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Issue Contents Tracing the History of Online Learning through the Sloan-C Conference John R. Bourne In 1994, a small group of invited participants met at the Omni in New York to consider the possibility of creating an annual conference, an idea conceived by A. Frank Mayadas, Program Officer for the Sloan Foundation and President of Sloan-C. From that meeting the first Sloan-C conference was created and held in Philadelphia in 1995. Over this time, the conference has grown from a small gathering of early adopters of asynchronous learning networks to the large annual conference held this year with nearly one thousand anticipated attendees. In the early years, we tried to understand the meaning of online learning, examined methodologies in detail and planned for the future. The second, third and fourth conferences were held in New York City at the Marriott between the then World Trade Centers towers. The next two years (1999, 2000) the conference location was at the conference center at the University of Maryland University College Conference Center. The most recent venue move was to Orlando, Florida, hosted by the University of Central Florida where the conference has been held since November, 2001. The Sloan Foundation supplied funding for the start-up of each series of conferences at the different locations. The annual conference has served as the place where our community of interest has gathered to discuss what we know and don't know about online learning. Transitioning from understanding very little about how to best achieve our goal of providing quality online education to anyone, anywhere at anytime has taken over a decade to reach the understanding we now have. During the first conference, we explored the landscape of what we knew at that time and began to map the future. The second conference discussed programs and methods and the third conference extended these explorations. By the fourth conference, vendors had discovered the conference and began to run laboratories for attendees. When the conference moved to Maryland, five years of experience drove the conference to examine many new findings appearing at the time. For example, course management systems had been introduced at that time and became a core topic of discussion. The Art and Practice of online learning was the focus of that conference - Ralph Gomory, President of the Sloan Foundation, was the opening speaker. Over the next years, themes of the conferences evolved from the art and practice of online education, to building sustainable online environments, creating standards, focusing on faculty concerns, exploring methods for moving online education to the mainstream and investigating methods for expanding our community. (See conference proceedings at http://www.sloan-c.org/conference/proceedings/index.asp.) This year the focus is on realizing the vision. We invite you to come and spend a few days in Orlando and find out how you can realize the vision for your future in online education! You will find the very best knowledge in existence about online education and you will meet many new colleagues with whom you can collaborate over the upcoming years.
Orphan Works & Copyright Law: A Primer
In January of 2006, the U.S. Copyright Office released its official "Report on Orphan Works" detailing both the current state of affairs and recommending changes to existing copyright law limiting the exposure of the users of orphan works. H.R. 5439, known as the Orphan Works Act of 2006, is at present under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee. Its progress can be tracked via the Library of Congress. What is an orphan work? Orphan work is the term used to refer to a copyright protected work for which the owner cannot be identified and located. Not being able to identify or locate a copyright owner becomes a problem when someone wants to use the work in a manner that requires the owner's permission. While identifying a work as an orphan work may sound elementary, the "Report on Orphan Works" indicates that many people are confused on this point. In preparing its report, the Copyright Office solicited comments from the public. In response, it received over 850 written replies, most of which were from individuals. Approximately 40% of those comments described situations involving copyright protected works that did not meet the legal definition of an orphan work. For example, a copyright protected work does not qualify as an orphan work simply because the copyright owner declined to respond to a request for permission to use it. Going to the trouble of tracking down an owner only to be confronted with silence may be frustrating, but it doesn't change the legal landscape. In this instance, silence is properly construed to be the copyright owner's way of saying "no". Similarly, a copyright owner's direct refusal to grant permission or request for what seems to be an excessive permissions fee do not change the legal status of the situation either. These situations do not describe orphan works. They describe situations in which the potential user simply failed to obtain the required permission. Orphan works and fair use The inability to identify and locate the owner of an orphan work is not always a problem for users. If the work in question is used in a manner that qualifies as a fair use, permission isn't necessary and the copyright owner cannot require the payment of licensing fees. While it is true that determining whether a particular use qualifies as a fair use is easier said than done, it is nevertheless worth considering. (Many web sites contain information and checklists to assist in this evaluation.) Furthermore, for certain educational users, copyright law permits judges to reduce damage awards for copyright infringements that result from a good faith belief that the use satisfied the requirements of fair use even though that belief turns out to be mistaken. These provisions of copyright law make educators and educational institutions less attractive targets for lawsuits. Using orphan works - recommendations While awaiting possible changes in copyright law that might clarify the do's and don'ts of using orphan works, the following recommendations will assist those confronting their use in the meantime. First, determine whether you need permission. Is the work in the public domain? Is your use a fair use? If you determine that you need permission (or it's unclear and you don't want to take any chances), exercise reasonable diligence in identifying and locating the copyright owner. Keep documentation of your search (e.g. copies of correspondence, e-mail messages etc.). Complete your search before using the work. In using the work, include as much information as you are able by way of attribution. This clarifies that you are not claiming credit for someone else's work. If contacted by the owner after the fact, respond professionally and quickly. Finally, if the situation warrants it, contact an attorney. Useful Web sites Orphan Works Act of 2006 (H.R. 5439)
U.S. Copyright Office-Report on Orphan Works
Fair Use Exemption
Copyright compliance and fair use continue to be key issues in education, especially for online educators. Join Linda K. Enghagen in the Sloan-C online workshop: Copyright Compliance, October 18-27. Sloan-C also offers copyright compliance quick-help pamphlets for online educator for just $2.99 each and a Fair Use Guidelines for Educators booklet for $24.95. For large scale license agreements for your entire institution, please contact us at info@sloan-c.org.
Introducing the Sloan-C Wiki John R. Bourne What's a Wiki? Well, in Hawaiian it means fast! Put simply, a wiki is an online place for shared writing, and it works great for organizing your thoughts about a topic. Most of you know about wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com), a website where thousands of people are building the world's most comprehensive encyclopedia. It works because many, many people contribute! We can do the same thing right here at Sloan-C, building a wiki about online education. In fact, we've started the work already, and a crew of Sloan-C people - including effective practice editors, students and various contributors - have built a starting point for what we hope will become the world's most comprehensive knowledge source about online education. The Sloan-C Wiki site is located at: http://www.sloan-c-wiki.org. Already the site is a great resource for Effective Practices - we moved the EPs from the www.sloan-c.org site earlier this year. This summer the research papers from ALNResearch were moved too, including all the JALN articles. What is nice about having both of these together (i.e., the effective practices and research papers) is that searching turns up a list from both sets of information. We see the wiki as being a repository and a resource for all of us - containing research, effective practices, work of various committees and outcomes from various initiatives. Browse around and see what you would think about adding. Please note that you can add materials and you can modify materials. Each article has a "discussion" page on which you can add your comments about any article - your comments then become immediately searchable. Now, just a bit of technical advice - read the manual if you want to contribute (there is also a link on left side of page). But, in brief - to add a link, type a new name in double brackets. For example: [[topic name]], save and then click on the topic name you entered. You'll find that you now have an editor with which you can edit a new page. After you type materials in, you can "Show Preview" and see if the page looks like what you want before you press "Save page". You can also use html in these pages if you wish. If we all pool our knowledge on the Sloan-C wiki, we can make this a very useful resource for our entire community. Should any of you like to volunteer to monitor new entries - this is a useful thing to do since volunteers can help make the wiki move forward.
Learn From the Experts - The Sloan-C 2006 Workshop Series Blended Learning - What the Research Says... (Webinar) - October 13, 2pm In anticipation of an upcoming book release focused on blended learning that will include research from over 15 institutions, 5 authors from the book (Anthony Picciano, Hunter College and City University of New York Graduate Center; Chuck Dziuban, University of Central Florida; Gary Brown, Washington State University; Charles Graham, Brigham Young University; and Karen Vignare, Michigan State University) will sit on a panel, present on their research, and take questions from the attendees. Registration is free, but only open to Free Level and Premium Sloan-C Members (both institutional and individual). Copyright Compliance for Online Educators - October 18 - 27 Based on research and the Sloan-C effective practices, this workshop provides the foundation for delivering online programs. Faculty gain enhanced pedagogical knowledge and learn effective strategies for creative, online classroom facilitation. The workshop is designed as an 'active' learning experience, enabling faculty to explore actual online courses from several disciplines and institutions, as well as build a syllabus leading to the major outcome of the workshop: building a complete online course module relevant to their own educational interests. Student Services - November 8 - 17 Successful online learning programs provide students with access not only to instruction, but to a wide range of support services. This workshop will explore ways in which technology has automated the student's total learning experience, spilling over to the rest of the university such as administration, academic counseling, marketing, and technical support. Online programs are no longer islands unto themselves; institutional best practices dictate when approached holistically, both the college/university and the student benefit.
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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 ©2006 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 This issue is being sent to: %%emailaddr%% If you do not wish to receive future issues, please send a blank email to %%email.unsub%% and your email address will be removed from our list.
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