World Association for Online Education (WAOE) Milestones

April 1998: The Teaching in the Community Colleges (TCC) Online Conference keynote address and downloadable video proposed a year-round organization to turn online education into a professional discipline
Mailing list discussions continued after the conference, then a Constitutional Convention held in a BBS drafted WAOE formative documents and a system for online parliamentary procedures
Further meetings were held in a Web Board and using mailing lists hosted at American universities
Domain waoe.org acquired
Affiliated Journal of Online Education (JOE) at New York University
WAOE recognized in educational technology sites, directories, and publications such as the Chronicle of Higher Education
WAOE registered as a non-profit public benefit organization (NPO) in the State of California with Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws
1999: A Special Members' Meeting ratified the NPO Bylaws and elected members of the Board of Directors from various countries
Inaugural Members' Meeting and Board of Directors' Meeting, annual NPO requirements, were held, with the State of California interested in WAOE’s online voting
Different mailing lists were developed for member discussions, organizational announcements, and officers' discussions
Besides the elected officers, appointed officers included the Cyber-Parliamentarian and a Coordinating Ring of officers from many countries
Online newsletter WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) started
A World Cultural Festival was held online, then a summer festival in collaboration with Child Research Net, a Tokyo, Japan NPO
A WAOE Online Educators' Course was offered, utilizing the Blackboard LMS
2000: The WAOE membership had been approaching a thousand participants from over 50 countries until a small membership fee was introduced, which regrettably discouraged the less privileged
After gathering initial membership fees, receiving donations, and transferring honoraria to WAOE from collaboration with Child Research Net, membership dues were abolished
WAOE online greeting card for the year 2000 in 20 languages
The Multilingual WAOE Project resulted in WAOE commissioned Websites, discussion groups, or membership information available in Spanish, French, Malay, Turkish, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, German, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese
A policy for affiliating with other organizations was developed
2000-2001: An Online Educator Development Practicum was offered, utilizing the MetaCollege LMS
2001: WAOE collaborated with an e-learning conference in Malaysia
A WAOE membership badge was made available online, but while only individuals can belong to WAOE, some groups have abused the badge or WAOE's logo to falsely imply a sort of accreditation
An interactive world map of WAOE officers was created along with other interesting items in java by Prof. Roberto Mueller in Brazil
2002: Started donating WAOE server space, hosting the International Program for Africa and a Russian Initiative
WAOE co-sponsored a Future of Universities event held in a MOO
2003: WAOE donated $900 to an NGO in Estonia for Baltic region online education for minority Russian language users
WAOE blog "Intercultural Literacy" started
Main WAOE Website and mailing lists hosted at Portland State University by Chief Technology Officer Prof. Maggie McVay Lynch
2004: Mentoring Project of WAOE expert volunteers helped educators develop plans for online education projects
WAOE mentors in several countries added a blended element to an intensive graduate course on Online Education at a national university in Japan with audioconferences, voice board, WebCT LMS, etc.
Four officers met face-to-face for the first time, giving a group presentation at a conference held at the University of Sussex, UK
2005: Spoken Libraries Project, whereby several WAOE members developed podcasting blog
2006: WAOE moved Websites and e-mail accounts to a private ISP as the CTO retired, with mailing lists moved to Google Groups
Resolution announced to clarify that WAOE is an academic organization for individuals, not accrediting groups using our logo
WAOE members in six countries collaborated on two chapters in The International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments
2007-present: New Board of Directors: President Nick Bowskill (UK), Begum Ibrahim (Malaysia), Mike Holmwood (Canada), Eileen Dittmar (US), and Ramesh Sharma (India), with Steve McCarty (Japan) appointed President Emeritus, also serving as Webmaster
2008: WAOE live 3D event with Capella University in Second Life
2010: WAOE's main site was redesigned
From 2010: WAOE hosts a Moodle LMS site as a voluntary contribution to the distance education section of the national University of Guyana in South America
2010-2011: Board meeting to consider changing from an NPO to an informal international NGO
2011: WAOE contributed about $1,400 to a children's hospital in Bangladesh
Some WAOE members planned to meet f2f at the 5th International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention

Further details with links: Some of the following links do not work but are retained for historical reference. The main WAOE Website has been updated and the latest link is WAOE 2011 Changes.

News: November 1998: Humanist (University of London) introduction to WAOE | 2000 Update / WAOE early 2001 news | What Online Education Is, with particular reference to Japan | WAOE cited as model of collaboration at a conference in China | 2001: WAOE collaborated with an online learning conference in Malaysia | From2001: Java online Membership Certificate on demand and interactive world map of WAOE officers (Dr. Roberto Mueller, Brazil), Portuguese and Esperanto versions from August 2003 | Transcript of mid-2002 MOO event on the Future of Universities | February2003: new officers and member networking plans | June 2003: new WAOE home page with Flash, an accessible site, Web forms to join WAOE and update membership details,password-protected member networking site /June 2003: revived newsletter WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) - latest issue | results of 3 consecutive online meetings from June through July 2003: e-Democracy | September 2004: WAOE officers meet f2f for a presentation on WAOE at a UK conference | Spoken Libraries (2005). 2006: Moved from Portland State University to a private ISP. | July 2007: new Board of Directors: President: Nick Bowskill (UK), Vice-President: (Ms.) Begum Ibrahim (Malaysia), Executive Secretary: Eileen Dittmar (US), Treasurer: Mike Holmwood (Canada), and Membership Chair: Ramesh Sharma (India); also appointed officers: Chief Technical Officer (CTO): forthcoming, NPO Representative: James Potter, Cyber-Parliamentarian: Mike Warner, and President Emeritus: Steve McCarty (also Webmaster). Current changes: Ms. Ibrahim and Ms. Dittmar's positions were switched, and Prof. Jenna Seehafer of Califormia State University again became NPO representative. In 2011 WAOE donated about $1,400 to a children's hospital in Bangladesh.

History: April1998: Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference Keynote Address | Mid-1998: Constitutional Convention held in a BBS |From 1998: WAOE WebBoard used for online meetings | 1998: WAOE Formative Documents / 1999: Membership Documents | Feb. 1999: Special Members' Meeting ballot ratified Bylaws and elected Directors | June 1999: Inaugural Members' Meeting | 1999: Pilot WAOE Online Educators' Course using Blackboard | 2000: Affiliations Policy | 2000-2001: MetaCollegeLMSused for Online Educator Development Practicum | Annual Members' Meeting President's Report for 2000 (WAOE membership dues abolished), 2001 and 2002 | From April 2003 WAOE's ISP is Portland State University / Evolution of public discussion list waoe-views | Online Educator Development Committee preparing Online Teacher Certification course for members | 2003 Annual Members' Meeting/ Bylaws amended to add CTO as 6th WAOE Director / Dr. Maggie McVay Lynch appointed CTO at July 2003 Board of Directors' Meeting | 2004 Annual Members' Meeting | Mentoring Project | 2005 Annual Members' Meeting | 2006Annual Members' Meeting | 2006 Annual Board of Directors' Meeting proceedings | 2007 Annual Board of Directors' Meeting in progress after the Annual Members' Meeting with a successful online election. In 2010 the main WAOE Website was redesigned. 2010-2011: Emergency Board Meeting to consider changing to an NGO. WAOE 2011 Changes.

Culture: 1999: World Culture Festival / Multilingual WAOE Project | Child Research Net (Tokyo) collaboration on Summer Festivals in Japan | 2000: Greeting card for the 2000s in 20 languages with the Universidade Federal de Vicosa, Brazil / tcc2000 conference report on International/Multicultural Issues and New Technologies for Learning | 2001: WebCT for the Language Teacher (distance education issues in Japan) | 2002:PowerPoint presentation (view with MS IE browser): Overcoming Face-to-Face Dependence in Distance Education: Gender and Cultural Issues | August 2002 International Program for Africa hosted at WAOE / November 2002: Russian initiative | May 2003:WAOE Weblog (blog) Intercultural Literacy | By 2003: full WAOE Websites in Japanese,　Portuguese, Malay, Turkish, and Italian; discussion groups for India, Japanese, Spanish, French and Malay; see announcement/ July 2003: added German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and Turkish | WAOE blog Intercultural Literacy | WAOE-affiliated podcasting blogs by Nick (WAOE Community Audio Learning Project) / Steve (Japancasting) / Mike Warner / Cliff Layton. From 2010: as a voluntary effort of Dr. Sharma and Steve McCarty, WAOE hosts the Moodle learning management system for the distance education division of the national University of Guyana in South America.

WAOE Home Page
WAOE Commissioned Sites / Links to and honorable mention About WAOE / Organizational Page

E-mail: mccarty@mail.goo.ne.jp

Steve McCarty, Professor, Osaka Jogakuin College, Japan
WAOE President 1998-2007, President Emeritus/Webmaster 2007-present
Multilingual publications (an Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library 4-star site)

E-mail: mccarty@mail.goo.ne.jp

Steve McCarty, Professor, Osaka Jogakuin College, Japan WAOE President 1998-2007, President Emeritus/Webmaster 2007-present Multilingual publications (an Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library 4-star site)

Steve McCarty, Professor, Osaka Jogakuin College, Japan
WAOE President 1998-2007, President Emeritus/Webmaster 2007-present
Multilingual publications (an Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library 4-star site)