Online Learning News

Current Update January, 09 December, 08 November, 08 October, 08 September, 08 August, 08 July, 08 June, 08 May, 08 April, 08 March, 08 February, 08 January, 08 December, 07 November, 07 October, 07 September, 07

March 27, 2008
Twenty-five Wounded Service Members at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Receive Full Scholarships to Colorado Technical University Online
Twenty-five United States service men and women at Walter Reed Army Medical Center have been awarded full Wounded Warrior Scholarships from Colorado Technical University Online (CTU Online). Recipients were chosen by a ten-person scholarship selection board including former military officers and Career Education Corporation educators and chaired by Tammy Duckworth, Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs, a Major in the Illinois Army National Guard, and a Wounded Warrior herself. The recipients, who come from across the country, were honored at a dinner on March 8, 2008, at Walter Reed, which was attended by General Richard A. Cody, the Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. Nineteen of the recipients will pursue associate degrees, five will pursue their bachelor’s, and one recipient will enter a master’s program. In developing the one-time scholarship program, CTU Online worked with the Helping Our Heroes Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides a way for donated funds and services to directly reach our injured service men and women. "Our service members fight for our freedoms and give us the opportunity to pursue our dreams. When these brave men and women come home, they deserve to have every opportunity, including a quality education,” said Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director L. Tammy Duckworth. “I was honored to help select the Wounded Warrior scholarship recipients. These 25 young service members have their entire lives ahead of them and, after reading their applications, I know that they will continue to excel." All tuition costs, course materials and fees are included in each scholarship, along with a laptop computer for each scholarship recipient. Pearson Learning Solutions, part of Pearson Education, will underwrite the education material costs of any course taken through Career Education Corporation/CTU Online that uses Pearson materials (such as text books or ebooks). Apple will provide a MacBook computer to each student. Candice Reed, a Wounded Warrior currently recovering at Walter Reed, will use her scholarship to pursue an associate degree in accounting and, upon completing her education, will be the second member of her family to have accomplished that task. The first was her step-father, an engineer, whom she considers a role-model. Reed enlisted in the Army immediately following high school graduation and the experience has increased her self-confidence and discipline, two traits that will serve her well as she enters the civilian world. She does not anticipate that life will be easy going forward, but she is confident that she can overcome obstacles as they come. “The stories these service men and women shared were truly inspiring—recalling challenges they faced as civilians, adversities experienced in combat, and recognizing that they must now adjust their aspirations for the future,” said Dr. Wallace Pond, chancellor, CTU Online. “Soldiers who have pledged to serve and protect their country are now faced with yet another challenging set of circumstances, and it is our hope that the education they receive from CTU will provide them with new skills to reach their goals.”
Source: Colorado Technical University, Colorado

March 25, 2008
Athabasca University President to Head UNESCO International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)
Dr. Frits Pannekoek has been elected president of the ICDE at a weekend meeting of the organization's Permanent Secretariat in Oslo, Norway. Dr. Pannekoek will also serve as chair of the ICDE's executive committee. "It's a great recognition of the contribution that Athabasca University has made internationally" said Dr. Pannekoek. "Distance and open education is a passion of mine, and what an opportunity to share that passion on the world stage." Founded in 1938, the ICDE provides a global network for institutions involved in on-line, distance and flexible education. Since the 1960's, ICDE has been working with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on distance learning projects in both less developed and highly developed countries. The ICDE is a UNESCO official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) for education, hosted and supported by its members and the Norwegian government. In the coming years, the ICDE will focus on a number of educational priorities including the promotion of quality distance education worldwide, organizing conferences focusing on educational development and working with government's and other NGO's involved in the education sector."It's about access," said Dr. Pannekoek. "Our job as educational leaders is to bring education to people wherever they live, whether that's a small village in Mozambique or a large city in Europe or North America. We'll consider ourselves successful only when everyone who wants an education can get an education." Dr. Frits Pannekoek holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Alberta. He has a PhD from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He has been president of Athabasca University since June 1, 2005. Dr. Pannekoek's term as president and chair of the ICDE's executive committee is effective immediately.
Source: Athabasca University, Alberta

March 11, 2008
Georgia Institute of Technology: DLPE Accepting Educational Outreach Proposals
Distance Learning and Professional Education is accepting proposals for funding the development of educational outreach programs for the 2009 fiscal year. Proposals must be submitted by Friday, March 14. Eligible educational outreach programs include creating distance-delivered credit programs at the graduate level or transforming existing degree programs into distance-delivered or blended programs, said Terrye Schaetzel, director of program development for DLPE. Noncredit programs with a distance-delivery, face-to-face, or blended approach also are eligible. Examples include creating a certificate program to fill a need, enhancing existing courses or transforming an existing program into a distance-delivered format, Schaetzel said. The development funds are possible through the Educational Broadband Services lease with Clearwire Spectrum Holdings II LLC for commercial development, said Nelson Baker, interim vice provost for DLPE. The FCC allows schools and universities to lease up to 95 percent of their licensed bandwidth. The remaining 5 percent must be used for educational services for faculty and students. "Our hope is that some of the additional funds will invigorate the campus for more outreach and partnerships with our corporate and government partners," Baker said. DLPE awarded more than $400,000 for eight programs in 2008, including: four-semester sequence of Interactive, Multimedia Online Chinese (Modern Languages); Converting Advanced Thermal Power Systems into a distance offering (Mechanical Engineering); and Creating certificate courses in Assistive Technology and Universal Design (College of Architecture/CATEA). A faculty committee will evaluate submitted proposals by April 15 to select the most promising ideas for market research, Schaetzel said. Once the market research is completed by June 15, the provost and vice provost for DLPE determine which programs receive funding. The funding becomes available on July 1. Proposals must include a program description, how it fits with Georgia Tech's strategic plan, program content, target audience, structure, delivery mode, faculty, budget, funding request, timeline, and an endorsement by the program's unit. Distance Learning and Professional Education is a service and marketing organization that enables Georgia Tech's faculty to deliver their world-class educational programs (non-credit as well as distance-delivered MS programs and undergraduate courses to GTREP and GTL) to students on the Georgia Tech campus, in the Southeast, the nation and the world.
Source: Georgia Institute of Technology

March 7, 2008
Kettering University Prof Takes top GM TEP Award
Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed, professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been honored with the GM Technical Education Program (TEP) Outstanding Distance Learning Faculty Award for fall 2007 semester. Outstanding instructors are determined by TEP student evaluation feedback and other selection criteria. The award is given to instructors who practice exceptional instruction and exemplary course delivery utilizing distance learning technologies. El-Sayed was chosen for his teaching of the class "Design for Manufacturability." "I am personally very honored to have been honored with the Outstanding Distance Learning Faculty Award," said El-Sayed, "but I believe this award reflects on the professional teaching quality of all Kettering professors. It was the first time I had the opportunity to teach this particular class and I was fortunate to have a wonderful group of students to work with," he added.
Source: Kettering University, Michigan

March 4, 2008
American InterContinental University Pledges up to $1.2 Million in Full-Ride Bachelor Degree Scholarships to Big Brothers Big Sisters
American InterContinental University (AIU) is pleased to announce its partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS). Perfectly matching AIU's goal of providing a high-quality career-focused education to students who otherwise might not have the opportunity, with BBBS' experience at improving the lives of children, the partnership is destined for success. AIU has made a financial commitment to Big Brothers Big Sisters to help fund several initiatives, and has also committed to 20 full-ride bachelor degree scholarships that are valued at as much as $1.2 million. Most promising, though, is the chance to further the Mentoring Towards College (MTC) initiative. MTC is a program that identifies children who have shown that, with a little help, they have the capacity to be successful university students. Mentoring Towards College pairs teens, or the "Littles," who have demonstrated a capacity and the motivation to succeed, with adults, or the "Bigs." And most of the Bigs in the program have degrees themselves, so they are well-positioned to understand what challenges await the Littles. Recognizing that the first year or so of college can be trying even for gifted students from stable home environments, the mentors selected for the MTC program have committed to staying with their mentees through at least one year of college study. State of the World's Children, a report published by UNICEF, documents that the way to ensure better-educated children is to also educate others in their support structure - especially mothers. Recognizing that children in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program often don't have the financial means to attend college, a home life that's conducive to a climb up the higher education ladder, or a family history of experience with education beyond high school, the leadership teams at AIU and BBBS applied a little "outside the box" thinking. Consequently, scholarships will be available to motivated high school students in the MTC program and to parents of children in the program. The scholarships will be awarded for study at AIU's on-ground campuses and its online campus. Dr. George Miller, AIU's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "this is a partnership between two great institutions that both have missions to improve the lives of people who are not always on the receiving end of opportunity. We have great expectations for the MTC program and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate. I, for one, cannot wait to follow the lives of the Littles who go through the mentoring process and on to attend American InterContinental University. Janice McKenzie Crayton, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta says, "This partnership speaks to American InterContinental University's commitment to make college accessible to those who would not ordinarily have the opportunity. The MTC program is gaining momentum from the community and we believe it will have a profound impact on the lives of our Littles."
Source: American InterContinental University Online, Illinois

March 3, 2008
Drury University Reaches New Record Spring Enrollment Highs
More students than ever are receiving an education the Drury way. The enrollment figures for the spring 2008 semester show that 5,079 students will be taking classes at Drury’s campuses. These figures show an increase of 64 students from the fall 2007. Rarely does a spring semester’s enrollment exceed the enrollment from the previous fall, according to Drury University Registrar Gale Boutwell. A total of 1,538 students are taking classes in the Day School at Drury’s Springfield campus, 34 more than in the spring 2007. That marks a new record for spring enrollment at Drury’s Day School. “The increase in enrollment reflects well on our faculty and professional staff and the quality of the undergraduate education here at Drury,” says Charles Taylor, Dean of the College. “Students are increasingly attracted by the Drury culture that fosters individual development and global engagement.” All of the programs at Drury University are growing in size and scope. Numbers for graduate students and continuing education are all substantially higher than they were in fall 2007. Drury’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies has 3,033 students enrolled; an increase of 167 compared to spring 2007. Spring 2008 marks a record number of CGCS undergraduate registrations with more than 29,000 credit hours being taught. “Record enrollment within Drury University provides evidence of the positive impact being made by Drury in communities throughout its service area,” says Parris Watts, Dean of Drury’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies. CGCS includes evening classes at Drury’s nine campuses: Springfield, Ava, Cabool, Ft. Leonard Wood, Lebanon, Monett, Rolla, St. Robert and Thayer.
Source: Drury University, Missouri