"In the past two years, American higher education's interest in distance education has exploded. Suddenly, the technology seems to be there; the economics look attractive; we're supposed to serve more students especially adults, and find new markets and revenue streams...many roads, it seems, lead to distance education." --Steven G. Gilbert, AAHE Bulletin Special Issue on Distance Education, December, 1995.

CONTENT THEME - Technology and Pedagogy

UPFRONT - "BadgerNet Celebrated"

FOCUS - "Technology and Pedagogy - Perspectives and Struggles"

SOME SELECTED REFERENCES - related to the content theme

CAMPUS UPDATE - add new information

DE CLEARINGHOUSE, NETNEWS - "Distance Education Clearinghouse Has a New Face"

FUNDING UPDATE - "NEH Deadline Extended"

NEW ON THE LIST - new subscribers

FYI - NEWS AND REMINDERS - news, institutes and conferences

ENDNOTE - "More Schools Join INTERNET 2"; "Senate Ed Committee Meets on Distance Learning"

UPFRONT - "BadgerNet Celebrated" -

Celebrating the State's "BadgerNet" advanced technology partnership with schools, universities and local governments, Governor Tommy Thompson spoke at length and with great enthusiasm to more than 100 Wisconsin networking experts at their May 15 WiscNet* Annual Meeting.

BadgerNet is the State of Wisconsin's advanced, multimedia-capable network that will connect to the global network to deliver education and public service to Wisconsin citizens. WiscNet members will use BadgerNet to cost-effectively meet local and state needs, including Governor Thompson's $200M TEACH Wisconsin technology initiative for K-20 education.

Navigate your web browser to: http://www.wiscnet.net to learn about and follow the "Educational Connections Project." (Shaun Abshere- WiscNet Outreach)

* WiscNet is Wisconsin's education, research and public service network.

FOCUS

(Some of the "very best" educators from across the state of Wisconsin have been selected to teach at the Technology Institute for Educators' 1997 Summer Technocamps* - a VITAL Project. I sat in on part of the group's last curriculum design meeting and was very impressed with their knowledge, experience and practical perspectives on integrating technology into the classroom. I asked if each would write a few paragraphs for DESIEN about these perspectives and the struggles they encountered along the way. Following are two short articles of a series to be continued in the next issue. --Rosemary Lehman)

"Technology and Pedagogy: Perspectives and Struggles"

o Carole A. Bagley, Ph.D.
Team Leader-The Technology Group
(formerly with UW-River Falls)

Our experience has shown that classroom change to incorporate technology in an effective manner takes from 3 - 8 years. It does not happen overnight! Sure, a few students might use technology in a meaningful way, but if ALL students are to use it in a meaningful way, the classroom and school environment will change. If change does not occur, teachers will lose their sanity because they cannot possibly keep up with it all. Classroom change is only part of the solution.

One way to begin is to engage a few students in creating projects that use technology. However, you will quickly find that students need roles and teams of students need to be taught how to work in a team. You will also find out that your classroom management and teaching/learning methods are affected and must change. Eventually, you will discover that your curriculum changes, and your school and classroom spaces and time schedules must change.

Some of the particular areas we've struggled with are: know that technology, media and curriculum coordinators are overwhelmed today and that schools and school boards are only beginning to realize the need for other models of handling: 1) installation of software, 2) student technology training, 3) teacher and other school stakeholder training, 4) phone, floor support, email for technical issues for teachers and students AND e-mail support for teaching/learning pedagogy issues for teachers, and 5) support for students and teachers in locating resources to build into projects and activities. Some schools have begun to contract out for some of these needs, some have created in-school businesses, and others have redesigned into teacher teams with one teacher on the team responsible for coordinating 2-4 above. This does not mean that this teacher DOES all of it, but will design models where students provide many of these services.

(Carole Bagley, Ph.D., is team leader of THE TECHNOLOGY GROUP, a group of performance technologists committed to "making a difference in the lives and organizations with which we work". Dr. Bagley conducts workshops on top-down and bottom-up school restructuring and works with schools to vision, plan and implement effective technology integration.)

o William Wresch
Professor, Chair-Math and Computing
UW-Stevens Point

It is getting harder and harder to lump everything under the term "technology." An overhead projector is "technology" and it is helpful, but it doesn't change what I do very much. It just gives me better pictures than I could draw on a chalkboard. Computers add more interactivity than I can get from a textbook. Then comes the Internet and suddenly I have the chance to connect my students to students all over the world and to Web sites all over the planet. Now when I use these systems am I "integrating" them into what I always taught? Yes, in some measure, but I also am changing my assignments. I think what I am really doing is merging old content and approaches with new opportunities. The result is a new curriculum.

Where do I struggle? First I struggle just to keep up with the explosion of resources that are now available. I had five years to learn to use word processors in my English classes. Now suddenly every day brings a new web site or a new project. At the same time, my African experience taught me that much of the world is being left out. So I am concerned about what I CAN'T do, the people I CAN'T connect to, the ideas I am NOT hearing, at the same time I am struggling to listen to all the new voices on line. It seems odd that at the same time I am running as fast as I can to keep up, I am worried about all those who are off line and inaccessible.

(Bill has been using computers in his teaching since 1981. One of his biggest adventures was working at the University of Namibia during the 1993-94 school year. He taught computer science and did workshops for high school teachers on how they could use computers in their schools. He also linked his university students there to his university students back in Wisconsin via the Internet. This month he starts a new job at UW-Oshkosh as their Associate Vice Chancellor.)

*See the DESIEN Archive for DESIEN Issue 2-6 and the VITAL WebSite http://www.uwex.edu/disted/vital/ for additional information about the Technology Institute for Educators and the Technocamps.

SOME SELECTED REFERENCES RELATED TO THE THEME

Kozma, R. B. and Johnston, J. (1991). The Technological Revolution Comes to the Classroom. Change, 23 (1), 10-23.

Laurillard, D. (1993). Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology. London: Routledge.

Rutherford, L. H. and Grana, S. J. (September 1995). Retrofitting Academe: Adapting Faculty Attitudes and Practices to Technology. T.H.E. Journal, 23, 82-86.

Spotts, T. H. and Bowman, M. A. (1993). Increasing Faculty Use of Instructional Technology: Barriers and Incentives. Educational Media International, 30, 199-204.

CAMPUS UPDATE

(Please add new information about your institution's distance education progress below.)

UW CENTERS -

UW-EAU CLAIRE - The Technology Institute for Educators' Technocamp is scheduled for June 23-25 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center, Eau Claire, WI

UW-EXTENSION - "Flexible Learning" is launching a new training initiative this summer for universities, schools and businesses. This initiative will train faculty, staff and trainers in the development of performance based learning courses on Lotus Notes/Domino/ LearningSpace. (submitted by Dick Schafer, Director of Flexible Learning)

"Instructional Communications Systems" announces that several changes are underway this summer for ETN. Representatives from all counties have re-evaluated their ETN sites and each county has selected one primary site to serve the public. Site support funds will be provided to these sites by UW-Extension. In addition, approximately 30 other sites will be part of the dedicated ETN system. Some current ETN sites will be removed and some of those sites will now access ETN via dial-up (WisLine) connections.

ETN will be closed June 9-20 so that network lines can be reconfigured. WisLine will be available throughout this period to meet audio- conferencing needs. More detailed information is being provided to all ETN sites and programmers. Call or email Michael Heinrichs at ICS (608-262-1598/heinrichs@ics.uwex.edu) for the latest ETN site list or other ETN information. More than 1,400 hours of ETN programs and meetings are already scheduled for FY 98.

WisView Audiographics changes are also underway this summer with planning for new software and computers at UW Centers and four-year UW institutions. The new system will feature FarSite audiographics software running under Windows 95. This software will offer improvements for faculty, students, site support staff and ICS staff, including: improved communications, new features and capabilities, a wider range of graphics formats, easier visual creation and greater flexiblity in manipulating visuals before and during a program. Visuals will also no longer be preshipped to sites.

ICS staff are already introducing WisView instructors to the new software so they can work with it and develop visuals during the summer. All WisView sites and faculty will receive more detailed information about this recent development in early June. Call or email Milly Jones at ICS (608-262-3772/jones@ics.uwex.edu for more information about WisView. (Submitted by Marcia Baird, Director-ICS, UWEX)

UW-GREEN BAY -

UW-LA CROSSE -

UW-MADISON -

UW-MILWAUKEE -

UW-OSHKOSH -

UW-PLATTEVILLE -

UW-RIVER FALLS -

UW-PARKSIDE -

UW-STEVENS POINT -

UW-STOUT -

UW-SUPERIOR - is working closely with CESA 12 and the school district of Superior to provide programming in the area of integrating technology into the curriculum. Dr. Susan Heide, Associate Professor, UW-Superior has a 25% position with the Center for Continuing Education/Extension for 1997-1998 to provide programming to the area school districts. She also will be providing instruction and programming in the integration of technology into the curriculum. (Submitted by Lynn Weiland, Director-Professional Development for educators, UW-Superior)

UW-WHITEWATER - The Technology Institute for Educators' Technocamp is scheduled for July 8-10 on the UW-Whitewater campus.

FROM THE DISTANCE EDUCATION CLEARINGHOUSE
NETNEWS
Michele Jacques

"Distance Education Clearinghouse Has a New Face"

Distance Education Clearinghouse on the web at:
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/home.html

A few changes have taken place on the Distance Education Clearinghouse. We've redone the homepage in order to bring more items up to the front. There are also some re-groupings of our original sections in an effort to help users find things more easily.

For example, because the Clearinghouse gets so many email questions from users wanting to know how to get started in distance education, there is now a section on the Clearinghouse homepage called: New to Distance Education? There you'll find definitions, glossaries, overviews, and other introductory materials. Already we have seen many "hits" to this new section.

A brand new section is a listing of products and services relating to distance education. Included here is a list of vendors' websites. Please contact these sites directly if you have questions about their products.

Be sure to stop by and look at the new program information for the 13th Annual Conference in Distance Teaching and Learning. Registration information is also now available.

We hope that you will find the new homepage easy to use. We're always striving to make the Clearinghouse a helpful resource. Let us know what you think.

For applicants who would like to file electronically, the program announcement and cgi script application is found at http://timesync.gmu.edu/nmc2

Michele Jacques
Coordinator, WWW
Distance Education Clearinghouse
Instructional Communications Systems (ICS)
University of Wisconsin-Extension

FUNDING UPDATE - The deadline for applying for the NEH-funded faculty development program on the "New Media Classroom: Building a National Conversation on Narrative, Inquiry, and Technology in the U.S. History Survey" has been extended to Friday, June 6.

NEW ON THE LIST -

LEILA SCHENK - of the Continuing Education Extension Dean's Office, UW-Extension, Madison;
ALICE ANDERSON - a Senior Broadcast Specialist with Cooperative Extension, Madison;
CHAR BELL - the Director of Educational Programming for the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, Madison;
LARA KISER - adjunct instructor teaching Introduction to the Internet courses for the School of Library and Information Sciences, University of South Florida.
JAREN SHAW, a graduate of Baylor University, now Manager of Job Skills for H.E. Butt Grocery Company with stores in Texas, Louisiana and Mexico;
ELIZABETH RICHMOND, a librarian and teacher at UW-Eau Claire;
BOB OEHLKERS, completing his MS, UW-Madison, CAVE Dept. and working at the UW Space Science and Engineering Center;
TIM BYERS, writing a distance education course for the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education/College of Natural Resources, UW-Stevens Point.

FYI - NEWS AND REMINDERS: (Because of the growing number of institutes and conferences, beginning with this issue, DESIEN will only list new conferences and special announcements. For upcoming conferences previously listed, consult your past issues or the DESIEN Archive.)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - The featured speakers have been named for the 13th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning, August 6-8, 1997 at the Holiday Inn Madison West Madison, Wisconsin; Don Foshee, President, Innovative Interactions, Inc.; Dr. Ted Carpenter-Smith, Director of Technology Education, Andersen Consulting; Dr. Dale Huffington, Director, Distance Learning Design Center; Dr. Margaret Gunderson, Instructional Design Specialist; Nancy Thompson, Technology Specialist - all from the Distance Learning Center-University of Missouri; Justin Lyon, President and Founder ArachNet, Web Publishing and Amy Wissman, Director of Development, ArachNet.

* The 1997 CAUSE Management Institute-Focus on Partnerships will be held July 13 through 17, 1997 in Boulder, Colorado. The institute is designed to provide a professional development opportunity for individuals who manage and support information technology in administrative and academic departments across campus. The program also aims to promote more effective links between those individuals and their colleagues in central information resources organizations. According to Ann Stunden, CAUSE Management Institute Director, "In creating this new program, Institute faculty members have built on relevant curriculum of other Institute programs and have added new content to emphasize partnerships and new ways of thinking as we move to the next century using information technology as an important part of our institutions' infrastructures." For information about the institute and to register see http://www.cause.org/mgmt-inst/p97 1/p971.html

ENDNOTE - "More Schools Join INTERNET 2"

Thirty-five more colleges and universities have signed on to participate in the National Science Foundation's Internet 2, bringing the total number of schools to 64. "We are now more than half of the way to our goal of connecting the top 100 research institutions," says National Science Foundation official Mark Luker, who coordinates NSF's vBNS program (Mark is also the Chief Information Officer of DoIT, UW-Madison.) IBM pledged last week to donate $3.5 million to the project's funding, in addition to the $12.3 million in federal grants for the 35 institutions. The Internet 2 project's goal is to create a network 100 times faster than the Internet, that will be available for variety of academic and research purposes. (Chronicle of Higher Education 30-May 97)

"Senate Ed Committee Meets on Distance Learning" - The US Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee recently organized a hearing on distance learning issues. On the agenda was Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, who testified on behalf of the Western Governor's University (WGU). WGU is the new distance education consortium initiative that plans to use telecommunications technologies to deliver educational services (not credit-hour based) credentialing of graduates for its future degree and certificate programs.

Following the WGU presentation, University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) testified on the use of distance learning in workforce development. This point received a good deal of attention from Senators on the Committee who recognize the critical shortage of workers to fill jobs in the high-tech information industry. While it is unclear just how the Senate Committee intends to use this information, there are signs that the Dept. of Education is focusing on distance education. For example, the Dept. is formulating an official Administration stance on distance learning regulations. It is clear that there must be a major shift in federal policy regarding distance education and the Dept. of Education is moving in that direction . (Edward Gehres, inFocus, a Newsletter of the University Continuing Education Association, May 1997, 2(5), p12. )

JUNE ISSUE CONTENT THEME - "More on Technology and Pedagogy - The Series Continues"

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

DESIEN (The Distance Education Systemwide Interactive Electronic Newsletter) 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.

Each monthly issue will focus on a "theme of interest", feature a regular column on the Distance Education Clearing- house by Michele Jacques, contain an FYI section, and list future areas of focus. Your continuous input through updates, features, questions and dialogue will be instrumental in helping DESIEN evolve and grow.

The coordinators of DESIEN are Rosemary Lehman and Pat Takemoto. The owner of DESIEN is Rosemary Lehman, lehman@ics.uwex.edu Please contact Rosemary if you have concerns or problems. ListServ: DESIEN-List@uwex.edu