This blog post written by:
Dr. John Flores
CEO USDLA                                

USDLA invites its members and all colleagues to attend the 2017 USDLA Policy Forum in partnership with the Presidents Forum and Excelsior College scheduled for October 29th & 30th in Washington DC at the US Chamber of Commerce Building, Hall of Flags. Beginning with a reception on October 29th from 6 -8pm at the Mayflower Hotel, the 2018 forum will thematically be focused on LEADERSHIP and INNOVATION in a TIME of TRANSITION.

Dr. Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), will be our 2017 Keynote Speaker. Through his leadership and thought innovation, SNHU has evolved into one of the leading Global Distance Learning On Line Universities.  In addition,there will be a series of moderated discussions throughout the day. Topics will include:

Addressing Disruption: Comfort or Chaos,

Technology Transforming Learning

 Addressing the Affordability Crisis

The Forum will be an opportunity for everyone to listen, learn and discuss the numerous topics educators are facing in this time of continued Innovation and Transition.

You will not want to miss this exciting USDLA event.

The Presidents’ Forum, created in 2002, is a collaborative convening body comprised of accredited institutions and national organizations that have embraced the power and potential of distance learning to serve contemporary students. The Presidents Forum advances innovative practice and excellence by convening institutional leaders and stakeholders to share their knowledge, learn from others best practices, and frame recommendations for national policy. While historically Forum membership has been primarily comprised of institutions serving adult learners, membership increasingly reflects the full spectrum of higher education institutions, especially as technology transforms access and quality of post-secondary education.

Program agenda

Save the Date: 

National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) – November 6-10

2018 National Conference – April 29 – May 2

Learn more about the USDLA and how you too can be a member. The association supports all core markets including Enterprise, Government, Telemedicine, Education and others.

USDLA Membership

One USDLA program that really puts legs on the concept of learning from a broad community is our annual USDLA International Awards Program.  We have pretty well wrapped up a series of blogs in this space that feature many of our 2017 award winners.  We hope you’ve found those posts to be both interesting and informative.

This blog written by: George R. Collins, USDLA, Chair of the Board

Many of us grew up with the idea that reading biographies was somehow inherently good.  Read of Lincoln and learn how early-on he was undeterred by repeated defeats at the ballot box.  Climb in the cockpit with Lindbergh to glean something about a willingness to bet your survival on what feels like a bunch of abstract equations.  Consider how a French engineer, L’Enfant, could view a wooded hummock called Jenkins Hill and envision it as Capitol Hill, now our majestic seat of government.  Often, we can learn from and model ourselves after greatness that has preceded us.

Something similar is true of organizations.  Sometimes there are parallels between organizations that, on the surface, operate in altogether different universes.  We’ve seen that, for instance, in the Quality Movement where an American accounting firm takes lessons from a Japanese car manufacturer.  Sometimes, though, the distance between the two is even greater.  What might people learn from a building?  Learn, not in a building, mind you, but from a building?

Probably all of us know Pixar – Toy Story, Cars, Ratatouille, Nemo – you get it.  Do you know that Pixar attributes much of its success to the design of its headquarters building.  Steve Jobs explained it this way, “If a building doesn’t encourage [collaboration], you’ll lose a lot of innovation and the magic that’s sparked by serendipity. So we designed the building to make people get out of their offices and mingle in the central atrium with people they might not otherwise see.”

The director of Ratatouille, Brad Bird, also speaking of the Pixar building elaborates. “The atrium initially might seem like a waste of space …. But Steve realized that when people run into each other, they make eye contact, things happen.”

Cool, but what does Ratatouille and a colony of Parisian rats have to do with distance learning?  Well, the rats, not so much … but the creative process behind the feature film has a lot to do with DL.  Start with our slogan Learn from a community that is broader than your own.  Think of Pixar’s atrium “people run into each other … make eye contact … things happen.”  That is the essence of USDLA’s magic.  Bring a group of professionals together.  Make contact.  Things happen.

This Pixar Principle is designed into and boldly showcased at USDLA’s National Conference.  Learn from a community that is broader than your own.  It is seen at chapter meetings.  It is found in webinars during National Distance Learning Week.  Learn from a community that is broader than your own.  In a very real sense, it is even found right here on usdla.org and in our Distance Learning Journal.

Things happen.  We’d love for you to be a part of that!

And now … the 2018 USDLA Awards are right around the corner!  Soon we will be posting information concerning the competition – and due dates!  The award categories from 2017 will pretty well hold for next year’s competition.  So be thinking about some person or some aspect of your work that merits international acclaim.  We’d love to see you walk across the stage to receive your award at our National Conference!

As evidenced above, our new blog theme is on the topic of “Learn from a community that is broader than your own.”  If you have a personal story that illustrates this principle, by all means let us hear from you. Drop us a line at  info@usdla.org.

Thank you!

Save the Date: 

2017 Policy Forum

National Distance Learning Week (NDLW)

2018 National Conference

Learn more about the USDLA and how you too can be a member. The association supports all core markets including Enterprise, Government, Telemedicine, Education and others.

USDLA Membership

One USDLA program that really puts legs on the concept of learning from a broad community is our annual USDLA International Awards Program.  We have pretty well wrapped up a series of blogs in this space that feature many of our 2017 award winners.  We hope you’ve found those posts to be both interesting and informative.

This blog written by:

Marci Powell

USDLA Board Member

CEO | President Marci Powell & Associates

The first time I saw Dr. Michelle Durán, she was on stage at the Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA) conference dressed in a crazy costume and energetically encouraging attendees to have fun by participating in all of the entertainment activities.  Her exuberant personality lit the stage and I knew she was someone I would love to hang out with!

Then, I met Michelle one-on-one. Wow!  I soon got to know her as a brilliant fellow educator with a serious commitment to raising leaders in distance learning. Many have taken notice of her contributions to the field.  This year, in fact, Michelle received recognition for her efforts as the recipient of the USDLA Outstanding Leadership Award.

I have known Michelle for over a dozen or so years now through our work together as board members of TxDLA and through professional activities related to distance education.  Michelle currently serves as Board Chair for the association while being employed as Assistant Vice President for Teaching and Learning at Texas A&M University, Kingsville (TAMUK).  Under her positive and charismatic leadership, the distance learning program is thriving at her university.

A few years back, I was invited to speak to faculty members at her university in a full-day DL summit.  To see her work and impact first-hand was exciting. Her entire team shows the level of commitment and enthusiasm that Michelle exudes. Together they are instrumental in fostering a culture of innovative teaching and learning at TAMUK. Through her mentoring and leadership, Michelle has built a strong and unified team who are greatly serving their institution as well as working collaboratively in associations.

Dr. Durán and her team have applied this same energy and enthusiasm cultivated at Texas A&M Kingsville to serve with TxDLA. For many years serving on the executive leadership team of the TxDLA, Michelle has consistently mentored, shared and collaborated with others internally and externally.  She leads in a way that draws others to serve by strategically mentoring and encouraging future leaders. Her service reflects a strong commitment to the advancement of distance learning.

Michelle is sought after for keynote presentations at regional and national conferences on topics of innovative learning spaces, pioneering distance learning practices, effective managerial strategies, and inventive digital learning approaches. She uses her breadth of knowledge and creative approaches to help solve education problems. Her entrepreneurial spirit contributes to her recognition as an innovator in the use of technology to meet the needs of learners at all levels.  Just attend one of her sessions if you ever have the chance. You will be engaged from the beginning.

Dr. Durán currently serves as Board Chair for TxDLA, Chair of the Texas A&M University System Council for Academic Technology and Innovative Education, Vice Chair of the Learning Technology Advisory Committee for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Managing Editor of the TxDLA Journal of Distance Learning, Chair of the South Texas Higher Education Regional Council, and is an active member in multiple additional professional associations and committees.

Michelle has been and is a true leader in the development and acceptance of distance learning around the country. Not only has this led to her being recognized for the Outstanding Leadership Award, Michelle has been elected to the USDLA Board of Directors.  I expect her energetic and exuberant personality combined with passion for serving and her knowledge and expertise in the field will greatly serve USDLA.

USDLA is proud to honor people like Dr. Michelle Durán who are outstanding leaders with a heart and passion for distance learning.  If you know someone deserving on this honor, I hope you will consider nominating them when it is time for nominations in the next few months.   With great leaders like Dr. Michelle Durán, we can all rest assured that the future impact of distance learning is in good hands.

This blog written by:

Pat Cassella

USDLA Board Member

I’ve been fascinated with technology for as long as I can remember. For my 8^th grade Science Fair I built a motorized model of the planets that would spin when you correctly answered a series of astronomy questions. When I won first place, I knew some type of electronics foundation was in my career.

My involvement in video solutions started back in 1987 and over the years I’ve seen hundreds of innovative solutions that solve everyday problems using a form of technology.  At the recent 2017 United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) national conference I was able to meet Lee Gambol (virtually) and see first-hand another example of thinking out of the box to solve a common problem.

Virtual field trips have always been a favorite application for me when it comes to using video communication technology. It’s such a powerful solution for a real problem: it’s expensive to transport classrooms of students, it takes an incredible amount of coordination, it is not environmentally friendly, and we all know how risky it can be.

While video conferencing technology has dominated this application in the past, Lee found a newer solution from a provider called Georama© that puts a new spin on an older application – allowing free-roaming access into all sorts of behind-the-scenes areas that is difficult to accomplish with traditional video conferencing.  This new streaming video service also includes a chat feature for collaboration and records the sessions for later playback, say for students that couldn’t attend the initial live virtual visit. While this technology was initially focused on university campus tours, Lee approached the founder of Georama after a USDLA conference session and asked if he’d be interested in using the museum as a location for virtual tour testing.

Especially attractive in this application is that Georama© is driven through a common website URL and supports unlimited participants per tour. This means entire schools could watch the adventure simultaneously without the need for specialized video conferencing equipment.

The Distance Learning Team at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History have a powerful philosophy behind their program development: “Technology is Just the Tool.” Oddly enough, this is very similar to that of my company, IDSolutions, whose tag line is “It’s only technology until it becomes a solution”.  This is so true, especially when it relates to the classroom as I’ve seen piles of expensive technology sit unused at schools just going to waste.

I’ve always believed that the proof of success for any good technology is closely tied to the response of user base. For Lee, the very first test tour invited Lorain County’s Midview North Elementary teachers to connect in with Lee as she interviewed Wildlife Specialist Katie Overholser. The tour quickly generated comments like: “This was a great experience”, “My class really enjoyed it. Thank you for this opportunity!” and “The students loved seeing Lancelot eat!”

This application is very satisfying to me in several ways; for one, it provided the opportunity for students to go where they likely wouldn’t be able to go without the help of Georama’s technology. Another is that Lee connected with Georama© at a USDLA conference, one of the main purposes (networking) that we pride ourselves on. Lastly, the USDLA Award program was an opportunity for Lee to showcase what she did so that she could share it with others and hopefully change the lives for students in other schools.

Learn more about the USDLA and how you too can be a member by visiting www.usdla.org/membership. The association supports all core markets including Enterprise, Government, Telemedicine, Education and others.

This blog written by:

Michelle Duran, Ph.D.

Assistant Vice President for Teaching and Learning
Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Digital innovation can be a long winding road at times and is not always suitable for all passengers. There takes a special dynamic to change a mindset of traditional educational practices, but flipping an entire university takes just the right formula. Oral Roberts University, a 2017 USLDA Innovation Award Recipient, had just the right combination to create one of the leading Global Learning Centers that is paving the way for digital creativity that serves a global market of students. Let’s look at the key pieces of the puzzle that ORU put together to lead unparalleled global education developments.

Administrative support for practices that push the boundaries of traditional education are essential to implementing campus wide innovative strategies. Support in the sense of both financial backing to fund practices that may be deemed risky by some but a sound investment by others, and visible support that has the potential to inspire a culture shift. Such was the case at Oral Roberts University (ORU) in 2014, where the Board of Trustees initiated a Globalization Case Statement to initiate the discussion around the global learning center concept. The case statement included that ORU would use “New Paradigms in Technologies to Reach Millions with Whole Person Education.” ORU invested $8.5M into a Global Learning Center that was designed with a global approach to using augmented and virtual reality (AVR). With the idea of the center began the process of looking for a chief information officer who had experience at this level and who would be a change agent and help lead others in an educational adventure that would test the limits of imagination.

Another essential factor in successful innovative deployments at educational institutions is faculty, staff, and student buy in. Identifying individuals who are willing to engage and stand behind practices that have not been vetted by years of educational successes is difficult, but is at the core of establishing a firm pedagogical foundation for innovation. With the entire global university community behind them, ORU designed and currently provides over 8,000 learning objects available via smart phones to a fully immersive virtual reality theater with 500,000 learning environments that can be broadcast around the world.

The last sometimes overlooked pieces of the formula, yet the most vital are patience and resiliency. Every creative idea or program has encountered layers of planning and trials before a complete successful project was in place. Constant reviews of processes and practices only build a stronger product. ORU’s Global Learning Center was not created in a day and not on the first attempt, it took two years of varied approaches to find the right design for success. The end result is now bringing a world of learners together to experience futuristic educational trends and has yielded the following noteworthy accomplishments for faculty who have been leveraging their current curriculum and allowing students to engage in the AVR learning environments: increases in retention and test scores, reduction in time to transfer new knowledge to students, increases in engagement with class materials by students, increases in international students, and establishment of direct connections to industries using AVR.

ORU had the right formula to make what some had deemed unattainable a reality: administrative visible and financial support, a champion and leader of innovation, a community of knowledge producers and consumers who were willing to break the status quo and set new innovative standards for education, and the essential skills of resiliency and patience. A formula that can be replicated at campuses and industries across the globe to revolutionize the way we teach and learn. As CIO Mathews states, “ORU’s Geovision Technology spans the globe to harmoniously connect innovative teamwork with innovative technology solutions that directly impact each student — making ORU’s Flipped University (OneCampus) a true game changer.”

You can learn more about how ORU is Flipping their University at https://vimeo.com/165200782

Save the Date: 

2017 Policy Forum

National Distance Learning Week (NDLW)

2018 National Conference

Learn more about the USDLA and how you too can be a member. The association supports all core markets including Enterprise, Government, Telemedicine, Education and others.

USDLA Membership

Our Association is unique, not only for its historical commitment to distance learning, but also for engaging with a broad spectrum of distance learning professionals – K-12, higher education, corporate, government, military, telehealth, and home schooling. While more narrowly focused organizations have an important role, a powerful perspective emerges when bright minds serving diverse constituencies come together.

The USDLA was formed in 1987. At that time, companies like Yahoo and Google were still years away. “Power users” were boasting of their Intel 386 processors. In that context, DL was a concept well outside the educational mainstream. Granted, a few people knew something of the process but hands-on DL experience was rare. USDLA, then, provided a means for these pioneers to find one another.

Today, with more than one-third of college students taking an online class, it’s a far different world but USDLA remains a vital player. Our members continue to seek out other DL professionals. These practitioners still want to grow and want to offer students a strong education in a robust community of learning. Today’s USDLA stands out as a remarkable resource for teachers and administrators who want to enhance the learning experience.

Become a USDLA Sponsor today!