For online learning to deliver on its promise, we must reduce costs, improve learning outcomes, and make it easier for faculty and other subject experts to use the technology. To that end, the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Co-Lab, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, undertakes a rigorous effort to document the development processes and to evaluate the pedagogical effectiveness of using sharable content objects (SCOs) in mainstream distributed instruction.

The Academic ADL Co-Lab, representing over 500 campuses, will select, assemble, disassemble, and reassemble the best available content from its partner institutions to create modular, customizable SCOs, while at the same time promoting standards for SCO reusability, interoperability, and manageability. The project's primary importance will be to document SCO development processes regarding production procedures, application of standards, and quality assurance practices to establish a framework for developing Internet-based instruction units by mixing and matching individual SCOs. This will be done in a way that allows the global e-learning community to use the materials with a variety of platforms and for a variety of purposes.

Further, this project will result in the production of 17 professional development modules designed to enhance teacher effectiveness in an online environment. These modules will be rigorously and systematically assessed for their learning effectiveness and instructional fidelity when piloted with 50 faculty-learners, representing a variety of disciplines and institutions.

The collaboration aims to create a model with the potential for wide application, a model that leverages shared resources to maximize the efficiency and quality of course development for institutions faced with the pressures of increasing enrollments, high instructional costs, the pedagogical shift needed to reach and teach computer-savvy students, and the need for flexible access to education through anytime, anywhere learning.

ONLINE REFERENCES: 

Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab home page
   http://www.academiccolab.org/  

Creating sharable content objects
   http://www.scodays.org  

Edward Meachen
Project Director

University of Wisconsin
  System
1554 Van Hise Hall
1220 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Tel: 608-265-3095
Fax: 608-265-3175

Christine Olgren

University of Wisconsin-
  Madison
Rm B136 Lathrop Hall
Madison, WI 53706
Tel: 608-262-8530

Patricia Ploetz

Academic Co-Lab
5901 Research Park Blvd.
Madison, WI 53719-1252
Tel: 608-261-1120