This week we received the extremely sad news that our friend, Leora Baron-Nixon from the University of Nevada Las Vegas died suddenly. We intend to commemorate her work in Faculty Development and just plain cheerful, common sensical living in the fall, perhaps in conjunction with the POD conference. I didn't want this issue of TGIF to go out without mentioning Leora and how terribly much we will miss her.

FridayLive this Friday will be "broadcast" from the MERLOT conference in Minneapolis. Steve Gilbert is there, doing a number of different sessions including the "live" one about Compassionate Pioneering and MERLOT. If you haven't done so, come join us by registering. (See Lisa's section below.)

Check out the "Early Adopter Syndrome and Compassionate Pioneering" entry from Steve Gilbert and the "eLearning Courses Should (Not?) Be Comparable to Face-to-Face" from Steve Ehrmann. Both address important issues which we're working on with help from subscribers and members.

If you're receiving TGIF for the first time, it's because we want to be inclusive! This "publication" comes out all year and announces free TLT Group events and includes very brief columns which point you in various, we hope, interesting directions.

We hope you like TGIF. Please invite your friends and colleagues to subscribe to TGIF.
It's free - as are the events we announce.

Remember that the summer season schedule for FridayLive! is every other week. Check the TLT Group calendar for updates. The fall season line-up will include FridayLive! open to all on alternate Fridays, and TGIF will be published accordingly.

Thanks for your continuing support,

August 22, 2008
Flashlight Online 2.0 with Steve Ehrmann and guests.
This FridayLive begins with a show and tell about what we're planning on putting into Flashlight Online 2.0. Then we'll brainstorm with you about how to use such a system. What would you put into it? And how would you "tag" the content to make it easier for other users to find what you had published?

For all upcoming FridayLive!s, see this webpage.

We've shifted to our summer schedule for FridayLive! Our calendar will be the best bet for seeing what's coming up and ...... when.

Unless otherwise indicated, FridayLive! sessions are appropriate for ALL---- IT, ID, Faculty, students, Administrators etc.

If you had a Summer Season pass to FridayLive! be sure and sign up for the Fall Season Pass. The fall sessions will take place in a different online classroom so you will need to sign-up to get directions to the new room. You can do by clicking here !

Individual members of the TLT Group do not have to register for FridayLive! This membership has the benefit of a FastPass for FridayLive! and you will get reminders to participate each week without registering! To find out more about becoming an Individual Member click here.

ARCHIVE:
A recent session of FridayLive! featured Cindy Kump from Saint Francis University presenting on library anxiety. If you were not able to attend use the archive link below to view this session!

FridayLive! Archives

However, the evidence began to pile up that, measured by faculty member's own exams, distance learning courses were usually just as good (bad?) as their campus equivalents. There was 'no significant difference' in exam scores when faculty taught two version of the same course, on at a distance and another on campus, concluded hundreds of studies.

Today, that word, "comparable" is the typical goal for faculty teaching online. But is that an appropriate ideal? That's the topic explored in this paper on our web site, a version of an essay originally published in EDUCOM Review: "Access and/or Quality." The original paper was written almost a decade ago, but the argument still seems sound.

In that article, I suggested that, when using technology to change teaching and learning, the results are rarely simple. Instead, it's likely that:

In other words, if you're trying to make education more accessible and flexible by doing things online, it's important to figure out ways to make that elearning experience even better than could have been offered on campus, partly because you can and partly because there will certainly be ways in which that course won't be as good as the 'comparable' version on campus.

The article suggests many ways in which online courses can be designed to be better than comparable courses taught in a traditional manner.

We're still experimenting with our Ning community, trying to decide whether to keep it or drop it. If you'd like to comment on the idea that online courses should be designed to be different, and better, than comparable courses taught face-to-face on a campus, read the article and then come to our Ning site and let us know what you've seen and what you think.

PS We're working on a new article on how to use technology in order to teach a diverse group of learners effectively. Watch this space!

How can we provide effective faculty development and faculty support in times of TMI/TMO/TLT = Too Much Information; Too Many Options; Too Little Time? Especially for those suffering from Early Adopter Syndrome (EAS)?

You might have EAS if you regularly: (choose all that apply)
Turn on your home computer first thing in the morning and check your e-mail? (2 points)
Turn on your home computer first thing in the morning and surf the net? (3 points)
Check your e-mail more than 5 times per day? (2 points)
Use the Internet midday to check how your stock portfolio is doing? (3 points)
 

"EAS" and the preceding question are excerpts from Tom Creed's "Confessions of an Early Adopter" and ". "The Early Adopter Personality Type Indicator Test."

Take a look at this page for more exploration of Compassionate Pioneering and Compassionate Pioneers.

As you think about the current Situation/Challenge---
What has worked well for you in the past 5 years?
What has been disappointing to you in the past 5 years?
What do you hope to be doing in the next 2 to 5 years?
 

What are 1 or 2 items related to faculty development or faculty support that you would like to explain or for which you would like to ask for some help? [I'm especially interested in examples that illustrate or depend on "Compassionate Pioneers" faculty members and others who take steps forward and who help colleagues].

Thanks for your attention.

Steve Gilbert

OLN is Ohio's premiere e-learning site that began in 1999, has 83 member institutions from across Ohio and dozens of strategic alliances and partnerships with various Ohio organizations. OLN aggregates services and resources so Ohioans can meet their learning potential, Ohio's economy can grow, and Ohio colleges and universities can continue to be knowledge leaders. OLN helps Ohioans find educational programs that meet their needs, works with colleges and universities using technology to improve teaching and learning, and helps build partnerships among higher education, schools, businesses, and communities. OLN boasts a variety of resources: online catalog to help find online degrees, certifications, and courses offered by accredited Ohio colleges and universities, interactive web tools, Regional Coordinators, Listserve: oln-news@oln.org, and an Annual conference. Check out their well-organized and useful technology opportunities listing site: T echnopoli.

TLT Group and OLN have partnered for quite a few years on Online Institute programming. This fall Steve Gilbert will be a guest speaker at the Southwest Ohio's OLN kickoff symposium.

For more information about TLT Group partnerships, please contact Rebecca Kurtz, kurtz@tltgroup.org.

1. Please let others know about the free services and activities of the TLT Group that we discuss in this weekly publication. We'd like to double our distribution list in the next few months. If each one of you invited at least two others, voila! we would be able to reach more like-minded people.. We've had new signups, but it's been a dribble, not a deluge. See the link at the bottom of this section.

2. Become a TLT Group Individual Member.
Click here to join us.

3. Urge your institution to become a TLT Group subscriber. Click here for descriptions of the three levels.

Thanks in advance for helping spread the work and the word!