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A letter from the editors
of the Sloan-C View
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks, this issue reports some perspectives from Sloan-C members on design, virtual worlds, students, faculty and retention.
David Cillay, Director of Director of Special Projects for Washington State University, considers the promise of Virtual Worlds and invites you to a session at the 10th Sloan-C International Conference on ALN.
Judith Boettcher of Designing for Learning lists course design tips you can use right away.
Reuven Aviv of the Open University of Israel provides an analysis of student testimonials provided by Sloan-C listserv members .
In Hot Off the Blog, Ray Schroeder of the University of Illinois Springfield reports on hot topics—from promotion and tenure considerations to reconceptualizing the digital divide in education.
Effective marketing tops the list of member interests, according to a recent Sloan-C survey. Thus, a seminar with time for asynchronous discussion with colleagues, MARKETING ONLINE PROGRAMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION, is now open for registration with activities beginning November 16.
Also emerging as a major interest to educators is the growth of blended environments. A team from the University of Central Florida will draw on seven years of UCF’s longitudinal data, in a seminar Blended Learning and the Generations that examines faculty and student demographics and satisfaction and the impact course modalities have on faculty ratings and student success.
Sloan-C’s online workshops and seminars are a natural springboard for networking, communities of inquiry, special interest groups, and greater collaboration across courses, programs, schools and nations. As ALN and Sloan-C grow, there are many interests that, when organized, can leverage our collective brain power.
For these purposes, Sloan-C researcher/practitioners identified hot topics for inter-institutional research. To see the topics and to add your own, please take a 2-minute online Sloan-C survey at http://www.sloanconsortium.org/sig-survey/survey.htm.
We look forward to seeing you online, and in person at the 10th Sloan-C International Conference on ALN: The Power of Online Learning—From Innovation to the Mainstream in Orlando, Florida, November 12-14, 2004. Please register early to save your place at a pre-conference workshop, Building the Sloan-C Communities of Inquiry on Friday, November 12 from 1:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. and at the ALN 2004 Interest Roundtables on Saturday, November 13, 4:15 p.m.–5:00 p.m. We will organize topics that include: (1) what special interest groups should do, (2) what funding is needed, (3) types of deliverables: e.g., books, workshops, conference sessions and more. We will create taxonomy of online learning and frame a common language that will help widen access to learning. For more details about the conference, see http://www.sloan-c.org/info/vconf.asp.
We hope you will visit Sloan-C soon and often.
… for the Sloan Consortium
Frank Mayadas, John Bourne and Janet Moore
The purpose of the Sloan Consortium
(Sloan-C) is to help learning organizations continually improve the quality, scale, and breadth of their online programs according to their own distinctive missions, so that education will become a part of everyday life, accessible and affordable for anyone, anywhere, at any time, in a wide variety of disciplines. You are welcome to join Sloan-C:
http://www.sloan-c.org |
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