Posted 2:04 PM by Steve
From Steve's Head

The E Team - Installment 1

One of the things I love about vacationing in another country is how many of my preconceptions and assumptions are blown to smithereens by the experience. Even though I should know better, I went away this time with the idea that I was going to a society that is quite similar to my own - G7, highly industrialized, etc. While it wasn't as big a shock as some of my other travels (Poland in the 1980s, Thailand/Hong Kong - which despite the massive culture shock in both cases helped to produce some of my best-loved travel memories...), there were enough differences between Canada and Italy to help remind me that my assumptions are just that - assumptions. The only thing that they accurately reflect is my particularly skewed view of the world.

When I returned to my life and my day job here in Winnipeg and started leafing through the stack of articles which I use to create this weekly column, selecting and discarding items based on the particular filters that I bring to the table, I came upon the earth-shattering realization that even though I am working in the field of e-learning, I can't really assume to understand the nature of all of the different areas of this field - well, I can, but I'll probably be off the mark by a fair bit. We're all part of something I've called the "E Team" (yes, it's a corny play on the corny 1980s A Team TV show - I like pop culture, what can I say???), but the issues, requirements, constrictions, and possibilities that we face in our respective areas often vary significantly. In most of my columns to date, I've examined areas that I've worked in directly or that I'm interested in - all based on the focus of my daily existence (well, at least my career-based existence), which revolves around development and design of courses and programs. Perhaps it is time for a change of pace, a virtual vacation, a...well, you get the picture.

As a result, I thought I would focus the next several columns on three of the major groups in the e-learning field - administrators, instructors, and learners and focus in on some of the issues, needs, opportunities that face people in these respective areas. Hopefully, these articles will also allow the rest of us a glimpse into a part of the e-learning world that we may not experience on a regular basis - that's right...just because these aren't materials which directly relate to your regular work, explore them anyway...be brave...take the plunge... We start this whirlwind tour with a look at some administration-related articles.

Getting Administrators up to Speed

Quote: "Administrative support is a key factor in the success of any kind of school reform, particularly reform dealing with the integration of technology into instruction. The release of the Technology Standards for School Administrators in the fall 2001, and grant and award opportunities increasingly targeting administrative training in this area...underscore growing concerns that school leaders improve their professional practice through training in the use of digital-age tools."

Comment: We've gotten to the point where we acknowledge the value of training instructors and students how to succeed in online courses. I am amazed that we have not heard more about training administrators to successfully implement and manage new technology in educational institutions; regardless of whether we are in the ranks of students, instructors, or administrators, rarely are we visionary enough to immediately see the value of a new technology and know instinctively how to use it in our daily lives. This article presents three programs designed for such administrative training. It also seems to indicate that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a good funding source to approach if you are planning such a training program...

How MIT's OpenCourseWare Will Change E-Learning

Quote: "Strikingly bold in its scope and simplicity, this initiative promises to have major effects on education in general and e-learning in particular...The OCW initiative may greatly affect other colleges and universities, for-profit e-learning suppliers, and other deliverers of education worldwide. The existence of OCW means that other leading institutions will feel pressure either to imitate MIT or to develop alternative approaches..."

Comment: I remember several years ago, the prevailing wisdom was that post secondary instructors were going to get rich because of the value of course content needed for courses going online. The pending goldrush was quickly derailed by MIT's sudden announcement that it was working to place all of its course content on the Internet - available for anyone to use. This rather bold move by MIT instructors and administrators helped to underline the fact that content is but one important part of a solid online course. The dust has far from settled as to how this move will impact other institutions, but this article outlines some of the potential outcomes and effects of OCW on both post secondary institutions and e-learning.

eCommerce Comes Slowly to the Campus

Quote: "Across the country over the past two months, newly arriving college students have been offered a wide array of eCommerce and eService options from the commercial enterprises - banks, credit card firms, and long distance providers, among others - that want their business and their loyalty. Students can easily and securely access their bank and credit card accounts on the Web, or check on their long distance bills. Yet many do not have access to parallel services - online transcripts, registration, financial account or financial aid information."

Comment: This article presents a state of the industry overview of e-commerce in American post secondary education, as well as identifying the challenges presented by current budget constraints.

Campus Portals: Future Hope, Past History, or More Hype?

Quote: Just as the white-hot boom of the dot.com economy has been replaced by a more circumspect approach to e-commerce, so has the campus portal market retrenched with revised business plans, the demise of some early providers, and the continued consolidation of others. In this more cautious time, what is the value and future for campus portals? Given the economic constraints placed upon higher education and the developing concerns regarding tuition increases, should campuses continue to create, develop, and implement portals?"

Comment: Can portals provide a valuable service in an educational setting? The answer, according to this article is, that depends on whether you do your research and think through what you want to achieve by creating a portal. An overview of the major types of portals is provided, and valuable contributions portals can provide for students and staff are identified. The article lists several examples of successful academic portals you can visit.