Five Minutes with ACHE

Special thanks in this month goes to the ACHE Great Plains region, who kicked off the season with our first regional meeting in Oklahoma the end of February.  Congratulations, Great Plains, for your efforts in maintaining professional development activities for our members, and for assembling an informative program.  I’ll be your first registrant for next year—count me in!

To bring us closer to Orlando, coordination has begun for our upcoming 2011 Program Planning meeting to be held the middle of April.  This year, our Program Planning meeting will be held just before our Midyear Board of Directors Meeting.  Here, we will

• attend to a short list of viable strategic goals for the next 1-3 years;
• consider our membership during these busy and economically challenging times;
• and attend to several collaborations with other professional associations;
• all as we boldly consider who we are. 

Following both of these meetings, you’ll get an update on the activities of the Board and a report from those serving on the Orlando Program Committee.  If you have any questions or suggested topics for either meeting, please don’t hesitate to send them to me.  Your input proves invaluable to our ACHE future.

Speaking of input…the Call for Proposals closed the middle of February and the deadline was not extended, because we received many more Proposals than we anticipated.  The review committee is enthusiastically (feverishly?) gathering what will come to be known as our 2011 Orlando Conference and Meeting.  On behalf of the Program & Local Arrangements Committee Co-Chairs, Clare Roby and Jeffery Alejandro, and our Proposal Committee led by Paula Hogard and Rich Boyle, thank you very much for your contributions. In addition to a rich program focused on “who we are,” events for you and your family are taking shape.  The Planning Committee has also placed a very direct request for warm, sunny weather – thanks, team!  And thanks to all of you who are considering the upcoming Conference as your Program of Choice in 2011.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Please visit the website regularly for updates on the 2011 Conference.  As keynotes, presenters and Orlando activities are planned, they will be posted on the site.  Also, please contribute to Five Minutes with ACHE.  Your stories and information are much appreciated.

Stay tuned…more to come…

Tish

JCHE strives to support continuing higher education by serving as a forum for the reporting and exchange of information based on research, observations, and the experience relevant to the field. Issues are published in the winter, spring, and fall. JCHE is published by Routledge.

Manuscript submission guidelines are available online at or through ACHE’s website.

Potential authors should feel free to consult with JCHE editor James Broomall, University of Delaware. He can be reached at jbroom@udel.edu or (302) 831-2795.

Please share this announcement with colleagues and graduate students who may be interested in submitting manuscripts to JCHE. The Journal has published outstanding graduate student work in the past.

ACHE Great Lakes To be announced	ACHE Northeast Metropolitan May 5, 2011 More information coming soon!
ACHE New England April 1, 2011 Assumption College; Worcester, Massachusetts Theme: “The Impact of the New DOE Program Integrity Rules” Registration now open! View our flyer for more information about our conference	ACHE South April 17-20, 2011 Hyatt Regency on the Riverwalk; San Antonio, Texas View the conference website for Call for Proposals, registration, and more
ACHE Northeast April 15, 2011 Canisius College; Buffalo, NY View Save the Date card	ACHE West April 28-29, 2011 San Francisco State University, Downtown Campus Theme: "Sustainability in Challenging Economic Times" Call for Presentations now open! Deadline March 11 Registration now open!

Kansas State University Launches Distance Student Service Site

The Kansas State University Division of Continuing Education's Wildcat Success Road Map is a website that provides key information and resources to guide K-State distance students at all levels—from prospective student to alumni—to academic success.

Checkpoints on the road map themed site include a "Choose your Route" section encouraging prospective students to choose K-State distance programs. The site outlines the requirements for admission and enrollment, answers frequently asked distance education questions, provides resources for current distance students, and outlines the graduation process, including links to on-campus and virtual commencement.

The Road Map also serves distance and on-campus alumni by offering opportunities to stay connected to the university, participate in professional development opportunities, and give back to K-State. The Wildcat Success Road Map can be viewed at www.dce.k-state.edu/students.

Kansas State University Launches Online Reading Specialist Program for Kansas Teachers

Kansas State University's College of Education and Division of Continuing Education are offering an online reading specialist endorsement program for K-12 educators interested in building experience in teaching reading and providing support and intervention for students with reading difficulties.

The 18-credit-hour endorsement program is accredited by the Kansas State Department of Education and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Educators. By completing the program, teachers who already hold a valid professional teaching license in Kansas can qualify for an endorsement in the reading specialist area from the state Department of Education.

Licensed reading specialists also can provide ongoing professional development as literacy leaders within their schools, fostering cost-effective teacher development in Kansas school districts. More information about the program is available at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/
education/reading.

Kansas State University Develops Online ESL Course

Kansas State University's English as a Second Language Endorsement program launched its first online course. "ESL/Dual Language Methods" is a three-credit-hour, online graduate course available to all students with teaching backgrounds in the U.S. The course covers contemporary approaches, methods, and strategies for instructing second-language learners. Development of all required ESL endorsement courses into an online format is in progress. More information is available at http://www.dce.k-state.edu/education/esl or by calling 1-800-622-2578.

Kansas State University's EXCELL Program Making an Impact on Campus

Kansas State University's Extended College Education for Lifelong Learning program, or EXCELL, offers five-week, on-campus classes to individuals 18 and older who have mild developmental or cognitive disabilities and who might not otherwise be able to experience
a college environment. EXCELL provides supportive, academically sound, pre-vocational classroom experiences to help students develop basic life, social, and leisure skills.

The program is part of an area consortium that includes K-State and other local entities serving adults with special needs. Traditional K-State College of Education students volunteer as student ambassadors in the program, and student enrollments continue to increase. EXCELL received multiple awards from continuing education associations for its innovation and service to students. For more information about EXCELL, contact Warren White at 785-532-6349 or wwhite@k-state.edu.

The theme of this year’s conference is “Online Learning, Teaching, and Research in the New Media Ecology.” It’s clear we are witnessing rapid and ongoing changes in how we communicate and represent ideas and these changes have profound consequence for how we know, learn, think, and teach in higher education and beyond. The dizzying pace of change is evident as established conventions of online education are now challenged by emerging means of access, such as mobile and cloud computing, new forms of communication such as video streaming and real-time information networks, and innovative modes of participation represented in new social media. Millions of online students are at the forefront of this evolving landscape and it’s crucial we gain a clear understanding of pedagogies, policies, and practices that leverage the new media ecology to support our students learning.

Our understanding needs to be rooted in solid research that can promote best practices. We are confident that this year’s conference will create opportunities for learning, networking, and sharing that will make this a reality. Our keynote and plenary speakers each have a unique perspective on the promises and pitfalls of the new media ecology. Lee Raine, Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project has vast experience in studying the impacts of the digital age on the citizens of the United States. His insights on topics ranging from the digital divide, health, safety, gaming, teens, and social networking in the age of the internet will provide breadth in our investigation of the new media ecology for learning.

Additionally, Cable Green, Director of eLearning and Open Education for the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges will help us to focus in depth on the new Open Educational Resources movement which inevitably leads to discussions of the crucial topic of the economics of higher education. Cable’s participation also marks the opening of a new track in the 2011 conference dedicated to issues surrounding Open Educational Resources.

Adding another dimension to our theme is cognitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf, author of Proust and the Squid, who will share with us her research on the transition from a reading brain to an increasingly digital one. This work holds promise in illuminating the evolution of human intelligence, and the choices we might face in shaping that future through online education.

We eagerly anticipate your participation in this year’s meeting. We firmly believe that the theme and speakers we have identified are timely and essential and we look forward to your contributions. The many forums for participation include both face-to-face and online modes. Our new venue, the award-winning Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin featuring the Mandara Spa, 17 spectacular restaurants and lounges, five pools, a white sand beach and much more promises to be a well-appointed backdrop to the stimulating conversations at this year’s event. We urge you to attend the premier annual gathering of professionals concerned with the future of online education.

The conference strongly encourages presentation and workshop proposals that reflect the implications for the field of specific e-learning experience and practices. We are looking for proposals that are innovative and cutting edge and will provide important take-aways for participants. Proposals that address blended learning, issues of diversity, international applications of online learning, open educational resources, social networking, online learning and community colleges, and/or K-12 online education are especially encouraged. Last year’s conference attracted 1200+ onsite and over 250 virtual participants to more than 230 presentations, as well as 60 exhibits, 40 vendor showcase sessions, 18 total pre- and post-conference workshops, keynote and plenary addresses, and a variety of other special events.

Conference tracks highlight and demonstrate research, application and effective practices in the following areas:

• K-12 Online Education
• Faculty and Professional Development and Support
• Open Educational Resources*
• Learning Effectiveness
• Technology and Emerging Learning Environments
• Student Services and Learner Support
• Leadership, Values and Society

(* The OER track is a new addition to the 2011 Program.)

Proposals must be submitted by 11:59pm ET on Monday, May 2, 2011.

Submit at http://sloanconsortium.org/conferences/2011/aln/call_for_presentations

For additional information on the conference, visit our website at www.sloanconsortium.org/aln , call (781) 583-7561, or email conference@sloanconsortium.org.