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Sloan-C Free Downloads
by Sloan-CThe following free publications are provided by The Sloan Consortium in furtherance of our mission:
Survey Reports - Publications - Effective Practices - Sloan Semester - Awards - Journals
Survey Reports |
 Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning is based on responses from over 2,500 colleges and universities. Nearly 3.5 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2006 term and nearly twenty percent of all U.S. higher education students were taking at least one online course. All types of institutions cite improved student access as their top reason for offering online courses and programs. Higher costs for online development and delivery are seen as barriers among those who are planning online offerings, but not among those who have online offerings.The report is available as a free download in PDF format (32 pages, 667KB). |
 Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006 is based on responses from over 2,200 colleges and universities. Nearly 3.2 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2005 term, online students are overwhelmingly undergraduates, and more than 96 percent of the very largest institutions (more than 15,000 total enrollments) have some online offerings.The report is available as a free download in PDF format (32 pages, 421KB). |
 Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006 - Midwestern Edition: More college students are taking online courses at college and universities in the Midwest than ever before.The report is available as a free download in PDF format (32 pages, 531KB). |
 Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006 - Southern Edition: The sixteen southern states represent over one-third of total online enrollments, with over 1.1 million students taking at least one online course; more than 99 percent of the very largest southern institutions have some online offerings.The report is available as a free download in PDF format (32 pages, 732KB). |
 Blending In: The Extent and Promise of Blended Education in the United States: Offerings of blended courses decreased slightly between 2003 and 2005 while online course offerings grew. Only 38 percent of respondents agreed that “Blended courses hold more promise than online courses.”The report is available as a free download in PDF format (30 pages, 440KB). |
 K-12 Online Learning : Almost two-thirds of the responding public school districts are offering online courses; over the next two years districts predict online enrollments will increase by 19% and blended enrollments by 23%.The report is available as a free download in PDF format (30 pages, 492KB). |
 Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005: Over 2.35 million students took at least one online course during Fall 2004, sixty-five percent of higher education institutions report that they are using primarily core faculty to teach their online courses, the overall percent of schools identifying online education as a critical long-term strategy grew from 49% in 2003 to 56% in 2005.The report is available as a free download in PDF format (30 pages, 446KB). |
 Growing by Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005 - Southern Edition is based on data collected for the third annual national report on the state of online education in U.S. Higher Education. Based on responses from over 400 southern colleges and universities, this special report examines the nature and extent of online learning among the 16 southern states that make up the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB).The report is available as a free download in PDF format (32 pages, 732KB). |
 Entering the Mainstream: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2003 and 2004 is our second annual survey and is based on responses from over 1,100 colleges and universities. It presents the state of online education in U.S. Higher Education, showing online enrollments continue to grow at rates faster than for the broader student population and that institutes of higher education expect the rate of growth to continue increasing.The report is available as a free download in PDF format (27 pages, 695KB) or for order in hard copy. |
 Sizing the Opportunity: The Quality and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2002 and 2003 provides some key findings about U.S. higher education online education: Over 1.6 million students took at least one online course during Fall 2002, Over 1/3 of these students took all of their courses online, 81% of all higher education institutions offer at least one fully online or blended course, and a majority of academic leaders believe that the learning outcomes for online education are equal to or superior to those of face-to-face instruction.The printed version of the report has been sold out, but it is still available as a free download in PDF format (32 pages, 263KB). |
Publications |
 Elements of Quality Online Education: Engaging Communities, Volume 6 in the Sloan-C series Online education has become the leading modality for distance education, and academic leadership expects online enrollment to grow as much as 25% per year. Thus, a central challenge to the nation is how to engage communities to make education “an ordinary part of everyday life.” To address this challenge, leading scholars and practitioners from forty colleges, universities and organizations gathered at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s annual invitational summer workshop in September 2004. Workshop papers collected here in Elements of Quality Online Education: Engaging Communities, volume six in the annual Sloan-C quality series, include provocative responses to these questions: How can online pedagogy improve face-to-face pedagogy? How can asynchronous learning networks engage the core of higher education? How can the two worlds of academia and industry cooperate to contribute to a tenfold increase in online learning in the next ten years? What do we need to learn about the business of education?Order the complete book or download the free introduction of Elements of Quality Online Education: Engaging Communities, Volume 6 in the Sloan-C series (PDF 313B). It includes the complete table of contents and a brief description of every article in the book. |
 Engaging Communities: Wisdom from the Sloan Consortium The nineteen papers in this volume portray organizations that are negotiating the simultaneous demands of tradition, the status quo, and the transformation of higher education. These wisdom papers include views on the ways assessment guides improvement; on the potential of blended environments; and on transformations that will give new meaning to the Sloan-C quality pillars of learning effectiveness, cost effectiveness, access, and faculty and student satisfaction.Order the complete book or download the free introduction of Engaging Communities: Wisdom from the Sloan Consortium (PDF 303KB). It includes the complete table of contents and a brief description of every article in the book. |
 Research Highlights: Cost Effectiveness of Online Education provides a summary of research about cost effectiveness and its implications for practitioners. It was created by Tana Bishop of the University of Maryland University College, the Sloan-C Editor for Cost Effectiveness and Institutional Commitment.Download your free copy of Research Highlights: Cost Effectiveness of Online Education (PDF 484KB). |
 Elements of Quality Online Education: Into the Mainstream: Wisdom from the Sloan Consortium Of value to practitioners in the full range of educational contexts, the sixteen wisdom papers in this collection include perspectives ranging from programs and institutions to effective practices to insights about the future of higher education as new models emerge that will improve learning effectiveness, cost effectiveness, access, faculty satisfaction and student satisfaction.Order the complete book or download the free introduction of Into the Mainstream: Wisdom from the Sloan Consortium (PDF 147KB). It includes the complete table of contents and a brief description of every article in the book. |
 The Pillar Reference Quick Guide summarizes the ideals of the Sloan-C Quality Framework. It outlines the five pillars of quality in online education: student satisfaction, access, learning effectiveness, faculty satisfaction and institutional cost effectiveness.Download the free Pillar Reference Quick Guide (PDF 94KB). |
 Relationships Between Interactions and Learning In Online Environments provides a concise summary of research about interaction online and its implications for practitioners. It was created by Karen Swan, Kent State University, the Sloan-C Editor for Effective Practices in Learning Effectiveness.Download the free Relationships Between Interactions and Learning In Online Environments (PDF 486KB). |
 ALN Principles for Blended Environments provides principles for developing blended courses and programs. Based on knowledge about ALN, the principles come from the collaborative effort of practitioners from 20 institutions that give the perspectives of faculty, administrators, IT and support specialists, and students.Download the free ALN Principles for Blended Environments (PDF 606KB). |
 Elements of Quality Online Education: Into the Mainstream, Volume 5 in the Sloan-C series (2003) Sloan-C is now offering the 5th Volume of the Sloan-C Book Series. This year however, the research reports come alive, as the researchers themselves present the findings of their research in 14 informative video presentations.Order the complete book or download the free 28 page summary of Elements of Quality Online Education: Into the Mainstream (PDF 306KB). It includes an overview of the entire book, plus one complete chapter. |
 Elements of Quality Online Education: Practice and Direction, Volume 4 in the Sloan-C series (2002) provides overviews of the status of online education, examples of effective practices, and directions for research and development. Volume 4 addresses: What pedagogical practices promote effective learning online? What are the key areas for achieving cost effective quality in online programs? What services enable new populations of learners to access higher education? What motivates faculty satisfaction in online teaching? What practices assure student satisfaction?Order the complete book or download the free 12 page condensed version of Elements of Quality Online Education: Practice and Direction which includes descriptions of all the papers contained in the volume. |
 Elements of Quality: Synthesis of the August 2002 Seminar The diverse perspectives of seminar participants-people in various occupations and organizational contexts, including graduate students, instructional designers, faculty, administrators, vendors, and government and non-profit practitioners-contribute to creating affordable, accessible, and effective online learning. The synthesis is useful for faculty and administrators who want to facilitate successful online discussions and collaborative learning teams, through effective course design, course conduct, and accessible online services. Download the complete 65 page PDF (924KB) publication Elements of Quality: Synthesis of the August 2002 Seminar for free (originally priced at $14.95). |
Effective Practices |
 The Sloan Consortium Quality Framework And The Five Pillars This overview introduces the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), explains its quality framework for guiding quality and sharing effective practices, and suggests directions for research and development. Sloan-C uses a quality framework that focuses on five pillars that support quality learning environments.Download the The Sloan Consortium Quality Framework And The Five Pillars in Adobe PDF (530KB) format. |
 Sloan-C's Effective Practices collection includes practices submitted by members that have been reviewed, approved, and listed in the Sloan-C Effective Practices online collection. The Sloan-C framework identifies five pillars or key areas for achieving quality, and Effective Practice postings demonstrate evidence of effectiveness in these areas. Download the Synthesis of Sloan-C Effective Practices in Adobe PDF (298KB) format. The document, published in the Journal for Asynchronous Learning Networks, includes links to both the provider institutions and to the full-length effective practice posting in the collection. |
 The Sloan-C Report to the Nation is based on a Sloan-C invitation-only workshop, where more than 40 leading online educators gathered in Lake George, NY in September 2002. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) established its Five Pillars for Quality Online Education - learning effectiveness, student satisfaction, faculty satisfaction, cost effectiveness, and access - as the values, principles and goals of asynchronous learning networks. Quality in online education is often thought to mean "learning effectiveness," and that is certainly one element, and it is one of the pillars. However, learning effectiveness has greater meaning when it is combined within a framework that encompasses all five pillars. The Sloan Consortium Report to the Nation "Five Pillars of Quality Online Education" is available as a free download (Adobe PDF format, 498KB) |
 A Synthesis of Sloan-C Effective Practices, August 2008To support continuous improvement in the quality, scale and breadth of online education, the Sloan Consortium invites practitioners to share effective practices. This report synthesizes effective practices submitted by 150 Sloan-C member organizations that are listed as of March 2008 in the Sloan-C Effective Practices online collection at http://www.sloanconsortium.org/effective. The synthesis includes links to the provider institutions and to detailed postings about practices.The report is available as a free download in PDF format. |
Sloan Semester |
 Sloan Semester Case Study The Sloan Semester was a vibrant and vitally important undertaking that required the immediate attention of a group of dedicated educators. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, though its sponsorship of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), financed this worthwhile initiative that helped Hurricane Katrina- and Rita-affected higher education students continue with their education in an online modality, as their institutions were forced to temporarily close down for the Fall 2005 semester. A chain of educated decisions, along with the appropriate infrastructure and team of professionals, successfully moved this initiative forward in a quick and unprecedented time frame, "on the fly."The report is available as a free download in PDF format (4 pages, 268KB) |
Awards |
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Journals |
 The intention of the Sloan-C View is to provide you with useful information about online learning, commentaries about the field and pointers to more details about the work of the Sloan Consortium. The Consortium currently has over 750 active organizational members, including colleges, universities, consortia, and vendors. The View is published online and delivered directly to members in email format. |
 The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks describes original work in asynchronous learning networks, including experimental results. The Journal adheres to traditional standards of review and authors are encouraged to provide quantitative data. In addition, major reviews and articles that outline current thinking are accepted. The objective of the Journal is to be the central resource for knowledge about ALN. All articles from the JALN are available online as both web pages and as free downloads in PDF format. |
