New Media’s Fundamental Place in e-Learning

“Like the technologies that preceded it – print, radio, television – New Media is set to change our lives and our learning in fundamental ways. Never before have we had such a great variety of educational tools at our disposal so inexpensively and so widely available. We can reach out to our customers, clients, and students almost anywhere in the world with the touch of button. ”

New Media consists of four pillars:

• Online video sharing sites, such as YouTube,
• Podcasting , which allows the automatic delivery of audio and video to listeners and viewers,
• Live video streaming, such as uStream.tv and Justin.tv, and
• Social media, that is, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other such services.

All of these together form New Media – new ways of delivering information and interacting with our audience, whoever or wherever they might be.

As with any new technology, inertia and fear threaten to limit our use of these tools. We spend months and years evaluating, analyzing and investigating, but end up doing very little. As with other educational tools, you must engage with New Media to find its usefulness to you and your students.

Inertia

Inertia is a powerful force. Objects at rest remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. For many of us, the object is New Media and inertia is management apathy, status quo thinking, and fear of change. This can lead to an almost impenetrable barrier to New Media adoption, and all the benefits it can bring. Your job is to get the ball rolling – to nudge the New Media rock – one small inch at a time.

With each movement, the other part of the inertial law will begin to take effect: objects in motion remain in motion. Movement begets more movement. Momentum yields more momentum. Soon you will find yourself using more and more New Media tools as the walls start to crumble.

Not either/or, but rather yes/and

One roadblock I often face when introducing New Media is the either/or mentality. There is a belief that we must choose either this or that tool, either this or that method. When introducing New Media to your work I suggest moving beyond either/or and toward yes/and. Using New Media tools does not mean you abandon previous methods. Instead, you use New Media to expand existing methods while introducing new ones. Certainly, some tools will have outlived their usefulness, but many will find new life in combination with New Media. Conversely, you will find that some New Media tools don’t add value to your work. Your goal is to find the best of both old and new and combine them in new and powerful ways. Embrace both the old and the new. Say Yes/And.

Selling New Media

I find that convincing someone of the usefulness and power of New Media is very difficult in the abstract. We can talk about how audio, video, online communities, and social networks can expand the educational playing field, but the power of New Media is in the “doing.” One of the best methods of introducing New Media tools into your work is by finding those small niches in the educational environment where you can apply New Media. You use a New Media tool and then judge its effectiveness. Use it a bit more and let people see where and when it is effective. Then, slowly, expand its use further and further until it becomes a major tool in your educational toolbox.

In this way, you bring people along slowly. You don’t try to convert them with one dramatic gesture. You take them step-by-step, class-by-class, project-by-project, holding their hand the entire time until they start walking on the New Media path all by themselves. Even more importantly, though, when something obviously doesn’t work, you let it go. Not every tool will work for you and your environment. You won’t find the “value added” in every new service or program. We don’t live in an idealized world. Everything can’t be perfect, but you will be better for investigating that tool or service than you would have been without. You learn something with each try. You should not discount this.

It doesn’t take a lot of money

One of the most striking aspects of New Media is how much you can do inexpensively, and even for free. As you move forward you might invest in larger, more robust systems, but investigating New Media often requires little more than access to the Internet. With inexpensive tools like the Flip HD pocket camcorders, and free software like Apple’s iMovie, you can create professional-looking materials that, in the past, might have cost tens of thousands of dollars. There are very few financial excuses for not investigating how New Media can help your department or company.

To repeat, never before have we had such a wide variety of educational tools at our disposal so inexpensively and so widely available. This is indeed a whole new world. It is to your benefit to grasp the best of these new tools and wield them well, to take you and your students to new levels of learning.

Special note: Hear Doug speak on “Making the Case for Using New Media for e-Learning”! Sign up for The eLearning Guild’s October Online Forum, Integrating Media into Your e-Learning, October 7 and 8. See all the details at http://www.elearningguild.com/online-forums/content/1586/home

Source: learningsolutionsmag.com

Obama: Education key to economic success

Determined to energize dispirited Democrats, President Barack Obama told New Mexico voters on Tuesday that Republicans would reverse the progress he’s made oneducation reform and student aid.

Addressing a small group in an Albuquerque family’s front yard, Obama shifted from his recent focus on the economy, which has run headlong into the grim reality of continued high unemployment. Instead, five weeks ahead of midterm elections that could turn into a Democratic bloodletting, the president told voters to think about education when they head to the polls.

“Who’s going to prioritize our young people to make sure they’ve got the skills they need to succeed?” the president said.

“Nothing’s going to be more important in terms of our long-term success.” Obama argued that Republicans would cut education spending to pay for tax cuts for the rich.

Later in the day, Obama was heading to a big rally at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he hopes to replicate the raucous, youthful, big-stage events for which he became famous in the 2008 presidential campaign. Democrats will host hundreds of watch partiesnationwide, and Obama will hold other campus rallies before Nov. 2 to warn young voters that the “hope and change” they embraced two years ago is at risk if Republicans sweep the midterm elections.

The president is aiming to close the enthusiasm gap that pollsters say separates discouraged liberal voters from energized conservatives who might lift Republicans to huge gains in congressional and gubernatorial races.

But Obama got a quick reminder from his audience of about 40 in Albuquerque that education might not be at the top of the agenda for recession-weary voters.

“If we don’t have homes to go to, what good is education?” one man asked.

A high school principal read a letter that he said was from a class in his school.

“What assurance will we have that we will be rewarded for good work?” the students asked. “There seems to be less money that banks lend our families, and most of all no jobs.”

The president acknowledged the anxiety of the younger generation.

“They’re growing up in the shadow of a financial crisis that we hadn’t seen in our lifetime,” he said, arguing his administration has sought to save jobs for teachers and others by closing tax loopholes, and is working to making it easier for kids to attend college.

Republican leaders, Obama said, “fought us tooth and nail … That’s the choice that we’ve got in this election.”

Obama returned to the choice theme on issue from veterans spending and education to taxes and small businesses, trying mightily to get voters to see the election as a contest between competing visions, not a referendum on the party in power at a time of economic woes.

The event at the stucco home of Andy and Etta Cavalier in a small farming community south of Albuquerque comes as Obama tests out a relatively new format of backyard visits that give him time to explain his policies in cozy, unhurried settings. He’s coupling those with college campus rallies in four states Tuesday and Wednesday, trying to tackle Democrats’ two biggest needs: to pump enthusiasm into young supporters who may stay at home this fall, and to persuade undecided voters that Republican alternatives are unacceptable.

In a magazine interview, Obama admonished Democratic voters, saying it would be “inexcusable” and “irresponsible” for unenthusiastic Democrats to sit out the elections because the consequences could be a squandered agenda for years.

“People need to shake off this lethargy. People need to buck up,” Obama told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview being published Friday. Making change happen is hard, he said, and “if people now want to take their ball and go home, that tells me folks weren’t serious in the first place.”

Obama wants Democratic loyalists to be less apologetic and more forceful in asserting that he and theDemocratic-controlled Congress are trying to move the country forward and Republicans would return to the policies of former President George W. Bush.

Top Web 2.0 Tools for Learning for the New School Year

The list of cutely, cleverly and sometimes oddly spelled Web 2.0 apps for learning continues to grow, making it easier but also more confusing to find online tools to help you learn and excel as a student. With so many choices, it can be hard to figure out where to focus and what tools and ideas are really worth your time. To decide what tools you need, you first need to figure out what you need help with as a student and what you can do to become more productive, efficient and successful. Here are a few suggestions both for the bigger picture and for the apps you can use that can help you ensure a school year that’s both academically satisfying and technologically savvy.

Productivity and Organization

You’ll go a lot further as a student if you stay organized and learn new ways to be productive. You’ll also have more time to relax and enjoy your downtime, making it a win-win to pursue some web tools that can help you master your skills. Your first step can be to get a great calendar and options like 30 Boxes and Google Calendar can be a great way to start. You’ll also need to hook up your computer or phone with a to-do list and many students find Remember the Milk and Todoist to be helpful. And why not have access to your term paper wherever you go with an online word processor like Google Docs or Zoho Office? It could save you time and stress.

Research

Few students can avoid having to write several long and sometimes difficult papers throughout their college careers. You can help improve the quality of the papers you write by improving the quality of the research material you use– something Web 2.0 is all about helping you to do. Instead of doing your research on Wikipedia, use Web 2.0 tools like WorldCAT and Google Scholar that give you higher quality, more academic results. Try out EasyBibor OttoBib to help make sure that your citations are clear and correctly written no matter the format you’re using. Firefox users can get all these functions in one with the amazing research plug-in Zotero.

Studying and Learning

Why limit your online education to what you learn in class? There are plenty of tools and resources out there to help you keep learning about new topics or to expand your knowledge of existing ones. Signing up for educational RSS feeds and podcasts can be a great way to supplement class materials. You can also look for study guides and helpful study tools on SparkNotesand College-Cram. Additionally, if you’re looking for ways to organize your thoughts for papers and tests, you’ll find mind mapping tools aplenty, withBubbl.us and Mindomo being good choices.

Socialization

Even for online students, a big part of education is socializing with other students. Whether you’re looking for feedback, help with homework or friendships, there are a number of Web 2.0 tools that can make keeping in touch with classmates and professors easier than ever. While most students will be familiar with sites like Facebook, others might not have tried more educationally focused sites like where you can share notes and talk about class like NoteCentric. There are also no shortage of social bookmarking sites like delicious and Clipmarks that let you share research and fun links.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of the newest and best Web 2.0 apps for learning, it’s a great place to start. Better yet, most of these programs won’t cost you a thing to try out and could help make this school year your best yet.

Source: learningonlineinfo.org

New HIPAA rules need more clarification

When it comes to the new HIPAA privacy and security standards, it seems like everybody has an opinion. Quite a few organizations are spreading the word about the comments they’ve filed in response to the changes HHS proposed in July.

The American Health Information Management Association wants the HHS Office for Civil Rights to add some detail to the stewardship role providers must play in determining the “minimum necessary” use and disclosure of patient-specific protected health information, Health Data Management reports. Specifically, AHIMA wonders whether one alternative in a forthcoming final rule on HIPAA attachment standards would effectively force providers to violate the “minimum necessary” standard.

OCR should “include a prohibition on health plan access to an individual’s PHI under guardianship of a healthcare provider,” AHIMA writes in its comments.

Similarly, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society would like OCR to provide some guidance on the “minimum necessary standard.” HIMSS also wonders whether business associate agreements will still be necessary, because the proposed rules would treat business associates as covered entities.

“It is common for healthcare providers, such as a community hospital, to have hundreds of business associate relationships, and large complex academic medical centers can have over 1,000 business associate relationships to manage,” HIMSS says in arguing that a such agreements would be unfairly burdensome on its members under the new regulations.

The National Community Pharmacists Association also wants some clarification, particularly over how pharmacists should handle privacy requests from customers who pay cash, since the proposed regulations would allow self-paying patients to ask providers to limit disclosure of some types of data to payers. “In some cases, such action would violate the pharmacy’s contract obligations to third-party payers such as pharmacy benefit managers,” the NCPA says.

On the consumer side, the Coalition for Patient Privacy, led by Dr. Deborah Peel’s Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, is lobbying hard for the final rule to restore the right to patient consent for PHI disclosure that HHS stripped from the HIPAA privacy rule in 2002.

“We strongly recommend that HHS require the use of the consent and segmentation technologies showcased June 29 at the Consumer Choices Technology hearing sponsored by HHS/ONC for all HIT systems, HIE and the NHIN,” the coalition says in its letter. “The innovative, low-cost, effective privacy‐enhancing technologies available that can empower patients to have ‘maximal control over PHI’ should be viewed as what is possible now, not 10 years from now.”

Meanwhile, consulting firm Computer Sciences Corp. has published a white paper to explain the proposed changes to HIPAA privacy, security and enforcement rules called for by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For more information:
– see this Health Data Management story about AHIMA’s comments
– read the AHIMA letter (.pdf)
– take a look at this HDM story about the NCPA’s comments
– and here is the actual NCPA letter (.pdf)
– read what HIMSS has to say about the HHS proposal (.pdf)
– take a look at these comments from the Coalition for Patient Privacy (.pdf)
– download the CSC report

Source: fiercehealthit.com

Students: Video lectures allow for more napping

College students gave video lectures high marks in a recent survey, although many students supported the technology because it freed up more time for napping and hanging out with friends.

And three in 10 said their parents would be “very upset” if they knew just how often their child missed class and relied on their course web site.

A majority of students who responded to thesurvey, conducted in August by audio, internet, and video conferencing provider InterCall, said they would only attend a live lecture if an exam were scheduled for that day, or to borrow notes from a classmate. The survey didn’t indicate the percentage of students who took this position.

Far from being a scientific study, the poll nonetheless seems to confirm a key fear of many college professors about the availability of video lecture-capture technology: that it could lead to a drop in attendance at the live lectures themselves.

Working students seemed “to reap the greatest benefits from video streamed course content,” according to the InterCall survey of 504 college-aged respondents, because web-based lectures would allow them to work longer hours and watch the videos during their free time.

Overall, video lectures were popular with students who participated in the survey. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they “learn more effectively” with online lectures, and 54 percent “report that their grades improve when lectures are streamed via video online,” according to InterCall. That also confirms an important benefit of video lectures as noted by supporters: that they allow students to go back and review the content as needed.

Nearly three-quarters of students said that streaming lectures online “helps them be better prepared for exams.” And when lectures aren’t available via online video, 49 percent of students take matters into their own hands and record lectures on their own so they can review the material later.

Some respondents pointed out the convenience of being able to plop down in front of a laptop and watch lectures instead of schlepping to the lecture hall bright and early. About four in 10 students said “not having to get dressed for class” was among the benefits of online lectures. Twenty-three percent listed “being able to take more naps during the day” among their benefits.

Corinne Gregory, an author and expert on social skills, said that while educational video content has become an important part of higher education, some of the reasons students lobby for video lectures are “indicative” of the modern college-student mindset.

“They can’t be bothered with things that require stepping out of their own comfort and convenience zone,” she said. “Rather than adapt themselves … they want things the way they want things. College isn’t Burger King—you can’t always have it your way.”

Attending lectures and sticking to a schedule, Gregory said, is a critical part of college life that prepares students for the professional world. Relying on instant access to everything at any time, she said, could be detrimental for teenagers and 20-somethings.

“The continued attitude of, ‘It’s about me and my convenience’ is one that extends into many aspects of their lives, from school, to work, to community obligations,” Gregory said. “How much more self-absorbed does it get?”

InterCall’s survey—while reporting largely positive views about web-based lectures—showed that many students have taken courses that use video content rarely, if at all.

Twenty-six percent said their professor “sometimes” broadcasted class sessions over the internet, and 44 percent said their instructors “rarely” or “never” used the technology.

Twenty-three percent of respondents said their professors “often” provided streaming lectures, and 7 percent said they “always” had the online lecture option available.

The potential isolation of online learning didn’t affect student opinions; nearly half “prefer joining their classes online rather than interacting in person with their classmates and professors.”

College students gave video lectures high marks in a recent survey, although three in 10 students said their parents would be “very upset” if they knew just how often their child missed class and relied…

Source: ecampusnews.com

How to Digitize Your Textbooks

By Luke Turcotte, from HackCollege.

eBook readers are quickly becoming the go-to method to read print media. Perhaps the most exciting advantage is the ability to carry thousands of books on a thin device. Yes students, this means you could condense a semesters worth of heavy textbooks into a few thousand bytes on your Kindle, Nook or iPad. Textbook publishers are charging forward through this new frontier of media distribution, but unfortunately only a small portion of textbooks are available for download today. What do you do if your microbiology text isn’t available in a digital format this fall?

Getty File Photo

Option #1: Textbook Scanning Services
There are several online services that will scan a textbook and return a PDF document of its contents. BlueLeaf appears to be the the front-runner in this game, charging $0.06 per page for destructive scanning and $0.09 for non-destructive scanning in addition to a fee per book of $12.95 and $24.95 respectively. To ease the gouging, BlueLeaf will scan your first 50 pages for free. Full color scans are an additional $12, and if you’re gullible enough to have them convert the PDF to a PRC or ePub file it’ll cost you another $12 (this can be accomplished for free with Calibre).

To give you a better idea of pricing, to scan three textbooks totaling 1956 pages for this upcoming semester, non-destructive scanning in color would cost me $218.

Option #2: Build a Book Scanner
Diybookscanner.org is an awesome project offering community-designed blueprints for making your own non-destructive book scanner. Once built, these scanners take pictures of each page of the book you wish to digitize using two tethered cameras. The cost of the hardware is the greatest downfall to this method, although if you want to keep your textbook intact this is the way to go.

Option #3: Chop & Scan
If you’re comfortable with cutting up a textbook, running the pages through a scanner with an automatic document feeder is by far the cheapest method to digitze a textbook. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Each textbook is bound a little differently. Your goal is to dissect the book so that you have several booklets of pages.

Step 2: Cut the booklets along the left margin to obtain single pages. This is easily accomplished with a paper cutter.

Step 3: Insert the pages into the document feeder of your scanner. Scan the fronts of all the pages and save as a PDF, then flip and scan the backs.

Step 4: Download and install PDFsam, a free multi-platform PDF tool. Load the front and back PDF files into the Alternate Mix plugin, which will combine the two files and place the pages into the proper order.

Step 5: Convert the PDF scan of your book into a format your eBook reader can read using Calibre.

Each method varies in cost and effort required. At the end of the day, the convenience of reading textbooks on your computer at home, eBook reader on campus, or your smartphone while waiting for the bus is well worth it.

The Future of the Mobile Web

September 30, 2010 / Mission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco, CA

Mobile, meet Cloud…

The mobile web is big. It’s about to get even bigger.

The conjunction of mobile computing and cloud-based services will unleash an entire new wave of product and market growth. At this year’s Mobilize 2010, we’ll show you how Cloud Computing and Mobile Web creates the beginning of further opportunity.

The success of touch based tablet devices is likely to see the addition of millions of new subscribers in markets already considered saturated. Then add to that base a new legion of machines as subscribers – your car, your fridge, your TV for example, and you have the makings of a vast new opportunity. It’s time for you to investigate these opportunities.

Register today and you can learn about:

• What the “mobile cloud” will do for innovating new services and products
• How new wireless broadband networks will enable consumer adoption of cloud services for mobile
• What impacts touch devices and new form factors are having on markets
• Where the opportunities are for Internet-connected objects – “The Internet of Things” or M2M (Machine-to-machine)
• Which mobile monetization options are succeeding
• Why the architecture of new wireless networks will be linked to Cloud based services
• Which new mobile web technology areas are being funded and why

Discussion Topics Include:

• App vs. Web
• The Internet of Things
• Monetizing Location Services
• Handset Virtualization
• Mobile Payments: Finally here?
• The VC Panel
• 4G with 4 Wheels: The Automobile as an App Platform

Who Should Attend:

• Mobile Technology Executives
• Carrier Executives and Buyers
• Strategic Planners and Analysts
• Technology Investment Professionals
• Technology Entrepreneurs
• Strategy Professionals
• Product Managers
• Marketing Professionals
• Companies launching new products and services
• Media, New and Old

Core topics planned for discussion:

• Mobile Cloud Services and Technology Enablers
• Next-generation Wireless Infrastructure – Ultraband, UWB, Wi-Max, LTE, 4G, Broadband
• App stores and the App Economy
• Machine-to-machine – (M2M or “The Internet of Things”)
• Virtualization on mobile devices and the new new services enabled
• Network and “Mobile Cloud” infrastructure architectures and needs
• Netbooks, Tablet computing and Ultraportables
• Design and Ethnography — usage, lifestyle trends, technology adoption
• Context and Location-based Services
• Mobile Payments
• Automotive Platforms
• Venture Capital and the economics of the mobile data boom

Register Now

Notre Dame launches eReader study, creates first paperless course

I really impress by Corey Angst

“This has become known as the iPad class,” Corey Angst, assistant professor of management at the University of Notre Dame, told his students on their first day of class Aug. 24. “It’s actually not…it’s ‘Project Management.’”

A member of Notre Dame’s ePublishing Working Group, Angst is debuting the University’s first and only class taught using Apple’s new wireless tablet computer to replace traditional textbooks. The course is part of a unique, year-long Notre Dame study of eReaders, and Angst is conducting the first phase using iPads, which just went on sale to the public in April.

“One unique thing we are doing is conducting research on the iPad,” Angst says. “We want to know whether students feel the iPads are useful and how they plan to use them. I want them to tell me, ‘I found this great app that does such and such. I want this to be organic…We have an online Wiki discussion group where students can share their ideas.”

The working group participants are from a broad array of colleges and departments, including the Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame Law School, College of Arts and Letters, First Year of Studies, Hesburgh Libraries, Office of Information Technologies, Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore, Office of Sustainability, Notre Dame Press and Office of Institutional Equity.

Members are evaluating the creation, distribution, consumption and usefulness of electronic course materials in an academic setting by examining the usefulness of the iPad as an eReader, with the broader goal of designing an “ePublishing ecosystem” that serves faculty, students and staff by making the creation, distribution, sharing, reading and annotation of eMaterials simple and inexpensive.

“eReaders are quickly being adopted for reading mass market literature, but also align well with the desire of higher education faculty and students to promote sustainability by reducing paper use,” says Paul Turner, manager of Academic Technologies in Notre Dame’s Office of Information Technologies. “But there are a wide range of issues we want to understand in order to decide when and where mobile wireless devices like the iPad can best replace textbooks and other paper-based course materials. Working with research faculty such as Professor Angst gives us the opportunity to study how students in multiple disciplines adopt and adapt to using eReaders.”

“The world of higher education today demands seamless touch points connecting teaching, learning, research, engagement, service and personal activities,” says Ron Kraemer, Notre Dame’s vice president of information technology and chief information officer. “Using the iPad in this course for both research and education will help us explore how we might enhance the education experience to better prepare our students as global citizens.”

The iPads will help Angst’s students manage real-world projects. For example, one team will help South Bend’s Center for the Homeless establish a guest-run coffee shop.

“They will meet with stakeholders, plan a strategy and write a detailed work plan for how to get it done in seven weeks,” Angst says. “And, I expect the students will rely on the iPads to develop creative ways of collaborating with their teammates. They can share documents, timelines and to-do lists, and show sketches to their clients. The possibilities are endless.”

The students will not, however, get to keep their iPads. They will be used for pilots in other courses later in the academic year sponsored by the Law School, Arts and Letters, First Year of Studies and Hesburgh Libraries.

For the moment, however, Angst’s 40 students are the only ones on campus walking around with University-loaned iPads and they fully intend to show them off and play games and music with them, in addition to developing brilliant ideas to improve society.

And they don’t have to sneak. It’s part of the plan.

“We asked the students to sync the iPads with their personal iTunes accounts,” Angst says, “so they feel a sense of ownership and so all of their applications will travel with them on a single device.”

“I have never used an electronic reader for a textbook,” says senior Jordan Rockwell. “I’m really excited to see how this new technology will aid the class.”

An expert on health IT who researches and advocates electronic medical records, Angst considers the project another step forward in the digitization of society. For the past two semesters, his students have taken digital exams and quizzes and turned in homework via email or Web file. Now, with the iPads, even the textbooks are electronic, making his class entirely paperless.

“Sustainability is a great fringe benefit,” Angst says. “But my motivation has more to do with efficiency. I don’t like stacks of paper in my office.”

He’s not the only one.

When Angst’s students registered for his course, they didn’t know about the iPad aspect. He emailed each student over the summer to let them know, fearing some may back out. Not one did. In fact, he received enthusiastic responses from nearly all of them and everybody showed up on the first day ─ with an iPad.

“I fully suspect there will be students in this class that really dive into this and maybe even write applications for the iPad,” Angst says. “Hopefully some will use them in their future careers.”

Source: http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/16512/

Quality in E-Learning

I had the pleasure of participating in a small symposium on quality in e-learning last week, organized by Athabasca University and the International Council for Distance Education. One of the things that bothers me about the quality issue is that only seems to reach the top of the agenda when e-learning is involved. The discussion seems to always start from the premise that the quality of e-learning is inherently suspect and we need to ensure it meets the same standard as our face-to-face instruction. In fact, there are no system-wide quality standards for teaching and learning in higher education and most higher education institutions rely almost entirely on student satisfaction and graduation rates as their measures of education quality. Nonetheless, perception is often more powerful than reality and, according to Frits Pannekoek, President of Athabasca University, distance education and online learning is facing increasing restrictions around the world and its quality is being increasingly questioned. With this in mind, the 13 participants spent a day and a half exploring what the quality issues are, real or perceived, and what the key dimensions of quality should be. We used the Quality On the Line framework as a starting point. Although this was developed on 2000, we found the key categories still relevant:

• Institutional Support
• Course Development
• Teaching/Learning
• Course Structure
• Student Support
• Faculty Support
• Evaluation & Assessment.

Trying to specify the actual benchmarks in each category proved to be much more difficult. At BCIT we have developed our own framework that took into account the Quality On the Line document as well as as several others. Ours is more course-specific, has more specific categories, and doesn’t address institutional factors. The categories are:

• Course Overview & Introduction
• Learning Outcomes
• Assessment
• Course Materials
• Learner Engagement
• Educational Technology
• Course Resources
• Learner Support Resources

Coming back to my opening point, what strikes me about both these frameworks, and the quality in e-learning discussion more generally, is that most of the issues are also directly applicable to all teaching and learning. So if we are going to focus on quality and invest time and effort in developing standards, let’s make sure they are not just applied to e-learning.

Here are some additional resources. Paul Bacsich, formerly of the UK Open Universityprovided these links to different quality frameworks:

• http://www.utdc.vuw.ac.nz/research/emm/index.shtml
• http://www.acode.edu.au/resources/ACODE_benchmarks.pdf
• http://www.eadtu.nl/e-xcellence/
• http://www.virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/Critical_Success_Factors

Torstein Rekkedal from NKI Norway (one of Europe’s largest online distance education institutions) provided these references:

• Rekkedal, T. (2006): Distance Learning and E-Learning Quality for SMEs – State of the Art. In: Paulsen, M. & Vieira, V. (eds.): An Analysis of E-Learning Experiences in European Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, pp. 11-18. Bekkestua, NKI.
• Rekkedal, T. (2006): State of the Art Report on Distance Learning and E-learning Quality for SMEs. 27 pages. Paper prepared for the EU Leonardo project, E-learning Quality for SMEs: Guidance and Counselling, May 2006.http://nettskolen.nki.no/in_english/elq-sme/ELQ-SMEStateofArt.pdf
• Rekkedal, T. (2002): Quality Assurance in Norwegian Distance Education – the Background for NADE’s Quality Standards with Reference to some European Initiatives. In: Hansson, H. (ed.): Eight Contributions on Quality and Flexible Learning. Report 1:2002, pp 27-53.Härnösand, Swedish Agency for Distance Education.http://nettskolen.nki.no/forskning/DISTUMQualityAssurance.pdf
• Rekkedal, T. (1998): Quality Assessment and Evaluation – Basic Philosophies, Concepts and Practices at NKI, Norway: In: Rathore, H. & Schuemer, R. (eds): Evaluation Concepts and Practice in Selected Distance Education Institutions, pp. 39-65. ZIFF Papiere 108, Hagen: FernUniversität, 1998. http://www.fernuni-hagen.de/ZIFF/ZP_108.pdf
• Rekkedal, T. (1996): Quality of Education Produced and Delivered by Different Institutions.In: Helsinki University of Technology: Open and Distance Learning – Enhancing Mobility in Europe, the Future with Socrates, pp B1-B9. Espoo: European Commission/Helsinki University of Technology. http://www.nettskolen.nki.no/forskning/30/quality.htm
• Ljoså, E. & Rekkedal, T. (1994): From External Control to Internal Quality Assurance: The Background for the development of NADE’s Quality Standards for Distance Education. In: EDEN: Human Resources, Human Potential and Human Development: the Role of Distance Education. Proceedings 1994 EDEN Conference, pp 153-166. Tallin: EDEN.http://www.nettskolen.nki.no/forskning/17/tallinn.htm
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NBC NEWS ANNOUNCES SERIES OF PANEL SESSIONS AND CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS FOR SEPTEMBER “EDUCATION NATION” SUMMIT

Panelists include Reed Hastings, Founder & CEO of Netflix; Michelle Rhee, Chancellor, District of Columbia Public School System of Washington, D.C.; Musician John Legend; Former US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings; and Randi Weingarten, President of American Federation of Teachers

New York, NY – September 13 – NBC News’ “Education Nation” Summit, the Sept. 27-28 centerpiece of the weeklong “Education Nation” initiative that begins Sept. 26 at Rockefeller Plaza, will convene the foremost policymakers, elected officials, thought leaders, educators, members of the business community and engaged citizens in a national discussion about the challenges, potential solutions and innovations spanning today’s education landscape. NBC News today announced the agenda of panel topics for the Summit, along with a number of confirmed panelists.

The Summit’s 11 panel sessions will present discussions on important topics in education such as: workforce readiness; developing great teachers; technology and innovation; parental involvement; early education; higher education; and the politics of education.  The “Education Nation” sessions will be covered on MSNBC and streamed on msnbc.com live and for delayed viewing.

“The state of education in America is facing a number of complex challenges. Many students are falling behind, dropping out and leaving school unprepared for today’s jobs in alarming numbers – yet a sense of urgency seems to be lacking,” said Steve Capus, President NBC News. “In order to spark and elevate a national dialogue we have convened an impressive ‘Education Nation’ lineup representing a great diversity of interests and ideas.”

“The response we’ve received from leaders in education has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Lisa Gersh, President of Strategic Initiatives at NBC News. “The experts we have convened at ‘Education Nation’ will highlight some of the biggest challenges and opportunities in education in this country, jumpstarting a national conversation about one of the most pressing issues of our time.”

To date, confirmed participating speakers include:

• Maria Bartiromo: Anchor of CNBC’s “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo” and Anchor and Managing Editor of “Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo”
• Michael Bloomberg: Mayor, City of New York
• Cory Booker: Mayor, City of Newark, New Jersey
• Phil Bredesen: Governor, State of Tennessee
• Steven Brill: Co-founder of Journalism Online
• Tom Brokaw: NBC News Special Correspondent
• Geoffrey Canada: CEO & President of Harlem Children’s Zone Project
• David Coleman: Founder & CEO, Student Achievement Partners; Contributing Author of the Common Core Standards
• Ann Curry: News Anchor, “Today” and Anchor, “Dateline NBC”
• Arne Duncan: US Secretary of Education
• Byron Garrett: CEO of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
• Allan Golston, President, US Program, The Gates Foundation
• Jennifer M. Granholm: Governor, State of Michigan
• David Gregory: Moderator, “Meet the Press”
• Reed Hastings: Founder & CEO of Netflix
• Lester Holt: Anchor, “NBC Nightly News,” Weekend Edition and Co-Host, “Today” Weekend Edition
• Walter Isaacson: President & CEO of the Aspen Institute
• Joel Klein: Chancellor of New York City Schools
• Wendy Kopp: CEO and Founder of Teach for America
• John Legend: Musician; Founder of the Show Me Campaign
• Jack Markell: Governor, State of Delaware
• Gregory McGinity: Managing Director of Policy, The Broad Education Foundation
• Andrea Mitchell: NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Host, “Andrea Mitchell Reports”
• Janet Murguia: President & CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
• Michael Nutter: Mayor, City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Bill Pepicello, Ph.D.: President of University of Phoenix
• Sally Ride: First Female Astronaut; Vice-chair of Change the Equation
• Michelle Rhee: Chancellor, District of Columbia Public School System of Washington, D.C.
• Edward Rust: Chairman & CEO of State Farm Insurance Companies
• Gwen Samuel, CT delegate to Mom Congress
• Barry Schuler: Former CEO of AOL
• Sterling Speirn: CEO, Kellogg Foundation
• Margaret Spellings: Former US Secretary of Education
• Antonio Villaraigosa: Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California
• Randi Weingarten: President of American Federation of Teachers (AFT-CLO)
• Brian Williams: Anchor and Managing Editor “NBC Nightly News”

Confirmed sessions at “Education Nation” include:

• Job One: Preparing America’s students to compete in the global economy
• The Innovation Gap: Bringing the technology revolution to the schoolhouse
• Change Agents: How do we reinvent the status quo at all levels?
• The Path to the American Dream: A survey on post-secondary education
• Kids Can’t Vote: How can the politics of education put students first?
• Educating the Digital Generation: What are the roles and responsibilities of media in learning?
• Good Apples: How do we keep good teachers, throw out bad ones, and put a new shine on the profession?
• A Fresh Start: Leveling the playing field before school begins
• Shrinking the Achievement Gap: Is education the civil rights issue of our time?
• Study Abroad: What can we learn from the global leaders in education?
• The Parent and the Village: Fostering a learning culture in our communities

NBC News’ “Education Nation” will launch Sunday, Sept. 26 on “Meet the Press.” Additional news coverage and programming airing across all NBC News programs and platforms will extend beyond the two-day Summit. For the entire week of September 27, “Nightly News,” “Today,” “Your Business,” MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, msnbc.com and nbclearn.com will highlight educational success stories, uncover staggering truths and myths about education, and demonstrate how poor education cripples our economy and society.

In addition to the Summit, NBC News will turn Rockefeller Plaza into a “Learning Plaza,” which will include a series of galleries open to the public to explore the latest technologies and techniques used in award-winning classrooms nationwide. Interactive elements of “Learning Plaza” include learning style quizzes, video teacher tributes, interactive learning stations, and a  “Call to Action” center where visitors can discover ways to take part in improving education. Also open to the public will be an interactive “Teaching Garden,” which teaches children about the importance of good nutrition and physical fitness through hands-on participation.

For more information visit EducationNation.com, or follow on twitter @EducationNation or find “Education Nation” on Facebook at Facebook.com/EducationNation