Sloan-C View
Perspectives in Quality Online Education
Volume 6 Issue 7 - July 2007
ISSN 1541-2806
Dedicated to the Highest Standards in Online Education

Issue Contents


Virtually Carefree
Carefree Resort, Carefree, Arizona May 7-9, 2008

John Bourne, The Sloan Consortium, Babson College, & F.W. Olin College of Engineering
David Cillay, Washington State University

The Sloan-C International Symposium on Emerging Technology Applications for Online Learning (also known as Sloan-C West) is designed to bring together individuals interested in the technological aspects of online learning. Experts, intermediate users and novices are welcome to participate in Symposium activities that will include face-to-face and virtual components. Symposium tracks will highlight and demonstrate research, application and best practices of important emerging technological tools for social networking, assessment, open educational resources, new media and support services. Research that explores the impact of emerging technologies on access, learning and cost effectiveness, institutional commitment, and faculty and student satisfaction is desired. A call for papers will be available in September, 2007.

Before the Symposium in Carefree, Arizona May 7-9, 2008, we invite you to learn about emerging technologies via this fall's online workshops and to help design Symposium activities. The online workshops will begin in November 2007, seven months before the Symposium; and the workshops will use Second Life. Five independent two-week online workshops will engage the Sloan-C community in a year-round exploration of the educational possibilities of virtual reality.

Before, during and after the Symposium, a conference center on the Washington State University Island in Second Life will be the main hub for the five workshops and for virtual events during and after Sloan-C West. The University of Illinois at Springfield and other Second Life teaching islands will also work with WSU and Sloan-C. The voice-enabled Sloan-C/WSU conference center will permit small groups to work both asynchronously and synchronously in private meeting spaces. Teams will explore issues, help organize the Sloan-C West sessions and ultimately create materials for dissemination. Then, teams will converge at Sloan-C West (virtually and physically) to discuss their work with other attendees, presenting and providing stimulating new information. Following the physical event, teams can continue in the virtual teaching and learning spaces at the virtual conference center.

We plan to engage noted researchers, authors and futurists in exploring the art-of-the-possible in these workshops. Each workshop will include research opportunities, collaborative projects, and information dissemination leading up to Sloan-C West and feeding directly into the face-to-face Symposium. When you sign up for the workshops at Sloan-C, we will discount the registration fee for the Sloan-C West Symposium in Carefree.

Sign up to join track teams on emerging technologies by emailing Gail.Sullivan@olin.edu to indicate your interest in:

  • Assessment advances using emerging technologies
  • Pedagogy and new learning environments
  • Inventive uses of media and tools in online learning
  • The new learning communities
  • Support services and emerging technologies for online learning

If you have a Second Life account, you are welcome to visit Sloan-C Second Life at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching/74/152/22. To create a free Second Life account and download the software, visit http://secondlife.com/.

Also see developing information about the conference at http://www.emergingonlinelearningtechnology.org.


2007 Sloan-C Excellence in Teaching and Learning Awards - CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

The Awards Selection Committee of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) invites nominations for the Sloan-C 2007 Awards for outstanding contributions to the field of online learning. The 2007 awards will be presented during the Sloan-C Awards Banquet at the Thirteenth Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks in Orlando, Florida, on November 7, 2007. Individual awards consist of a commemorative plaque and a check for $2000; institutional awards consist of a commemorative plaque only. The award categories are:

Excellence in Online Teaching (Individual)
Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning (Individual)
Most Outstanding Online Teaching and Learning Program
Excellence in Faculty Development for Online Teaching
Excellence in Institution-Wide Online Teaching and Learning Programming

For PROCEDURAL INFORMATION and more information about past recipients of Sloan-C Awards, please visit http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/awards.asp . All nominations must be submitted by August 15, 2007. A submission form is available at the Sloan-C web site http://www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/awards.asp


FREE Resource for Blended Learning Educators - www.blendedteaching.org

Sloan-C has launched a new web site focused on Blended Learning. This is a free resource and we encourage you to invite your colleagues to join this growing community of blended learning educators.

Go to http://www.blendedteaching.org today to take advantage of this free resource!


Monroe College Second Life Western Hoe Down

The Monroe College Second Life campus is hosting its grand opening and open house on Sunday, July 22, 2007 from noon to 8 pm in Second Life. We invite you to celebrate with us the ongoing work of the Monroe Office of Online Learning Internships.

Enjoy an old fashioned hayride.

The Monroe College hay wagon and horse will start around NMC's Teaching Island starting at Monroe College every hour on the hour, starting at noon with the last ride beginning at 7 pm. It will make stops at the following locations on the island where you can disembark or embark before returning to the Monroe SL campus.

Start: Monroe College
Stop 1: New York University
Stop 2: Harper College
Stop 3: Sloan Consortium
Stop 4: Darton College
Stop 5: Williams College
Stop 6: Wright State University
Stop 7: Clemson University
Stop 8: UW Bothell
Stop 9: Cochise College
Stop 10: Global Kids
Stop 11: Monroe College Hoe Down
Stop 12: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Last stop: Monroe College Office of Online Learning Internships

Hang out with Monroe College interns, faculty, and staff.

Go into the Monroe College Online Learning Internship office and be greeted by our interns, who will give you lots of information about Monroe and the Online Learning Internship program.

Sit around in the Student Union or the Interns' Lounge (upstairs) and chat all day.

Visit the Office of the Internship Director and leave your calling card.

Read welcome notes from:

  • Internship Director, Ms. Jennifer Friary (Jennyfer Flanagan, SL)
  • Dean of the Monroe College School of IT, Janice Girardi (Janeanne Capalini, SL)
  • Dean of the Monroe College School of Business, Tiloki Depoo
  • Professor of IS at Monroe College, John McMullen (Johnmac Maverick, SL)
  • Dean of Online Learning at Monroe, Barbara McMullen (Bobbee Allen, SL).

Other activities include square dancing and a Texas barbecue. Come enjoy yourself and bring some friends!

To visit or to attend the hoedown, go to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching/149/186/21.
Search Places or Groups for Monroe College and teleport. We are at 149, 186, 21 .


Sign Up for the 2007 Sloan-C College Pass - Special Offer Price

Ends December 31, 2007

How does it work?

  • 100 seats in all 2007 Sloan-C online workshops, along with 50 additional seats in select workshops
  • Transfer seats to any individual, not just your faculty and administrators
  • Sloan-C Premium Membership included!

Price: $3,495 (Special offer*- Take 20% off regular price!)
*Discounted price is not reflected on registration price. An updated invoice will be sent.

Don't delay, register here.


The Sloan-C Online Teaching Certificate Program

Teaching online can be overwhelming at first.

Teaching online IS different from face-to-face.

Online education offers capabilities that could even surpass face-to-face. But what are they?

How can you be sure that you are taking advantage of the capabilities of online education?

As a faculty member, the rewards of teaching online successfully can be numerous.

But how do you know if you are getting the most from your virtual classroom?

Anyone who teaches online needs first-hand experience as an online learner to better understand the online learning environment. The Sloan-C Online Teaching Certificate series proves unique in that faculty can take key learnings from the Getting Started and Quality Matters workshops, immediately apply these learnings in a laboratory environment, and receive feedback from both the faculty mentors and faculty peers.

Please visit the Sloan-C Certificate web site for more information.

NOTE: Does your institution have a College Pass? Institutions with college passes can pay only the certificate fee and use their pre-paid seats towards the 5 required workshops.


Learn From the Experts - The Sloan-C 2007 Workshop Series

Workload Management Strategies for Online Educators* - July 11 - 20

There's still time to register!

Instructors need to develop new time management skills when transitioning to online teaching. Online teaching can redefine faculty members' teaching schedules. While the advantages for participating in online education include flexibility; the reality of the 24/7 classroom can prove daunting due to the investment in curriculum development and planning as well as the need to be responsive to student inquiries. This workshop offers strategies enabling online educators to manage time demands while teaching online courses. Topics include: course planning, information presentation, frequency of interaction, and scheduling.

*This workshop is part of the Select Series and College Pass Members must use their additional 50 seats provided to take advantage of this workshop.

Click here for details and registration.

Visual Pedagogy, Collaborative Learning, and Meaning-Making in Online Environments - July 11 - 20

Visual Communication and Interactive media are transforming teaching, knowledge production, and learning in 21st Century learning environments. Facilitators Martinez and Feinblatt have been collaborating on theory, research and best practices related to the use of the mediated image in learning. This workshop will provide participants with a brief introduction to theory, strategies, and examples of visual pedagogies that promote collaborative learning, followed by conversation and activities designed to illustrate the meaning-making; deeper levels of learning; and dynamic interaction elicited within visual approaches to the curriculum.

Click here for details and registration.


Sloan-C Quick Links

Membership - Join Sloan-C and enjoy added savings and access

Workshops - Tailored for faculty and administrators

Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) - The leading journal for online education

Survey Reports - Latest findings from our research

Publications - The state-of-the-art in online learning

Effective Practices - Learn what works best from the best

JobLine - Your next career step in higher education

College Pass - Dramatic group savings at Sloan-C workshops

Vendor Corner - Find the professional help to keep your online programs moving forward

Sloan-C Catalog - Listing of Sloan-C member online courses

Sloan-C Wiki - Meet colleagues to exchange ideas and questions

 

Featured Download

Top 20 Web 2.0 Technologies

For a recent Sloan-C Workshop, "Learning Online 2.0: Engaging, Interacting and Syndicating Applications" Burks Oakley and Ray Schroeder listed their Top 20 Web 2.0 technologies. For your convenience the list is available as web links. If you would like to join workshop participants in evaluating technologies, please visit http://sloan-c.pbwiki.com/.

Please access the list here.

 

Upcoming Sloan-C Workshops

July:

September:

October:

 
 

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Elluminate Live!® V8 to Launch at NECC

Elluminate is proud to announce the launch of Elluminate Live! V8 on June 24 at the 28th Annual National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). This latest version of Elluminate's flagship product is designed to help users create engaging active content and integrate online interaction into daily activities.

Elluminate Live! V8 helps facilitate small group interaction, simplify large group management, connect participants in a blended online/onsite environment, and foster social networking. New features include synchronized notes, indexed recordings, high-resolution video, full-duplex audio for up to six simultaneous speakers, and more.

The Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is composed of institutions and organizations dedicated to continually improving the quality, scale, and breadth of their online programs, according to their own distinctive missions, so that education becomes a part of everyday life, accessible and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time, in a wide variety of disciplines.

The Sloan-C View is published by Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C™). Responsibility for the contents rests with the authors and not with Sloan-C™. Copyright ©2007 by Sloan-C™.

If you have a question or comment, would like to submit an article for publication, or would like to suggest an event to be listed on the Sloan-C View Calendar, please email sloan-cview@sloan-c.org. Materials in the Sloan-C View, unless otherwise noted, may be distributed freely for educational purposes. However, if any materials are redistributed they must retain the copyright notice and use the proper citation. Kindly send an email to sloan-cview@sloan-c.org indicating how you are using the material for distribution. Your privacy is important to us, you can view our privacy policy at www.sloan-c.org/aboutus/privacy.asp

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