CALL FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF
EVNET, THE NETWORK FOR THE EVALUATION OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TECHNOLOGIES

THIS IS AN INVITATION TO MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS OF EVNET TO PRESENT THEIR RESEARCH AND PRODUCTS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE LEARNING AND TRAINING PROCESS.

VISION STATEMENT: Much evaluation of educational technology consists of 'mouse-click' assessments. They often deal primarily with the user-machine interface. Does the software or hardware or courseware work efficiently and effectively in a technical sense? Often not considered is the impact of technology on the pedagogy, on the quality of the learning experience and process, on the collaborative interactions of learners with one another and with the instructor or trainer. Similarly, much administrative practice, whether government, corporate, or public education, looks at assessment from the viewpoint of organizational and institutional interests (budgets, administrative reorganization, etc), with the quality of pedagogy and the learning experience relegated to second or worse place. It is time to consider evaluation of education and training technology from the viewpoint of pedagogy, the learning experience, the learner, and the instructor or trainer. We ask participants to address these issues in their presentations and discussions. This does not mean that the entire presentation must be focused on the impact of technology on pedagogy. However, given the past relative neglect of the learner, the instructor, and the quality of the pedagogy, we ask presenters to take these issues into account in their presentations. We believe that the assessment of technology must be based on its contribution to learning and training; the evaluation of learning and training must not be based on how well it advances the technology. We also believe that, ultimately, it will be in the long-term interests of the developers and providers of the technology (whether hardware, software, or learnware) to enhance the effectiveness of learning and training through the technologies rather than just to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in isolation from the delivery of content.

Keynote Address: "The Underprivileged and Universal Access to Distance Learning: Disabilities and Beyond."

Dr. Norman Coombs, Rochester Institute of Technology

Dr. Coombs is Chair of EASI (Equal Access to Software & Information), an affiliate of the American Association for Higher Education; advisory board member of HEATH, the National Clearinghouse on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Disabilities; and, member of Tech Watch, a Committee of the National Council on Disabilities. He has given numerous workshops on technologies, learning, and disabilities, and published extensively on this subject. His most recent publication is his 1997 book, Information Access and Adaptive Technology (Oryx Press).

1. Higher Education Administrative Policies and Practices in Information and Instructional Technologies: Is Learning Considered Less Important than Budgets and Organizational Issues?
2. Do Students/Learners/Trainees Lead Teachers, Trainers, and Instructors in the Diffusion of Instructional Technologies? What are the Consequences for Students When their Teachers Implement or Resist Technological Innovations?
3. Educational and Job Outcomes for Students of Applications of Educational Technologies?
4. Job Outcomes for Instructors, Trainers, and Teachers of Applications of Educational Technologies? Does computer-assisted distance education create unemployment among instructors? How do internet technologies affect the authoritative and consultative components of instructor's and trainer's roles?
5. Do Students Benefit More From Traditional or from Electronic Delivery of Distance Education? In which is there the deepest learning? What factors account for this?
6. What Impact Does Place and Inequality of Access Have on Student's Learning Opportunities as Institutions Move to Distributed Learning? How do instructors ensure access and equality of learning opportunities between distance and local students?
7. Do Students With Paid Jobs, and Students and Instructors with Marriages, and Children, Have Time to Participate in Synchronous Communications? How do they schedule and juggle their hours?
8. Are Paradigms for Best and Worst Practices of Educational Technologies Different for Instructors and Learners?
9. What are the Components of an Evaluation Toolkit?
10. Are the Inter-Institutional Differences Between Administrative Policies and Practices in Information and Communications Technologies based on the Learning Process, Organizational Constraints, Political Factors, or Budget Considerations?
11. How Central is the Learning Process in the Attempts to Establish Quality Standards in Evaluating and Assessing Learnware?
12. What is the Best Methodological Means for Assessing the Role of Technology in Education and Training: Mail Back Surveys? VideoTaping and Direct Observation? Online Questionnaires? Individual Interviews? or, Focus Group Interviews? For What Kinds of Studies are These Techniques Differentially Appropriate?
13. Do Different Learning Models Call for Unique Evaluation Methodological Paradigms?
14. Does the Concept of Replaceable Modules in Distance Education Courseware Shortchange or Benefit the Student and Instructor?
15. Do Students and Instructors Gain Valuable Experience in Participating as Developers of Internet Courseware? How Do They Disseminate Experiences Learned from One Project to Other Projects?
16. How do Learners and Instructors Collaborate with their Peers and Colleagues in the Electronic Delivery of Education and Training?
17. What is the Best Practices Model of Peer Teaching for the Development and Electronic Delivery of Learnware?
18. Can Students and Instructors Effectively Engage in Problem-Based Teaching and Learning on Computer-Networks?
19. Do Students in Literacy and English as a Second Language Programs Profit More from CD-ROM Delivery, Synchronous or Asychronous Communications, or Other Forms of Courseware?
20. How Do Instructors and Students Navigate Spatial Concepts in the Electronic Delivery of Courseware?
21. Do Physically and Learner-Challenged Students Gain from Alternative Forms of Electronic Learnware? (Video-conferencing versus Text-Based Computer Conferences versus Sound-Enabled Browsers)?
22. Is There an Informal Learner Subculture Emerging on Chat Lines and Computer Conferences?
23. What are the Best Practices in the Roles of the Trainer and Trainee in Computer-Based Workplace Training (CBT)?
24. What is the Interface Between Learnspace and Workspace in Cyberspace?
25. How Do Workers Learn the Politics of Progressive Change on the Internet? What Consequences Does This Have on Workers and Their Lives?
26. How Do Instructors and Learners from Culturally Diverse Backgrounds Participate in Computer-Based Communications?
    
    

IF YOUR TOPIC IS NOT COVERED IN THIS LIST, PLEASE SUGGEST OTHER TOPICS IN WHICH YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN MAKING A PRESENTATION.

Educators, Researchers, and Practitioners Who Are Not Members of EvNet Are Invited to Participate in one of the Four Formats Below. We are Anxious to Engage in a Dialogue With You.

Public, Private, and Non-Profit Organizational Partners of EvNet are Expected to Attend and Participate in the Discussions

Principal Investigators of Funded Projects Must Give a Presentation on the Topic of Their Investigations, and Provide an Update of The Past Year's Work

Members of research teams are encouraged to make presentations.

PRESENTATIONS BY RESEARCH ASSISTANTS, GRADUATE STUDENTS, and PRACTITIONERS ARE ESPECIALLY ENCOURAGED

1. Paper or oral presentation of research in progress (with or without electronic aids)
2. Roundtable debates (suggest topics and participants)
3. Poster presentations (a prize will be offered for the best)
4. Demo of Product or Work in Progress
   

PLEASE FILL OUT THE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION FORM BY CLICKING HERE AND SUBMIT YOUR SUGGESTIONS FOR A PRESENTATION OR DEMONSTRATION NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1998

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