American Center for Distance Education is Inaugurated |
The American Center for the Study of Distance Education has begun operation at the Pennsylvania State University in the College of Education, in association with the Division of Media and Learning Resource. Director Dr. Michael Moore says, "This is an inter-institutional, multi-disciplinary Center. It aims to facilitate collaboration among individuals and institutions in the United States and overseas." The Center's main goals are to promote distance education research, study, scholarship, and teaching, and to serve as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of knowledge about distance education.
The American Symposium on Research in Distance Education, held at Penn State in July 1988, provided the main impetus for formation of the Center, posing such questions as what research methods are appropriate, what kinds of collaboration are feasible, and what can be done to get research off the ground? Symposium participants were well-known distance education scholars, and they are expected to become close associates of the Center, which will publish a book featuring discussion papers presented at the Symposium.
The American Journal of Distance Education, based at the Center, is now in its third year of publication under Dr. Moore's editorship. Originally funded with seed money from the Annenberg/CPB Project, it is highly respected as one of the main scholarly journals in the field. It reports serious news, opinion, and research from universities, community colleges, the armed forces, corporate training divisions, and private groups, and voluntary agencies. The Journal focuses on teaching, training, and learning through all forms of printed, recorded, and telecommunications media.
One of the first projects the Center plans to undertake is to set up an electronic mail network for the purpose of facilitating communication among those involved with its activities.
Dr. Moore, as Vice-President of the International Council for Distance Education, hopes to establish and strengthen ties between that worldwide body and scholars and practitioners in the Americas. The Center hopes to be involved in publishing the proceedings of the ICDE's 1990 conference, to be held in Venezuela.