THEME - All Those Technologies and Media - How Do I Choose and Use? Part 5

UPFRONT - DESIEN '97 in Review
FOCUS - Technology Mix and Match: a Few Examples
NOTEWORTHY - The Intellectual Possibilities of Television
CAMPUS HILIGHTS - UW Campus Information
FROM THE DISTANCE EDUCATION CLEARINGHOUSE: NETNEWS - Instructional Design Resources on the Web
NEW ON THE LIST - New Subscribers
ETC. - Information Technology, the Nation's Largest Industry
FYI - News, Institutes, Conferences
ENDNOTE - Happy New Year!
JANUARY ISSUE - Technology - What's Coming?

UPFRONT - The 1997 DESIEN issues began with a warm welcome to new UW-Extension Interim Chancellor, Al Beaver and with an introduction to the Virtual Institute for Technology, Teaching and Learning - the VITAL Initiative. Major articles throughout the year focused on: 1) VITAL and PK-12 technology integration, 2) reflections on planning and coordinating courses, 3) an historical look at MIT's technology research and applications, 4) UW faculty perspectives on successes and struggles in developing and implementing a variety of distance education programs and courses and 5) a 5-part series on choosing and using the variety of technologies and software available: PBS satellite for telecourses, computer design with LearningSpace, computer collaboration with WisView Audiographics using FarSite, Videoconferencing using Compressed Video and in the last part of the series in this issue examples of using a mix of media.

Throughout the issues were columns from the UW Distance Education Clearinghouse, Updates on: UW System, UW Campus Hilights, Copyright, Funding, Disabilities and Technology, Distance Education Statistics, References, Resources, New Subscribers, Sections on emerging and future technologies and many other areas of interest. You can find all of the issues and interaction comments at the DESIEN Archive site: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/desien.html

What would you like DESIEN to focus on in 1998? Several subscribers have already given us ideas, based on their concerns and interests. What are your concerns and interests? Let us know at:

DESIEN-List@uwex.edu or lehman@ics.uwex.edu

FOCUS
"Media Mix and Match: Two Examples"

Introduction - In the majority of teaching via technology situations, the emphasis has been on using *one* technology for the entire program or course. A new trend is emerging - the use of a variety of technologies throughout a series of sessions. The idea is to look at the attributes and limitations of the various media and technologies and choose what is best for specific situations, content areas, students and outcomes. As technology costs come down and institutions invest in more varied technologies, faculty and trainers will learn how to better select from this variety of tools or instruments for specific situations, content areas, students and outcomes, and begin to - "mix and match."

There are several examples of this type of education that I am aware of. Following are two examples. (Rosemary Lehman)

* QDE - Quality Distance Education (QDE): Lessons Learned
What lessons have we learned about quality distance education? What factors will influence the success or failure of our distance education systems? Will investing millions in the latest technology guarantee success? What defines quality in the minds of our learners, faculty, administrators and those who pay the bills?

These questions and more were examined in the comprehensive multimedia distance education program known as "Quality Distance Education (QDE): Lessons Learned". Conducted from November 1995 through May 1996, a projected audience of 5000 from 450 sites in nine countries explored lessons that have been learned about quality in distance education over the past several decades.

A variety of delivery modes enabled participants to learn through viewing, reading, listening, interacting, researching, reflecting and writing, in real as well as asynchronous time, independently and in a group. The delivery modes included self-contained video tape/print modules, supplementary print materials, introductory and in-depth audioconferences, introductory and in-depth computer listserv discussion groups, on-line computer database and a summary satellite videoconference.

Program evaluations reflected that participants were overwhelmingly appreciative of the opportunity to learn at a distance and network with colleagues from around the world, about what comprises "quality" in distance education. The QDE Factors, a framework developed for defining, recognizing, assessing and improving quality distance education, provided participants with a critical structure for building, modifying and evaluating their own distance education efforts, and a "roadmap" of sorts to continue the journey on their own. The multi-media format was new to many and generally positive, though the magnitude of choices available overwhelmed some individuals. The QDE program model was bold, innovative and ambitious. The experience taught us many invaluable lessons.

Additional information regarding the QDE program, including the QDE Factors, case studies, archived listserv discussions, evaluation summary and a form for ordering the video/print modules and the taped satellite videoconference can be found on the Web at: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/qde/home.html

(Joan E. Cybela, Professor and Distance Education Specialist University of Wisconsin-Extension)

* Three Degree Sequences - UW-Stout
UW-Stout of Menomonie, WI is presently working with Milwaukee Area Technical College, running two Cohort groups for the Bachelor of Science in Vocational, Technical and Adult Education and one Cohort group for the Master of Science in Vocational Education. The courses are delivered using a multiple media approach, using the Internet, compressed video and self-paced print/email, along with some face-to-face lab courses.

The programs have provided Milwaukee Area Technical College with a means for their faculty to complete bachelor and masters programs for Northcentral Association Accreditation. The first Cohort Group for BS VTAE started two years ago. For each Cohort group, UW-Stout provides the professional core of courses in a three-year sequence. For additional information of these Degree Sequences contact Sandy White at UW-Stout.

(Adapted from information sent by Sandy White, Outreach Program Manager, CE/EX, UW-Stout)

Bruce Dewey, Distance Education Specialist/Instructional Design and I are in the process of redeveloping our Orientation and Advanced Videoconferencing Workshops using multiple media. We'll be able to let you know about our progress during 1998. (Rosemary Lehman)

NOTEWORTHY - Relating his recent experience of appearing on talk television, Mark Kingwell, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto, believes that it *is* possible to communicate searching and provocative ideas via television. According to Kingwell, his experience revealed that television thrives on energy and requires that you think before the camera comes on. It works well, he says, with concrete examples and with lively debate. Both of these fire participant interest.

Television, notes Kingwell, dismays many academics because it isn't possible to draw elaborate distinctions on the medium or to back into a subject the way a professor might write a journal article. But, if the medium is used to capitalize on its attributes, television can be an extremely powerful electronic tool. It absolutely forces a person to be direct.

Television, he says, is not a substitute for extended intellectual engagement with a topic. It doesn't simulate the attention of reading a book...but then the 50-minute lecture doesn't simulate reading. Television will challenge both the assumptions and the habits of thought of the academic mind and will *not* leave them unchanged.

(The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 Dec 97)

CAMPUS HILIGHTS
(Send campus distance education HILIGHTS to: DESIEN-List@uwex.edu)

UW-MADISON - A new telecourse, "Performance Assessment," is being offered by UW-Madison's School of Education through UW-Extension. The 3-program course will air on the Wisconsin Public Television Network in May. It will focus on helping teachers improve their instruction by learning about alternatives to standardized testing and ways to improve teacher-made tests. It will also show ways in which teachers can evaluate the skills of critical thinking, problem solving and writing based on criteria other than testing.

Developed by Dr. Robert Clasen, the telecourse examines ways in which instructors evaluate students and whether or not that evaluation is appropriate. It uses Performance Assessment as a way of finding out how teachers are doing and how they can do it better.

UW-MILWAUKEE - "Teaching Math" will be offered by UW-Milwaukee during spring semester of 1998. This telecourse incorporates a" virtual learning community" into its curriculum. Teachers will communicate each week through online discussion, applying course materials and sharing their ideas and experiences.

UW-STEVENS POINT - The popular "A Teacher's Guide to the Information Highway," will again be offered by UW-Stevens Point. The telecourse provides training for teachers about practical classroom uses of the Internet. It focuses on how to bring the Internet into the school, how to use it as an instructional resource and how to integrate it into the curriculum. In addition, it addresses dealing with policy issues and problems encountered by the presence of this communication technology. The course includes an electronic bulletin board, through which participants share information and ideas with the instructor and with each other.

FROM THE DISTANCE EDUCATION CLEARINGHOUSE
NETNEWS
by
Michele Jacques

"Instructional Design Resources on the Web"

Distance Education Clearinghouse on the web at:
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/home.html< p> A new page of instructional design resources has been recently added to the Distance Education Clearinghouse. It is located at: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/design.htm Links to various articles, bibliographies, papers, and other types of resources are available from schools, universities, and organizations worldwide. One example is from the University of Idaho from their series: Distance Education at a Glance. Guide #3 is entitled Instructional Development for Distance Education. It was developed by Dr. Barry Willis. Its introduction states: "Instructional development provides a process and framework for systematically planning, developing, and adapting instruction based on identifiable learner needs and content requirements." The Guide can be found at: http://www.uidaho.edu/evo/dist3.html

Another resource which is available on the Clearinghouse is a link to a research paper by Dr. Charlotte Gunawardena and Rebecca Zittle of the University of New Mexico. Their paper is entitled: An Examination of Teaching and Learning Processes in Distance Education and Implications for Designing Instruction. They state as the purpose of their study: "The paper will analyze teaching and learning principles related to: 1) learner-centered instruction, 2) interaction, 3) social presence, 4) cognitive strategies, and 5) collaborative learning, and examine role changes that distance instructors adopt or have to adopt in order to facilitate learning at a distance." The paper can be found at:
http://www.oise.ut oronto.ca/~ldavie/1522_html/gunawardena.html

There are many other resources concerning instructional design issues available on the web. An article, "Instructional Design for Distance Education" provides information from the perspective of the Communications, Technology and Distance Education Unit of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES). "Issues in Distance Learning" by Lorraine Sherry has some definitions, history, theories, and systems of distance education and includes a review of the literature. The Distance Education Clearinghouse links to these and many other resources.

If you have additions or comments about the selection of instructional design links on the Clearinghouse, please be sure to let me know. Thanks!

Michele Jacques
Distance Education Clearinghouse
Information Resources Manager
Instructional Communications Systems (ICS)
University of Wisconsin-Extension
jacques@ics.uwex.edu

NEW ON THE LIST - Kim Merwin, Global Learn Day II Afterguard Team, WI; Kay Duren, Director of Continuing Legal Education, State Bar of Wisconsin.

ETC. - A study based on Commerce Department data and sponsored by the American Electronics Association (AEA) and the Nasdaq stock market says that the field of information technology (including both computing and telecommunications) is now the nation's largest industry, ahead of construction, food products and automobile manufacturing. And the AEA's president took the occasion of the study's release to urge lawmakers to learn more about technology: "Whether we like it or not, high-technology issues are going to be front and center in Washington and in state capitals during the next few years. At the state and national level, policy makers have a lot of positive impressions about the high-technology industry, but often very little knowledge of it. The biggest public policy threat to the high-technology field is the ignorance of technology and of how these industries work." (New York Times 18 Nov 97)

FYI - NEWS AND REMINDERS

* The National University Telecommunications Network (NUTN) Annual Conference will be held June 27-30, 1998 in Boston, MA at the Boston, Marriott-Copley Square. The conference theme is "The Digital Millennium: Coping With a Virtual World." Papers are being solicited in a wide variety of areas including the special category of Action Research that Assesses the Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning. The deadline for proposal submissions is February 1, 1998. Send submissions to: NUTN, 129 Spong Hall, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529, or e-mail to NUTN@odu.edu

* The Society for Technology and Teacher Education (SITE), an international association which focuses on the integration of instructional technologies into teacher education programs has scheduled its conference for March 10-14, 1998 in Washington, DC. Keynote speakers will be Arthur Wise, President, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE); James M. Cooper, University of Virginia; Chris Dede, George Mason University and Betty Collis, University of Twente, The Netherlands. For further SITE 98 information, see the conference website: http://www.aace.org/conf/site

* A unique online conference, Global Learn DAY II, has set its theme and date. The theme "A Return Voyage to the New World of Distance Education and All of Its Promise", is scheduled for Columbus Day Weekend, October 9, 10 and 11, 1998. To encourage even wider participation this year, organizers have announced the formation of a Global Learn II listserv, created for those interested in following the organization of the conference and/or become a volunteer on The Franklin Ship and/or be a Presenter. To subscribe to the listserv follow these steps:

TO: listcaster@listserv.rogersu.edu
FROM: (leave blank)
IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL MESSAGE TYPE THESE COMMANDS:

Subscribe GLD2
Quit

The last October, Global Learn Day, The Inaugural, was held with participation from 75 countries in virtually every corner of the globe. The main topics discussed, in real time, were issues concerning distance learning, accreditation and culture differences; additionally there were several technology demonstrations which "proved" that 'students in Bombay could take courses from Boston. Those interested in reviewing Global Learn, The Inaugural, can view the Web site at: http://www.bfranklin.edu/archive

* The 1998 Institute for the Management of Distance Education (MDE), sponsored by Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications will be held June 1-5, 1998 at the Broker Inn in Boulder, Colorado. The Institute is designed to prepare mid-level managers, faculty and technology directors in the effective development, management and evaluation of comprehensive distance learning programs. The Application Deadline for participating in the Institute is April 15, 1998, with acceptance notification on April 30. For more information, contact: Don Olcott, Jr. at: DonOlcott@wiche.edu

ENDNOTE - Hoping that your Holiday is *wonderful* and that the New Year will be everything that you wish it to be . Happy New Year!

JANUARY ISSUE: FOCUS - Technology - What's Coming?

DESIEN ARCHIVE: An Archive has been created for past issues and interaction comments. Locate at: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/desien.html

DESIEN has been created to encourage information exchange and discussion of distance education issues concerned with: 1) UW Systemwide distance education progress and institution course/program development, 2) faculty/team development, 3) technology, 4) policy, 5) funding and 6) research. List recipients outside of the UW System are also welcome to join in with information contributions and discussion.