Distance Learning
Strategic Plan
October 2001
MISSION
"The UCEA Distance Learning Community of Practice provides
its members opportunities for professional development within an
infrastructure that provides for networking. It promotes the exchange
and dissemination of information, ideas, and best practices related
to a common interest in distance learning."
VISION
"In 2006, the UCEA Distance Learning Community of Practice
serves the UCEA membership and the continuing and distance learning
professions by
-
Building community by providing opportunities for members
to network,
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Providing a forum for best practices in distance education,
-
Contributing to the professional development of CoP members
and other members of the profession, including supporting groups
dedicated to researching and speaking about practices in the
various areas of distance learning, such as video-conferencing,
Internet courses, off-campus courses, and print-based correspondence
courses, and
-
Promoting applied research to continually test and update best
practices, disseminating the findings to the membership and
the profession.
The UCEA Distance Learning Community of Practice is recognized
internationally for the quality of its contributions to the profession;
the CoP members are recognized as authorities in the field of distance
learning."
GOALS
Goal 1: Actively promote the exchange of information, ideas, and
best practices in distance learning.
Strategy 1.1. Create and maintain a useful on-line compendium or
database of current best practices in distance learning.
Metric: number of items in the compendium or database
Metric: average number of hits on the compendium/database per
month
Strategy 1.2. Create and promote a speakers bureau of authorities
on research and practice in distance learning.
Metric: number of speakers recorded in the speakers bureau
Metric: number of speaker engagements per year
Strategy 1.3. Sponsor quality presentations by CoP members and
follow-up discussion by CoP members at national and regional meetings
of the association.
Metric: ratings as received on program evaluations
Metric: number of presentations
Metric: number of CoP members who present
Strategy 1.4. Make available presentations and discussions from
national and regional meetings by print, audio, video, or livecast.
Metric: number of sessions that are captured and distributed
Strategy 1.5. Expand use the UCEA listserv to disseminate information.
Metric: utilization of the listserv
Goal 2: Contribute to the professional development of CoP members
and other members of the profession.
Strategy 2.1. Schedule and present an annual professional development
workshop focusing on specific relevant topics.
Metric: the number of persons attending the workshop
Metric: workshop actually planned and presented
Strategy 2.2. Promote the nomination of DL CoP members for awards
by UCEA, DL CoP, and other organizations that recognize leadership
and research excellence relevant to the field of distance learning.
Metric: the number of nominations for such awards submitted by
CoP members
Metric: the number of awards won by CoP members as a result of
nominations submitted through CoP efforts
Strategy 2.3. Establish and support a mentoring program for DL
CoP members new to the field.
Metric: the number of mentors and of those assigned mentored
Strategy 2.4. Establish and nurture interest groups dedicated to
researching and speaking about practices in the various areas of
distance learning, such as video-conferencing, Internet courses,
off-campus courses, and print-based correspondence courses.
Metric: creation of active interest groups
Goal 3: Promote applied research to continually test and update
best practices, disseminating the findings to the membership and
the profession.
Strategy 3.1. Encourage research by promoting awards for outstanding
research in distance learning.
Metric: the number of nominations for the DL CoP and other UCEA
distance learning research awards
Strategy 3.2. Reconstitute and charge the DL CoP Research Committee
to identify and pursue a current relevant research topic in the
field and report their findings at a UCEA national meeting.
Metric: topic identified and research initiated
Strategy 3.3. Develop services to support publication of distance
learning research.
Metric: services developed including workshops, list of journals,
and peer review
Goal 4: Enhance networking opportunities for members of the DL
CoP
Strategy 4.1. Provide opportunities specifically for networking
among distance learning practitioners at national and regional conferences.
Metric: the number of DL networking events at conferences
Metric: the level of participation (head count) at DL networking
Strategy 4.2. Enhance the online directory of DL CoP members with
annotation of their particular interests or areas of responsibility.
Metric: number of hits on the directory per month
Metric: number of DL CoP members agreeing to be listed in the
directory
Appendix: Distance Learning Environmental (SWOT) Analysis
STRENGTHS:
-
The DLCoP membership includes a great wealth of experience
in applied distance learning, benefiting from the network of
professionals forged by previous UCEA divisions.
-
The DL CoP is part of a large and established organization.
-
The wealth of experience of CoP members extends across the
spectrum of delivery systems and platforms (e.g., satellite,
Internet, CD-ROM, videoconferencing) and course maintenance
programs (e.g., WebCT, Blackboard), allowing assessment of many
delivery methodologies.
-
The DL CoP member institutions have developed linkages/partnerships
with other distance learning providers.
-
The DL CoP member institutions have experience with marketing
our products to a varied population of consumers.
WEAKNESSES:
-
In our eagerness to get on the bandwagon, some of our institutions
are not doing a good job of policing the quality of their distance
learning programs.
-
In effort to produce unlimited numbers of online courses, the
criteria usually used for selection of faculty are sometimes
compromised.
-
The members are so busy with the demands of distance education
that they don't have time or energy to commit to the CoP.
-
Eager to get "on the bandwagon," some of our institutions
are not doing a good job of policing the quality of their distance
learning programs.
-
There are very uneven degrees of distance learning expertise
in the institutions delivering distance learning programs.
-
Some institutions are trying to be "all things to all
people."
OPPORTUNITIES:
-
The Internet/WWW has lowered the cost of entering the distance
learning marketplace by orders of magnitude. (Note: This can
also be construed as a threat!)
-
The just-in-time nature of the Internet makes it possible to
be with students at the teachable moment, to have frequent interaction
and to keep the learning momentum going.
-
The percentage of the population actively using the Web is
sufficient to support online learning.
-
The downturn in the economy has people looking for training
and they want it without giving up their current employment.
-
Huge markets for distance education, such as those in china,
India, Indonesia, and Pakistan, should now be viable.
THREATS:
-
The failures of several distance learning "dot-coms"
are making many institutional leaders leery about web-based
distance learning as a viable enterprise.
-
There are so many kinds of distance education that it is difficult
to generalize or to find some other institution that has a similar
program.
-
The software, servers and networks are not sufficiently mature
to provide a stable environment for distance education.
-
The perception that there is money to be made in distance education
brings money players into the market (but then they leave quickly,
too). The expectations of administration are high because they
hope for a revenue stream.
Universities have cobbled together people and resources to get
programs up without having enough funding and/or an adequate
business plan to maintain them.
-
Scaling up to achieve high volume distance education programs
without attending to adequate levels of interactivity with faculty
may give online learning a bad name.
-
Issues regarding intellectual property sometimes constrain
the rapid development of online courses.
-
Faculty members sometimes have unrealistic expectations regarding
the compensation they should receive for course development.
-
With the major focus on electronic delivery of distance learning
programs, our institutions may be in danger of ignoring the
more old fashioned, but still viable, print-based distance learning
formats.
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