Welcome to EDTEC 650! If you are registered in this course and accessing the course for the first time, click on Access to eClass Portal on the upper left hand side of the screen.

1- Complete "Sign into the course" website.

2- Go to module 1 and follow instructions.

For future access to the course simply click on Access to eClass Portal and go to the desired module or another section of the course.

Some students will take this course at a distance through the College of Extended Studies. You must have access to the following technologies for the successful completion of this course at a distance.

• A personal computer with at least 800 MHz speed, 250 Mb RAM, 40 GB hard drive, and audio board and a 56 Kb modem.
• A Microphone.
• A video camera compatible to the computer used for the course.
• Internet Explorer web browser (latest version).
• Macromedia Flash Player.
• Access to the Internet without the interference of an enterprise firewall.

EDTEC 650, Distance Education is a personalized course centered around the learning needs of each student. The instructor will provide necessary structure relevant to the learning needs and interest of each student. The course is also designed so that each participant will be able to exercise as much autonomy as s/he requires to reach the course learning objectives. As you will learn, the dynamic level between instructor control and learner autonomy will determine transactional distance for each student. As such, everyone's experience in this course is personalized, and different. This is to maximize learning and minimize time on tasks with which you are already familiar.

EDTEC 650 is designed for students to gain a broad background about contemporary research and theory in the field as well as current issues in policy formation and organization development. Each student in the course will be able to pursue his/her own interest on these and other related topics, as required by the course objectives.

In distance education, perhaps more than other forms of learning and teaching, the learner takes an active role and responsibility for his or her learning. For taking a responsible position, as you will learn in this course in the next few weeks, each person differs in the level of structure they expect from the course, and the level of independence they would like to exercise in their own learning. Some students are more comfortable in highly structured environments, others are more at ease, and learn better in a less structured environment, when they can exercise more independence.

A major lesson of this course is that distance in education is not determined by the geographical separation of the teacher and student, but by the level of requisite structure by the instructor, and the level of desired independence by the learner. In short, when structure increases, distance increases too, and independence decreases. These concepts, however, are value neutral. More structure is not necessarily good or bad, or more independence for that matter.

It is important for you to take an active role in your learning in this course, and inform the faculty via email, frequently, if the course is meeting your leaning objectives. It is only through regular communication with faculty that we can adjust the levels of structure and autonomy to meet your personal learning purposes.

1- Explain the social, economic and technological antecedents to the current growth and development of  distance education.

2- Describe the systems theory foundations of educational technology and its necessity for understanding, and organizing distance education projects and programs.

3- Discuss policies, issues, and strategies, which inhibit or promote distance education in various types of organizations.

5- Present a final project in the form of a research paper, or a technology demonstration.

6- Engage in collaborative learning with other students.

Reading materials on the Web are linked to the appropriate module of the course. Deadlines for reading them are also indicated in each module. There is no cost involved in accessing online reading materials for this course.

The textbook for this course is Handbook of Distance Education. You must choose a section in the Handbook of Distance Education as your primary area of concentration in the course. The section you choose will determine your primary discussion group membership. However, you can participate in all the other discussion groups as well. You must, however, participate in your primary discussion group by adding at least three entries during the semester. Deadlines for each entry are indicated in the course modules.

Handbook of Distance Education is available to you at a special discounted price only through the publisher's Website. You must use a credit card, or be prepared to pay by a check when ordering the book. For placing your order go to Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Handbook of Distance Education .

The book you must order is:

Moore, M. G., & Anderson, W. G., (2003). Handbook of distance education. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN: 0-8058-3924-0

Books previously used in EDTEC 650 for Online Discussion

• Chandler, A. D., & Cortada, J. W. (2000). A nation transformed by information: How information has changed the United States from colonial times to the present. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  
• Bellah, R. N., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1991). The good society. NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
  
• Berge, Z. (2001). (Ed.). Sustaining distance training. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
   
• Cole, R. A. (Ed.). (2000). Issues in web-based pedagogy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
  
• Etzioni, A. (1993). The spirit of community: The reinvention of American society. NY: Touchstone.
   
• Feenberg, A. (1995). Alternative modernity: The technical turn in philosophy and social theory. Berkeley, CA: The University of California Press.
   
• Hanna, D. E. (2000). Higher education in an era of digital competition. Madison, WI: Atwood.
   
• Jones-Shoemaker, C. C. (1998). Leadership in continuing and distance education in higher education. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
   
• Khan, B. (Ed.). (2001). Web-based training. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
   
• Marshall, R., & Tucker, M. (1992). Thinking for a living: Education and the wealth of nations. New York, NY: Basic Books. Morgan, C., & OReilly, M. (1999). Assessing open and distance learners. London, UK: Kogan Page.
  
• Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: A systems view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
  
  Perelman, L. J. (1992). School's out: Hyperlearning, the new technology and the end of education. New York, NY: William Morrow.  
  
• Reich, R. (1991). The work of nations: Preparing ourselves for 21st century capitalism. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley.
  
• Rosenberg, M. J. (2001). e-Learning: Strategies for delivering knowledge in the digital age. NY: McGraw-Hill.
   
• Schreiber, D. A., & Berge, Z. (Eds.). (1998). Distance training: How innovative organizations are using technology to maximize learning and meet business objectives. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
   
• Thurow, L. C. (1999). Building wealth: The new rules for individuals, companies, and nations in a knowledge-based economy. NY: Harper Collins Publishers.
   
• Wilson, E. O. (1998). Consilience: The unity of knowledge. NY: Alfred A. Knopf.  

A means outstanding achievement; available for only the highest accomplishment;

B means praiseworthy performance; definitely above average;

C means average, awarded for satisfactory performance.

In general, professors in the Department award "A" grades to acknowledge achievements that go beyond specified course requirements and criteria. By its very nature, this type of performance cannot always be spelled out clearly in advance. As are reserved for special efforts that exceed expectations, that demonstrate exceptional creativity, boldness, commitment, involvement, ingenuity, or elegance.

Grading Criteria

Every time you send an email you must complete the subject line using the following naming technique.

Always use the naming technique of: 650, your last name, title of the project

For example: EDTEC 650_Saba Review, and critique of an online course

When you attach a file to the email always use the naming technique of: YourLastName_650_ProjectTitle