Hi all -

I'm sorry to take so long to respond to this interesting "WebCT vs
Blackboard" discussion that has morphed into a broader discussion. I was out
of town late last week then involved with both Dynamic Landscapes and the
two DOE sessions this week on NCLB.

I want to share some information that, while not a resolution to the issues
raised in a number of messages, will hopefully give us an avenue to pursue
the issues. There are two things I'd like to describe, the Vermont Distance
Learning Consortium and some resources now available to help you in sorting
through both online and otherwise technology-based programs touted (by their
marketers, in many cases) as "best practice".

First the Vt Distance Learning Consortium..... The WebCT vs Blackboard
discussion is just the tip of the iceberg, and one of a growing number of
issues that will emerge as our distance learning capacities collectively
expand. Others include how higher education might offer programs for hs
students that grant dual credit, methods for higher ed to "share" online
courses and grant credit to students for taking courses from another
school.... Otherwise we'll have (and likely already do) significant overlap
in the kinds of online experiences offered by the state colleges, UVM, and
the private institutions. Shoud Vermont "adopt" a particular virtual high
school offering from among the many possibilities or adopt principles that
will guide high schools in making their own choices? How much involvement
from "the state" do local school districts want in picking the available
options.

All of these (and other) questions led us, last November, to form the
Vermont Distance Learning Consortium. Initially involving representatives
from the Vt DOE, UVM, State Colleges, VIT, and VISMT, the group expanded in
January to include the Vt Department of Employment and Training, the
Association of Vermont Independent Colleges, the Public Service Department
(which is orchestrating a new state Telecommunications Plan), Regional
Educational Television Network, Vermont Public Television, and the Vermont
Department of Corrections (which operates a large high school called the
Community High School of Vermont). The DL Consortium adopted a Mission and
identified some initial issues or roadblocks to coordinating and
collaborating around distance learning. I've attached as Word documents the
mission and roadblocks. The DL Consortium has been meeting monthly and will
work as a policy recommending body to address issues related to distance
learning. Who will we recommend to???? Perhaps the legislature, State Board
of Education, or the Vermont Public Education Partnership which instigated
the establishment of the group. The good news about the DL Consortium is
that we have the players (or at least most of them) all at the same table.
But simply bringing the people together doesn't resolve the issues... so
we're working to create a structure that actually takes some active steps to
address the issues identified above. Your thoughts about he role this group
might play are welcome.

By the way, with regard to the WebCT vs Blackboard discussion. How did the
option shrink to two? There are many platforms available and some options
right here in Vermont. I believe VISMT owns sime software that can be used
for onlne courses and I know that the National Institute for Community
Innovation (NICI), located right in Montpelier, has some strong software
called "Campus" that has been very successfully used. Significantly, NICI
owns the code and they are very interested in making ther tools available to
Vermont's schools. Contact Bob McLaughlin at [log in to unmask] Note
I'm not endorsing this software, simply indicating that there are other
options out there.

The second point I want to make is in regard to some resources that might be
helpful to you in making judgements about the wide assortment of online and
distance learning programs that are out there. With the implementation of
NCLB, many, many vendors of online offerings will want your money. There are
some free resources available to help you sift through these in order ot
select those most appropriate for your needs. Here are a couple with brief
descriptions:

        Exemplary and Promising Programs in Educational Technology (Educational
Technology Expert Panel) http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edtechprograms/ *** This
initiative first developed a set of criteria to use in judging the quality
of a technology-based program, then identifies a few of them. Significantly,
from an initial list of 134 proposed programs this panel accepted only 8 or
so as either exemplary of promising. Even more significantly, Vermont's own
"Web Project" was identified as one of the Promising programs. The
publication from this group is available on the web, downloadable as a PDF
file, or free as a hard copy. The best part of their work (from my
perspective) is the fact that they went back and produced rubrics to use in
making judgements about programs. This is a "must have" document.

The Metiri group reviewed a bunch of technology-based programs as well...
and in doing so they created their own set of criteria. They have documents
for both elementary/middle school and high school. The documents can be
downloaded from http://www.metiri.com/WebInvestigation/k8.doc or
http://www.metiri.com/WebInvestigation/HS.doc.

Another resource is called the "Knowledge Loom"
(http://knowledgeloom.org/index.shtml). This effort, led by our friends from
EDC in Newton, MA also developed some criteria to use in judging the quality
of online or technology-based learning materials/programs. They then went on
and found some that fit their criteria. They provide links to those programs
that they consider to be high-quality. Significantly, this group also cited
some Vermont work - thta of Bill Kimball and the teachers and administrators
from Morristown, VT.

Finally, the National Staff DEvelopment Council (NSDC), which developed
standards for professional development a few years back, has now produced a
set of standards for onling professional development. Their work is
available at http://www.nsdc.org/standards_tech.html where you can download
a PDF of these standards.

I apologize for the length of this message but hope this information is of
some value.

Bill Romond

Educational Technology Coordinator
Vermont Department of Education
120 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05620-2501
(802) 828-0064 (V)
(802) 828-3140 (F)
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: School Information Technology Discussion
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Steve Cavrak
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 4:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: WebCT vs. Blackboard vs. ?????


<<
Do you have a knowledge of which states have consortiums?
>>

Georgia is one I know of ... and I believe one or two of
the states on the Pacific coast do ...

<<
Do you have any suggestions on where I might start
(Bill Romond, VITA-Learn/VISMIT)?
>>

That's probably one good place to start ... With
UVM's restructuring of Continuing Education, that
impact on Advanced Placement, etc, it might be
good for VITA/VISMT etc to float the idea ...

<<
I thought that one way might be UVM becoming
involved with K-12 schools for preservice, inservice,
and advanced courses targeted to high schools.
>>

Me too. I always though it it would be good for
UVM to be able to get a formal connection between
the University (etc) and high school students in
the state.

There are, of course, some interesting thorny issues.
If student's take courses online, who gets the tuition
payment ... their local school board or the hosting
school ... and who gets the tuition bill ... the student,
the local school, the state, the Education President :)

Steve