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From the Editors
October
2002
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Co-editor Tuiren Bratina and I are excited to be working with others
in the
International Society for Technology in Education's Special Interest
Group for
Telelearning to publish the SIG's Bulletin. To arrive at any
one point
in time, there are always those who came before whose contributions
should be
recognized. Those members who edited and wrote for the SIG's
Journal of Online
Learning, both print and online publications, provided guidance
and wisdom
for the newest venture for our special interest group, the SIGTel
Bulletin.
We would especially like to thank James Bartlett for serving as the
editor of
the first online journal for our SIG and to recognize him for paving
the way
for the Bulletin. His editorial guidance with starting the
online publication
process for SIGTel gave us a foundation on which we are trying to
build the
SIGTel Bulletin.
For the purpose of introducing you to the first posting of the first
issue
of the SIGTel Bulletin, we shall answer three questions. What
do we as
editors believe about online communication and learning? What do you
want for
your journal? What do we need in order to provide you with a timely
and informative
Bulletin?
First, what do we believe?
Why did we volunteer to be editors of an online publication? We
strongly believe
in online communication and learning, even though sometimes we are a
bit overwhelmed
with the immensity of the responsibility they entail. During the Fall
1997 semester
we introduced distance-learning courses at the University of North
Florida.
Throughout subsequent semesters we have been involved with
experimenting with
the interactivity that the Internet provides for online learning
experiences.
Additional reasons for promoting online communication and learning
include:
timeliness, interactivity, quick searching capabilities, ability for
immediate
feedback, easy access of current and archival issues, possibility of
cost savings,
and universal accessibility of Web sites.
What do you want from your Bulletin?
The diverse membership of our SIG will allow us to tap into the
expertise available
from scholars throughout the world; but we need to know what you want
your Bulletin
to be. Do you want formal discussion reviews; short or long articles;
original
research; project overviews; book, software, hardware, or web site
reviews;
reactions to previously published manuscripts; conference session
reviews; or
scholarly dialogue? By knowing your preferences, we can make a call
for proposals
that will make the Bulletin an added value for your SIGTel
membership.
What do we, as editors need in order to provide you with a timely
and informative
Bulletin?
We need you to contribute articles, to make suggestions, and to serve
as reviewers
of potentially publishable manuscripts. If you are interested in
participating
in either or all of the three needs, please contact either Tuiren (tbratina@unf.edu)
or myself (zboulwar@unf.edu). We
look
forward to your responses.
The SIGTel Bulletin will be divided into issues. Issue 1 will
be completed
during the year 2002 with postings occurring whenever articles are
ready for
publication. Issue 2 will cover the postings during January 2003 -
December
2003. Being able to post information when it is ready for publication
will allow
all of us to have immediate access to the content; this factor is
especially
important for our international members who no longer will need to
rely on postal
mail for their copies of the Bulletin. When new postings are
made, all
members will receive an e-mail with notification of the new posting.
In the first posting, there are five articles. You will find a welcoming message
from our President Sally Bair and an invited paper from our Past President Betsy
Frederick. To assist the editors with a better understanding of the evolving
organization, Betsy accepted our request to define telelearning. She has provided
multiple definitions and invites your responses to promote dialogue on the subject.
Next, "From Russia with Love" chronicles the project that won first place
in the 2002 SIGTel Online Learning Awards for Marilee Paterson from Canada.
Her project objective was to supplement historical readings with interactions
that would provide a modern perspective of Russia and Russians. Find out how
she and the Russian project participants planned for and conducted this project.
Look for other winners' projects in future postings.
Finally, "Standing in the Middle: From a Variety of Perspectives" was written
by my co-editor and Debra Abbott, another University of North Florida educator.
Their article illustrates the part of online learning that we, as editors, feel
is one of the most important characteristics of online learning, interactivity.
You will read about the use of learning objects to teach a statistics concept
in concrete and semi-concrete ways. Their article contains a variety of multimedia
features, including text, visuals, audio, video, and animation. The editors
plan to capitalize on these features in future postings by including articles
that contain or promote the use of multimedia and interactivity in the online
learning process.
For their welcoming presence and frequent assistance during our
infancy as
Bulletin editors, Tuiren and I thank Betsy Frederick, Sally
Bair, Sarah
Nichols, Jennifer Roland, and Jennifer Jones. Their guidance and
answers to
our many questions are indicative of the quality of the ISTE
organization. Our
thanks also go to Tony Turrin at the University of North Florida for
bridging
the gap between our knowledge and that of the ISTE staff members
during initial
fact-gathering and decision-making about streaming video.
Producing the first Bulletin posting has been an exciting and
energizing
experience. Thank you for your contributions of information and
viewpoints to
date. We are eager to hear from members of our SIG so that together we
can produce
an exemplary professional online publication.
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