Press Release

Blended Learning Programs Expand at Colleges and Universities Across the Country and Globe

The fifth annual Sloan-C Workshop on Blended Learning and Higher Education will take place in Chicago April 6 through 8, 2008. Over 200 administrative leaders, faculty members, instructional designers and researchers will attend and benefit from this 2-day event by learning, sharing and networking during the highly interactive workshop sessions.

Major universities are now offering additional courses being taught totally, primarily and partially online with the use of online learning systems and products. As a result, institutions must now evaluate blended learning strategies in terms of effective and purposefulness.

The University of Illinois at Chicago hosts this 2-day workshop to benefit faculty, administrators, instructional media designers and student services professionals from two- and four-year institutions of higher education who are currently enacting or planning blended learning programs. Blended learning provides a platform for introducing teaching innovations, resolving resource concerns and facilitating the learning of students in the digital age.

Over 15 nationally recognized pioneers of blended learning will present at the workshop, “Blending with Purpose”, which takes place Sunday April 6 through 8 at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Chicago. Presenters include: Robert Fulkerth - Chair of the Operations and Information Technology Department at Golden Gate University, Robert Kaleta – director of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Learning Technology Center, George Otte – Academic Director of the CUNY Online Baccalaureate Program and Director of Instructional Technology for CUNY and Karen Vignare – Director of MSU Global Ventures at Michigan State University. "Blending with Purpose" is highlighted through common questions which emerge - what do you blend, where do you begin, how do you scale, how do you pay for it and how do you know if it’s working. The workshop is further broken down into three separate tracks to focus discussions and impart specialized knowledge to teams for higher education institutions.

Break out sessions will center on three primary areas – administration, pedagogy and assessment/evaluation. The administration track focuses on individual institutional vision and goals as well as current and foreseen problems faced by administrators. The pedagogy track examines the various online tools in teaching which allow faculty to maximize learning effectiveness with new ways to present content, improve student communication, actively engage students, design assessments and provide real world and service learning experiences for students. The assessment and evaluation track concentrates on emerging issues and practices centered on both institutional and student impact. Each track is designed to engage attendees and maximize blended learning initiative potential.

Additionally, “Blending with Purpose” features poster sessions to provide attendees with an opportunity to share effective practices and innovative ideas. Sessions will present research studies, problem solving solutions, unique organizational structures or course outlines that may be of interest to the serials (academic, learning, blended learning) community

Those interested in registering or learning more should visit www.blendedworkshop.uic.edu, call (312) 355-0423, or e-mail blended@uic.edu. Vendors interested in sponsoring the event may contact UIC External Education at (312) 355-0423.