DISTANCE LEARNING FACULTY NEWSLETTER VOL 1

Welcome to the first edition of the Distance Education Faculty Newsletter! It is intended to keep you up to date with current Distance Education information and University services that are available to support your online teaching. Included in our first edition is a 3 minute video statement by Professor Roberta Sloan of the Theater Department in the School of Communications and Theater.

I hope that you enjoy this and future newsletters.

- Dominique Kliger

EDUCAUSE in Philadelphia!

From January 7th to 9th, 2009, the first EDUCAUSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference was hosted in Philadelphia. The subject of this conference was "The Technology Revolution in Higher Education: IT as a Catalyst for Change." Various topics were discussed, including "Technology in Virtual Worlds (Second Life)", "Engaging Today's Learners: Making Library Instruction and Outreach Dynamic", "Using Camtasia to Create Online Tutorials to Ease the Learning Curve", and "Using Clickers to Control Access to Online Recordings of In-Class Lectures".

Presenter Dr. Kristen Betts of Drexel University discussed some key points in her presentation entitled "Incorporating Online Human Touch (OHT) Instruction and Programming to Increase Online Student Engagement and Retention". According to her data, the expected total US college enrollment is 18 million (up 14% from 2007), 3.9 million students enrolled in at least 1 online course in Fall 2007, online enrollment went up 18% between Fall 2005 and Fall 2007 (3.2 to 3.9 million students), there was a 12% growth rate online vs. 1.2% overall HE growth rate (Fall 2006 - 2007), and economic and demographics factors continue to drive online education enrollments.

Dr. Betts also discussed the concept of Online Human Touch stating that it provided a way to bring the campus to students giving them opportunities to interact and connect within and beyond the classroom. Students are also able to build upon research (both on-campus and online) and create lifelong bonds.

If you would like to read up on more of Dr. Betts' Online Human Touch research, please refer to the following article:

Betts, K. (2008). Online Human Touch (OHT) Instruction and Programming: A Conceptual Framework to Increase Student Engagement and Retention in Online Educatio, Part I. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching.

Be sure to visit the EDUCAUSE website for more information about the EDUCAUSE association, and while you're there, don't forget to read more about Dr. Kristen Betts and sign up for EDUCAUSE Live!, a series of free web seminars about technology topics in higher education.

Roberta Sloan Video

Video statement made by Professor Sloan of the Theater Department at

the School of Communications and Theater.

Professor Sloan talks about her positive experience as an online professor, how she uses Blackboard to help student participation, and how well the online course format has helped her students learn the material as well as interact with the rest of the class.