1998 ALN Conference

November 13 - 15, 1998

Marriott, World Trade Center
New York, NY

As the knowledge demands imposed upon both those who teach and learn increase, new technologies are making possible innovative approaches to education students and employees outside of the academic and corporate classroom. Newly-created asynchronous learning networks (ALN) eliminate the instructional impediments of space and time, while providing a degree of student-faculty interaction and collaboration that is truly unique.

We invite you to participate in the Fourth International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks, sponsored by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in conjunction with the New York University, School of Continuing Education and the ALN Web at Vanderbilt University. The conference will be an opportunity to learn about the latest asynchronous learning programs, processes, packages and protocols. This conference is designed to inform both experienced professionals and interested newcomers working in

Conference Proceedings

Friday, November 13

Pre-Conference Workshop for ALN Beginners

John Crocetti
Orrin Henry Ingram Fellow of Engineering Management
Coordinator, Management of Technology On-Line Initiative
Vanderbilt University, Chair

Opening Plenary Session

Hon. Michael O. Leavitt, Governor of Utah,  Co-founder of "The Western Governors University"

Plenary Panel:
Scaling up ALNs at Major State Universities
Major state university systems can scale up ALN offerings to provide a wide range of courses and programs of interest to off-campus populations. This panel  featured descriptions of ALN programs at three large state university systems and three senior executives of those systems addressed the issues involved.

Dr. James Stukel President, University of Illinois Chair Dr. Sylvia Manning VP Academic Affairs, University of Illinois Dr. James Ryan VP for Outreach and Cooperative Extension, Pennsylvania State University Dr. Christine Haile Associate Provost, State University of New York System

Dinner and Keynote Address

Chris Curran
Director of the Ireland Distance Education Centre
Dublin City University

Saturday, November 14

Learning Access
Asynchronous learning networks eliminate the instructional impediments of space and time, while providing students with extensive interaction and collaboration opportunities. This panel  illustrated how ALN programs are improving access for a broad range of learners beyond that provided by traditional distance education approaches.

Richard Vigilante
Senior Director, Information Technologies Institute
School of Continuing and Professional Studies
New York University Chair

Cheryl D. Bullock
Evaluation Specialist
Office of Instructional Resources
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Select

D. Michelle Hinn
Research Graduate Assistant
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Access Issues from Three Different Perspectives"

Linda D. Collins
Coordinator Reachout Project 
Rio Salado Community College

Mary Hannaman
Coordinator Reachout Project
Rio Salado Community College
"Providing Access to Under-Served Students Using Non-Traditional Methodologies"

Select

Rick L Shearer Sr.
Senior Instructional Designer
Pennsylvania  State University
"ALN Environments Designed to Facilitate Multiple Levels of Interaction"

ALN Workshop Experiences
This panel reviewed the experience of the ALN Web Group in offering a series of on-line workshops entitled: Getting Started Creating On-line Courses. Speakers included participants who have taken the workshop.

John Bourne
Director for the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education
Vanderbilt University Chair

ALN Workshop Experiences

Chair: J. Bourne
This session consists of a number of presentations about the experiences of participants in the ALN Web Workshop on Building on-line Courses. Panel Participants:

Select  Madison Daily, University of Missouri

Select  Scott Starbuck, Land Land College

Select  Belinda Davis Lazarus, University of Michigan

Linda Lacey, University of North Carolina

Select  Marcia Birken, Rochester Institute of Technology

Select  Jeff Salter, University of South Carolina

Select  Dana M. Deering, University of Texas of the Permian Basin

Select  Amy Geffen, Risk and Insurance Management Society

Select  Gail Prentis,. MiraCosta College, Oceanside, CA

Select  Cheryl L. Prachyl, Texas Wesleyan University

Select  Margaret Porciello, SUNY at Farmingdale

Janet C. Scherubel, The University of Memphis

Learning Effectiveness
As the knowledge demands imposed upon students increase, ALNs are creating new approaches to meet these demands. This panel described how ALN programs are meeting or exceeding the learning objectives set by faculty and institutions.

Select

J. Olin Campbell
Research Associate, Professor of Engineering Education
Chair
"Design for Learning Effectiveness"

Dr. David Batstone
Educational Consultant
Convene International
"Components of Effective Online Courses"

Select

Nicholas Brockunier
Assistant Dean, Business and Management Studies
University of Maryland, University College
"Learning Effectiveness in Undergraduate Web Courses in Accounting, Business, and Management"

Select

Jonathan Darby
Director, Technology-Assisted Lifelong Learning
University of Oxford
"What Makes a Good ALN course?"

ALN Policy Issues
Two policy issues continue to be at the forefront: regulation across boundaries and ownership of intellectual property such as course materials. This panel featured experts in these areas, who presented divergent views.

Michael Goldstein
Attorney at Law, Dow, Lohnes and Albertson
Chair
"Regulation Issues"

Select

Dale Harris
Executive Director, Center for Telecommunications
Stanford University
Andy DiPaolo
Executive Director, Stanford Center for Professional Development
Stanford University.
"Institutional Policy for ALN"

Jim Neal
Director, Milton S. Eisenhower Library
Johns Hopkins University
"Intellectual Property Issues, an overall perspective"

Cost-Effectiveness of ALNs
ALN programs may be initiated to improve instructional quality, increase market share, and reduce delivery costs. This panel addressed the production, delivery and maintenance costs as they relate to fundamental measures of learning outcomes and effectiveness.

Select

Lanny Arvan
Director of SCALE
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chair
"The SCALE Efficiencies Projects"

Select

Diane Musumeci
Director, "The Spanish Project"
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Using technology to redistribute instructional resources and reduce cost at the post-secondary level"

Select

E. Kashy
University Distinguished Professor Physics-Astronomy
Michigan State University
M. Thoennessen
Associate Professor Physics-Astronomy
Michigan State University
"Evidence of Enhanced Productivity in a 500-Student Lecture Course."

Gary W. Matkin
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Technology Initiatives
University of California, Berkeley Extension
"Toward a Financial Model for the ALN Enterprise"

Funding Initiatives
Initially, ALN activities could be started through foundation and grant support. Though this is likely to continue, more predictable, stable means of support are now needed for effective scale-up. This panel focused on development of business approaches, getting institutional support, and state support for such efforts.

A. Frank Mayadas
Program Officer, The Alfred Sloan Foundation
Chair

Select

David Ullman &
Management Information Systems and Chairperson
University Information Planning Task Force
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Starr Roxanne Hiltz
Distinguished Professor of Computer and Information Science
New Jersey Institute of Technology
"Obtaining Institutional Commitment"

Select

Michael Goldstein
Attorney at Law, Dow, Lohnes and Albertson
"Accessing Capital Markets to support Education"

Joseph Rodota
Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Pete Wilson
Director of California Virtual University
"Virtual Universities: The View from the Statehouse"

Faculty Attitudes toward ALNs
The seminar-like format of many ALN courses presents faculty with significant curriculum design and delivery challenges and opportunities. This panel showed how ALN-based instruction can grow beyond the "early-adopters" and be utilized by the wider faculty.

Burks Oakley II
Associate V.P. for Academic Affairs
University of Illinois
Chair

Joel L. Hartman,
Vice Provost for Information Technologies & Resources
University of Central Florida
Barbara Truman-Davis,
Director, Course Development and Web Services
University of Central Florida
"You Can Cross the Grand Canyon in Two Hops: Faculty Development for Positive Results University of Central Florida ALN Case Study"

Select

Starr Roxanne Hiltz
Distinguished Professor, CIS
New Jersey Institute of Technology
"Preliminary Results of Semi- Structured Interviews on "Becoming a Virtual Professor"

Select

Greg Hislop
Associate Dean
Drexel University
"ALN as a Workplace Feature for Faculty"

Select

John C. Ory
Director, Office of Instructional Resources
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Cheryl Davis Bullock
Evaluation Specialist, Office of Instructional Resources
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Faculty Attitudes About Using ALN"

ALN Training in Business
Globalization, technology, and downsizing have imposed major and often conflicting demands on employee need for and access to corporate training. This panel described how some multinational corporations are increasing employee knowledge and productivity via ALNs.

David Sachs
Assistant Dean, School of Computer Science and Information Systems
Pace University
Chair
"Forging Effective ALN Relationships with Corporate Partners"

Michael Clinton
VP Business Development, OneWorld Inc.
"Learning Systems for Performance Improvement"

Select

Richard H. Lytle, Professor
College of Information Science and Technology
Drexel
Michael Rogich
Director, Sloan Center for Asynchronous Learning
Drexel University
"Opportunities and Challenges for ALNs in Industry"

Art Fifer
Director, ATEC Center
Villa Julie College
"Villa Julie College's Corporate Experiences"

Sunday, November 15

Student satisfaction with ALNs
ALNs offer the potential to extend the campus experience for resident students and create aspects of the campus experience for the distant student. This panel described how effective ALN programs supplement or provide a range of educational services to their students.

Mary Beth Almeda
Director, Center for Media and Independent Learning
University of California Extension
Chair
"Factors in Student Satisfaction in UC Extension's Online Program"

Select

Dr. Melody M. Thompson
Assistant Director
Pennsylvania  State University World Campus
Ms. Jean McGrath
Director of Learner Support
Pennsylvania  State University World Campus
"Student Satisfaction with the ALN Experience"

Benjamin Sackmary
Associate Professor, Business Department
SUNY College at Buffalo
Lynne M. Scalia
Associate Professor, Business Department
SUNY College at Buffalo
"U.S. and Mexican Student Views on the Internet in Education"

Building Institutional ALN Capacity
Institutions can take several routes for building the capacity for delivering ALN courses.   This panel compared and contrasted two different approaches: (1) contracting with commercial providers and (2) having faculty, staff and students create and deliver courses.

William H. Graves
President, COLLEGIS
Chair
"Building Institutional Capacity for ALN: Converting Random Acts of Progress into Institutional Progress"

Ann H. Moore
Director, Information Technology Initiatives
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
"Institutional Imperative: Integrating Technology for Asynchronous Teaching and Learning"

Howard Decklebaum
Director,  Information Technologies
New York University
School of Professional and Industry Studies
"Building an ALN Corporate/University Help Desk Infrastructure"

Health Professions ALNs
ALNs are receiving increasing attention in the Health Professions.  This panel discussed progress that has been made in this area; specific attention was given to the needs and special uses of ALN in the major areas of health care.

Colleen Conway-Welch
Dean of School of Nursing
Vanderbilt University
Chair

Linda Norman
Associate Dean
Vanderbilt University
"Use of ALN for Group Projects in Graduate Nursing Courses"

Janet P. Engle
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice
College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago
Susan L. Peverly
Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs
Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice
College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago

Select

Shiela Englebart
Director of Center for Instructional Technology and Education Support
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Supporting Faculty Use of Technology Within A School of Nursing"

Dr. W. Henry Mosley
Professor, Department of Population and Family Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins University
"Transforming Public Health Education for the 21st Century Professional"

Lectures on Demand in ALN
On-line lectures-on-demand within an ALN environment were not feasible for a general set of learners just few years ago. Now they are. Faculty from three universities described the development of ALNs that feature a lecture-on-demand component. These speakers described the development of ALNs that feature a lecture-on-demand element and possible implications for cost and faculty attitudes.

Haniph Latchman
CSE Computer Science Engineering, Department of Electrical
University of Florida
Chair
"Developing Multimedia ALN Content Using Synchronized Streaming Media - On-campus and Off-campus Experiences at the University of Florida"

Dr. Dwight L. Jaggard
Associate Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
University of Pennsylvania
"Lectures on Demand for Master's Degree and Professional Engineering Degree Education"

Select

Andy DiPaolo
Executive Director, Stanford Center for Professional Development
Associate Dean, School of Engineering
Stanford University.
Dale Harris
Executive Director, Center for Telecommunications at Stanford
Consulting Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
Stanford University
"Meeting Educational Needs in an On-Demand Environment: An Internet Strategy"