href="http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe">http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe</a>
Log-in by using the first part of your email address (before @) and the password
<waoe>. If you have difficulty getting onto the Board, write to Mike Warner
<a href="mailto:mwarner@embryriddle.k12.az.us">mwarner@embryriddle.k12.az.us</a>.</tt></li>
<li> <tt>WAOE Journal: <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/waoej.html">http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/waoej.html</a></tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<p>
<p><tt>**********************</tt> <br>
<b><i><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Committees, OCREWs and Other Groups</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>Online Educator Development Committee: <a href="http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/">http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Planning and Finance Committee: <a href="http://www.waoe.org/pl-fin-committee.htm">http://www.waoe.org/pl-fin-committee.htm</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Web Design Committee: email Robert Luke (Chairperson) <a href="mailto: robert.luke@uleth.ca">robert.luke@uleth.ca</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Academic Outcomes Assessment Online Course and Resource Evaluation
Workgroup (OCREW): email Jenna Seehafer at <a href="mailto: seehafer@csus.edu">seehafer@csus.edu</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Educational Standards Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroup
(OCREW): <a href="http://www.waoe.org/edst_ocrew.htm">http://www.waoe.org/edst_ocrew.htm</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Industry and Academia Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroup
(OCREW): <a href="http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/academic_non_academic.html">http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/academic_non_academic.html</a></tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<p>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><b><tt>Copyright © World Association for Online Education</tt></b> <br>
<tt>Copyright in the contents of this Bulletin is held by the World Association
for Online Education (WAOE), incorporated in the State of California, United
States of America, as a non-profit, public-benefit organisation. For enquiries,
contact WAOE at <a href="mailto:waoe@waoe.org">waoe@waoe.org</a></tt>
<p><tt>#######################################################################</tt>
<p><tt>End of WEB Vol 2, No 3 March 31, 2000.</tt> <br>
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