Active Learning & Distance Education

1969-71 San Francisco Theological Seminary, Active Learning Curriculum Development
As one of two elected student representatives to the Curriculum Committee and non-voting member of the Board of Directors, I participated in the redesign of the curriculum for third year students. This year was structured around active learning — placement of seminarians in churches, weekly meetings with a small group (6-8) of peers; and regular contact with faculty advisors and daily work with field advisors/mentors.

As a participant in the program we designed, I was assigned an internship in a Berkeley church where I worked with the members and representatives from the social concerns groups of other churches. We started the Berkeley Runaway Center which evolved into a full community service agency, Berkeley Youth Alternatives (BYA). Working with Quakers and student activists brought about the Peace Brigade, a Gandhi-inspired non-violence study/action group, that recruited and trained volunteer community monitors at rallies and demonstrations.

My internship was extremely motivating and the peak learning period in my life up to that point, and the Seminary embraced the new internship-based active learning curriculum. It was also a time of upheaval in which the active learning style supported my continued involvement in the community. Despite three more years of support available from the Danforth Foundation, I chose not to pursue an advanced degree in Ancient and Near Eastern Languages.

1972-74 Social Services. I supported myself in a series of low-paid jobs, including being a street worker with Berkeley Streetwork Project, counselor at the Berkeley Youth Hostel and counselor at Ulrey Home for Boys, choir director at San Quentin Protestant Chapel and night attendant for a mortuary, and publishing assistant to Dr. C Bradley Moore, UC Berkeley Department of Chemist. I continued work with Anti-war groups, peace groups, People's Park, the food conspiracy, and liaison with City of Berkeley commissions.

1973-74 Director of Dream for Berkeley. I was hired by Carol Sibley to help create "A Dream for Berkeley." The goal was to facilitate cross-cultural understanding between the "old line liberals," student movement "radicals," and disenfranchised people in West and South Berkeley and Oakland. Through monthly dialogues, issues were identified and small groups formed to seek solutions. I continued working with my peers "social entrepreneurs" in the expanding wave of social services projects, while putting together monthly community programs designed to facilitate communication between the many parts of the Berkeley community. Groups formed to create the Community Flea Market, numerous cultural events, events to foster neighborhood cohesion, ombudsman project, initiate drug treatment programs, and to support passage of the first Berkeley Gay Rights Ordinance, the second city in the country to do so. Through this, with Carol's help and contacts, I learned fund raising and grant writing.

1974-82 Associate Director of Berkeley Youth Alternatives, Chair of Community Services United. Once grants funds were obtained to allow the Runaway Center to grow into Berkeley Youth Alternatives, I was hired as the Associate Director where I continued to raise funds and get more grants from county, state and federal agencies. Funding allowed BYA to acquire and renovate a vacant warehouse in West Berkeley and to hire a diverse staff and board. BYA opened a half-way house for juvenile offender re-entry, add family counseling and intern training program, provide youth employment through youth-run community businesses, and created neighborhood recreation programs.

The base of funds and effective community programs allowed me to collaborate with other service organizations (Free Clinic, Women's Center, Center for Independent Living, Ecology Center, etc.) to create Community Services United. This coalition was able to expand community and city funding and obtain government and foundation grants through sharing expertise and resources. I created an accounting training program for representatives of these agencies to assure they could properly account for the grants in order to qualify for more funding.

Collaborations with peers at the state and national level involved me in the founding of the National Network of Runaway and Youth Services, and the California Coalition for Children Youth and Families, and the Alameda County DSO (De-institutionalization of Status Offenders) Consortium. The NNRYS was instrumental in passage of the Runaway Youth Act. We then implemented a peer review system to assist our member agencies to improve services and accountability and retain funding.

With grants funds through the city (CETA program), I created 2 youth-run business projects. The Berkeley Youth Recycling Project later expanded to computer recycling. The Youth Community Press Project provided low cost printing for social services and non-profit agencies while training and employing minority youth to operate the offset press and learn marketing and business skills.

1982-85 Executive Director of Youth News As Executive Director, I raised and managed the funds and programs. Youth News (now Youth Radio), trains minority high school students in news reporting, writing and editing, and radio production. Every week, they created the national radio program "Youth on the Air - the only radio program by and about teenagers" distributed to public radio stations and several commercial stations. The multi-cultural mix of student reporters produced sex education and humanities radio programs for the State of California. Louis Freedberg conducted the research and investigative reporting. The "Poisoned Playgrounds" investigative report spurred wide-spread attention and community concern about playground hazards from paints to cleaning compounds.

I helped create another national network, Youth Communication, composed of a dozen youth-run journalism programs independent of school-based programs. As a board member, obtained a grant of Apple computers and helped design cross-agency training programs through computer networking and annual face-to-face workshops for students. The Youth News Service enabled students across the country to support each other's investigations, as well as their writing. Like other wire services, YNS provides content for use in high school papers across the country. Youth Radio continues to produce reports and segments are often heard on National Public Radio.

1986 Data Management Consulting. After so many years in non-profit work, I wanted experience in the for-profit work environment, so I signed up with a temp agency. In my first placement, I computerized the data management systems for the Tom Peters Group when they were first seeking to automate their mailings and registration processes. I created and managed business systems for Tandy Belew Design. Meanwhile, I also volunteered with The Hunger Project, Creative Communications, the San Francisco Band Foundation, Stop AIDS Project, Advocate Experience, and EST/Landmark Education.

1987 Computer Based Learning. I started as a temp for the first computer-based distance education program in the U.S. The initial placement was for two months doing clerical work and some word processing. The Electronic University Network hired me full time. I worked with each of the twelve department heads and one by one learned all operations of the company. As department heads left, I restructured each department, hired new staff, consolidated operations and took on managing each department: faculty management, shipping, word processing (creating teleguides — the core learning outlines for courses), technical assistance hotline, accounting, data management. I became the General Manager and held the historical memory of the business. So when I decided to move to Oregon, the owners asked me to continue the accounting, and management of the Tuition Assistance Programs with AT&T, UPS, NETEL, and others. I said yes.

In 1991, the owners asked if I could move the entire operation to Ashland Oregon. Again I agreed. I managed most of the moving, created a computer network in my house, and hired and trained new staff. We managed the radical down-sizing without disrupting services, sales, or income. I launched a mini course on AOL to train students in the basics required for distance courses. I provided operational support and training for universities to bring their courses online. We created online campuses for many of them, and converted their syllibi into teleguides.

Documents at http://www.pangaeanetwork.com/colleges.html include the list of 19 colleges who offered their certificates and degree programs through EUN, ranging from Associate degrees through Ph.D., including Master's and MBA degree programs, mostly in the US. These institutions have continued their distance education programs, built on the head start we gave them. The success enabled the owners to sell the Electronic University Network.

1994-97 Whole Earth University I participated in giving form to the vision of the Whole Earth University. The goal was to support experienced based education and action learning, and to create ways to empower and credential educators in a broad range of fields, some not yet recognized by formal institutionalized education accreditors. The experience was helpful, but was not sustainable. It's goals were nearly identical to those of Gaia University, but only had a few non-USA participants from England, Scotland and Germany. A subgroup of WEU published the Journal of Abundant Living, a creative but not a sustainable effort. My role was managing finances, and facilitating logistics, including tracking and recording donations, bill payments, and maintaining a merchant services account for the magazine project.

1998-2000 Oregon State University Extension Service. When the owners sold the Electronic University Network, I moved on to Oregon State University, where I was the first person hired full time by the OSU Extension Service to develop their presence on the Web. This involved extensive web development work, and basic training for local office staff in county offices and several Academic Departments. I developed online training tools for Extension staff and faculty and presented live training workshops at the Annual Conference. I developed online course materials for the Master Gardener Program, the NW Gardening Television Pilot, and later presented papers through the national Journal of Extension and to related organizations and publications, including ACE and ADEC.

2000-2004 Oregon State University Ecampus. I became Associate Director of Distance and Continuing Education (DCE) at Oregon State University. I managed relations with faculty, department heads, accounting, the registrar's office, and the curriculum review committee. I built bridges with Extension to work toward a unified distance education program "OSU Statewide" while upgrading the data management systems needed to support these evolving distance education structures. I also lent a hand to the curriculum development and a host of technical re-arrangements (registration, catalog production, Blackboard access, streaming and two-way video, etc.) for the new Cascades Campus created in 2002 in Bend Oregon.

DCE was restructured in 2003, and I became Director of Training and Project Development in the renamed Extended Campus, in charge of training faculty and staff in distance delivery methods, and in charge of developing new courses under a Federal FIPSE grant. I hired and supervised a team that increased our course development capacity and generated new courses at a rate that increased inventory by 30% per year. The unit developed courses that won national awards, including an Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs (OABA) Education Award.

I worked closely with the Directors of Marketing, Business Services, and Student Services, as well as with the Registrar, Human Relations the Business Department. I served on committees that recommended policy for Accessibility, and for the campus wide IT issues. I initiated and headed a data management project to streamline the addition of new distance courses to the course catalogs (print and online) and to better manage resistration for distance students. Distance students are no longer second-class at OSU, but have access to the same or comparable services as on-campus students.

During that time, I also established the unit's Web Team. The direction I set established the base for OSU's Ecampus to sweep the UCEA (University Continuing Education Association) 2004 national awards for website design and usability. <http://ecampus.oregonstate.edu/in-the-news/awards.htm>

2002-2004 ACE C&E Awards I was recruited to be the judge for the distance education and educational design categories for the national Agriculture Communicators in Education "Critique and Evaluation" awards program which gave me access to some of the most innovative educational programs and course designs in the country.

2005-2006 Consultant I currently operation my own Consulting and Web Design company, Expert Enterprises, with occasional projects for OSU, the Extension Service, and new clients by referral. (Project list.)