Issue Contents

Record Attendance Marks 2006 Sloan-C Conference

Jacqueline Moloney
Dean of Continuing, Corporate and Distance Education, UMass Lowell
Executive in Residence, UMassOnline

The 12th Annual Sloan C International Conference was outstanding according to responses from some of its more than 850 attendees. The unprecedented growth in attendance, especially by returning participants, speaks loudly about the quality of this conference. This year's conference provided even more opportunities for participants to network and to engage in lively exchanges with presenters, and our community owes a great deal of thanks to the outstanding Steering Committee for its success.

This year our Pre-Conference Workshops, coordinated by Gary Miller of Penn State, featured the latest applications of new technology to the online environment as well as best practices in student services, blended learning, scaling online programs and administrative leadership, to name just a few. Our Newcomer Breakfast, coordinated by Tony Picciano of Hunter College, was well received and attended by over 150 participants. The newcomers seemed to enjoy the orientation to the Conference and to Sloan-C and the opportunity to network with other colleagues. Janet Poley, President and CEO for American Distance Education, again coordinated the Conference's Minority Scholarship program that sponsored participation of minority professionals in the conference. ADEC also hosted a visitor from the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education who was seeking partnership opportunities from various attendees to bolster support for her struggling Ministry.

In addition to the growth in attendees, proposal submissions nearly tripled as researchers and faculty sought the opportunity to present at what is now considered the premier conference on online education. Over 160 proposals were selected along three themes or tracks: Learning Effectiveness, Student Services, Emerging Learning Environments, Faculty Support and Development and Opportunities for Collaboration. Thanks to Meg Benke, next year's Chair, and to Karen Swan, Track Chair and newly appointed Chair Elect, we added a poster session this year that featured over 40 poster displays on a variety of topics.

Keynote speaker, Steve Levy, writer for Newsweek, spoke about "The iPod as a Symbol for the Digital Age" and our luncheon speaker, David Gibson from the Vermont Institutes, spoke about his hopes for how "Games, Simulations and Virtual Environments" can improve online education. Both speakers were well received as they shared their ideas for how these emerging technologies are shaping society and education.

Sloan-C Online Teaching Certificate

How do expert faculty design and deliver their courses to optimize learning, cost effectiveness, accessibility, and satisfaction for students and for themselves?

In the Sloan-C Online Faculty Certificate series, expert faculty from leading national programs will address these areas, mentoring novice faculty in designing and refining online courses.

The series will be offered 3 times in 2007. In the first series, beginning January 17, 2007, the following faculty-all with extensive experience in online design, delivery, and professional development--will lead the foundational workshops:

• Fabio Chacon, Coordinator of Instructional Design, SUNY Empire State College
• Judith Effken, Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing, Arizona State University
• Susan Ko, Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Maryland University College
• Shari McCurdy, Associate Director, Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning, University of Illinois at Springfield
• Joan McMahon,Transforming Leaders, Quality Matters master reviewer, formerly of Towson University
• Kaye Shelton, Director of Online Education; Asst Professor in Adult Education, Dallas Baptist University

The certificate is composed of 3 foundational workshops, lab, and 3 elective workshops. The foundational courses, taken together in a 9-week sequence, are:

• Getting Started: Online Course Development Basics
• Using the Quality Matters Rubric to Improve Your Online Course
• Effective Practices Laboratory

The 9-week foundational sequence is an intensive, collaborative practicum. Participants will explore an array of exemplary courses and confer with course authors about effective practices. Building on lessons learned in the workshops "Getting Started: Online Course Development Basics" and "Using the Quality Matters Rubric to Improve Your Online Course," participants will build their online courses, giving and receiving peer reviews. Working in teams with mentors who will provide one-on-one coaching, participants will demonstrate their mastery of the basic elements of online courses: planning the course; understanding role adjustment; organizing the course, incorporating the advantages of online communications; and applying the pedagogical principles that create purposeful learning communities.

To further develop proficiency, certificate candidates will also select 3 electives from workshops that focus on specific faculty interests:

• Transformative Curriculum Development and Assessment
• Copyright Compliance for Online Educators
• Workload Management Strategies for Online Educators
• Dynamic Collaboration, Discussion and Facilitation
• Moving the Laboratory Online
• Blended Learning: Enhancing the Educational Experience
• Expanding Access to Adult Literacy through Online Learning
• Retention in Online Education

A peer-reviewed online course is an important outcome of the certificate. Another important outcome is an online portfolio for certificate holders. Each of the elective workshops will enable certificate candidates to enhance their online Sloan-C portfolios, making them available for promotion and tenure and hiring reviews.

Sloan-C members have frequently requested this certificate because so many faculty who want to teach online do not have access to instructional design and support services. Please note that although the series will be offered 3 times in 2007, enrollment is limited. Learn more about the workshops and then register here.

2007 ALN Conference - Perspectives from the 2007 Chair

Meg Benke
SUNY Empire State College

As we consider our 13th annual conference, the question might be "What's New Under the Sun?" With the combination of an excellent conference committee, an energetic program committee and our dedicated hosts, the University of Central Florida and Sloan-C team, everything is always new and innovative. While planning is still in process, a few highlights of our conference Wednesday November 7 through Friday November 9, 2007, with pre-conference workshops before the session:

• A New Hotel - We are moving to the Caribe Royale Orlando All-Suites Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. As described on their website, the Caribe is "located minutes from Walt Disney World®, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park, Epcot®, Universal Studios and SeaWorld Orlando®. The Caribe Royale is a 45 acre tropical oasis ideal for business, pleasure or a little of both, featuring 1218 spacious one-bedroom suites with separate living rooms and 120 lakefront two-bedroom villas with fully equipped kitchens, screened patios and master suites with whirlpool tubs." The hotel features very good access to technology to better meet the needs of our participants. The conference facilities are in an adjacent conference center where we will have a dedicated area to spread out our exhibits, programs and conference events to better meet our needs as an organization which has grown to exceed 750 participants. Take a look at www.cariberoyale.com.
• Continued Improvement in the Program - The program planning committee has been reading the evaluations and has listened to suggestions from participants. We look forward to better integrating invited sessions, tracks and sessions for those interested in policy, student services, blended learning, research, diversity and international perspectives, along with our already successful themes from recent years. We hope to better highlight programming for newcomers to the field and for those with more years of attendance at the conference. We look to best balance the interests of researchers and practitioners, as well as program administrators and policy makers. We are considering the additional option of two-day workshops. We also continue to hear suggestions for the option of a more formal track for faculty involving peer reviewed papers.
• Technology Showcase - We are discussing the possibility of adding a technology showcase area through the conference and exhibit areas to allow participants to have short introductions to products and services.

Please watch for details on the sloan-c website and the conference website at www.aln.ucf.edu. Program ideas can be forwarded to me for following conference leaders:

Conference Chair: Meg Benke, SUNY Empire State College (Meg.Benke@esc.edu)
Chair-Elect and Program Track Chair: Karen Swan, Kent State University; co-chaired with Tana Bishop, University of Maryland
Pre-Conference Workshops: Jacquie Maloney, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Janet Poley, American Distance Education Consortium
Featured Session Coordinators: Gary Miller, Pennsylvania State University; Karen Vignare, University of Michigan
Newcomer and Roundtables: Anthony Picciano, Hunter College; William Booth, Hampton University
Marketing and Materials: Bob Ubell, Stevens Institute of Technology; Keith Bourne, Sloan-C

Conference Hosts, sponsors and steering committee members:

• J. Patrick Wagner, Martin Malpica, Randall Upchurch, University of Central Florida
• John Bourne, Olin College, Sloan Consortium
• Frank Mayadas, Sloan Foundation
• Gwen Goddard, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
• Catherine Kendrick, UMass Lowell
• Ray Schroeder, University of Illinois at Springfield
• Martha Cleveland-Innes, Athabasca University
• Edward Borberly, University of Michigan

Additional Track Program Committee Members:

• Marie Fetzner, Montgomery College, Maryland
• Taylor Byrd, Alabama A & M
• Peter Shea, University at Albany
• Jennifer Richardson, Purdue University
• Melody Thompson, Pennsylvania State University
• Mary Niemiec, University of Illinois-Chicago

We look forward to our returning conference attendees and those who might be attending for the first time to learn together about innovative practices and research in online and blended learning.

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

The new Sloan-C 2007 workshop schedule has been posted.

Getting Started: Online Course Development Basics - January 17 - Feb 9

Based on research and the Sloan-C effective practices, this workshop provides the foundation for designing and delivering online courses. Faculty gain enhanced pedagogical knowledge and learn effective strategies for creative, online classroom facilitation. During the three-week workshop, facilitators will review the benefits and challenges of online curriculum development and teaching and address the qualities of effective online education. The workshop is designed as an 'active' learning experience, enabling faculty to explore actual online courses in several disciplines and institutions. Additionally faculty will create a syllabus leading to the major outcome of the workshop: identifying the critical components necessary to complete the development of their online course.

Click here for details and registration.

Transforming Curriculum Development and Assessment Practices - February 7 - 16

In distance education, the risks of failure can be quite high. Pressured by mounting institutional and public scrutiny, requirements from accrediting organizations, a desire to increase enrollment, and operate more effectively, online educators are looking for curricular alignment and student assessment strategies that truly measure learning outcomes. This workshop offers new insights into practical curriculum development, evaluation methodologies, and online assessment strategies institutions can implement into their own programs. Facilitators represent for-profit and non-profit institutions.

Click here for details and registration.

Using the Quality Matters Rubric to Improve Your Online Course - February 21 - Mar 16

Recognizing quality is much like recognizing art - you know it when you see it, but everybody sees something different. And when it comes to online courses, your students, faculty, administrators, peers, and accrediting bodies may certainly not see what you do. In fact, they might not even know what to look for in assessing quality. Sloan-C announces an interactive online workshop focused on learning how to improve your online course(s). Learn how to use the rubric tool developed by the nationally recognized, FIPSE-funded Quality Matters (QM) project. The QM rubric provides a research-supported framework with annotations and examples for applying quality practices to specific course design standards. Affirm the strong areas in your course(s) and generate specific ideas for improvements. The QM rubric is the centerpiece of the QM process. Additionally, this course serves as a stepping stone for faculty interested in becoming certified course peer reviewers.

Click here for details and registration.

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™.

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