News Release For Immediate ReleaseContact:Joe Hunter 781-292-2255[email protected]
Michael Chmura 781-239-4549[email protected]
On-line Education Center Moves to Olin and Babson Colleges;Unique Center to Expand Services for Public under Sloan Name
(Needham and Wellesley, Mass., April 2, 2001) -- A one-of-a-kind academic center providing resources for on-line educators has moved from Vanderbilt University to the campuses of Olin and Babson Colleges. The new center, sponsored by the New York-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will set up shop as the Sloan Center for On-line Education at Olin and Babson Colleges (SCOLE).
In its new incarnation, SCOLE will continue to provide research, information and other resources to help on-line educators improve their programs, but will add new services aimed at helping the general public find quality on-line programs. Professor John R. Bourne, who holds a joint appointment at Olin and Babson, will direct the center.
"The promise of 'anytime, anywhere' learning is virtually limitless," said Professor Bourne. "SCOLE will provide a way for institutions to access the latest research to improve their programs, and for individuals to learn about quality on-line offerings so they can make informed choices."
The services SCOLE will offer through its web site include an on-line journal and magazine, conference proceedings and workshops, as well as a job bank and bookstore. The Center also plans to offer a speakers' bureau and a searchable directory of on-line degree and certificate programs.
The web site will enable on-line educators to share and discuss information about what works and what doesn't in on-line learning. The listing of on-line programs,organized by degree and institution, will also benefit the general educational consumer looking to take a course or earn a degree on-line.
"There are many common problems facing educational institutions that offer programs on-line," said A. Frank Mayadas, program director at the Sloan Foundation. "It is our hope that this center will become a major, national clearinghouse of information on best practices in on-line education."
SCOLE has an on-line presence at www.scole.olin-babson.org, and will be developing web content over the next few months.
SCOLE represents a continuation of work Professor Bourne began at Vanderbilt University before his recent appointment at Olin and Babson. One of the nation's leading authorities on on-line education, he established the Sloan Foundation-supported Asynchronous Learning Network Web at Vanderbilt in 1996 as the first nationwide resource for on-line educators. He recently organized the Sloan Consortium, a group of more than 50 higher education institutions offering on-line programs.
The new Center is part of a wide-ranging collaboration in curricular and administrative areas between the two independent colleges.
Wellesley, Mass.-based Babson College, ranked number one internationally in entrepreneurship, is incorporating teaching/learning technologies into its award-winning integrated MBA and undergraduate business programs. The College is also moving aggressively into the on-line education market as a provider of on-line programs through Babson Interactive LLC and the Babson School of Executive Education.
Neighboring Olin College, which is developing an innovative undergraduate engineering program and building a high-tech campus in Needham, Mass., plans to incorporate many on-line learning techniques into its cutting-edge curriculum.
"Olin and Babson, with their commitment to entrepreneurship and continuous innovation, are the perfect environment for this Center," said Professor Bourne.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic nonprofit institution established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr., then president and chief executive officer of the General Motors Corporation. The Foundation has been a major supporter of on-line education since the early 1990s.# # #
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