October 15, 2007

Distance Education Report - October 15, 2007 - Full Issue PDF
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RSS and the Endless Semester
The semester is the basic building block of the higher education schedule. But what if new technology opens up ways that the semester could be modified—even extended indefinitely into life after graduation? Ray Schroeder, professor emeritus of communication, and Director of the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning (OTEL) at the University of Illinois at Springfield, is already experimenting with ways in which both current and former students can benefit from a “semester without end.” Distance Education Report talked with him recently about just what he means.

Between the Clicks
By Lawrence C. Ragan, Director of Instructional Design and Development for Penn State’s World Campus
The “ten performance expectations” of online instructor performance have thus far focused on proactive strategies that ensure the instructor is visible and active in the online classroom. The next expectation establishes a “reasonable” time frame for instructors in responding to student inquiries.

Why Is the Helpdesk Still a Problem?
The helpdesk at most institutions is still not firmly established to everyone’s satisfaction. A fresh round of discussions on the topic of helpdesk organization and function rolled through the EDUCAUSE CIO list as recently as mid-September. Interestingly, helpdesk basics appear less often in forums for commercial and corporate IT these days: that world seems to be having fewer questions in terms of how to provide this service effectively. Why is helpdesk still a hot topic in the academic world? What in the campus IT environment might be hindering resolution of this long-running issue?

How to: Incorporate Service Learning into Your Distance Education Course
By Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti
Instructors both in and out of the traditional classroom struggle with how to incorporate service learning into their courses. For the distance learning instructor, the issues seem complicated by the fact that students will be performing their service activities through agencies and in venues with which the instructor is unfamiliar.