Desire2Blog

Yesterday I served as moderator for two hours for an online discussion forum about President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative The "Jam" was organized by the Knowledge in the Public Interest , the Brookings Institution , the Education Commission of the States , and Jobs for the Future . Community college educators from all around the country joined in the conversation. My topic was one of six different discussions and was titled "Accessing Online Education: Funding to Create Free, Web-based Courses." Plan is for $500 Million ($50M each year for 10 years) H.R. Bill 3221 should be voted on this week. Senate bill in earlier stages. UPDATE: 3221 passed right before I posted this . Senate bill still coming.) Here's the text from Obama’s speech in July about the proposal to “…build a new virtual infrastructure to complement the education and training community colleges can offer. So we're going to support the creation of a new online, open-source clearinghou...

Looking for your thoughts about the $500 Million ($50M per year for 10 years) that President Obama announced for the "creation of a new online open-source clearing house of courses" during his appearance at Macomb Community College on July 14, 2009. The relevant part of his speech is snipped and shown below. There seem to be very few details about this project at this time. It seems like a reasonable strategy for experienced distance educators to try to provide some guidance for how this initiative is developed. Please share your thoughts about how this should be crafted.

Inside Higher Ed's BlogU recently posted the following article: 5 Reasons Microsoft Will Buy Blackboard . While reading the story I couldn't help but think how different the article might have been if I'd written it. A little something like this ... The top 5 reasons why we WON'T see Microsoft buying Blackboard by the end of 2010: 1. Because they suck! (they = Bb of course) 2. Because Microsoft is trying harder not to suck so much. 3. Because buying Blackboard would only prove that Microsoft is more evil rather than less. 4. Because most of the people in the education space (including lots of Blackboard users) think that Blackborg is a terrible partner for education. Not exactly the best way for Microsoft to become more relevant in the education sector. 5. Because they suck! Please let me know if I've missed anything.

In previous posts, I highlighted part A and part B of the information from St. Petersburg College about their expectations of and for online students . Today I'll take a look at their part C - Academic Civility and Freedom of Expression. This is what St. Pete has to say about this: Expectations: Students may expect that: They will be able to pursue their studies in a stimulating, open environment where the pursuit of truth, free expression of ideas, responsible criticism, and reasonable dissent are recognized as basic to the educational process. Students have the right to exercise their academic freedom within the responsible confines of the course material. A process exists for students to express and document concerns they may have about specific action, inaction or behavior by any member of the College faculty or staff. Responsibilities: Students have the responsibility to: Act in accordance with standards of reasonable behavior, respect and civility. This standard w...

In a previous post I highlighted part A of the information from St. Petersburg College about their expectations of and for online students . Today I'll take a look at their part B. Part C is coming soon. From SPC: Part B. Academic Honesty and Integrity Expectations. Students may expect to: Pursue academic studies in a positive and ethical context, where academic standards are upheld. Have their academic work assessed fully and equitably in a learning community where competition is fair, integrity is required, and cheating is punished. Understand and agree with recognizable standards on plagiarism . Have access to a stated procedure for filing academic grievances and appeals. (See Board of Trustees rule 6Hx23-4.36.) Responsibilities. Students are expected to: Be honest and forthright in their academic endeavors. Familiarize themselves with the College's academic honesty policy and standards as specified in the online Academic Honesty Policy , Board of Trustees rule 6Hx23-4.46...

Continuing from the previous guest post by Jeannette Campos , here are five more suggestions that she gives for shaping expectations about online learning. 6. Make No Assumptions: Establish a baseline of what your faculty do, and do not, know about instructional design. Faculty need to understand the relationship between instructional objectives, instructional strategies, instructional tools and evaluation methods. Be prepared to do a lot of intensive coaching around how to design and develop online, prior to how we deliver online. Take time for the basics. The learning will be so much more solid if it is supported by good ISD. 7. Professional Development: Schedule weekly learning lunches and support them with an online resource center for faculty. In my experience, this predictable and consistent support really made a difference. I also had great success facilitating a week long intensive seminar for all faculty developing online courses for the first time. Prior to that workshop...

One of the better resources that I have discovered about identifying and communicating a college's expectations about online learning comes from a place where I have lots of friends. St. Petersburg College in Florida is rightfully considered to be a leader in the field of online teaching and learning. They have a very large online enrollment, a skilled support staff and administration, an engaged online faculty group, and plenty of awards to prove it. This is the first installment where I take a look at their list of expectations and opine about how a similar list might look when we are finished (if it's ever really "finished") with this project at Lake Superior College. From St. Petersburg College : ----------------- Part I. Guidelines/Expectations for Students A. Academic Participation Expectations. Students may expect: The opportunity to be active participants in a stimulating and challenging education that is international in scope, interactive in process and dive...