Press Release: DE Clearinghouse Receives ITCA Award

Instructional Communications Systems (ICS), a University of Wisconsin-Extension distance education and teleconferencing services unit, received one of nine top honors announced last week by the International Teleconferencing Association (ITCA).

The unit's Distance Education Clearinghouse web site
(http://www.uwex.edu/disted/home.html) was named the "Publication of the Year" at the ITCA '98 Collaborative Communications Expo in Philadelphia. ICS was joined by other first place winners such as networkMCI, Sony and the U.S. Navy.

According to Alan Chute, chief learning strategist for Lucent Technologies, the Distance Education Clearinghouse is an "outstanding web resource" for distance educators. "I have investigated hundreds of web sites that provide information on distance education and I find (the Clearinghouse) to be one of the most comprehensive and authoritative resources available."

Chute continued, "The Distance Education Clearinghouse is internationally regarded as a 'must see' site for distance educators and I have recommended it to many of my colleagues in the United States and around the world."

"Our staff is honored to receive this international recognition from ITCA," said Marcia Baird, ICS director. "The Distance Education Clearinghouse consistently provides valuable information to educators and other professionals in Wisconsin and around the world. In addition to daily feedback from users, we are pleased that our work in this area of distance education and web resource development also impressed reviewers."

Michele Jacques, ICS Information Resources Manager and manager of the Distance Education Clearinghouse, accepted the award, one of several major recognitions the Distance Education Clearinghouse has received since its creation. She and other ICS staff have developed more than 2,000 web pages focusing on distance education programs and conferences, technologies, applications and research. New content, features and functionality are continually added, and the site's top ten pages draw more than 37,000 hits each month. It is also an acknowledged and respected international resource, with more than 200 international Web sites linking to it.

"It's very exciting to receive ITCA's Publication of the Year Award," added Jacques. "The Clearinghouse has grown to what it is only because of all the efforts done on a daily basis by the ICS staff members who work so hard at the continual development of the site."

ICS is an academic support unit, providing a range of distance education training, teleconferencing and support services to University of Wisconsin institutions and State of Wisconsin agencies. The unit helps educators and other professionals effectively use audio, document, and video conferencing, and the World Wide Web, for educational programs, training, meetings and other communication.

Additional information about ICS is available at http://www.uwex.edu/ics/.  Additional information about ITCA award winners is available at http://www.itca.org.