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<tt><font size=+2>World Association for Online Education</font></tt> <br>
<b><tt><font size=+2>W E B</font></tt></b> <br>
<tt><font size=+1>WAOE Electronic Bulletin</font></tt> <br>
<tt>Volume 2, No. 1</tt> <br>
<tt>January 31, 2000</tt>
<p><a name="Contents"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Contents</font></tt></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/#FromEditor">From the Web Editor</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Editor1">Welcome to Volume 2!</a>
<p><b><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Write">Members Write ...</a></font></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Write1">From Julia Keefer - the United
Nations Hunger Site</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Write2">Re WEB Once a Month ...</a>
<p><b><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special">Special Items</a></font></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Special1">Membership Privilege - WAOE
Logo</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no1/index.htm#Special2">Debate on Commercialising Online Course
Delivery</a>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/#New">Welcome to New Members</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Orientation">Orientation Course</a></tt>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Profile">Memberās Profile</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Member">Alan Altany</a></tt> <br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#About_Profile">About Member's
Profile</a></tt></i></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Conference">Conference
(Re)Call</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Reports">Reports:</a></tt></i></b>
<br>
<a href="#Reports#1">Colloquy - the Chronicle of Higher Education's Online Forum</a>
<br>
<a href="#Reports#2">The Learning MarketSpace (and The Center for Academic Transformation)</a>
<br>
<a href="#Reports#3">Leadership & the New Technologies - Online Workshops</a>
<br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Coming">Coming Events:</a></tt></i></b>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol2no2/index.htm#Events1">TCC Online Conference 2000
- Registration</a></tt> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no2/index.htm#Events2">Technology in Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol2no2/index.htm#Events3"><tt>ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference
on </tt>Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications</a>
<br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Feature">About Conference (Re)Call</a></tt></i></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#New_Links">New Links</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Link1">NairoBits</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Link2">TechKnowLogia, January/February
2000</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Link3">Morten Flate Paulsen</a>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Ideas">Web Ideas and
Issues</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Ideas1">Impact of Technology on Young
Children</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Ideas2">Anonymity on the Internet</a>
<br>
<b><i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#What">About Web Ideas and Issues</a></tt></i></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#News">News Briefs</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#News1">Commonwealth of Learning: Knowledge
Management Roundtable</a> <br>
<a href="/web/vol1no10/index.htm#News2">Optimistic Online Education Study</a>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Policies">WAOE Policies
and Procedures</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Release">Release of Personal Information</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>Waiver of Membership Fees/Dues - <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Waiver1">Policy
</a>and <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Waiver2">Procedure</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Change">Notifying Change of Email
Address</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Resign">How to unsubscribe or resign</a></tt>
<br>
<i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#About_Policies">About Waoe
Policies and Procedures</a></tt></i>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Forth">Forthcoming
Meetings</a></font></tt></b> <br>
<tt>No items for this issue.</tt> <br>
<i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#this">About this Section</a></tt></i>
<br>
<i><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Time">Time Conversion Site</a></tt></i>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#About">About WEB</a></font></tt></b>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#WAOE">About WAOE</a></font></tt></b>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Aims">WAOE's Objectives</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Meaning">The Meaning and Exercise
of Membership in WAOE</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#System">WAOE's Communications and
Discussion System</a></tt> <br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#WAOE_Committees">WAOE Committees
and OCREWs</a></tt>
<p><b><tt><font size=+1><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Links">WAOE Links</a></font></tt></b>
<p><tt>############</tt>
<p><a name="FromEditor"></a><b><font size=+2>From the WEB Editor</font></b>
<p><a name="Editor1"></a><b><font size=+2>Welcome to Volume 2!</font></b>
<p>Well, the century has turned, for some of us, at least ... or else we can say
(with the purists) we are on our way to the end of the year which will mark
the official beginning of the second millenium. Whatever. For myself,
I've given up trying to work out the mathematics (or is it the pedantics?).
<p>Anyway, the main thing (FANFARE) is that the World Association for Online
Education Electronic Bulletin - phew!, WEB for short - is now entering
its second calendar year of operation, and therefore we're starting
a new volume. Following <a href="/web/vol2no3/index.htm#Write2">feedback</a>
on the question whether WEB should move officially to a monthly basis
of publication - with members' silences, as always, taken for consent!
- the second volume of WEB will consist of 11 issues during 2000, one
appearing at the end of each month except December.
<p>We look forward to receiving lots of contributions from all our members to
any and every of the different sections which make up WEB. Pleeeaaase!!!
<p>BTW, we've made a couple of changes to WEB for this volume. As foreshadowed
in the last issue for 1999, the new Members Write section is coming into its
own, and has replaced both the Your Say and Feedback sections. And the
New Links section (which I think is of particular interest to members) will
be highlighted on the Web page.
<p><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">David Wyatt</a>, WAOE Membership Officer
and WEB Editor
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Special3"></a><b><font size=+1>Spreading the Good Word</font></b>
<p>A short item, "WAOE works to improve online education" appeared in a December
edition of the journal EdNet Briefs, which is run by member Steve Simpson.
Take a look at <a href="http://www.edbriefs.com/usa99-00/12.06.99usa.html">http://www.edbriefs.com/usa99-00/12.06.99usa.html</a>.
<p>President Steve McCarty also reports that his paper "Networking for Global
Online Education" will be published in Volume 3 Issue 1 of the Virtual University
Journal on February 1st, 2000. Steve says this article will not only be
focused on WAOE, but will be a little more extensive in coverage than previous
pieces, such as the item "Introducing the World Association for Online Education
(WAOE)" which appeared in the October 12 1999 issue of Mark Warschauer's <a href="http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/web/faculty/markw/papyrus-news.html">Papyrus
News</a>, archived at <a href="http://members.tripod.com/vstevens/papyrus/13oct99a.htm">http://members.tripod.com/vstevens/papyrus/13oct99a.htm</a>.
<p>We encourage members to keep a record of such articles which describe WAOE's
purposes and activities. Along with our <a href="http://www.waoe.org">Website
address</a>, they provide a ready resource of information for actively promoting
the Association or for responding to enquiries.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Write"></a><b><font size=+2>Members Write ...</font></b>
<p><a name="Write1"></a><b><font size=+1>From Julia Keefer - the United Nations
Hunger Site</font></b>
<p>In early December last year, Julia Keefer - who is the Editor of "JOE,"
our <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/waoej.html">WWW
Journal of Online Education</a>, affiliated with New York University
- forwarded the following message to the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Views">WAOE-Views</a>
list-serve:
<blockquote>Subject: This is really easy!
<p>The Hunger Site at the UN
<p>This is a really clever web site. All you do is click a button and somewhere
in the world some hungry person gets a meal at no cost to you. (The
click doesn't actually deliver the food to them; but it does generate a donation
to a food program.) The food is paid for by corporate sponsors.
All you do is go to the site and click.
<p>You're only allowed one click per day, so try to get there every day and
please spread the word to others. <br>
<a href="http://www.thehungersite.com">http://www.thehungersite.com</a>
</blockquote>
<p><br>
Apologies to those of you who have seen the message already, because you are
subscribed to WAOE-Views. We thought it worth repeating in WEB as a reminder
- after the indulgences of the Christmas season for many of us - to take, and
keep on taking, just one simple, but very worthwhile step towards alleviating
world hunger.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Write2"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Re WEB once a month ...</font></tt></b>
<p>There were two responses to the last issue's query whether members would support
WEB moving permanently to a monthly publication schedule:
<blockquote>I vote for a once a month newsletter vice every other week. But the
possibility of an occassional update "flier" on special occasions would seem
to be in order to highlight WAOE conferences or General Membership or Board
Meetings. <br>
Mike Warner <br>
(Mike is WAOE's Cyber-Parliamentarian - in other words, our specialist adviser
regarding online procedures.)</blockquote>
<blockquote>Please, count my vote - for a solid WEB once a month. <br>
Greetings, <br>
Zbigniew Szczepanczyk <br>
Global Village Schools <br>
Kielce, Poland</blockquote>
Thanks Mike and Zbigniew - and especially good to hear from Zbigniew for the first
time in the Bulletin. We'll do our best to keep WEB as "solid" as possible
as it comes out around the end of every month (except December). In our
original planning for an efficient communications system, Mike's call for an occasional
flier for special anouncements could have been addressed by using the WAOE-News
listserve. However, not every member is subscribed to WAOE-News, and the
service is falling into disuse. At least for the time being, it seems sensible
to use the current list of subscribed or dues-waived members as the basis not
only for mailing our WEB, but also for one-off communications about key events.
<b><i><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Web Editor</a></i></b>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
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<p><a name="Special"></a><b><font size=+2>Special Items</font></b>
<p><a name="Special1"></a><b><font size=+1>Membership Privilege - WAOE Logo</font></b>
<p>President Steve McCarty is delighted to announce that WAOE members who have
paid dues or received waiver from dues in the current year may place WAOE's
logo on their Web pages. Here is the full wording of Steve's announcement,
including the details for acessing the logo:
<blockquote><b><u>Use of the WAOE Logo as a Membership Privilege</u></b>
<p>Only WAOE members with dues currently paid or waived may exercise the membership
privilege of placing the WAOE logo on their Web pages. The effect of following
these directions is that a reduced size, light green WAOE logo will appear
on your home page with a dark green caption indicating that you are a WAOE
member. The logo is an active link, so that anyone clicking on it will be
transported conveniently to the WAOE Opening Page. It is also programmed so
that the logo is pulled from WAOE's Website whenever your Web page is downloaded.
So all you need to do is:
<p>Copy the HTML source code below and paste it into the source file for your
home page, wherever you prefer it to appear on the Web page, pasting it somewhere
below the HEAD </head> and before the BODY ends with </body></html>.
<p>With HTML editing or authoring programs even a beginner should be able to
find the source mode (that browsers read to determine the complete format
of your Web page). Selecting Source or Source Mode again from a pull-down
menu takes you back to how the page generally appears to a browser, but the
logo will not be seen until you upload the new Web page file to your Web server.
<p>Here is the coding to copy and paste into the source file of your Web page:
<p><P ALIGN=CENTER><A HREF="http://www.waoe.org/"> <br>
<IMG SRC="http://www.waoe.org/waoeban3.gif" <br>
BORDER="0" WIDTH="140" HEIGHT="43" NATURALSIZEFLAG="0" <br>
ALIGN="BOTTOM"></A><BR><B><FONT COLOR="#3B724D" <br>
SIZE=-1>WAOE Member</FONT></B></P>
</blockquote>
Cyber-Parliamentarian Mike Warner has already set up the WAOE logo on his home
page. If you would like to see how the logo looks, please visit <br>
<a href="http://www.interdigm.com/mwarner/">http://www.interdigm.com/mwarner/</a>.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Special2"></a><b><font size=+1>Debate on Commercialising Online Course
Delivery</font></b>
<p>The Chronicle of Higher Education's <a href="#Reports#1">Colloquy </a>service
is currently running an important discussion about the possible impact on the
relationship between students and faculty if some universities and liberal arts
colleges take up the offer from a new distance education company to pay the
institutions for courses which the company would put online. We are giving
prominence to the announcement of the discussion item because it concerns issues
very close to the objectives and interests of WAOE, and we urge all members
- not just those directly engaged in higher education - to have their say.
<blockquote>The latest issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that
a new distance-education company has approached a number of elite liberal-arts
colleges and Ivy League universities to propose an arrangement in which the
company would put selected courses online and pay the institutions $250,000
per course. At least three institutions -- Amherst and Williams Colleges
and Brown University -- are seriously considering the offer, and some faculty
members worry that the arrangements could significantly change the nature of
faculty-student interaction at the institutions. The Chronicle is sponsoring
an online discussion about the issues raised this company's proposal, and The
Chronicle invites members of this list to read the story and join the discussion
at: <a href="http://www.chronicle.com/colloquy/2000/eliteu/eliteu.htm">http://www.chronicle.com/colloquy/2000/eliteu/eliteu.htm</a>.</blockquote>
<b>If you do make a contribution to the Colloquy debate, please pass on a copy
of your comments to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Web Editor</a>
so they can be shared with fellow WAOE members through the next issue of WEB.</b>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="New"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Welcome to New Members</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>On behalf of all the existing members, the Board of Directors and the members
of the Coordinating Ring (WAOE's management executive) extend a very warm welcome
to members who have registered to join the Association in the past few weeks.
We look forward to your becoming active participants in WAOE discussions and
other activities.</tt>
<p><tt>As with any unfamiliar organisation, there must be a lot of questions
in the minds of recent joiners. The first place new members should
go to for answers is the WAOE </tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Orientation">Orientation
Course</a>.<tt> As well, this section of WEB tries to anticipate
and answer one or two of the questions new members could be pondering
by providing some <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Meaning">fundamental
information</a>.</tt>
<p><tt>New members - and existing members - might also explore the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Policies">WAOE
Policies and Procedures</a><b><font size=+1> </font></b>section of WEB
and the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#WAOE">About WAOE</a> section.</tt>
<p><tt>If you have any question at all about the Association, send it to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Web
Editor</a> so we can respond to it in an appropriate section of WEB.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
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<p><a name="Orientation"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Orientation Course</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>Thanks to generous support from long-standing member John Spiers and his<font color="#FF172A">
<a href="http://noncredited.net/wileyccc/">LearnOnline </a></font>organisation,
and to the hard conceptualising and drafting work of Treasurer, Jenna Seehafer,
WAOE has established an Orientation Course which will provide essential information
on a continual basis about the organisation and how it operates. Please
note that the Web pages for the Orientation Course are still under construction.
Jenna and other WAOE Officers will add sections and items - including parts
of WEB as it now looks - as time permits and opportunity presents. You
can go to the pages in progress either through <font color="#FF172A"><a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient.htm">Orientation
Course</a></font>, or through the View Course link on the WAOE Orientation Course
<a href="http://noncredited.net/wileyccc/worasofonedo.html">enrolment page</a>.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
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<p><a name="Profile"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Memberās Profile</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="Member"></a><b><font size=+1>Alan Altany</font></b>
<p>Alan is a long-standing member making his debut in WEB. He is an Associate
Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, Basic Humanities Program,
at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia (USA).
<blockquote>Just a few years ago I was embarrassed to admit that I did not know
how to send an email message. After all, why did I even need a computer,
except for work processing? I taught religious studies and humanities.
Well, now I may use educational telecomputing as much as or more than any faculty
at my university. I have also developed MA & PhD programs for a virtual
university, Greenwich University, recently accredited in Australia <http://greenwich.edu/aah/rclma.htm>,
and mentor for another virtual school, Honolulu University.
<p>I also offer online, noncredit courses for a virtual school, Omega College,
at http://www.NonCreditEd.net/wileyccc/religion.html. I have taught
online for my residential university and am in the process of transforming
my religious studies courses into online ones.
<p>Whether enhancing classroom courses or in online ones, I have abandoned being
a teacher in favor of being a mentor, a guide and director of resources for
my learners/students. My hope is to continue to experience and experiment
with the best ways to mentor online and to become an online resource for discussions
and learning in my fields, as for example at a religious studies resource
site at <a href="http://www.mybytes.com/entity.cfm?EntityID=15,95113">http://www.mybytes.com/entity.cfm?EntityID=15,95113</a>.
<p>My intuition is that online learning, including the idea of learning being
life-long, is transforming concepts and perceptions of the world and of learning.
I often have students engage in intercultural discussions with other students
at colleges around the world, as well as have guest scholars and others as
online, virtual guests with whom the students can ask, comment and respond.
<p>Perhaps my story can encourage those who begin with almost a cyberphobia
about computers and the technologies for the World-Wide Web. I am not
now in a state of cyberphilia, but I am experimenting with online possibilities
as a way to have a present memory of the future regarding learning in all
its forms, including online.
<p>Organization such as WAOE can help us escape from any isolation as teachers
or mentors by slowly developing a deeper sense of a world wide community of
learning and learners. I seek to have online mentoring and learning
be a vehicle for helping learners discover what Bankei said long ago:
"The farther you enter into the truth, the deeper it is.
<p>Web sites: <br>
Home Page: <a href="http://webpages.marshall.edu/~altany/">http://webpages.marshall.edu/~altany/</a>
<br>
Vita: <a href="http://webpages.marshall.edu/vita.htm">http://webpages.marshall.edu/vita.htm</a>
<br>
Courses: <a href="http://webpages.marshall.edu/~altany/courses.htm">http://webpages.marshall.edu/~altany/courses.htm</a>
<br>
Departmental Page I developed: <a href="http://www.marshall.edu/rst/">http://www.marshall.edu/rst/</a>
</blockquote>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt> <br>
<tt>##############</tt>
<p><a name="About_Profile"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About Member's Profile</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>In each issue of WEB a different member introduces him- or herself and
talks about experiences and interests in online education and training. Drawing
on the information and URLs provided on their registration forms, the WEB Editor
is targetting individual members who are doing especially innovative and exciting
things in online education with requests to provide a brief profile.</tt>
<p><tt><u>But why wait to be asked?</u> All WEB readers are urged to use
the Memberās Profile to help flesh out the person behind the impersonal email
address youāre known by in WAOE. We are a member's organisation - reMEMBER!!
Just a short piece will do. As well as giving us some background information,
weād like you to tell colleagues why you joined WAOE, what you hope to gain
from your involvement, and what you would like to contribute.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
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<p><a name="Conference"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Conference (Re)Call</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="Reports"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+2>Reports</font></tt></i></b>
<p><a name="Reports#1"></a><b><font size=+1>Colloquy - the Chronicle of Higher
Education's Online Forum</font></b>
<p>The Chronicle of Higher Education is a major news source for college and university
faculty members in the United States, which is published weekly ina printed
edition. The Chronicle maintains a <a href="http://www.chronicle.com/index.htm">Website</a>
which offers free access to major segments of the journal, especially the regular
feature articles on distance education and information technology in higher
education, as well as job announcements from the previous issue of The Chronicle
and full participation in Colloquy, an open forum on issues in higher education.
<p>In the words of the home page, "Colloquy is your opportunity to comment
on vital issues affecting higher education, to shed light (and heat,
if you're so disposed) on issues raised here by your colleagues."
A very important current debate on the possible adverse impact of commercialising
online course design and delivery is the focus of a <a href="/web/vol2no1/index.htm#Special2">Special
Item</a> in an earlier section of this issue of WEB.
<p>The following selection of current and recent Colloquy topics gives a
broad indication of the varied range of issues to which participants are able
to contribute: <br>
<ul>
<li> ARE ELITE COLLEGES WORTH THE MONEY?: Are the nation's most selective and
expensive colleges a good economic investment for tuition-paying students
and their families? (current)</li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> THE BIBLE AS HISTORY?: Has archaeology demonstrated definitively that the
Bible is of little value as a document of historical events? (current)</li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> Do adjunct faculty members have enough academic freedom to teach effectively?</li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> Is the declining enrollment of male students a problem for higher education?</li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> Where is the debate over affirmative action in higher education headed?</li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> Should virtual universities be accredited?</li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p>In light of WAOE's abiding concern to improve the quality of online education,
and the recurring moves in WEB and through WAOE-Views to stir debate about maintaining
standards in the face of the increasing commercialisation of educational delivery
via the Net, it is interesting to note that the topic on accreditation of virtual
universities generated by far the greatest number of responses for any Colloquy
forum during 1999. All topics are archived, so you can easily review the
shape and direction of any of the debates. It's well worth the visit.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
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<p><a name="Reports#2"></a><b><font size=+1>The Learning MarketSpace (and The
Center for Academic Transformation)</font></b>
<p>The Learning MarketSpace is a monthly electronic newsletter written by
Carol Twigg and Bob Heterick as a key component of the Leadership Forum, which
is an initiative of the Center for Academic Transformation designed "to advance
the growth of knowledgeable people to lead their institutions, companies and
organizations in The Information Age." The declared mission of the Center
- part of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, located in Troy, New York -
is "to serve as a source of expertise and support for those in higher
education who wish to take advantage of the capabilities of information technology
to transform their academic practices."
<p>The Learning MarketSpace promises to provide "leading-edge assessment of and
future-oriented thinking about issues and developments concerning the nexus
of higher education and information technology." Commentary and analysis
are organized around the following six themes: <br>
<ul>
<li> The value of corporate/higher education collaboration</li>
<li> Virtual university initiatives and developments</li>
<li> On-campus cultural resistance or backlash</li>
<li> New developments in technology which force a re-thinking of assumptions
about academic practices</li>
<li> Cost containment efforts</li>
<li> Public policy issues with implications for the learning marketspace</li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p>To subscribe, send an email message (with subject line left blank) to listproc@lists.rpi.edu.
In the body of the message, type SUB LFORUM-L your name.
<p>In addition to the Learning MarketSpace newsletter, the Learning Forum offers:
<br>
<ul>
<li> Workshops and Seminars - one-day events focused on strategic issues facing
higher education and designed to</li>
</ul>
<br>
(1) enable leaders in higher education and companies interested in
the intersection of higher education and information technology to develop a <br>
conceptual framework for understanding
those issues and <br>
(2) facilitate an exchange between experts on a particular topic
with those who will benefit from that expertise. <br>
<ul>
<li> Consulting Services</li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p>The Center for Academic Transformation also conducts a series of programs under
grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts: <br>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewGrant.html">The Pew Grant Program
in Course Redesign</a> - a three-year, $6 million program to encourage colleges
and universities to redesign their instructional</li>
</ul>
<br>
approaches using technology to achieve cost savings as well as quality
enhancements. Redesign projects are expected to focus on <br>
large-enrollment, introductory courses, which have the potential
of impacting significant student numbers and generating substantial cost savings.
<br>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewSym1.html">The Pew Symposia in Learning
and Technology</a> - an ongoing "national conversation about issues related
to the intersection of learning and</li>
</ul>
<br>
technology that places the discussion in the context of student
learning and ways to achieve this learning cost effectively. The goal is to marshal
<br>
the thinking of acknowledged experts and frame the issues in
ways that are useful to the higher education community as it incorporates uses
of <br>
technology into the academic program.
<p> There will be two symposia per year from 1999 through 2002,
each leading to the publication of a monograph available online and as a <br>
downloadable pdf (Acrobat Reader) file. The first symposium,
"Redesigning More Productive Learning Environments," was conducted in July 1999
<br>
and a monograph "Improving Learning & Reducing Costs:
Redesigning Large-Enrollment Courses," was published in October last year.
The next <br>
symposium, "Who Owns Online Courses and Course Materials:
Intellectual Property Policies for a New Learning Environment," starts in February.
<br>
<ul>
<li> The Pew Program in Learning and Technology publishes a quarterly electronic
<a href="http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewNews1.html">newsletter</a> (in March,
June, September and December) comprising</li>
</ul>
<br>
an in-depth case study of a redesigned learning environment,
reports on redesign developments in higher education, and announcements of <br>
conferences, workshops and publications directly related to
the case study topic.
<p> To subscribe, send e-mail to <a href="mailto:listproc@lists.rpi.edu">listproc@lists.rpi.edu</a>.
In the body of the message, type SUB PLTP-L your name.
<p> To submit items for inclusion, send e-mail to Wendy Rickard
at <a href="mailto:rickard@rickardgroup.com">rickard@rickardgroup.com</a>.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Reports#3"></a><b><font size=+1>Leadership & the New Technologies
- Online Workshops</font></b>
<p>The <a href="http://www.edc.org/LNT/workshop.htm">LNT Online Workshops</a>
are an initiative of the Education Development Center, Inc, a leading non-profit
organisation conducting research and devleoping programs through some 250 projects
around the world, concerned with learning technologies, early childhood and
K-12 education, workforce preparation, health promotion, and institutional reform.
Each LNT workshop runs for about 8-10 weeks and involves online <br>
discussions, readings, small projects, and the use of online resources.
Workshops are led by a group of LNT faculty and facilitators, and are designed
primarily for school district decision-makers. Participants are expected
to devote at least 2 hours per week to the workshop in order to contribute to
the discussions and complete the projects. The first time a workshop is
offered on a particular topic, it will be offered free of charge (not including
any materials fees). However, subsequent offerings may charge registration
fees.
<p>There is a brief description of all the 1998 and 1999 workshops at the <a href="http://www.edc.org/LNT/workshop.htm">LNT
Home Page</a>, and a public archive is available for all of these. Forthcoming
workshops are announced in <a href="http://www.edc.org/LNT/news.htm">LNT Perspectives</a>,
the online journal of the Leadership and the New Technologies community, which
is now published on a quarterly basis. As a sample of LNT's range of interests,
here is the list of contents for the current (January) issue of the journal:
<ul>
<li> Feature Article: "Network Science, A Decade Later" by researchers
on the Testbed for Telecollaboration project at TERC.</li>
<li> "Digital Divide Network" Established To Tackle The Technology Gap</li>
<li> Teacher and Teacher-Directed Student Use of Computers and Software</li>
<li> Internet Access Spreads To More Classrooms, Survey Finds</li>
<li> New Web Site Aims to Help Teachers Find Learning Resources</li>
<li> Lack Of Training Wasting Schools' Computer Outlays</li>
<li> Tech Corps Launches Techs4Schools</li>
<li> New ISTE Book Assists Educating Technology-Capable Kids by Integrating
Technology Standards into Classrooms and Curriculum</li>
<li> Businesses Cashing In On Learning</li>
<li> About "LNT Perspectives"</li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Coming"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+2>Coming Events</font></tt></i></b>
<p><a name="Events1"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>TCC Online Conference 2000 - Registration</font></tt></b>
<p>The 5th Annual Teaching in the Community Colleges Online Conference will
be held between April 12 and 14, 2000. The Conference site is at <a href="http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon2000">http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon2000</a>.
The Conference is sponsored by the University of Hawaii-Kapiolani Community
College and Teaching in the Community Colleges Electronic Journal.
<p>The Conference theme is: "A Virtual Odyssey: What's Ahead for New Technologies
in Learning?" Registration is now available. As from February 1,
2000, the registration fee is $US45, increasing to $US55 from March 16.
There is a $US10 discount for people who attended the TCCC in 1998 or 1999 (the
registration form itself allows for this deduction with a simple response box).
The following further details are reproduced from the TCC site:
<blockquote>Registration provides full access to all conference activities, including
keynote presentations, conference papers, email announcements, discussion forums,
virtual tours, pre- and post-conference activities, etc. ... (Special pre-Conference
technology workshops and their separate fees, if any, will be announced.)
<p>The registration office will accept credit card payments (Visa and MasterCard
only), purchase orders (from U.S. institutions only), and International money
orders. Send purchase and money orders to:
<p> TCC Conference Registration <br>
Continuing Education and Training, Ilima 105C <br>
Kapiolani Community College <br>
4303 Diamond Head Road <br>
Honolulu, HI 96816 USA
<p>If you are uncomfortable about sending personal information to our secure
web server, you can print, complete, and send the registration form by mail
to the address above or FAX it to 1-808-734-9447.
<p>Registration Status. Registration payments are processed within two working
days upon receipt. To check on the status of your registration, send email
to <a href="mailto:tccreg@hawaii.edu">tccreg@hawaii.edu</a>.
<p>Confidentiality. The conference coordinators and registration staff will
use your personal information to contact you, compile demographic <br>
statistics, or arrange payment for conference fees. Personal information
will not be shared or given to others without permission.
<p>Additional Info. For information other than registration, contact
the conference coordinators, Jim Shimabukuro <a href="mailto:jamess@hawaii.edu">jamess@hawaii.edu</a>
or Bert Kimura <a href="mailto:bert@hawaii.edu.">bert@hawaii.edu</a>.
</blockquote>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt> <br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Events2"></a><b><font size=+1>Technology in Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education</font></b>
<p>The following notice is being placed on various Websites by Dr Costas Spirou,
Associate Professor of Social Science at the National-Louis University (Samos
Island, Greece):
<blockquote>National-Louis University proudly announces a conference entitled
"Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: An International Conference",
to be held August 25-27, 2000 on Samos Island, Greece. The conference
is jointly organized with the Research Institute of East Aegean, Greece and
WSB-NLU, Poland. The focus of this international gathering is to address
the various issues surrounding the uses and possibilities of technology in teaching
and learning. The forum will bring together faculty, staff, administrators
and other interested parties involved with the organization and delivery of
distance education and related technologies.
<p>It is our strong belief that the island community of Samos will serve as
an intimate setting, within which the exchange of ideas and reflections on
the critical issues facing higher education, will take place. Our goal
is to provide conference participants with maximum opportunities for extensive
engagement and interaction.
<p>We would like to offer our invitation to you and your colleagues to participate
in the conference. The Conference Planning Committee has set March 20, 2000
as the submission deadline for the Call for Papers. Please review the
conference web site at <a href="http://www.nl.edu/conferences/samos.html">http://www.nl.edu/conferences/samos.html</a>.
<p>For more information please contact Ruth Richards at <a href="mailto:rric@wheeling1.nl.edu">rric@wheeling1.nl.edu</a>
or (874) 475-1100, ext. 5251.
</blockquote>
<p><br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><font size=-1>################</font></tt>
<p><a name="Events3"></a><b><font size=+1><tt>ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference
on </tt>Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications</font></b>
<p><a href="http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/finalcall.htm">ED-MEDIA 2000</a>
is an international conference organized annually by the Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). It is the premier international
conference in the field of multimedia/hypermedia and distance education, attracting
more than 1,200 attendees from over 50 countries, and spanning all disciplines
and levels of education.
<p>The conference will be held between June 26 and July 1, 2000, in Montreal (Canada).
The organisers are now making their second and final call for participation.
You are invited to submit a proposal for either a Work-in-Progress Short Paper
or a Poster/Demonstration.
<p>Work-in-Progress Short Papers are brief presentations (15 minutes), giving
a condensed resume of ongoing projects, applications, or research.
<p>Posters/Demonstrations are informal presentations (2 hours) that enable researchers
and non-commercial developers to demonstrate and discuss their latest results
and work in progress.
<p><u>The submission deadline is March 6, 2000</u>. For more details, consult
the <a href="http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia/finalcall.htm">Final Call Website</a>.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><font size=-1>################</font></tt>
<p><a name="Feature"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About Conference (Re)Call</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<tt>The Conference (Re)Call column aims mainly to provide feedback from members
on the new knowledge or other value they gained from attending a recent conference
or other event to do with one aspect or another of online education. It also
includes a Coming Events section, advertising relevant conferences, seminars,
workshops or other forums which members will be able to attend at little or
no cost. This section will concentrate mainly on online events, because that
is WAOEās special interest, and because the idea is to promote opportunities
which are more or less equally available to WAOE members no matter what part
of the world they live in.</tt>
<p><tt>The success of Conference (Re)Call therefore depends very heavily on input
from members. WAOE officers are already out there reporting on events theyāve
attended and spotting others to come. Weād like to see all other members doing
likewise. You will see from the items in this issue that reports donāt need
to be lengthy or detailed, let alone polished. We think the segment will work
best on the simple premise that whatever any one member found worthwhile in
attending an online education event, or attractive about an event in the offing
is likely to benefit and interest other members. So, letās keep those reports
and notices coming in to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">WEB Editor</a>.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><font size=-1>################</font></tt>
<p><a name="New_Links"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>New Links</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="Link1"></a><b><font size=+1>NairoBits</font></b>
<p><a href="http://www.nairobits.org/site/">NairoBits</a> is a project which uses
the Internet as a platform for personal expression and cultural exchange.
The project is being co-produced by the East African Internet Association in
Kenya and Pixel Garden from Holland and Ireland. They are partnered by organisations
such as Inter Connect, Kuona Trust Artists, De Digitale Stad and the Africa
Server.
<p>The over-arching aims of the project are to promote discussion and explore
public perception of Africa and Africans in Europe, and to "pass on the digital
tools of expression." This will be done through the <a href="http://www.nairobits.org/site/">NairoBits
Website</a>, virtual exchanges between participating groups in Nairobi, Amsterdam
and Dublin, and exhibitions in Nairobi and Amsterdam.
<p>The core of the project is a one year interdisciplinary webmaster program for
20 youths from the slums in Nairobi. Assisted by a series of lessons and
workshops focused on group projects, the youths will work in a creative
environment using games, drawing, photography and slogan collecting to create
a Website which gives a picture of their lives and ideas. Phase One, a
two-month Webmaster program, will be conducted in Nairobi during February and
March, 2000. Phase Two comprises weekly workshops which will conducted
by local Internet specialists between April and December, 2000.
<p>More information about the project as it develops may be obtained by subscribing
to the newsletter, <a href="http://forum.nairobits.org/letter.cgi">NairoBits
News</a>, or reading it online. And if you have any questions about the
project, you can send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:info@nairobits.org">info@nairobits.org</a>.
<p><tt>*****************************</tt>
<p><a name="Link2"></a><b><font size=+1>TechKnowLogia, January/February 2000</font></b>
<p>We've featured <a href="http://www.techKnowLogia.org">TechnKnowLogia</a> before,
but the range and scope of this fairly new journal is so ambitious and interesting
that it deserves wider and continuing readership - or at least a second look.
What's more, TechKnowLogia comes free of charge via the Internet, and much of
its emphasis concerns applications of information technology and telecommunications
in the developing world. These features put it very squarely within the
frame of relevance to WAOE's objectives and therefore of WEB's publication policy.
<p>The January/February 2000 issue has been posted on the web. Here are
some editorial statements and highlights from the impressive list of contents,
selecting at least one sample item from each section that perhaps most closely
matches with WAOE members' concerns:
<blockquote>The thematic focus of this Issue is TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION.
We invite you to visit the site and enjoy the wealth of informative and engaging
articles (all 26 of them!) written by top experts in the field of technology
and higher education. The Nov/Dec Issue has been moved to the ARCHIVE on our
web site, to be searched and read at any time.
<p>For your information, we have included below the annotated Table of Contents
of the January/February Issue.
<p>We also wish to alert you that the thematic focus of the March/April 2000
Issue will be: ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE.
<p>We hope that TechKnowLogia continues to meet your needs as a source of knowledge
and inspiration. To extend the benefits to others, please bring it to
the attention of your colleagues, co-workers or anyone whom you think may
be interested in this kind of journal.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>Sincerely, <br>
Wadi D. Haddad, <br>
Editor-in-chief <br>
President, Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.</blockquote>
<blockquote>========================================================================
<br>
ANNOTATED TABLE OF CONTENTS - TechKnowLogia VOL. 2, ISSUE 1, Jan/Feb 2000
(Selection) <br>
========================================================================
<p>EDITORIAL <br>
--------- <br>
1. Higher Education: The Ivory Tower and the Satellite Dish <br>
Wadi D. Haddad, Editor
<p>Institutions of higher education have to make some hard educational, managerial,
financial and strategic policy choices. Information technology will help make
some of these choices work better.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>FRONTLINE <br>
--------- <br>
3. Technologies: A Window for Transforming Higher Education <br>
G. Dhanarajan, President, Commonwealth of Learning
<p>There are three very good reasons to support a re-engineering of the higher
education process in today's environment: demand and diversity, technology
and capacity and finally quality and transformation.
<p>5. Is Virtual Education for Real? Issues of Quality and Accreditation <br>
Jody K. Olsen, Sr. Vice President, Academy for Educational Development
<p>Technology and what it opens for learning force reassessment but also gives
opportunities for better systems of assuring the quality education that students,
faculty, and the community expect.
<p>TECHNOLOGIES AT WORK <br>
-------------------- <br>
8. University of the Highlands and the Islands: New Paradigm or Exceptional
Case? <br>
Richard Hopper and William Saint, World Bank
<p>The University of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland could represent a
new paradigm in higher education delivery for developing countries where community
isolation, program availability, and academic infrastructure remain problematic.
<p>12. University of Phoenix: A New Model for Tertiary Education in Developing
Countries <br>
Gregg B. Jackson, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Coordinator, George Washington
University
<p>This article examines how the University of Phoenix operates, assesses the
quality of education that it provides, and discusses whether it is a model
that developing countries should consider for the expansion of tertiary education
at little or no cost to the public sector.
<p>[The other 4 articles in this section describe online education/virtual initiatives
in non-Western and developing countries - Africa, Hong Kong, Mexico, Korea.]
</blockquote>
<blockquote>UNDER OBSERVATION <br>
-----------------
<p>14. The Effectiveness Debate: What We Know About the Quality of Distance
Learning in the US <br>
Jamie P. Merisotis, President, The Institute for Higher Education Policy,
and Jodie K. Olsen, Sr. Vice President, Academy for Educational Development
<p>The polar views expressed in many policy discussions-that there is "no significant
difference" on the one extreme, and that distance learning is inherently inferior
on the other-defy reason. The real debate needs to focus on identifying what
approaches work best for teaching students, period.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>PLANNING FOR TECHNOLOGIES <br>
------------------------- <br>
16. Costs of ICT Use in Higher Education <br>
Marianne Bakia, Education Specialist, World Bank
<p>This article focuses on the costs of different models of teaching with technology
in higher education, <br>
bearing in mind that these technologies also support a wide range of other
core activities.
<p>TECHNOLOGIES TODAY <br>
------------------ <br>
20. Higher Education Software Sampler
<p>This article presents examples of software that may be relevant to some of
the major players in higher education: students, parents, teachers and university
administrators.
<p>21. WorthWhileWebs <br>
Frank Method, Director, Washington Unesco Office
<p>This article offers a selection of websites illustrating possibilities for
using information technology to improve higher education.
<p>TECHNOLOGIES TOMORROW <br>
--------------------- <br>
22. Biometrics: We Know Who You Are!
<p>What is biometrics, how it works, and why use it?
<p>PROFILES IN DEVELOPMENT <br>
----------------------- <br>
25. CODECS Brings the Open University to Romania <br>
Adrian Catalin Ionescu, Chairman/CEO, CODECS
<p>The CEO of CODECS tells the story of how the Center has brought to Romania
the most flexible and accessible management education, by using The Open University
(OU) distance learning system.
</blockquote>
<tt>******************************</tt>
<p><a name="Link3"></a><b><font size=+1>Morten Flate Paulsen</font></b>
<p>It's a bit out of the ordinary for WEB to feature an individual's home page
as a New Link, but <a href="http://home.nettskolen.nki.no/~morten/">Morten Flate
Paulsen</a> has made an oustanding contribution to the development and promulgation
of online education. He is currently the Director of Development at the
NKI Internet College in Norway, and prior to that Doctor of Education, Department
of Adult Education and Instructional Systems, Pennsylvania State University.
Highlights of his work include: <br>
<ul>
<li> Designed the EKKO computer conferencing system for distance education and
established the NKI Internet College in 1987</li>
<li> Founder of The Distance Education Online Symposium (DEOS)</li>
<li> Founding editor of DEOSNEWS and the first moderator of DEOS-L</li>
<li> Initiated ANDREA - "A Network for Distance Education Reporting from European
Activities"</li>
<li> Member of the Advisory Board of the Online Chronicle of Distance Education
and Communication</li>
<li> Member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Open and Distance
Learning</li>
<li> Working on three European projects - Mediaweb: Multimedia Courseware On
the World Wide Web; CISAER: Courses on the Internet: Survey, Analysis, Evaluation,
Recommendation; MMWWWK: Multimedia WWW Kernel For Distance Learning</li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p>Dr Paulsen's Website provides hyperlinks to all the organisations and initiatives
in which he is or has been involved - a handy reference list in itself! - plus
an extensive bibliography of his online publications, as well as publications
in print (in English). He is a frequently cited authority on various listserves
focused on distance learning, computer mediated instruction, and related topics,
including the well-established International Forum on Educational Technology
and Society (<a href="http://ifets.ieee.org/discussions/discuss.html">IFETS</a>),
from which this particular item is derived.
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>##############</tt>
<p><a name="Ideas"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Web Ideas and Issues</font></tt></b>
<p>As always, if any member feels stirred by the snippets on basic or controversial
issues offered here, please feel free to send me a comment, or kickstart
a discussion on <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Views">WAOE-Views</a>.
<i><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Web Editor</a></i>
<p><a name="Ideas1"></a><b><font size=+1>Impact of Technology on Young Children</font></b>
<p>This challenging item comes from an <a href="http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/12/cyber/education/15education.html">article
by Paula Mendels</a> in a recent issue of the New York Times on the Web - "Push
for Computers in Classrooms Gathers New Foes."
<p>The Alliance for Childhood, a new advocacy group, has been formed to heighten
awareness about the dangers of introducing technology to young <br>
children. The group, who hopes to establish a full non-profit organization
sometime next year, has come forth with a report outlining their opinions <br>
on the "toxic cultural environment" and unnecessary stress technology imposes
on children. The founding members of the Alliance have published <br>
this report (found at <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/people/staff/stevet/netfuture/1999/Dec0999_99.html">http://www.oreilly.com/people/staff/stevet/netfuture/1999/Dec0999_99.html</a>)
in draft form in order to gather comments and feedback on the issues they address,
including the use of technology at the elementary school level, the goals and
objectives for technology literacy, and what is the best age to introduce computers
to children. Clearly, the opinions of the Alliance for Childhood are in
direct opposition to the current movement towards increasing the use of technology
in the classroom, and some of the arguments in favor of technology in the educational
context are outlined in <br>
the article as well.
<p>******************************
<p><a name="Ideas2"></a><b><font size=+1>Anonymity on the Internet</font></b>
<p>Here's another spin on the perennial questions of whether and how far to regulate
the Internet. And is it possible, anyway? The piece comes to WEB
from George Lessard's always interesting <a href="http://www.egroups.com/search?type=combined&query=MediaMentor">Media
Mentor</a> discussion group, but it ultimately derives from the <a href="http://www.cato.org/">Cato
Institute</a>, a prominent public policy research organisation. The full
text of Jonathan Wallace's paper can be read online and downloaded via Acrobat
Reader at <a href="http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-054es.html">http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-054es.html</a>.
<blockquote><b><u>Nameless in Cyberspace: Anonymity on the Internet</u></b> <br>
by Jonathan D. Wallace
<p>[Jonathan D. Wallace publishes Ethical Spectacle, available at http://www.spectacle.org/,
and is coauthor of Sex, Laws and Cyberspace (New York: Henry Holt, 1996).
He is a software executive and attorney in New York City.]
<p><b><i>Executive Summary</i></b>
<p>Proposals to limit anonymous communications on the Internet would violate
free speech rights long recognized by the Supreme Court. Anonymous and <br>
pseudonymous speech played a vital role in the founding of this country.
Thomas Paines Common Sense was ?rst released signed, An Englishman. <br>
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, Samuel Adams, and others carried
out the debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists using <br>
pseudonyms. Today, human rights workers in China and many other countries
have reforged the link between anonymity and free speech.
<p>Given the importance of anonymity as a component of free speech, the cost
of banning anonymous Internet speech would be enormous. It makes no sense
to treat Internet speech differently from printed lea?ets or books.
</blockquote>
<p><br>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="What"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About WEB Ideas and Issues</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>The issues and other matters raised in this section of WEB are intended
to derive from membersā concerns and suggestions.</tt>
<p><tt>Input to WAOE-Views during the recent Annual General Meeting showed us
that members are looking for opportunities to engage with important issues and
ideas affecting the Web-based delivery of teaching and learning, but also that
we need to do more to spell out to our members details of the organisational
procedures through which they will get to know more frequently and reliably
what goals the Association is pursuing, what action is being taken to realise
these goals, and - most importantly - how members may make the most effective
contributions to WAOE.</tt>
<p><tt>As a result, a new column, <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Policies">WAOE
Policies and Procedures</a>, has been split off from WEB Ideas and Issues.
This will free the WEB Ideas and Issues column to be taken up more and
more by topics of interest arising from the thinking of the members
at large about their own professional practice in online education,
and the role that WAOE as a whole and the sub-groups in which members
are most actively engaged might play in lifting the standards and quality
of Web-based teaching and learning.</tt>
<p><tt>If you have a concern to express, an idea to suggest, a question to
raise, a point to make about online education in general and about WAOE's
work in relation to online education in particular, write a short item
for the WEB Ideas and Issues column and send it to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">WEB
Editor</a>. On a smaller, less formal scale, you might prefer
to air your views first of all in the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Say">Your
Say</a> section of WEB. Depending on the nature and volume of
early responses to the Your Say item, matters raised may spark an article
in the Web Ideas and Issues section of WEB, a free-ranging discussion
on WAOE-Views, or a structured debate or online chat via the WAOE WebBoard.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Briefs"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>News Briefs</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="News1"></a><b><font size=+1>Commonwealth of Learning: Knowledge Management
Roundtable</font></b>
<p>The outcomes from The Commonwealth of Learning's Knowledge Management Roundtable,
held in October 1999 at the organisation's Vancouver headquarters, have now
been posted on the <a href="http://www.col.org/KMR">COL Website</a>.
Experts in distance education libraries and information databases discussed
the changing nature of knowledge management and available technologies and examined
how COL and its Information Resource Centre can best meet the needs of stakeholders
around the Commonwealth. The group drafted a mission statement for a Commonwealth
Open Learning Interactive Network for Knowledge Sharing (COLINKS).
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt><font size=-1>################</font></tt>
<p><a name="News2"></a><b><font size=+1>Optimistic Online Education Study</font></b>
<p>Via Erin Bale's <a href="http://thenode.org/networking/">Networking</a>
newsletter for January, we've heard about the publication of a major
evaluative study of online education by a professorial team in the University
of Illinois. The relevant extract from <i>Networking</i>is reproduced
below, with thanks. The study offers some interesting reflections
to set against the concerns voiced by the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Ideas1">Alliance
for Childhood</a> about the impact of technology at the opposite end
of the educational spectrum.
<blockquote>OPTIMISTIC ONLINE EDUCATION STUDY
<p>Professors at the University of Illinois <<a href="http://www.uillinois.edu">http://www.uillinois.edu</a>>
have released the results of one year's study, discussion and evaluation of
online education. The sixteen tenured professors, half of them online learning
enthusiasts and the other half skeptics or fence-sitters, formed the Teaching
at an Internet Distance Seminar <<a href="http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/tid/">http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/tid/</a>>
in 1998 "to study the pedagogy of online learning, to examine what made teaching
to be good teaching, whether in the classroom or online, and to suggest how
online teaching and learning can be done with high quality at the University
of Illinois."
<p>During the 1998/99 year, the group held seminars, discussions and retreats
to debate the meaning and merits of online pedagogy. Invited speakers brought
positive and negative perspectives to the table: guests included Andrew Feenberg,
Professor of Philosophy at San Diego State University and an early innovator
-- indeed, a father -- of the field of online learning; Linda Harasim, Professor
in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University and leader of the
TeleLearning Networks of Centres of Excellence and the <br>
Virtual-U project; and David Noble, Professor of History at York University
and the author of the Digital Diploma Mills series of papers.
<p>In their report, available online at <<a href="http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/tid/report/">http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/tid/report/</a>>,
the group concludes that online education can be viable, practical and pedagogically
sound, but they caution that this is only true if certain conditions are understood
and met by both faculty and administrators:
<p>*The communication and sense of community in traditional education is an
important part of the university experience -- especially for undergraduate
students -- that is difficult to replicate online. Online educators must strive
to compensate for the lack of the human element in online teaching.
<p>*Online education must be undertaken in order to achieve quality, not efficiency.
It is both time- and labour-intensive, requiring a higher investment and a
lower student:teacher ratio than classroom teaching.
<p>*The quality of online education is very much dependent on faculty members'
having creative control of course development and ownership of the resulting
intellectual property. Administrators are urged to beware outsourcing, especially
to commercial interests.
<p>This report is interesting as much for the glimpse it offers into the values
and views of a group of established academics as for their conclusions about
online pedagogy per se. It's a reality check for readers -- one that may frustrate
those more convinced of the potential benefits of new technologies to teaching
and student learning, but one necessary to an understanding of why technological
change is not embraced more easily and widely within university teaching.
<p>In "What Ever Happened to Instructional Technology?" William Geoghegan (1994)
argues that "one of the most basic reasons underlying the limited use of instructional
technology is our failure to recognize and deal with the social and psychological
dimensions of technological innovation and diffusion: the constellations of
academic and professional goals, interests, and needs, technology interests,
patterns of work, sources of support, social networks, etc., that play a determining
role in faculty willingness to adopt and utilize technology in the classroom."
<p>The University of Illinois report reflects some of these goals, interests
and patterns of work as the professors grapple with the changes bundled with
online teaching. <br>
</blockquote>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt> <br>
<tt><font size=-1>################</font></tt>
<p><a name="Policies"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>WAOE Policies and Procedures</font></tt></b>
<p><a name="Release"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Release of Personal Information</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>You might recall that the top of the registration form in the Membership
pages of the <a href="http://www.waoe.org">WAOE Website</a> contains the statement,
"This information will be stored in the WAOE database, and will not be made
publically available without your prior consent." This gives a clear
indication of our commitment to respect members' privacy and to maintain strictly
the confidentiality of personal details provided through the registration process.
Unfortunately, however, it would be a nearly impossible task to apply the statement
literally at the individual level of membership.</tt>
<p><tt>No addresses or other personal information about members will be released
to persons or organisations outside WAOE. However, to make the
various parts of WAOE functional, it is essential that Officers are
able to communicate freely with members, and members are able to contact
each other. This necessitates the distribution of personal information
within the organisation, but normally only names and email addresses
will be required. It would obviously be a wasteful and unmanageable
burden for the members of WAOE's <a href="/vol1no10/index.htm#Ring">Coordinating
Ring</a> to have to seek permission on an individual basis for the release
of some 900 members' names and email addresses. Therefore, we
need to obtain permission in a more efficient way for lists containing
your first and last names and your email address to be distributed to
members of the Ring, in the first instance, and thereafter to the Committees
or OCREWs in which you have expressed an interest; to project, discussion
and other groups that are started from time to time; and to members
of WAOE at large. All other information in the membership database
will be kept confidential, accessible only by the <a href="/vol1no10/index.htm#Ring">Coordinating
Ring</a>, as WAOE's executive management body.</tt>
<p><tt>We are (still) in the process of finalising a new registration form which
will automatically authorise the release of names and email addresses according
to the policy described above. Until that form comes into use as part
of our totally re-organised registration, database management and fee-payment
procedures for the new 1999/2000 financial year and beyond, we need to take
a simple collective approach to securing the authorised release of limited personal
information within the Association.</tt>
<p><tt>This article constitutes a notice to all members of WAOE requesting
the release of personal information within the Association, normally
limited to members' names and email addresses. If, after reading
the notice, you have an objection to these details being made known
or distributed to other officers and members of WAOE than the Directors
and the Coordinating Ring, please advise the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#David">Membership
Officer</a> immediately. If you do so object, the Membership Officer
will need to discuss with you some other appropriate way or ways in
which you will be able to participate fully in the main activities of
WAOE. Any suggestion you can make when sending your message of
objection would be very welcome.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Waiver1"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Waiver of Membership Fees/Dues -
Policy</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>WAOE has adopted the following policy on waiver of/exemption from payment
of membership fees/dues for the 1999/2000 period. This statement is summarised
from the official Minutes of the Planning and Finance Committee for April 1999.
If you wish to read the original resolution as it was subsequently adopted by
the Board of Directors, go to<font color="#FF172A"><a href="http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/read?558,24">http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/read?558,24</a></font>(If
you cannot get to this page, go to the<font color="#FF172A"><a href="http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe">WAOE
WebBoard</a> </font>and login by entering the first part of your email address
(before @), and enter the password "waoe," without the quotes. If you
stil have difficulty, contact the WebBoard Manager,<font color="#FF172A"><a href="mailto:mwarner@embryriddle.k12.az.us">Mike
Warner</a></font>.)</tt>
<blockquote><tt>All members of WAOE are expected to pay the $US10 membership fee
or dues from July 1 1999, unless they have applied for and received waiver.
There are no provisions for waiver of fees or dues to be applied automatically
by or on behalf of the WAOE Board of Directors; all waivers must be applied
for by individual members.</tt>
<p><tt>Members may initiate requests to the Membership Officer for waiver of
fees on one or more of the following grounds:</tt>
<blockquote>
<li> <tt>They are providing service to the Association (eg convening a Committee
or OCREW or managing a project);</tt></li>
<li> <tt>The costs of funds transfer or currency exchange would be excessive
in relation to the fee amount of $US10 *;</tt></li>
<li> <tt>They are in a situation of severe financial hardship.</tt></li>
</blockquote>
<tt>* As an alternative to seeking waiver of fees on the basis of excessive
funds transfer or currency exchange costs, members may apply to have this expenditure
applied to any future costs they might incur for participation in WAOE activities
over the next two years (eg the online professional development course being
developed by Nick Bowskill).</tt>
<p><tt>Normally, applications will be considered by the Membership Officer in
terms of the policy as summarised here, and in consultation, if necessary,
with the Treasurer or with the full Board of Directors.</tt>
<p><tt>WAOE will accept at face value any member's statement of hardship or
excessive transfer/conversion fees, and we will make a standardized reply
emphasizing that the service-in-lieu will be the sole recourse for any future
application for waiver of fees. All service-in-lieu requests will be
confirmed by the applicable Committee Chair or OCREW Convener or WAOE Coordinating
Ring member.</tt>
<p><tt>In the event that a member's initial application for waiver of fees or
dues is not accepted, the member will have the right to seek a review of his/her
application by the full Board of Directors. Such members will be advised
of this right and the process to be followed as the occasion arises.</tt>
</blockquote>
**********************
<p><a name="Waiver2"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Waiver of Membership Fees/Dues -
Procedure</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>To apply for waiver of fees/dues, send an email message to the <font color="#FF172A"><a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Membership
Officer</a></font>.</tt>
<p><tt>For convenience, applicants may copy/cut and paste the following text into
their email message:</tt>
<blockquote><tt>I wish to apply for waiver of the WAOE membership fee/dues for
the 1999/2000 period.</tt>
<p><tt>My application is based on the following ground(s):</tt>
<blockquote>
<li> <tt>I am providing service to the Association;</tt></li>
<li> <tt>The costs of funds transfer or currency exchange would be excessive;</tt></li>
<li> <tt>I am in a situation of severe financial hardship.</tt></li>
</blockquote>
<tt><b><u>Please strike through whichever ground(s) are NOT applicable</u></b>.</tt>
<p><tt>In support of my application I wish to present the following information:</tt>
<p><tt><u><b>Please insert an appropriate statement</b>, keeping it as brief
as possible</u>.</tt>
</blockquote>
<tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt> <br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Change"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>Notifying Change of Email Address</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>It can sometimes be a real headache keeping track of members who change
their email addresses, or who occasionally use a different email address for
corresponding with us than the one through which they registered and which therefore
is listed on the official database. Such changes or differences of address
account for at least some of the "permanent fatal errors" that get reported
with each large-scale mailing that goes out to members. No doubt time
wasted in contact the members concerned double-checking WAOE's membership records
and various mailing lists is greater now - while such details are captured and
maintained on an essentially manual basis - than they will be once our systems
become fully automated. However, it seem very probable that effective
communication within WAOE will <u>always</u> be reliant to a significant extent
on the willingness of members themselves to keep us informed of their whereabouts.</tt>
<p><tt>As soon as we are able to attend to this matter among the various priorities
for action to improve the database and query system, an electronic form for
notifying changes of email address will be provided on the WAOE Website and
in each issue of WEB. In the meantime, we request members who change their
contact details to take the initiative and trouble to notify us as soon as possible.</tt>
<p><tt><b><u>Procedure</u></b>: Send an untitled email message to the <a href="mailto:dwyatt@camtech.net.au">Membership
Officer</a> containing the text (without the quotes): "I wish to advise that
I have changed by email address. My new email address is < insert details
>."</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Resign"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>How to Unsubscribe from Listserves
or Resign from WAOE</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>For a quick check-list of the procedures for getting off WAOE's listserves
or the mailing list for WEB, or for resigning from the Association altogether,
go to the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient3.htm">WAOE's
Communications page</a> of the WAOE Orientation Course. Scroll down to
the heading "How to Unsubscribe from Listserves or Resign from WAOE," or use
the link in the frame on the left hand side of the page.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="About_Policies"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About WAOE Policies and
Procedures</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>In this still early formative period for WAOE, it is probably inevitable
that items for information and discussion put out by WAOE's elected and appointed
Officers will predominate in our information venues and discussion forums, because
we are all concerned to help members understand and reflect on what the Association
is about and to encourage them to be active in its work. In past issues
of the bulletin, there has been a tendency - in the absence of another column
better suited to that purpose - for managerial matters to take up a larger share
of the space under the WEB Ideas and Issues heading than they should.
This has tended to squeeze out other topics of broader interest to online educators
which might have appeared there, and perhaps even discouraged members from contributing
to discussion of those topics, or raising topics of their own.</tt>
<p><tt>As WAOE grows, we will dedicate space in the WAOE Policies and Procedures
column to updating information about WAOE as an organisation, and encouraging
the active involvement of members in our online meetings, Committees and OCREWs,
discussion forums, projects, special events etc and to take all other opportunities
that present themselves for making a contribution to WAOE.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Forth"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>Forthcoming Meetings</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>No items for this issue.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="this"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>About this Section</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>Each issue, this section of WEB will include information about meetings
of WAOE committees, OCREWs and other groups that are coming up within the ensuing
fortnight. All members of WAOE - both associate and voting members - are welcome
to attend these meetings and contribute to discussion. Of course, only the duly
elected or otherwise designated members of WAOE's organisational committees
may take part in any formal voting on matters for decision.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Time"></a><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Time conversion site</font></tt></i></b>
<p><tt>To help arrange synchronous meetings, WAOE uses <a href="http://155.43.48.225:2020/timew.html">World
Time Zone in JavaScript</a>.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="About"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>About WEB</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>The WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) is the official newsletter of the World
Association for Online Education. WEB will raise issues relevant to the
conduct and development of the Association, convey important information to
WAOE members, encourage active participation in the affairs of the Association,
and provide a forum for members to make a contribution.</tt>
<p><tt>WEB will be posted at the end of every month, except December, to a mirror
Website - URL <a href="http://www.waoe.org/web/index.htm">http://www.waoe.org/web/index.htm</a>
(although the address or the links to the site may change from time to time).
At the time of publication each member will be sent an email message stating
the URL and listing the contents of the current issue. Those few members
who are unable to access WEB via the Website, or who prefer to receive the bulletin
via email, will be sent each issue both as an email message and as an attached
file in html format.</tt>
<p><tt>If you missed an issue and would like to look back, WEB is now <a href="http://waoe.org/webvol1/htm">archived</a>
on the WAOE Website.</tt>
<p><tt>Members are still expected to subscribe to WAOE-News (see <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Links">WAOE
Links</a>), because that listserve will continue to operate as the medium
for official announcements, which you may expect to become more frequent
as WAOE develops. WEB will adopt a more comprehensive, detailed
and newsy approach to providing items of useful and interesting information
to members than is appropriate via WAOE-News. In particular, it
will act as a gateway to the various and growing number of sites and
locations within WAOE where exciting things are happening.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="WAOE"></a><b><tt><font size=+2>About WAOE</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>The World Association for Online Education (WAOE) is a nonprofit public
benefit corporation, incorporated in the State of California, USA. WAOE is organised
for charitable purposes and not for the private gain of any person.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>##############</tt>
<p><a name="Aims"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE's Objectives</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>See the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient2.htm">WAOE's
Objectives and Associated Documents</a> page of the WAOE Orientation Course.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>##############</tt>
<p><a name="Meaning"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>The Meaning and Exercise of Membership
in WAOE</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>WAOE is incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit and public
benefit membersā organisation. The membership owns it. We want all
members to be active in the Association in all the ways and to the greatest
extent that they wish to or can manage to be involved.</tt>
<p><tt>And because we are an incorporated professional <u>organisation</u> - as
well as a globally spread association of professionals - there are various policies,
rules and procedures that we are obliged to follow in order to maintain our
official standing under Californian law. Observance of these requirements
is an all the more sensitive matter for us because we are engaged in the delicate
process of securing recognition as a tax-exempt organisation for the purposes
of receiving grants, sponsorships and donations. Some of the most important
expectations of and obligations on our members are summarised below.</tt>
<p><tt>No doubt, many members will not be especially interested in the details
of the conduct of WAOE's affairs according to our legal obligations, and certainly
our hope is that this bulletin and other WAOE elements and activies will always,
ultimately, strike the balance of focus in favour of matters concerning the
best professional practice of online education rather than somewhat dry questions
of organisational policy and procedure. However, WAOE <u>is</u> an organisation,
a legal entity - and necessarily so in order to be able to fulfil its objectives.
In this still very early period in our establishment and growth, we are inevitably
pre-occupied with such questions - which are not necessarily dry to every intellectual
taste, of course, nor lacking in their own intrinsic interest. Please
bear with us and look to where we are headed, and not just at the sometimes
painstaking and tedious little steps we have to take along the road!</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Becoming a Member</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>If you're reading this article, you've already joined, of course.
This means you have filled out and submitted the registration form found through
the Membership link on the home page of the <a href="http://www.waoe.org">WAOE
Website</a>. And, from September 1999 onwards, it will also mean that
you have paid the annual subscription fee of $US10 (we are asking for renewing
members to pay the fee by September 1).</tt>
<p><tt>At this stage, there are only two categories of membership of WAOE:
associate members and voting members. For more information, have
a look at <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm#a12">Article
12</a> of the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm">Bylaws</a>
for more information. Also, our <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/corpfaq.htm">Incorporation
FAQ</a> page maintained by Treasurer, <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Jenna">Jenna
Seehafer</a>, sets the rights and responsibilities of members within
the context of Californian law. (Jenna is responsible, with help
from Parliamentarian Mike Warner on the organisation and conduct of
meetings in particular, for liaison with Californian authorities and
for ensuring we observe all legal requirements in our policies and procedures.)</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Associate Membership</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>Registration and payment of the fee automatically makes you an associate
member of WAOE. This basically means you can do or read or join anything
and everything that WAOE has to offer, except stand for office, nominate other
eligible members for office, or vote in our constitutional forums or occasional
ballots on issues of policy. As an associate member, you will receive
an email notice when the WAOE Electronic Bulletin (WEB) appears on its Web site
every two to three weeks, along with a list of the contents of the current issue.
You'll have access to JOE, our refereed Journal of Online Education, and you'll
be able to join any of the Committees or one or other or more of the Online
Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroups (OCREWs) that are currently active.</tt>
<p><tt>In fact, as we become more established in our ways of operating we'll push
our constitutional expectation that every associate member should belong to
at least one OCREW or similar group as a minimum commitment to active participation
in the Association's affairs.</tt>
<p><tt>All associate members are expected to subscribe to the announcement
listserve, <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#News">WAOE-News</a>, as a
matter of course.</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Voting Membership</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>Voting members are those associate members who have formally identified
themselves as people who wish to participate in the governance of the Association.
They would attend formal meetings of the Association, make nominations and cast
votes in general elections for WAOE, and participate in the ballots through
which key decisions affecting WAOE are taken. Voting members are the "members"
referred to in the WAOE Bylaws in compliance with the requirements of Californian
incorporation law, which recognises voting members only, as we define them.
Thus, only voting members may be included in the quorum for formal meetings
of WAOE such as the recent Annual General Meeting, and have their votes counted
on motions proposed or in ballots conducted during such meetings or other official
events.</tt>
<p><tt>An associate member may become a voting member by the simple
act of sending an email message to the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#David">Membership
Officer</a> (officially titled the Chair of the Membership Committee)
- stating that he/she wishes to be recognised as a voting member.
Fo convenience, you could just copy/paste the following text into that
message: "I wish to be recognised as a voting member of WAOE" (without
the quotes). No additional fee payment is required.</tt>
<p><tt>Conversion of membership becomes effective within 10 days after the request
is received. Under this rule, the eligibility of voting members to be
included in the quorum count for any formal meeting or ballot is declared and
announced 10 days prior to the notified starting time for that meeting or ballot.</tt>
<p><tt>Once conferred, voting-member status will continue for as long as each
designated voting member wishes to retain that level of participation in WAOE.</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Relinquishing Voting Membership</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<tt>Voting members may revert to non-voting status (ie associate members)
simply by writing a letter or email to WAOE's <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Steve">President
</a>or <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Brian">Executive Secretary </a>explaining
their intention to become less active in WAOE and their wish to end
their membership or to convert it to an associate membership.</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Annual Renewal of Membership</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>Both associate and voting members are required to renew their membership
between July 1 and July 30 of each year, commencing in 1999. The conditions
of and procedures for renewal are decided annually by the Directors on advice
from the Planning and Finance Committee at its April meeting, and advised to
members shortly afterwards. Failing to renew membership, including payment
of (or waiver from) any subscription fee, will be understood as resignation
from WAOE membership (WAOE <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm">Bylaws</a>,
<a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/bylaw.htm#a12">Article 12</a>,
Section 9).</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="System"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE's Communications and Discussion
System</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>The principal legal, structural and organisational way in which our
objectives are realised is through <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Meaning">The
Meaning and Exercise of Membership in WAOE</a>.</tt>
<p><tt>Less formally, perhaps, but no less crucially in their own ways,
WAOE maintains a system of listserves and discussion groups as our means of
establishing and maintaining communication between the management of the organisation
and the membership and between members themselves and encouraging active participation
in discussions, forums, projects and so on. This system is described in
the <a href="http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seehaferj/waoe/orient3.htm">WAOE's
Communications</a> page of the Orientation Course.</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="WAOE_Committees"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Committees and OCREWs</font></tt></b>
<p><tt>When you filled in the membership registration form, you identified which
of the various Committees and Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroups
(OCREWs) you are interested in. This article is concerned with providing
members with more information about these major components of the structure
and organisation of WAOE, but it will concentrate mainly on OCREWs. The
article is based to some extent on an item about OCREWs originally included
in WEB Volume 1, Number 2 (March 28 1999).</tt>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Committees</font></tt></i></b> <br>
<tt>The purposes of the various Committees and how these might work
towards the fulfilment of WAOE's <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Aims">objectives</a>
is perhaps fairly readily understood from their titles and composition,
as they appear on the membership registration form:</tt>
<blockquote><tt>Membership Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Finance Committee (now the Planning and Finance Committee)</tt> <br>
<tt>Dissemination Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Records Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Web Design Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Online Educator Development Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Affiliate Liaison Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Research & Publication Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Online Academic Conferences Committee</tt> <br>
<tt>Online Parliamentary Procedures Committee</tt></blockquote>
<tt>At this stage, with the notable exception of the Planning and Finance Committee
(which meets monthly) and the Online Educator Development Committee, none of these
bodies is active, and not even the exceptions are in fact completely established
and operational as yet, with a full complement of members networking to discuss
issues and proposals relevant to each Committee's brief, and making recommendations
to the Coordinating Ring and the Board of Directors. There are several probable
reasons for this:</tt> <br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>The list of Committees derives from a constitution drafted before WAOE
become incorporated and held its inaugural elections. Now that we are
learning from experience what kind of internal structure and organisation
will best suit the Association's needs, some aspects of the putative committee
system may well be adapted, coalesced or even abandoned. We think it
would be wise not to consolidate too soon a mode of operation that in the
long run may not prove the best for us.</tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>To make WAOE's structure and organisation operationally effective requires
the development of a quite sophisticated database of the names and addresses
of the members who expressed interest in different Committees and OCREWs at
the time of registration, and a system for generating mailing lists and searching
connection among sub-group members and between different components WAOE that
will facilitate communication, discussion, networking, conferencing, voting
and all other activities required to make the Association work. Database
development has long been a major priority for management action, but
it has also been thwarted by inadequate resources and by a variety of practical
difficulties in the way of coming up with the most appropriate combination
of server facilities, database design, technology services, hardware and software
compatibility among different operating systems and software. However,
it seems likely that significant headway will soon be made through the Board
of Directors' Meeting.</tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p><tt>WAOE has still barely got off the ground. In mid-1999 we had only
recently conducted our first Annual General Meeting and our second meeting of
the Board of Directors, and our first global celebration of cultural differences
was held just last February (the second of these members' events followed on
from the AGM in June). Partly because of the sheer organisational challenge
of making these things happen according both to constitutional requirements
and as smoothly as we can, the energies of the Board of Directors and the Coordinating
Ring have been highly focused in those directions. It will be time to
turn our full attention to other more specific aspects of WAOE's operations
when we begin to distinguish the forest from the trees!</tt>
<p>******************************
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroups (OCREWs)</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<tt>According to the <a href="http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/WAOE-founding.html">Archive
of Founding Documents</a>, OCREWs could be described, at least in intention,
as the heart and soul of the Association. (Extending the metaphor, Committees
might be thought of as the bones and sinews.) OCREWs provide the main
locations and focal points for members to contribute in practical ways to the
enhancement of online education as a professional discipline. And that's
WAOE's core business.</tt>
<p><tt>In conception, OCREWs comprise groups of members interested in particular
aspects of online education and training who meet and work together online -
sharing ideas and information, discussing issues, making representations to
relevant agencies and other forums, pooling resources, and so on. And
in doing all this, such groups will make the strongest possible and most useful
contribution to realising the central purpose of WAOE. This is because
the contribution will be coming from professionals across the complex and rapidly
developing field of online education and training who are directly testing and
extending the possibilities of the field as they confront the problems posed
by their online students and clients, experiment with workable solutions to
them, and share what they learn with colleagues around the world.</tt>
<p><tt>Although OCREWs are given a defined place in WAOEās structure and organisation,
and a list of them appears on the memberās registration form, there
are no set ways by which their role can be carried out. The groups
are being set up which are not listed on the registration form (though
they may cover some of the territory) - the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Jenna">Education
Standards OCREW</a>, and the <a href="/index.htm#Robert">Educational
Software and Courseware OCREW</a>, the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Kate">Industry
and Academia OCREW</a> - and an invitation by Mihkel Pilv for members
to join a "learning by teaching OCREW initiative" stands on the home
page of the <a href="http://www.waoe.org/">WAOE Website</a>.</tt>
<p><tt>You could use the lists of the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Directors">Directors
</a>and the members of the <a href="/vol1no10/index.htm#Ring">Coordinating
Ring</a> to find out more about a particular structural group or an
initiative which interests you - better still, to make contact with
a view to joining an OCREW or other body - or perhaps to suss out how
members who have started groups went about it and what agenda and processes
they are establishing. Vice-President <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Mihkel">Mihkel
Pilv </a>carries particular responsiblity for encouraging and supporting
OCREWs and other action groups. He will be glad to answer any
queries you may have.</tt>
<p><tt>Members of the Coordinating Ring, WAOE's elected management executive,
are looking at ways of revising the registration form to better reflect the
flexibility that actually exists in the formation and operation of these vital
groups. As a result, the current request to check an OCREW box will be
replaced by a more open-ended invitation to identify interest in various aspects
of online education and training, perhaps using a checklist with scope for members
to add their own topics.</tt>
<p><tt>Although we plan to improve the information-gathering mechanism, notional
commitments to particular OCREWs already suggested through the registration
process already provide a useful basis for clustering members into potential
participants for WAOE officers and others starting up new groups to contact
in exploratory ways. In a still broader approach, personal contact with
members could be used, as time permits, to tease out more specific information
about what they are interested in, as well as what they hope to gain from joining
WAOE, and how they would like the organisation to run.</tt>
<p><tt>To an extent, the same organisational priorities and difficulties that
have slowed implementation of the committee system have inhibited the formation
of OCREWs, particularly the delays in setting up electronic communications among
members linked to a comprehensive and relational database. However, OCREWs
by their nature and intent are not so constrained, in structural and organisational
terms, as designated Committees. The W in the acronym stands for Workgroup,
after all, and there is great flexibility in the number and kind of OCREWs that
could be set up, as the presently active groups amply illustrate. In fact,
working groups of members that get established need not necessarily be called
OCREWs at all. They might be project teams, for example, or action research
groups, or discussion forums with specialised agenda like Web access for people
with disabilities.</tt>
<p><tt>The most important point to make about the specific action and discussion
groups that come into operation - whatever they may be called - is that, like
everything else in WAOE, they both belong to and depend on the membership. The
field of online education and training is wide open for effecting vital changes
and improvements, and WAOE needs the active participation and thoughtful contributions
of its members in order to carry out its part in this vital work.</tt>
<p><tt>All that is required to get an OCREW or other group started is for
a member to devise and promote a specific purpose for having a group
and then to enlist at least three other members to join him or her in
the enterprise. That's exactly how both the Education Standards
and Industry and Academia OCREWs began. <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Views">WAOE-Views</a>
or the <a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Say">Your Say</a> section of
WEB could be used to canvass interest and recruit like-minded colleagues.
The next step is to announce the formation of the group to the Vice-President,
<a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Mihkel">Mihkel Pilv</a>, who will give
all the advice and assistance he can.</tt>
<p><tt>So, itās over to you. The agenda is yours. Its your Association.
Go to it!</tt>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><a name="Links"></a><b><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Links</font></tt></b>
<p><b><tt>This section lists URLs for key Websites within WAOE itself, and other
URLs related to online education which have been identified by members.</tt></b>
<p><b><i><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Organisation and Communication Sites</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>WAOE Home Page: <a href="http://www.waoe.org/default.htm">http://www.waoe.org/default.htm</a></tt></li>
<li> <a name="News"></a><tt>WAOE-News: To subscribe, go to <a href="mailto:majordomo@uidaho.edu">majordomo@uidaho.edu</a>.
Without a subject heading, send the text <subscribe waoe-news></tt></li>
<li> <a name="Views"></a><tt>WAOE-Views: To subscribe, go to <a href="mailto:majordomo@waoe.org">majordomo@waoe.org</a>.
Without a subject heading, send the text <subscribe waoe-views>. To contribute,
send email to <a href="mailto:waoe-views@waoe.org">waoe-views@waoe.org</a></tt></li>
<li> <a name="Board"></a><tt>WAOE WebBoard: <a href="http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe">http://www2.ec.erau.edu:8080/~waoe</a>
Log-in by using the first part of your email address (before @) and the password
<waoe>. If you have difficulty getting onto the Board, write to Mike Warner
<a href="mailto:mwarner@embryriddle.k12.az.us">mwarner@embryriddle.k12.az.us</a>.</tt></li>
<li> <tt>WAOE Journal: <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/waoej.html">http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/waoe/waoej.html</a></tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p><tt>**********************</tt> <br>
<b><i><tt><font size=+1>WAOE Committees, OCREWs and Other Groups</font></tt></i></b>
<br>
<ul>
<li> <tt>Online Educator Development Committee: <a href="http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/">http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Planning and Finance Committee: <a href="http://www.waoe.org/pl-fin-committee.htm">http://www.waoe.org/pl-fin-committee.htm</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Web Design Committee: email Robert Luke (Chairperson) <a href="mailto: robert.luke@uleth.ca">robert.luke@uleth.ca</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Academic Outcomes Assessment Online Course and Resource Evaluation
Workgroup (OCREW): email Jenna Seehafer at <a href="mailto: seehafer@csus.edu">seehafer@csus.edu</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Educational Standards Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroup
(OCREW): <a href="http://www.waoe.org/edst_ocrew.htm">http://www.waoe.org/edst_ocrew.htm</a></tt></li>
<li> <tt>Industry and Academia Online Course and Resource Evaluation Workgroup
(OCREW): <a href="http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/academic_non_academic.html">http://ifets.gmd.de/waoe/oedc/academic_non_academic.html</a></tt></li>
</ul>
<br>
<p> <br>
<br>
<p><tt><a href="/web/vol1no12/index.htm#Contents">Back to Contents</a></tt>
<br>
<tt>#############</tt>
<p><b><tt>Copyright © World Association for Online Education</tt></b> <br>
<tt>Copyright in the contents of this Bulletin is held by the World Association
for Online Education (WAOE), incorporated in the State of California, United
States of America, as a non-profit, public-benefit organisation. For enquiries,
contact WAOE at <a href="mailto:waoe@waoe.org">waoe@waoe.org</a></tt>
<p><tt>#######################################################################</tt>
<p><tt>End of WEB Vol 2, No 1 January 31, 2000.</tt> <br>
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