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March 2002 ISSN 1537-5080 Vol. 16 : No. 3< > IN THIS ISSUE PODIUM "The Sky is Falling!" said Chicken Little Elizabeth Perrin, Journal Editor FEATURE ARTICLES Impact of the Internet on Learning and Teaching Hossein Arsham Online Training in an Online World Curtis J. Bonk Web-based Learning Design: Planning for Diversity Patricia McGee Distance Education in Rural Public Schools Jason L. Hicks Carmen and Her Updates: An Introduction Guy Bensusan E-mail comments to STUDENT EXCHANGE the Editor Student Perspectives Calli Shelton Download the complete PDF of this issue TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE Amnis Systems Selected for University of Alaska Distance Learning Project GeoLearning Metadata STATE AND INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE Canada - International Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training Georgia Globe Models Efficient Approach to Statewide Distance Learning Western States Conference - Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications World Bank's Global Development Learning Network: Sharing Knowledge Electronically Between Nations to "Fight Poverty" POSITIONS AVAILABLE Concordia University, Montreal Northern State University, South Dakota EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2002 CALL FOR PAPERS INDEX FOR USDLA JOURNAL 2001 (with links) In This Issue | Podium | Featured Articles | Student Exchange | Technology Exchange State Exchange | Positions Available | Calendar | Call For Papers | Past Issues March 2002 ISSN 1537-5080 Vol. 16 : No. 3< > March Podium "The Sky is Falling!" said Chicken Little. Elizabeth Perrin, Editor, USDLA Journal Many of you remember the children's fable of Chicken Little in the forest, panicked and hysterical because of loud, unexpected noises. As the tree leaves swayed back and forth, Chicken Little was sure the end of the world approached. She announced to all the other animals that the sky was falling. Fortunately, in the fable, the other creatures were wise enough to do some investigative research and indeed, all was well. Certainly, leaves are rattling in the trees of the Distance Learning Forests. Doom predictors abound. And, as usual, it behooves those of us in education/learning to do our research and provide coherency to observed phenomena. The article, Online Students Don't Fare as Well as Classroom Counterparts, Study Finds, by Dan Carnevale, Chronicles of Higher Education, February 25th, 2002, is a case in point. Professors at Michigan State University have found that students who took an economics course online didn't do as well as the students who took the same course in a traditional classroom. There is now great uproar in the Distance Learning Forest. "Students who took the traditional sections on average answered 65.49 percent of the questions correctly, while the students who took the course online got 61.19 percent correct, on average." Thunder and Lightning. The extensive report analyzes the test score results, detailed down to gender. In the online course, female students did as well as male E-mail comments to students. In the F2F sections, women's scores averaged about six points lower than the average the Editor score for men. Do we hear a chunk of the sky falling in another part of the Forest? What is really causing the commotion? Should that percentage bring dismay to academic or Download the university administration? As Lev Abramov pointed out (DEOS-L 28 Feb 2002) "Has the 'low' 65 complete PDF of this % figure (which is quite correct for a lot of courses people take f2f) ever stopped someone from issue enrolling? I guess not. Then why would a 4% average drop frighten potential students off so much?" Perhaps the roar is abating. A wise Forest Denizen. Additional Forest patrols gather. Dr. A. E. Powell (Colorado State University) suggests that perhaps the online course design should be examined, "We know that student achievement can be at least equal in the online course - so the difference must be the design of the online course." Brad Jensen (www.EUFRATES.com) notes, "Preserve…skepticism when the conjectures come clothed in numbers and p values. The significance of the observation should not be confused with the significance of the labeling. A statistical measurement does not contain any meaning in itself." Mr. Jensen adds (perhaps philosophically), "Some people never learn this." Tom Horn ([email protected]) asks, "Consider this from the student's viewpoint. What if my choice is between taking an online course or not taking any course?" And, to close, a statement from Dr. Charalambos Vrasidas, Western Illinois University: "I follow with interest the discussion on research in distance education…I think that our quest for certainty has misled us in the study of education." (DEOS-L, 27 and 28 Feb 2002). The roar in Distance Learning Forest may be somewhat quieter. Where is Chicken Little? Where are we all? March 2002 ISSN 1537-5080 Vol. 16 : No. 3< > FEATURE ARTICLES Impact of the Internet on Learning and Teaching Hossein Arsham Online Training in an Online World Curtis J. Bonk Web-based Learning Design: Planning for Diversity Patricia McGee Distance Education in Rural Public Schools Jason L. Hicks Carmen and Her Updates: An Introduction Guy Bensusan E-mail comments to the Editor Download the complete PDF of this issue In This Issue | Podium | Featured Articles | Student Exchange | Technology Exchange State Exchange | Positions Available | Calendar | Call For Papers | Past Issues March 2002 ISSN 1537-5080 Vol. 16 : No. 3< > STUDENT EXCHANGE Student Perspectives Calli Shelton E-mail comments to the Editor Download the complete PDF of this issue In This Issue | Podium | Featured Articles | Student Exchange | Technology Exchange State Exchange | Positions Available | Calendar | Call For Papers | Past Issues March 2002 ISSN 1537-5080 Vol. 16 : No. 3< > TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE Amnis Systems Selected for University of Alaska Distance Learning Project GeoLearning Metadata E-mail comments to the Editor Download the complete PDF of this issue In This Issue | Podium | Featured Articles | Student Exchange | Technology Exchange State Exchange | Positions Available | Calendar | Call For Papers | Past Issues March 2002 ISSN 1537-5080 Vol. 16 : No. 3< > STATE AND INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE Canada - International Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training Georgia Globe Models Efficient Approach to Statewide Distance Learning Western States Conference - Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications World Bank's Global Development Learning Network: Sharing Knowledge Electronically Between Nations to "Fight Poverty" E-mail comments to the Editor Download the complete PDF of this issue In This Issue | Podium | Featured Articles | Student Exchange | Technology Exchange State Exchange | Positions Available | Calendar | Call For Papers | Past Issues March 2002 ISSN 1537-5080 Vol. 16 : No. 3< > Editor’s Note: This site constitutes a report from the "frontliner" of e-learning, since the University of Baltimore was the first school to offer all-online accredited Web MBA. The author taught the first course in this Web MBA program, which was Statistics & Relevant Resources on the Web. A second course in this same program was Applied Management Science. The site covers how to begin, how to operate, and how to make e-learning successful and enjoyable. Its contents are developed over years, and is intended for current students and sharing personal experiences and exchange of ideas with other educators. Impact of the Internet on Learning and Teaching Hossein Arsham Introduction There have been many technological dawns in the last 30 years, during which the desktop computer and the Internet have been developed; but there have been similar dawns throughout the 20th Century - film, radio, records, broadcast television, audiotape, videotape, programmed learning machines, etc. Each time enthusiasts have announced the transformation or even the end of the school/college/university. In fact, the impact on the bulk of teaching and learning has been minimal. Developments in paper/printing technologies have had far more influence, with the E-mail comments to consequence that face-to-face discussion and paper resources still dominate public education. the Editor Audio-visual media have been treated more as an icing-on-the-cake than as something at the very heart of learning -- and likewise their long-suffering support services (though the new media, particularly video, have fared somewhat better in the development of corporate training programs). Download the In fact, there is debate in the instructional design literature about whether there are any unique complete PDF of this attributes of media that can promote improved learning [see, e.g., Kozma, R. B. (1994)]. Will issue media influence learning? Reframing the debate, Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 7-19]. On hiring an online graduate, employers are likely to be cautious, if not skeptical. The belief is that an online degree is an interesting exercise, but it is not going to be rewarding or valuable as a full-time traditional degree. This is partly, because most employers have traditional degrees and may be reluctant to hire someone with a credential not yet established. The single biggest advantage in online learning programs is interactivity they offer. One of the biggest issues facing universities wading into online learning is interactivity, both in its level and mode. Just what constitutes 'interactivity' is hardly clear for some instructors. To some people, it means enabling learners and instructors to share ideas in