World Wide Web Applications as Tools for Expanding Roles of Leadership in Higher Education Reform

a paper to be presented on Saturday, March 1, 1997, 8-9 am at the Hyatt, Phoenix, AR within the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education conference
also found on WWW at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/stoloff/AACTEpaper.html

by David L. Stoloff, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Education Department, Eastern Connecticut State University

supported throught the funding of the American Association of University Professors, the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Center for Educational Excellence at Eastern Connnecticut State University
This presentation outlines applications of the World Wide Web (WWW) that may prove useful for the expanding roles of leadership in teacher education and higher education reform. These emerging applications are seen as tools for expanding student recruitment, admission and retention, curriculum development and implementation, multi-media linkages, learning communities, Academy discussions, school-university partnerships, community outreach, research, and assessment, and professional placement.

An interactive form of this presentation appears on the World Wide Web as http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/articles/AACTEpaper.html. Underlined words on the WWW link to resources throughout the world.

 This presentation discusses changes in the World Wide Web over the 9 months between June 1, 1996 and February 27, 1997. Prior to June 1, 1996, 100 WWW sites were identified as examples of 12 functions of higher education through searches on their descriptors using the AltaVista, Lycos, and Yahoo search engines. An analyses of changes in these sites was undertaken during February 1997 to chronicle how these sites evolved over a 9 month period.

Student Recruitment

Information on scholarships and awards and their application format is provided online by the University of South Carolina. During the last 9 months, the University of Southern Carolina's College of Education web pages have grown to include not only extensive listing of the scholarships and awards and the application format and process, but a wealth of information on the College's departments, faculty, affiliated organization, audio/visual equipment reservation forms, and course materials and syllabi.

 Catalog and program description may be placed on the WWW for easy access; the Nova Southeastern University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University illustrate these capabilities. Nova Southeastern University's Fischler Center for the Advancement of Education still maintains a listing of catalog information for 6 programs. The University of Arizona's webpages have been enhanced with links to alumni and friends, expanded program information, and more graphics. Northern Arizona University's link now features the university's Center for Excellence in Education, links to school-university partnerships, a search engine for NAU, and a Java-tized globe for other internet resources.

 SUNY, Stony Brook provides a campus tour with photos, CCNY has a clickable campus map, and SUNY, Plattsburgh presents a 10 minute virtual WWWalking tour. Stony Brook's tour has been enhanced to become "A UNIVERSE IN 1,100 ACRES." CCNY's clickable campus map has links to photos of the buildings and their schedule of operation. Plattsburgh's WWWalking Tour has been enhanced with stop-overs at different building for additional information.

Some fellowships programs online include Peace Corps Fellows/USA Program and the Fulbright Program. The Peace Corps information was moved and is still accessible through the Peace Corps's homepage. The Fulbright page celebrates the 50th anniversary of the program.

Admission and Retention

Temple University has an online graduate admissions information request form and provides access to Student Services, Inc.'s fastWEB! (Financial Aid Search Through the Web). During the last 9 months, Temple University enhanced its information request form and maintained a link to fastWEB through its Financial Aid link.

 Domestic and international application forms are available for downloading for admission to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . UCLA's Department of Education maintains a searchable on-campus job bank. SUNY, Brockport outlines student services on the web. A virtual student union is sponsored by several corporations.

Curriculum Development

Program outlines and course descriptions placed on the WWW may provide guidance for others developing similar curriculum; for example, see University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The Kennedy Center's Education Department features information on learning and teaching through and about the arts. Other WWW pages provide information on curriculum standards, US Department of Education initiatives, and professional organizations and clearinghouses. NASA, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Smithsonian Institution are among the national agencies that provide educational resources to the community. The "Kid Internet Delight" are 146 sites that children and their parents might enjoy." Edutopia and California Instructional Technology Clearinghouse provide information on the integration of technology with teaching and learning.

 During the last nine months, there has been increased developed of virtual classrooms. UCONN's Virtual Classroom links to over 40 departments at the university offering class notes and syllabi on the WWW.

Curriculum Implementation

Several courses in teacher education make extensive use of the WWW for student interaction and learning. Computer Uses in Education courses at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Eastern Connecticut State University, and Cleveland State University. The Virtual Online University provides information on K-12 and Home Schooling resources. As of February 27, 1997, the University of Phoenix Online Campus, and Empire State College provide distance learning opportunities.

Changes in the last nine months -- University Online now emphasizes its publishing capabilities, through its "content providers".

Multi-Media Linkages

Ohio State University's Department of Educational Policy and Leadership homepage includes an audio welcome for the Department chair. The Refrigerator Art Contest features art developed by children. The WebMuseum provides access to museums worldwide, a collection of classical music soundbites, and links to movie studios.

Changes in the last nine months - Television musical themes, public domain classical literature and historical documents, and radio programming through the Internet Town Hall are no longer readily available on the WWW. Southern Connecticut State University no longer offers a video presentation on the campus on its homepage.
 

Learning Communities

The College of Marin has developed a Center for Internet Technology in Teaching, a learning community around the theme of writing and research for the World Wide Web. Thematic units facilitated by the use of the Internet are featured in the Elk Grove, IL School District. Using TeacherNet, student teachers and first year teachers travel the information highway sharing curriculum ideas and problem solving in a project organized at California State University, Long Beach. KIDLINK facilitates global dialogs between students and their teachers throughout the world.

 The K-12 Administrator's Connection, an online resource for an administrative learning community, seems no longer to be available, although the Arizona Department of Education does provide resources "Of Special Interest To Administrators and Teachers."

Academy and Professional Discussions

Regional professional organizations such as the ASTUTE and CACUTE, have begun to experiment with WWW applications for online chatting and the posting of information for dissemination between meetings. Such national associations as AACTE, ATE, AESA, AERA, AAHE, ASCD, NSTA, AAUP, NEA, AFT, and PDK are represented on the WWW, although several of these organizations have changed location while upgrading their webpages in the last nine months.

School-University Partnerships

California State University, Dominguez Hills provides an example of one of the California Academic Partnership Program projects through its Center for Mathematics and Science Education. Other interesting partnerships include the Purchase College Early Childhood Alliance, the Richmond Project - a partnership between UC Berkeley and Contra Costa schools, the Coalition of Essential Schools, and Project Alliance, a School-University-Community Partnership in Environmental Science and Technology Education for Middle School Teachers sponsored by George Mason University, the NSF, the AAAS, and middle schools in the mid-Atlantic region, and Wyoming School University Partnership Technology Task Force. The Charter School of Education at Cal. State, LA presents an interesting model for collaboration.

Community Outreach

The University of Minnesota provides information on possible changes in college structure and function for off-campus participation. A searchable index on the University of Wisconsin-Madison's bulletin information is available online. The Kennedy Center discusses its community center's activities within its pages. Also available are the Kansas State Board of Education, the School District of Philadelphia, Marin County (CA) Office of Education, Nassau (NY) BOCES, and schools with web sites.

The International Cybercamp for Teaching for the New Millennium is no longer announced within the pages of the University of Maine-Presque Isle, ME.

Research

The College of Education at the University of Georgia has a research homepage that describes campus and statewide initiatives and journals. The Education Library at the University of Virginia and the University of Arizona Library grants access to research tools to the public. Other valuable sources include AskERIC, Regional Educational Laboratories, ERIC Clearinghouses, ASU College of Education homepage, the Argus Clearinghouse, "the Premier Internet Research Library", and Sonoma State's Internet Resources homepage.

Assessment

Background material on the nation's initiatives in the National Assessment of Educational Progress and Goals 2000 is found on the web, as well as a glossary of assessment terms. Blueprints for Reform, the NCTM Standards, and the IRA/NCTE Standards Project description focus on topics of assessment in science, mathematics education and reading respectively.

Professional Placement

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction posts weekly K-12 job openings in Wisconsin, along with school district profiles and information on teacher recruitment. EduNetCom provides similar listings for California schools. Wayne State University's College of Education's pages include faculty position announcements. The Chronicle of Higher Education offers weekly academic job listings.

Generalization on the evolution of the World Wide Web within the nine months

Of the one hundred websites that were initially selected in June 1996, 24 had moved to other sites by February 1997.

Several sites that once offered music or public documents seem now to be closed to free access by web wanderers.

Other sites were upgraded and moved to their own servers - particularly among several of the professional societies.

The use of video for transmitting information on the WWW seems to curently be limited, while examples of the use of small audio segments are evident.

During the last nine months, there seems to have been increased interest in placing course materials and distance learning courses on the WWW.

There seems to be increased interest in WWW applications for expanding roles of leadership in higher education reform. The next nine months should bring even more interesting changes in the uses of telecommunications, distance learning, and the World Wide Web in Education.