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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2005
Boulder, Colorado 

-- PRESS RELEASE --

WCET Announces Awards for Outstanding Work
in Using Technology for Education

WCET, the cooperative advancing the effective use of technology in higher education, recognizes five institutions and higher education systems for their innovative and effective uses of technologies in educating and serving students.  Recipients of the second annual WCET Outstanding Work (WOW) award were chosen from among dozens of nominations.

“WCET members are always on the cutting edge in using educational technologies for instruction both on- and off-campus,” said Sally Johnstone, WCET’s Executive Director.  “This award recognizes several significant advances and creative uses of technology to assure educational quality and better serve students.”

The recipients of the 2005 WCET WOW Award are:

WCET WOW award 2005MarylandOnline:  Quality Matters.  To assure the continuous quality improvement of online courses, a consortium of institutions partnered to create an inter-institutional faculty-driven, collegial peer course review process.

University of Arizona:  Online Nursing PhD Program. Responding to the critical shortage of Nursing faculty, the University created the first fully-online Nursing PhD program to be offered by a research-intensive university.

University of CaliforniaCollege Prep:  CyberTutor Program.  Hundreds of high school students have received immediate online academic assistance in their homework assignments, exam preparation, and college application process through this program that employs undergraduates from University of California campuses as tutors.

University of Phoenix:  rEsource - An Incubator for Digital Education Innovation.  To assist students in conducting academic research and completing course assignments, the University of Phoenix created a unique set of digital tools (eBooks, simulations, and virtual organizations) that serve students regardless of location.

University of Texas System TeleCampus:  TRACK - TAKS Readiness and Core Knowledge.  Texas students preparing to take the 11th grade exit exam can participate in a free online test readiness tool containing diagnostics and learning materials in four subject areas.   More than 45,000 students accessed this tool in preparation for the 2005 exam.

The recipients of the 2005 WCET WOW award will receive their awards and make presentations on their projects at WCET’s Annual Conference to be held in San Francisco, California on November 2-5.

WCET (formerly the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications) is a membership-supported organization open to providers and users of educational telecommunications.  Since its founding by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education in 1989, WCET’s members have included the most innovative thinkers in the use of educational technologies.  WCET members come from the higher education community, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and corporations. They represent 46 U.S. states and six countries.

 

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Longer Descriptions of the 2005 WCET WOW Award Recipients

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MarylandOnline:  Quality Matters
Quality assurance of online courses is of prime importance to various stakeholders in higher education, including students, faculty, administrators, institutions, consortia, accrediting agencies, and legislators.  However, perspectives vary when it comes to actually defining and assessing quality in an online course.  In September 2003, the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) awarded MarylandOnline a three-year grant to develop the tools, process, and infrastructure to do accomplish these quality assurance goals.  The Quality Matters (QM; http://www.QualityMatters.org) project has created an inter-institutional continuous improvement model and process for assuring the quality of online courses.  This process is faculty-centered, peer review-based, and grounded in the research literature, national standards of best practice, and instructional design principles.  The Quality Matters project is a complex venture involving faculty, instructional designers and technologists, staff, administrators, and chief academic officers from 60 different institutions, including those from the 19 partner MarylandOnline institutions.  MarylandOnline is a consortium of 14 community colleges and 5 senior institutions in the state of Maryland, which is dedicated to inter-institutional collaborations in distance education to support teaching and learning.

University of Arizona:  Online Nursing PhD Program
To respond to a critical shortage of nursing faculty, the University of Arizona created the nation’s first totally online nursing PhD program in a research-intensive university.  The online program allows nurses to remain in their current jobs, which are frequently in rural areas, while enrolling in a full time doctoral program recognized internationally for the quality of its faculty and its research. As the program begins its third year, enrollment totals 58 students from across the United States and beyond.

Funded by the state of Arizona, the program was the result of collaboration between the College of Nursing faculty and the University’s prototype instructional technology team.  Among the innovations to create a virtual research community are a Web Portal that gives students the sense of a community and a “media-rich” conference room that allows research teams to work collaboratively with students and faculty at a distance.  By integrating a state-of-the-art course management system with videoconferencing, faculty can deliver instructional content and provide research mentoring in a variety of interactive formats.

Each year students come to campus for a 10-day Research Intensive Summer Experience (RISE).  Through RISE and the online learning experiences, students forge collegial relationships that will last a lifetime.

University of CaliforniaCollege Prep:  CyberTutor Program
The University of California College Prep (UCCP) CyberTutor Program was designed in the spring of 2002 to tutor and assist online high school students to achieve academic excellence in their course work utilizing online technologies.  Since then, the program has supported thousands of students in their academic pursuits.  Many students require immediate answers to questions related to their assignments and homework and some students do not have academic services available in their area.  Utilizing virtual classroom software, e-mail, and other online communication tools, students gain immediate access to tutors for study tips, essay writing help, and study skill resources.  A No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Supplemental Service, the UCCP CyberTutor Program hires current undergraduate students from the University of California campuses that are in good academic standing and working towards the degree in the subject in which they tutor. The program itself has provided consultation to several virtual campus and college organizations to bring their tutoring services online. By utilizing local resources of UC undergraduate students and online technologies such as the Elluminate virtual classroom, e-mail, course management system tools, and discussion boards, the UCCP CyberTutor Program is becoming a leader of online academic support.

University of Phoenix:  rEsource - An Incubator for Digital Education Innovation
rEsource is the electronic portal created by University of Phoenix to organize and distribute a rich variety of academic content and learning tools in a digital format.  Through rEsource, University of Phoenix students and faculty are able to access all materials needed to complete their courses. rEsource is also designed to increase and encourage intentional learning. Intentional learners are those students who take the initiative and responsibility for their education and lifelong learning.

rEsource has served as an incubator for new ways to use digital content and technology to improve student learning.  Since its introduction four years ago, teams of faculty members, instructional designers, and learning technologists have continue to develop innovative learning tools and assets to make this portal an ever-more valuable and effective means of facilitating student learning.  Included in rEsource is:

University of Texas System TeleCampus:  TRACK - TAKS Readiness and Core Knowledge
TRACK (TAKS Readiness and Core Knowledge) is a free online test readiness tool containing diagnostics and learning materials in the four subject areas tested on the 11th grade exit-level TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test in Texas. TRACK was designed and created by the University of Texas System’s UT TeleCampus with grant funding from the Houston Endowment and Meadows Foundation. Thousands of students have used TRACK since its launch with more than 45,000 students accessing it in preparation for the 2005 test. To learn more about TRACK visit the free site at: track.uttelecampus.or

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“¡ A su salud! (To your health!) Spanish for Health Professionals” is an intermediate level e-learning course (delivered on DVD-ROM) developed at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to help students and working health care professionals improve their Spanish oral proficiency

¡A su salud! combines interactive multimedia courseware with broadcast quality video components, including a compelling dramatic telenovela story, dramatic exercise segments, interviews with native speakers, interactive glossary, optional subtitling, tracking and testing capabilities. An extensive workbook and complete web component round out this powerful instructional tool.

Learners can follow a linear path through the material, or access Salud! 's content in any order permitting a personalized approach. Salud! integrates language lessons with health care and cultural concerns. Perhaps the program's most important contribution is development of self -monitoring skills and motivation for life-long learning. Thorough evaluations demonstrate Salud! 's effectiveness at improving a learner's ability to communicate in Spanish.

At UNC-Chapel Hill Salud! is offered as an elective in the health science schools and the School of Social Work , as a continuing education course, and will be offered as a stand-alone credit course nationwide next fall. The program is also being used within and outside North Carolina in health science schools and community colleges. The publisher, Yale University Press ( yalebooks.com/salud ), will publish Salud! this fall.

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University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota (UND) delivers its undergraduate engineering degree programs through the Distance Engineering Degree Program. Four bachelors of science degrees are offered including -- chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. The Distance Engineering Degree Program is a part time program designed for adult learners working full time or for those individuals who are not able to attend traditional on-campus courses. Benefits to off-campus engineering students include: opportunity to learn while the individual continues to earn, easy access to quality engineering degree programs, flexibility to view lectures/course materials at the most convenient times and places, and a faculty committed to students and distance education.

Courses are currently offered online. In addition, laboratory requirements are fulfilled during condensed sessions in the summer. The mission of the Distance Engineering Degree Program is "to deliver exemplary ABET accredited undergraduate engineering degree programs that respond to the unique needs of adult learners and provide opportunities for individuals who are not able to participate in traditional, on-campus educational experiences." Many company employees participate in the Distance Engineering Degree Program including those from 3M, Intel, Hutchinson Technology, Inc., Lucent Technologies, Whirlpool Corporation, Agilent Technologies, Polaris Industries and many more. For more information, please call toll free 877-450-1842 or (701) 777-4884 or visit the web site at www.conted.und.edu/dist_engr.

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For more information

MarylandOnline
Christina Sax
University of Maryland University College
240-582-2850
csax@umuc.edu

Mary Wells
Prince George’s Community College
301-386-7582
mwells@pgcc.edu

University of ArizonaCollege of Nursing
Judith Effken
520-626-6307
jeffken@nursing.arizona.edu

University of CaliforniaCollege Prep
Rafael Granados
866-482-7737
Direct: 831-460-3081
guinea@uccp.org

University of Phoenix
Ayla Dickey
480-557-2952
ayla.dickey@phoenix.edu

University of Texas System TeleCampus
Jennifer Rees
512.499.4409
jrees@utsystem.edu

WCET
Sally Johnstone
Executive Director, WCET
303-541-0232
sjohnstone@wcet.info
www.wcet.info

Russell Poulin
Associate Director, WCET
303-541-0305
rpoulin@wcet.info

 

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