TURNING BACK THE PAGES

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TURNING BACK THE PAGES

• AACIS HISTORY THROUGH ITS NEWSLETTER

Presented by Elizabeth Houdek Ohio University
St. Louis, Missouri November 2008
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In the Beginning . . .

• The American Association for Collegiate
  Independent Study is a new professional
  association for all those engaged in, or
  interested in, collegiate independent study. The
  goal of the organization is to provide
  professional development opportunities as well as
  opportunities for collegiality and interaction.
  It will be a one-person, one-vote organization. .
  . . It will encourage personal commitment,
  cooperation and sharing.
• the Studyguide, V.1, No.1, Winter 1993

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By the time of the first AACIS conference in
Columbia, Missouri, we had . . .

• A set of goals
• Bylaws for vote by the membership
• An organizational structure of officers and board
  of directors
• An e-mail listserv
• An incorporated organization
• 320 members
• the Studyguide, Fall 1993

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More Notable Dates

• First AACIS Web site, 1997
• AACIS takes over the Independent Study Research
  Report that was discontinued by UCEA, 2001
• AACIS archives established at Ohio University
  (housed in Alden Library), 2004
• AACIS Oral History project begun, 2006
• the Studyguide (newsletter) becomes a searchable
  news blog, 2008

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Perennial Concerns

• The impact of electronic technology on every
  aspect of our programs
• Quality assurance in instructional materials and
  methods
• Student services in the distance environment
• Faculty, administrative, and institutional
  relationships
• The effects of the wider environment on our
  students and our programs

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Mastering Technology . . . Or Is It Mastering Us?

• When the road forks, you should go ahead and
  take it Yogi Berra
• When the first AACIS conference was held in
  Columbia, Missouri, in 1993, Bruce Heasley
  presented a session on Penn States electronic
  mailbox system for lesson delivery and response.
• In the Summer, 1994, issue of the Studyguide, Deb
  Gearhart (Penn State) wrote an article about
  Successfully Planning the Future for technology
  and the independent learner. In that same issue,
  Mike Lambert (National Home Study Council)
  outlined some of the Road Hazards on the Super
  Highway of On-Line Learning

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Technology (2)

• Jeff Zuckerman (University of Minnesota) asked
  Is It Time to Apply the Brakes to CAI when
  we build our courses around new technology, are
  we building walls around our programs? . . . Who
  will benefit? Who will be empowered, or
  disenfranchised? And finally, are these courses
  better or just flashier?
• In 1995, the first trickle (later to become the
  flood) of magazine articles discovered distance
  education made possible by computers, the
  Internet, and the Web.
• AACIS conferences were including a technology
  track for programs to share information, best
  practices, and cautions.

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Technology (3)

• The Helen Williams award for the best collegiate
  course in 1997-98 was given to a Web-based course
  Health and Lifestyle Management from Brigham
  Young University the first so honored.
• The Fall, 2001, issue of the Studyguide announced
  that the entire high school program (48 courses)
  at the University of Texas-Austin was available
  online. The University of Nebraska announced its
  schedule for adding 10 online courses to its high
  school program.
• From the Summer, 2005, Studyguide By the
  Numbers It took radio 38 years to reach an
  audience of 50 million people. It took TV 13
  years to reach an audience of 50 million. It took
  the Internet only 4 years to reach a user base of
  50 million people 2 years later it was
  accessible to double that number.

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Ensuring Quality in Instruction

• Although quality is an essential aspect of
  everything we do, it is particularly an issue in
  instructional materials, partly because it is the
  most tangible product of our programs.
• AACIS has its roots in a series of annual
  workshops created for the professional
  development of members of the Independent Study
  Division of NUCEA (now UCEA). The first of these
  was held in Dallas, Texas, focusing on
  independent study course development and delivery.

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Ensuring Quality (2)

• As reported in the Winter, 1994, Studyguide, two
  sessions devoted to instructional design/course
  development at the first AACIS conference focused
  on (1) helping faculty understand the nature of
  independent learning and preparing them for their
  role, and (2) setting goals for an independent
  study high school curriculum.
• In 1995, although e-mail and other computer
  resources were beginning to be used for lesson
  transmission and return, course guides were still
  primarily print-based. An article in the
  Studyguide discussed principles of graphic design
  and communication as they applied to course
  materials.

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Ensuring Quality (3)

• In the Fall, 1999, issue, Thomas Edison State
  College described a new certificate program for
  distance learning faculty, a set of seminars
  devoted to various aspects of preparing course
  materials and teaching online.
• Course design, curriculum development, and
  faculty support are always timely topics at every
  AACIS conference. Since the advent of the World
  Wide Web, these sessions increasingly deal with
  course development in the online environment.
• AACIS recognizes the importance of courses with 3
  awards Helen Williams award for a college-level
  course, Monty McMahon award for a pre-collegiate
  course, and the Ron Malan Course Developer award
  for individual achievement.

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Supporting Student Success

• Student services are one of the tripod supports
  of a sound distance education program. It is
  especially important because we seldom have
  face-to-face contact with our learners.
• AACIS Student Services award recognizes staff in
  our distance learning organizations who go above
  and beyond to meet the special needs of learners
  at a distance.
• Independent study high school students have
  special concerns, in part because of state
  requirements about number and distribution of
  credits.

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Student Success (2)

• The Winter, 1995, Studyguide highlighted a panel
  discussion from the 1994 AACIS conference with
  representatives of 4 major independent study high
  school programs, and a commentary on the natural
  partnership between home schooling and
  collegiate independent study.
• In the Spring, 1996, issue, Neil Howe (ND Div. of
  IS) describes the North Dakota experience with
  providing middle-school courses for distance
  learners.
• By the time of the 1998 AACIS conference,
  sessions on student services were already
  suggesting the power of electronic communication
  and the Web to deliver student services in new
  and powerful ways.

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Student Success (3)

• The Summer, 2003, Studyguide introduces AACIS
  members to the Illinois Virtual Campus online
  support services for students, including IVCs 40
  centers around the state providing face-to-face
  services and the IVCTutor, an online resource
  using tutors available by e-mail, student
  bulletin boards, or live chat.
• Jesse Hicks (N.D. Div. of Ind. Study) chronicles
  her experience as a distance learning instructor
  who becomes a distance learning student in the
  Spring, 2004, issue of the Studyguide. Taking a
  distance education course has changed the way I
  think about my students.

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Faculty, Administrators, and Institutions

• Our choice is often do you want to be ignored .
  . . or excoriated? (Von Pittman)
• Our independent study/distance learning programs
  are embedded within institutions that are often
  ambivalent partners in our mission.
• The Spring, 1993, Studyguide contained a
  cautionary tale from Deborah Hillengass (U. of
  Minnesota) about a routine review by the
  sociology department of its courses taught
  through independent study that, 6-1/2 months
  later, resulted in the discontinuation of all
  that departments IS courses.

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Institutional relations (2)

• In the Winter,1994, issue an article by Shari
  Zenor Kiple (U. of Iowa) describes the
  tightrope often walked by IS programs about how
  to promote your product or service without
  raising the hackles of your institution over
  issues like cost, perceived promises, or
  availability to on-campus students.
• However, Patricia Sparks (St. Josephs College),
  in the Summer,1994, issue, describes how a
  careful and thorough strategic planning process
  allowed the Distance Education program to assume
  a more central role and an enhanced mission
  within its institution.

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Institutional relations (3)

• In the Winter,1996, issue we are introduced to
  LionHawk, the collaborative effort between Penn
  State University and University of Iowa to use
  their external degree programs to enable students
  with an associate degree from either institution
  to enroll in a baccalaureate program at the
  other. The 1995 AACIS conference at Estes Park,
  CO, also featured a panel discussion from
  representatives of four universities about the
  advantages of such cooperative programs.
• Budget woes in many institutions summarized in
  an article in the Summer, 2003, Studyguide made
  life difficult for independent study/distance
  learning programs.

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Institutional relations (4)

• Although the Studyguide has not made specific
  mention of them, various sessions at AACIS
  conferences in recent years have highlighted some
  successes
• Independent study/distance learning programs have
  helped their institutions transition into the
  world of online learning, reach out to new
  audiences with degree-completion programs, or
  manage enrollment vs. resources issues.
• Some distance learning programs have been
  revitalized or given new prominence by the
  changing student demographic (increasingly older,
  increasingly part-time).

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AACIS in the Wide World

• AACIS has always had international members Papua
  New Guinea, Australia, Canada, South Africa (the
  Studyguide, Fall,1993), and international
  outreach (Spring,1998)
• AACIS members and their programs have been
  directly affected by several challenges over the
  years, including accreditation and state
  regulations (Spring,1993) the virtual
  university (Fall,1996) terrorism (Fall,2001)

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In the Wide World (2)

• So, in this time when collegiate-based
  independent study/distance learning programs are
  under pressure from inside and outside our
  institutions, what is our value and our strength?
• Our value is the imaginative, fervent commitment
  we have to serving our students, the integrity of
  our policies and processes, and the quality of
  our learning materials.
• Our strength is the caring and the commitment we
  have to one another as colleagues and as friends.

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Some Familiar Names
The following are just a sampling of AACIS
members who are mentioned in various issues of
the Studyguide

• Steve Wright
• Mary Jane Mahony
• Emory McLendon
• Clyde the Guide
• David Brigham
• Kerri Garcia
• Ron Malan
• John Robinson
• Kathy Peil
• . . . Is YOUR name there??

• Roger Young
• Monty McMahon
• Von Pittman
• Joyce Nielsen
• Mary Beth Almeda
• Neil Howe
• Ron McCrory
• Bill Manning
• Kristin Evenson Hirst
• Jane Hancock

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AACIS Conference Themes

• 1992 Quality Assurance in Independent
  Study Chapel Hill, NC
• (Not actually AACIS, was the last Independent
  Study Workshop)
• 1993 Planning for Success Columbia, MO
• 1994 Networking Sharing Growth
  Development Penn State, PA
• 1995 A Peak Experience Estes Park, CO
• 1996 Reflecting the TimesA Time for
  Reflecting Minneapolis, MN
• 1997 Creating New Traditions Athens, GA
• 1998 Bridging the Distance Davenport, IA
• 1999 Challenges for the New Century Baton
  Rouge, LA
• 2000 The Future of Independent Study in the New
  Tech Age Austin, TX
• 2001 Independent Study Traditions and
  Transformations Athens, OH
• 2002 Independent Learning Branding the
  Educational Frontier Reno, NV
• 2003 Distance Learning Pioneering the
  Future Sioux Falls, SD
• 2004 Navigating the Winds of Change Bellingham,
  WA
• 2005 Harvesting the Promise of Distance Learning
  Champaign, IL Emerging Trends and Practices
• 2006 YAll Come! Catch the Future of Distance
  Learning Tunica, MS
• 2007 Independent Study At the Junction Ogden,
  UT
• 2008 Follow the Road to Independent Study (Rte
  66) St. Louis, MO