Collaborate@AVLN
February/March
2002, Journal of Adventist
Education, written by Shirley
Ann Freed and Janine
Lim
Adventist Virtual Learning Network (AVLN) is a volunteer
group of professionals who share a vision for greater
collaboration among Seventh-day Adventists. Previously
known as AVLL- Adventist Virtual Learning Laboratory,
the group recently formalized into a non-profit organization.
AVLN's
Mission
To
promote global online collaboration for life-long learning
among Seventh-day Adventists and other faith-based organizations.
AVLN's Purposes
to support the educational ministry of the Seventh-day
Adventist church;
to support an international association of professionals
who use or wish to use technology for distance learning;
to facilitate collaboration among faith-based
organizations;
to develop expertise in distance learning to
serve the professional needs of practitioners; and
to maintain a global perspective as a world organization,
supporting multilingualism and multiculturalism in distance
learning.
Why
Collaborate?
Webster's Dictionary provides several definitions
of the word collaborate, including the following:
1) to work jointly, especially with one or a limited
number of others in a project involving composition
or research to be jointly accredited; or 2) to cooperate,
usually willingly, with an agency or instrumentality
with which one is not immediately connected often in
some political or economic effort. Running through these
definitions is the theme of willing cooperation of people
who might not collaborate under normal circumstances.
From
AVLN's inception, its members envisioned many potential
benefits from greater cooperation among our church members.
Adventist education is a global system with a shared
vision to educate for eternity. In AVLN meetings members
often talk about the need for every light (school) to
be kept burning. But church membership is increasing
at a much faster rate than the growth and enrollment
of Adventist schools.
It
seems clear that all of our schools, kindergarten through
graduate level, can be strengthened through collaborating
and sharing
resources. This will require re-thinking some of our
traditional methods of delivering instruction. Here
are some possibilities:
- Small
day academies could share online classrooms, just
as AE21(1) shares classes via
videoconferencing.
- Online
classes might make Adventist higher education more
affordable by allowing students to study at home for
some or all of their education.
- Schools
(especially those with diminishing enrollments) could
provide classes for home schoolers and parents who
are reluctant to send their young teenagers away to
boarding academies.
- Collaboration
by schools in different parts of the world would provide
enrichment opportunities for students to interact
with individuals from many cultures.
AVLN
already has an international scope. Attendees at the
2001 Conference included representatives from four world
divisions, and two AVLN board members come from outside
of North America. AVLN's web page (http://www.avln.org/)
features English, Portuguese, and Spanish versions,
and in the future will include information in other
languages as well.(2)
How
to collaborate?
Collaboration can occur at different levels:
- A
portal system or Adventist Shopping Mall for online
courses.
With an agreement to accept credits taken online from
other insitutions, Adventist (K-20) students would
have access to many more options.
-
Collaboration on course or module development.
This requires a deeper level of collaboration than
the first option. Faculty members with expertise in
specific areas could wor k
together to develop exemplary online courses. Access
might be limited to the students of the course developers
or could be broadened to include students in other
schools, as negotiated by the developers. Various
types of credit could be offered, ranging from continuing
education units to full college credit through participating
institutions.
- 3)
Collaboration on development and delivery.
In this model faculty members work together to develop
exemplary online courses. Such courses could be delivered
in a team teaching format or by a single faculty member
to students from multiple institutions. Students could
receive credit from the institution of their choice.
- Open
access to course material. A
process can be developed by which online courses/modules
are given, bartered, or sold to other institutions.
This could be similar to Adventist World Radio's Americas
region where "any station within reach of the
satellite signal is free to use as much or the program
material as they need in order to supplement whatever
they are doing at the local level." (3)
What
AVLN Members Say About the Organization and the
Conference
At the 2001 Distance Learning Conference, we asked
for comments from attendees. This sampling provides
a glimpse of the vision and support provided by
AVLN (formerly known as AVLL).
AVLL is a group charting the course for a successful
learning environment for the future. - Bob Paulson,
PUC
AVLL has been the best thing for Adventist
education that has happened, because it gives
us the opportunity to link different institutions,
different researchers and practioners, in order
to help them. It gives us the opportunity to share
knowledge and research that we have been doing
in different countries and states in the United
States. - Rafael Molina Director of Virtual Education,
Hawaii Conference
AVLL to me is a real God-send, in that
it provides a support mechanism for me to think
about, to reflect, to share my thoughts with others,
to daydream, brainstorm, a whole range of possibilities.
The bottom line is to find ways and means of reaching
people who might not otherwise have the opportunity
to engage in a very meaningful way with us towards
the glory of God. Don Roy, Associate National
System Director (Curriculum) Australian Union
Conference
What I've really enjoyed here this week is how
all the different distance education institutions
are all getting together and working under one
umbrella. - Lloyd Robinson, Associate Director,
British Columbia Conference, Canada.
Each session has been unique, vital and challenging,
and I can't wait to go back home and share what
I've learned here. - Lalen Simeon, Pacific Adventist
University, Papua New Guinea.
I've had the opportunity to observe here expertise
that is so different from what we had 10 years
ago, 15 years ago, and it's going to be a great
help in developing virtual schools. - Mel Northrup,
Director, Mid-America Union Conference online
school.
I particularly enjoyed the chat room activity.
It showed me how to do an activity that I do in
class, that is the jigsaw, but how I can do it
online. So I'm going to be working on that concept
when I design my first fully online course. -
Gail Rice, Professor, Loma Linda University |
These
are only a few of the ways our schools can collaborate.
AVLN members will be exploring new approaches and methods
as the organization reaches out proactively to make
cooperation a reality. Already, AVLN members have developed
a number of "faithware" courses, a term coined
by them to describe course material that they wish to
share -- and they hope will be used to God's honor and
glory.
"Active
Online Teaching" is one such course which gives
the learner (junior high to college-level teachers)
experience in how to deliver an online class. This course
was recently taught by Don Roy, educational superintendent
from Australia, Dave Jeffrey from Crawford Academy in
Canada, and Carole Kilcher from Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Membership
in AVLN
Since its inception, more than three years ago, AVLN
has consisted of a loosely organized group of interested
professionals. Meetings are open to interested individuals,
although mainly K-20 educators and administrators attend.
Early on, conversations centered around "if"
and "how" to collaborate. But with the formation
of Adventist Distance Education Consortium (Higher Ed)
(ADEC) and Adventist Consortium for Distance Education
K-12 (ADCE), AVLN's emphasis shifted. With the support
of newly gained administrative structures, members felt
itt was time to "start doing something" together.
AVLN's early projects include a "user friendly"
Web site where educators can share information, as well
as conferences that provide training and collaboration
opportunities.
AVLN
also maintains a listserv - collaborate@avln.org - where
participants can dialogue about current issues in Adventist
education. Here teachers and administrators can grapple
with ways to collaborate, share their experiences with
online education, and discuss possibilities for future
collaboration.
Thus
far, AVLN's activities have primarly centered around
teachers
helping teachers. We are working on ways to share resources
and open our online classrooms to others, what has often
been a challenge!
AVLN
is for you -- if:
- you
want to collaborate;
- you
are already collaborating and want to share your experiences;
- you
are seeking ideas on how to share resources and ideas;
- you
want to talk with other professionals who have formed
successful collaborations.
This
sounds like just about everybody! So why not join AVLN
today? Go to their web site at www.avln.org
for instructions and member benefits.
Plan
Now for the 2002 Conference
Obviously, people can't collaborate if they don't know
one another! AVLN Conferences provide opportunities
for you to meet other Adventist professionals and to
discuss a variety of distance initiatives. Building
trust in face to face environments is critical. This
year's conference will be held at Southern Adventist
University, June 23-28, 2002 in conjunction with the
Missions and Computing Conference. Featured speakers
this year are Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt, authors
of Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom : The Realities
of Online Teaching (2001) and Building Learning Communities
in Cyberspace : Effective Strategies for the Online
Classroom (1999). Sessions will include hands-on how-to
workshops, show and tell sessions, and time and space
to collaborate with colleagues. Visit the AVLN.org web
site for more details, session descriptions, registration,
and more.(5)
_____________________________________
Shirley
Ann Freed, Ph.D., has been active in AVLN since its
inception and has recently accepted greater leadership
responsibilities in the organization, while continuing
her work as a Professor of Education at Andrews University
in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Janine Lim is an Instructional
Technology Consultant at the Berrien County Intermediate
School District in Berrien Springs, Michigan. She works
with Adventist schools, as well as with other private
and public schools.
Notes
and References
- http://www.ae21.org
- Volunteers
who would like to help with translations should send
an E-mail to webmaster@avln.org.
- Adventist
Review
(November 8, 2001), p. 27.
- Computing
and Missions Conference Web site: http://www.computingandmissions.net/.
- For
summaries of the 1999 and 2000 AVLL conferences, visit
the AVLN Web site conference section.