The Sloan-C View Newsletter
spacer gifAbout ADEC
Lisa Poley, Virginia Tech University
ADEC is a non-profit distance education consortium composed of approximately 65 state universities and land-grant colleges. The consortium was conceived and developed to promote the creation and provision of high quality, economical distance education programs and services to diverse audiences, by the land grant community of colleges and universities, through the most appropriate information technologies available.

ADEC Mission and Guiding Principles
The driving vision behind the organization is the extension of educational content and opportunity beyond the traditional boundaries of the university walls, serving not only on-campus students but lifelong learners, broader domestic and international communities, under-served populations, and K-12 schools, and the corporate/business community.
"Through ADEC, members engage in a teaching and learning model that epitomizes a university without walls that is open, accessible, and flexible."

Through ADEC, members engage in a teaching and learning model that epitomizes a university without walls that is open, accessible, and flexible. The model seeks to provide instructional delivery and/or access anywhere, anytime, to virtually anyone who seeks it.

Primary emphasis is placed on educational and informational programs and services that fall within the traditional areas of competitive advantage for land-grant institutions. Specifically, this includes programs related to food and agriculture; nutrition and health; environment and natural resources; community and economic development; and children, youth, and families.

Guiding Principles
The consortium draws upon the best and most effective subject matter specialists and information resources to share knowledge and content with learners. ADEC programming is offered locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally and is characterized by the following guiding principles:
1. Design for active and effective learning.
Principle: Distance learning designs consider context, needs, content, strategies, outcomes and environment.

2. Support the needs of learners.
Principle: Distance learning opportunities are effectively and flexibly supported.

3. Develop and maintain the technological and human infrastructure.
Principle: The provider of distance learning opportunities has both a technology plan and a human infrastructure.

4. Sustain administrative and organizational commitment.
Principle: Distance education initiatives are sustained by an administrative commitment to quality distance education.

ADEC members seek to meet local, state, national and international demands through provision of distance education opportunities and place equal emphasis on each of the traditional land grant imperatives of teaching, research and service.

ADEC serves diverse audiences using technologies including: Internet2, commodity Internet, satellite uplinks, downlinks, VSATs, digital television and audio conferencing. These communications tools help ADEC member institutions interact with learners domestically and internationally. Typical methods of distance learning include: one-way video/two-way audio satellite, two-way video and audio conferencing, multiple user audio-only conferencing, and Internet based access to educational programs.

ADEC logo

Major projects and programs
a. IDEAL (1, 2 and 3)
IDEAL is the work of an ADEC committee that is developing norms and mechanisms for increased distance education opportunities throughout the land grant system. The ultimate goals are to allow for academic credit transfer between ADEC institutions, credit transfer between ADEC institutions and others, eliminate turf barriers on campus, develop multi-institutional curriculum,

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