Stella Porto's presentation at Distance Learning Administration Conference, St. SImons, GA

1. Beyond Instruction: building sustainable student online communities Dr. Stella Porto Master of Distance Education Graduate School of Management & Technology University of Maryland University College

3. Focus of this presentation “ As distance education has evolved from a teacher-centric to a much more learner-centric model, the roles and activities instructors and other learner support providers have changed to being more proactive than reactive” (Brindley et al., 2004, p.9) The lack of campus life imposes difficulty in keeping students and graduates connected beyond the ties of the online classroom. Building virtual communities in a sustainable way is the focus of this presentation.

5. Introduction: Context & Background – MDE is a partnership

6. Introduction Context and Background: U of Maryland U College

7. Context and landscape Oldenburg

8. Context and landscape Oldenburg

11. The evolution of the MDE online community: timeline First trial… Using a course shell as a community environment

12. The evolution of the MDE online community: timeline Second addition: Alumni network through C3L-Oldenburg… … just alumni

26. Questions? Contact: [email_address]

27. The Master of Distance Education Present - Curriculum Core DE Foundations: systems view, technology, online teaching & learning, costing and student support Technology Leadership Instructional Design Multimedia Globalization & Development Advanced Technologies Internet Technologies Teaching & Training Instructional Design Library & Copyright Assessment Multimedia Distance Training Virtual K-12 Policy & Management Leadership DE Systems Library & Copyright Assessment DE Business Globalization & Development Capstone : E-portfolio & Research Project