Giving the Blind access to online education

A story at E-School News …

For hundreds of thousands of students across the United States, virtual schooling–instruction that takes place entirely online–has opened educational doors previously inaccessible. But for students who are blind, visually impaired, or who have certain other disabilities, cyber-education programs might actually create more barriers than they remove.

Bringing down those barriers was the objective addressed by a select group of special-education experts and industry executives who convened earlier this month at the National Summit on Disability and Distance Education in Washington, D.C. Their goal was to form an agenda that would help make the promise of virtual instruction a reality for the nation's special-needs learners.

Embracing E-Learning

From Federal Computer Week … via Distance Educator.

From the Defense Department to the Internal Revenue Service, federal officials are embracing e-learning to teach managers the ins and outs of team building, help soldiers earn a computer science degree or teach the basics of microeconomics.But in many ways, building an e-learning system can be a lesson itself. One of the biggest problems organizations face is how to integrate into the electronic courseware the content that is often located in different places on different systems and in different formats.

Encouraging faculty to teach online

From the Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration Clients (gasp! what a title), an article on using personal journey research in attracting teachers.

Administrators of distance learning are faced with the challenge of encouraging reluctant faculty to consider online teaching. Is it possible that supporting faculty to conduct modest research studies is such an avenue? Currently, many research studies compare student grades or scores from an online course to a more traditional one, ignoring confounding variables, such as individual differences, and the impact of instructional design. Yet despite criticism of the comparison study, it continues to be used. Are faculty using these studies to produce replicable results or are they using this design as a way to explore web-based learning and to prove to themselves that it is an acceptable innovation? If so, these studies can be seen as more properly the province of qualitative research that chronicles a personal journey focusing on what the researcher has learned rather than producing valid and replicable research results.

Thomson goes for streamlined access

From Cyber Learning Labs, via Distance Educator.

Indianapolis, Ind. – May 18, 2004 – CyberLearning Labs, Inc., developer of ANGEL, the open, flexible enterprise learning management system, announced today that their customers now have streamlined access to Thomson Higher Education's WebTutor content formatted specifically for use with ANGEL.

" We're seeing increased demand for WebTutor content in ANGEL format,&lrquo; said Jonathan Hulbert, SVP, Strategic Marketing & Business Development, Thomson Higher Education. " Providing content in the form most convenient for our customers is an integral part of Thomson's customer service commitment.&lrquo;

Online training saves big bucks

From Insurance and Technology, via Distance Educator …

By embracing online learning, The Cincinnati Insurance Co. (CIC, $14 billion in assets) was able to leverage the Web to deliver better training, especially to its 1,400 remote employees who work out of their homes.

Fairfield, Ohio-based CIC, a P&C insurer operating in 31 states, has 2,400 headquarter associates, but no regional offices.

Knowledge Village

Found another site further afield, in Dubai, that has a few good links for online education aficianados. Knowledge Village is the Middle East's international learning hub. It looks like they are starting a new phase with their project and trying to bring more international universities on board in Cooperative ventures.

Phase 2 will include more international universities, which will be operational by the fall of 2004. On completion of this second phase, Knowledge Village aims to attract 4000 students not only from UAE but also from other neighboring countries. This would make Knowledge Village the largest centre for international learning in the region, with a growing, innovative, campus-style community.

Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Director of Knowledge Village explains "In doing so we will be able to achieve our multiple objectives of retaining talent that will help the growth of new industries in the region of ICT, Media and Finance, amongst others, as well as open opportunities for graduate level programs such as Masters and PhD's. Through the growth of these new industries and the availability of postgraduate programs, the linkage between the corporate and academic will become stronger. Only then will scientific research and development opportunities will see their way into our region to shift us in to a more productive era.&lrquo;

The Teaching Company

The Teaching Company.

Here's a good resource for anyone looking into continuing education and lifelong learning. Seems like they have quite a few interesting courses to offer, including some I'd like to take (if I had the extra time). This Americas in the Revolutionary Era is one, for instance. Like most Americans, I don't know much or enough, about the history of our neighbors to the South.

eCornell Research Blog

ECornell Research Blog has some great stories for those looking for more online learning resources. It looks like the compilation of author post pieces more geared toward teachers or providers than students, but it does have a quality selection of articles and links.

I found this piece about "Fair Use in Online Courses – Where are We Now?" there, from Explana.com.

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act passed in November 2002 presents challenges and opportunities to all institutions involved in the production and dissemination of educational multimedia, digital resources, and research tools. At heart is the issue of intellectual property and complex issues of ownership and rights, which have been complicated not only by the widely publicized development of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, but by the way educational materials are presented in the digital classroom. Ironically, SCORM compliancy sets up a new area of contradiction and confusion, particularly in the way that the shared content objects (the SCOs) are managed and deployed.

Here is one link more student oriented they had about the Student As Customer – A New Tension? from bath University in the UK.

Students consider the more problem-based approach to their education as being difficult. With formal lectures now largely eliminated they feel short-changed because the 'value' of their courses is reduced due to the lack of weight of the lecture notes. So this is a double whammy – difficult and short on value. As a customer a student is likely to choose traditional lecture based courses, although the lecture material may reside in some electronic repository, rather than courses that are more pedagogically sound.

National Technological University launched today

There's a new online university I was just informed about … National Technological University (a.k.a. NTU) which has launched today. The
school has some very interesting engineering and tech programs.

NTU will offer Master's and Certificates in Engineering (Mechanical and
Electrical), Computer Science and Management (Specifically for Engineers)
To qualify for Master programs, US and Canadaian students must have a bachelor degree and GPA 2.5.

Kaplan College Offers Delta Air Lines Employees Online Education Options Through New Alliance

From Distance Educator.com …

Kaplan College announced it has formed a strategic alliance with Delta Air Lines, Inc., to provide its employees with access to online education programs, financial aid and scholarships.

Additionally, Kaplan College will grant four one-year scholarships to Delta's employees and affiliates, and their immediate family members. Kaplan will also provide financial assistance and will accept American Council on Education (ACE) credits for Delta training courses.