Welcome to the Summer 2011 Newsletter!
Welcome to the Summer 2011 MDE Newsletter where you will find latest news from the MDE community, our presence in distance education events, our publications, awards, and new initiatives. It has been a while that we have posted a fresh newsletter, but as you will see this does not mean that we have not been busy... This newsletter brings you an enormous amount of information and important events and developments for the MDE in the last year and a half, so be sure to read it all!
Recent Program Changes
Olaf Zawacki-Richter
In October 2010, Olaf was appointed as full professor for educational technology at Oldenburg University, Faculty of Education and Social Sciences and the Center for Lifelong Learning. In this position Olaf is the Academic Director of the MDE program on the Oldenburg side. In April 2011, he became a member of the Faculty Council of the School of Education and Social Sciences in Oldenburg.
Thus, the MDE is now more strongly anchored in the education departments, both at UMUC (since the MDE is now part of the Education Department) and at Oldenburg University. This is an important time for the MDE as our two universities are preparing to expand the partnership through creating a “double degree” for students who wish to earn their master’s from University of Oldenburg as well as from University of Maryland University College (UMUC). Olaf is a familiar face to the MDE family. Since 2000 he has been involved in the development of the MDE program at the Center for Distance Education at Oldenburg University where he completed his Ph. D. in 2003. Before returning to Oldenburg, Olaf held a fixed term professorship for educational technology at the FernUniversity, Germany's Open University. Olaf is an internationally recognized expert in distance education published widely in the top journals in our field. Olaf is also a member of the editorial board of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL). He is an invited keynote speaker, lately at the EDEN Research Workshop in Budapest and the DEHub Summit 2011 in Sydney. We welcome Olaf in his new role and hope for fresh ideas and initiatives especially with regards to research and professional collaboration within the MDE faculty. The MDE moves to the Education Department: Meet Jennie Pilato
In the Fall semester, 2010 Virginia Pilato (Jennie) was delighted with the news that the MDE was moving to the Department of Education, where she has been Chair since 2009. As anticipated, the three programs now comprising the Department (the MDE, the MAT for new teachers, and the MEd in Instructional Technology) share important and energizing connections through issues of distance and e-learning.
Jennie enjoys working directly with Stella Porto, MDE Program Director, on numerous MDE-related projects. Further, she is happy to have met several faculty members via the MDE’s Virtual Conference in January, the Maryland Distance Learning Association conference in March, and at UMUC’s Spring commencement in May. Indicative of the importance of the MDE program in the Department of Education, Jennie travelled to Oldenburg in April. Regrettably, Stella was unable to visit Oldenburg as planned because of the passing of her father. The visit for Jennie was rich in extensive conversations with Thomas Huelsmann and Olaf Zawicki-Richter, as well as with co-founder of the MDE, Uli Bernath, giving Jennie an opportunity to expand her knowledge of this acclaimed program. She is extremely grateful to all three, as well as to Education Dean Manfred Wittrock and many faculty members and researchers for their wonderful hosting of her visit. Importantly, the Oldenburg visit had as one of its main purposes discussion of the proposed partnership expansion to create a double degree for students seeking degrees from Oldenburg as well as UMUC. UMUC is extremely supportive and ready to assist Oldenburg in meeting its university and national requirements, and to revise certain of its own UMUC administrative processes as necessary. This topic is one that will be discussed further in the MDE community, as it is an important development in the UMUC-Oldenburg partnership. Jennie is always inspired by MDE accomplishments, and is thrilled to work collaboratively with her new colleagues in the MDE community. TMAN-DETC Specialization Replaced
Starting with the Summer '11 semester the new TMAN-MDE Dual Degree Replaces the TMAN-DETC specialization. Read more here and here. Students who have already opted to take the TMAN-DETC specialization will be allowed to complete it; the new dual degree is an option for all other students.
Awards
EFMD-CEL Accreditation
The MDE Program received re-accreditation from EFMD- the European Foundation for Management Development. Successfully earning re-accreditation required the efforts of MDE faculty, staff, students and alumni. Many of which provided the EFMD with personal interviews and insights into the MDE program. A significant part of the process included a self-assessment which required input from all parts of the MDE community. Congratulations to the entire MDE Program and UMUC. Program Research Garners UCEA Awards The MDE program received two 2010 University Continuing Education Association awards this past September. The program was recognized with and award for Program & Activity Research: Applied Research in Distance Education, while Stella Porto was recognized with an Individual Award for Outstanding Faculty Service. Best paper EDEN Research Workshop 2010 MDE Faculty Lisa Blaschke (and graduate) and Jane Brindley received Best Paper honors at the 6th EDEN Research Workshop for their paper "Establishing a foundational framework for development of reflective thinking: Learning journals in the MDE". Several MDE faculty attended the research workshop and presented papers as well. Read more USDLA Leadership in DE award Stella Porto received the 2011 Outstanding Leadership in Distance Education from the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). Other UMUC faculty were also honored by USDLA. Events
10th Anniversary Virtual Conference
Celebrating the MDE's10th anniversary, the 1st Virtual MDE Conference was held January 17-26. It brought together more than 60 MDE faculty, students, and guests. The wide range of topics addressed included Blended Learning, Web Tools, Circles of e-Relationships and Learning Journals, to name but a few. Read more here.
DE Hub/ Australia February '11
MDE Faculty, Stella Porto, Olaf Zawacki-Richter, and Thomas Huelsmann made an impressive appearance at the DE Hub 2011-2021 Education Summit in Sydney Australia . Additionally, former MDE faculty Som Naidu also attended. Porto presented "A successful and strategic partnership in distance education turns ten" and Huelsmann presented, "Change and contexts. (A case study of the Oldenburg perspective on the impact of multiple and changing contexts on program management)". Zawacki-Richter gave a plenary keynote presentation:"The geography of distance education research: Bibliographic characteristics of a journal network."Additionally, the MDE Team participated in several group discussions, and panel presentations. Congratulations to all of them on a job well done.
Core4Women Collaboration
Core4Women is a social networking group supporting women pursuing an education through mentoring. Among topics women can learn about there are financial aid, online education program selection, and accreditation. Through an encounter at the IFWE (International Forum for Women in E-Learning) conference last winter between Stella Porto and Gail Weatherly, women from both groups are collaborating to bring even more information and support to the Core4Women
group. EDEN Budapest Enhancing Transparency in quality management of peer-production: e-value and e-valuation in e-learning“ October 25-27 at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics Members of MDE faculty present: Anne Forster Australia; Christine Walti, USA; Dianne Conrad, Canada; Gila Kurtz, Israel; Jane Brindley, Canada; Jill W. Fresen, UK; Lisa Blascke, , Germany; Michael Beaudoin, USA; Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Germany; Stella Porto, USA; Thomas Hülsmann, Germany; Thorstein Rekkedal, Norway A strong MDE showing at EDEN was highlighted by Jane and Lisa receiving the Best Research Paper award. Olaf Zawack-Richter gave a keynote, in which, incidentally, Dianne Conrad was reported being the author who published most frequently in the five top Distance education Journals Olaf analyzed in his research paper. Several other MDE faculty presented papers at EDEN. See other presentations listed in the Publications section. MDE Hub Revamped
Starting this spring the MDE Hub underwent a revamping to update information, ease user navigation, making the MDE Hub a one-stop spot to find or link to everything relevant to the MDE program.
While you are here reading the current newsletter take a look around and see the newly fine tuned search engine which searches the Hub and UMUC websites. Visit the Faculty Contacts page to read more about current and recent MDE faculty. Are you a new or current student with questions about course availability? There's a page for that too. |
New Faculty
Collins-Brown Joins MDE
Dr. Eli Collins-Brown joined the MDE faculty in the fall of 2010 and teaches OMDE 603 - Technology in Distance Education and E-learning, DETC 630 - Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Systems in Distance Education and E-learning, and OMDE 670 - Portfolio and Project in Distance Education and E-learning. She also teaches IMAT639 - Internet Multimedia Applications. Read more about Eli at here.
Steve Kerby
Steve is an Adjunct Faculty who teaches IMAT 639. Steve's "day job" is Director of Instructional Technology and Online Learning at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, where he manages an online graduate program there and does a lot of online instructional design. He continues to consult on various topics. Read more about Steve here.
Achievements
Congratulations to Paul U.E. Blackman who landed a one-year consultancy at the Shridath Ramphal Centre of the University of the West Indies to help them develop an online academy on Trade Policy. http://shridathramphalcentre.org/
Please share your accomplishments with us post a message to the MDE lounge and it will be included in the MDE Newsletter. Best wishes to Linda Smith on her new position: Coordinator, Online Professional Development Courses for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers MDE Publications
Several MDE faculty and alumni have had articles publishes since our last newsletter. Here is a list of a few of those publications:
Abrams, C. & Berge, Z.L. (2010). Workforce cross training: A re-emerging trend in tough times. Journal of Workplace Learning, 22(8): 522-529. Anderson, T., Berge, Z.L., Gunawardena, C., Roblyer, M.D., & Swan, K. (2010). Invited panel o interaction. Quality Matters. November 9. Beaudoin, M. (2010). Experiences and Opinions of Online Learners: What Fosters Successful Online Learning? In Y. Kats (Ed.), Learning Management System Technologies and Software Solutions for Online Learning. Hershey, NY: Information Science Reference. Beaudoin, M. (in press). Viewpoint- management, administration, and policy”. In M.Moore & G. Kearsley, Distance Education- A Systems View (2nd edition). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wardsworth. Beaudoin, M. (2011). Keynote address : “Distance education Leadership in the Digital Age- Critical Issues and Attributes). New England Regional Conference on Online Learning. University of Southern Maine. Beaudoin, M. (2010). “The Evolving Role of the Instructor in the Digital Age.” European Distance Education Network Research Workshop, Budapest. Blaschke, L. M., Porto, S. & Kurtz, G. (2010). Assessing the added value of web 2.0 tools in e-learning: the mde experience. A paper presented at the Fifth of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) Research Workshop Paris, France. Blaschke, L.M. (2011). Sustaining lifelong learning: A review of heutagogical practice and self-determined learning. European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) Research Workshop, June 19-22, 2011. Dublin, Ireland. Blaschke, L. M., & Brindley, J. (2010). Establishing a foundational framework for development of reflective thinking: Learning journals in the MDE. European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) Research Workshop, October 25-27, 2010. Budapest, Hungary. Best Research Paper award. Conference Presentation. Blaschke, L. M., Porto, S., & Kurtz, G. (2010). Assessing the added value of Web 2.0 tools for e-learning: The MDE experience. European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) Research Workshop, October 25-27, 2010. Budapest, Hungary. Brindley, J. E., Blaschke, L., & Walti, C. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(2), Athabasca: Athabasca University. Chen, D. & Kurtz, G. (Eds.) (2011), ICT, learning and teaching. Or Yhuda: The Ceter for Academic Studies (Hebrew). Fresen, J.W. (2011). Factors Influencing Lecturer Uptake of e-Learning. European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) Research Workshop, October 25-27, 2010. Budapest, Hungary. Gaver, J. & Berge, Z.L. (2010). The role subject matter plays in the decision to offer online training. Distance Learning (USDLA), 7(1). Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5835/is_201001/ai_n53507731/?tag=content;col1 Gunn, C., Kurtz, G., Lauridsen, K., Maurer, T.W., & Steele, G. (2010). Evolution and engagement in SoTL: Today, tomorrow, and internationally. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 4(2), Retrieved November 14, 2010 from http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v4n2/essays_about_sotl/_Commons_Plenary_Panel/index.html Kane, K., Robinson-Combre, J., & Berge, Z.L. (2010). Tapping into social networking:: Collaborating enhances both knowledge management and e-learning. VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 40(1): 62-70.Berge, Z.L. (2009, May-June). Book review: Mark Salisbury. iLearning : How to create an innovative learning organization. Educational Technology, 59(3): 50-51. Kurtz, G. & Sponder, B. (2010). SOTL in Online Education: Strategies and Practices for Using New Media for Teaching and Learning Online, . International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 4(1) , Retrieved November 14, 2010 from http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v4n1/invited_essays/_KurtzSponder/index.html Kurtz, G. & Sponder, B. (2010). E-learning 2.0: New tools for new experiences to help overcome old problems. A paper presented at the European Distance Education Network (EDEN) annual conference, Valencia, Spain. Porto, S., Walti, C., Blaschke, L., Brindely, J., Foster, A., Smith, L., Marciel-Rozzi, J., Kipta, A., Ledford, B. (2010). Circles of discovery: Building and sustaining e-Relationships at a distance. Presentation at the USDLA: 4th International Forum for Women in eLearning Conference, December 1-3, 2010 in Albuquerque, N.M. Porto S., & Walti, C. (2010). Lifelong learning links in the ePortfolio. In J. Liebowitz and M.S. Frank, (Eds.): Knowledge management in E-Learning, (pp. 219-252). London: Francis and Taylor. Porto, S., & Walti, C. (2010). ePortolios and the culture of lifelong learning. Presentation at the DLA conference, June 9, 2010, Jekyll Island, GA. Porto, S., Blaschke, L., & Kurtz, G. (2011). Creating an ecosystem for life-long learning through social media: A graduate experience. In C. Wankel (Ed.), Educating Educators with Social Media: Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education series. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing. Schmocker, B., & Walti, C. (2009). International survey on the definition of social work: Contribution from the University of Lucerne (Switzerland), School of Social Work Lucerne. Results presented at the EASSW Assembly, 26 - 29 April 2009, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Smith, L. (2010, November). Assessing student mental models to determine learning needs. Presentation delivered at the Sixteenth Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN), Orlando, Florida. Smith, L. (2010). Inside the black box: Exploring mental models in the learning environment. Paper presented for at the 8th International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications: EISTA 2010, Orlando, Florida. (June 29-July 2, 2010) Smith, L. (2010, June). Finding flexibility in a fixed sequence: Student program planning strategy. Paper presented at the Distance Learning Administration Conference 2010, Jekyll Island, Georgia. Tusing, J. & Berge, Z.L. (2010, October-December) Second Life for distance language learning: A framework for native/non-native speaker interactions in a virtual world. i-Manager’s Journal of Educational Technology, 7(3): 13-20. Walti, C. (2009, December). ePortolios: What does it mean and what does it take? Presentation at the IPD AACC/MDLA professional development event, December 16th, 2009, Elluminate. Walti, C. (2009, October). ePortfolios – The digital 21st century interior design tool. Presentation at the Architecture & Interior Design Department Careers Day, October 15, 2009, Arnold, MD. Walti, C. (2009, May). ePortfolios - An alternative assessment method. Presentation at AACC’s “May Institute”, May 28, 2009, Arnold, MD. Walti, C. (2011, forthcoming). Translation [German to English]: Professional Code - Social Work Switzerland. A collection of Arguments for the practice of professionals. Contribution to the International Federation of Social Worker Convention, Stockholm, 2012. Walti, C. (2011). Circles of eRelationships. Presentation at the MDE Virtual Conference, January 20, 2011 in Wimba (Synchronous delivery). |