The volunteers2 include:
John E. Howland, Professor, Computer Science, Trinity University, voice: (210) 999-7364, fax: (210) 999-7477, email: jhowland@ariel.cs.trinity.edu.
Stewart Carpenter, Professor, Computer Science, Midwestern State University, voice: (940) 397-4279, email: stewart.carpenter@mwsu.edu
Johnny Carroll, Chair, Department of Applied Technology, Rogers State University, voice (918) 343-7832, email: jgcarroll@rsu.edu.
Mark Guzdial, Associate Professor - Learning Sciences & Technologies, Georgia State University, voice: (404) 894-5618, email: guzdial@cc.gatech.edu.
Jan Carroll, Professor and Coordinator of Academic Computing, Department of Applied Technology, Rogers State University, voice: (918) 343-7833, email: jancarroll@acm.org.
Holly Patterson-McNeill, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, voice: (361)825-2406, email: hollyp@falcon.tamucc.edu.
Advisors to the SIGCUE Board:
On January 13, 2001, John Howland, Stewart Carpenter, Johnny Carroll, Jan Carroll, Holly Patterson-McNeill and Jim Hightower met with Bruce Klein (SIGCSE Chair and Small SIG Advisor) and Alain Chesnais (Chair, SIG Governing Board) in Dallas to discuss the future of SIGCUE. This was an opportunity for Alain and Bruce to meet face to face with the new group of volunteers. The meeting was productive in the sense that the volunteers felt optimistic about the possibility of being successful in their efforts to re-vitalize SIGCUE and Alain and Bruce decided that John Howland should be prepared to make a presentation of the volunteers SIGCUE plan to the SIG Board in San Jose on March 11, 2001. There is no guarantee that there will be time for the SIGCUE presentation, but at least the SIGCUE plan will be delivered in written form to the SIG Board.
The SIGCUE mission statement says:
SIGCUE Brings together educators at all levels who are interested in using the computer and related technology to aid the educational process. Focus is on the discussion of concepts, methods, and policies that relate to the central issues of instructional computing.
During the Dallas meeting, discussion centered around a subtle change in direction for SIGCUE, namely, a shift from using computing technology in education to using technology in learning. The following draft statement of mission was discussed.
SIGCUE provides a forum for:
It is important for SIGCUE to work towards establishing itself as the professional organization with respect to learning technology. A long range goal should be to achieve a national recognition in the arena of learning technology so that, for example, if a Senate subcommittee needed expert testimony on learning technology it would consult SIGCUE and one of its member experts. If SIGCUE successfully emerges from its transition period, it might consider a name change to emphasize its learning branding.
Those SIGCUE members who are employed within academia should make an effort to reach out within their institutions to faculty and researchers from other disciplines who are employing technology in the learning process and encourage them to present papers at SIGCUE sponsored conferences and publish in SIGCUE publications. An interdisciplinary focus within SIGCUE is crucial.
A SIG which does not have an active slate of officers, fails to file an annual report, fails to meet publication deadlines, or experiences a workshop or conference failure will fall under the scrutiny of the SIG Governing Board. SIGCUE has had difficulties in each of these areas. Therefore, it is critical that we develop a plan in each of these areas.
The following people have volunteered to serve as SIGCUE officers during the transition period and until a permanent slate of officers can be elected.
SIGCUE must resume publication of Outlook on a Quarterly basis. A modest goal would be to publish two issues in 2001 (March 2001 and September 2001), then four issues per year beginning in 2002.
SIGCUE should establish an Editorial Board which would be appointed by newsletter editor. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to establish publications policy for the newsletter, SIGCUE conference proceedings and workshop proceedings. The editorial board will enlist and manage reviewers for articles appearing in SIGCUE publications as well as newsletter columnists.
To achieve national recognition in the area of learning technology, the quality of publications must improve. SIGCUE should strive towards a quality reviewed publication. This can be done in stages.
An annual SIGCUE conference issue of Outlook is reviewed.
Remaining issues of Outlook are reviewed.
One problem faced by SIGCUE publications is that un-reviewed publications are of little use by authors for purposes of promotion and tenure at their institiution. Moreover, most colleges and universities do not even consider reviewed or refereed publications which deal with pedagogy or applying technology in teaching or laboratories as acceptable scholarly activity. Faculty at some schools are beginning to report that such papers are becoming more acceptable for purposes of promotion and tenure at teaching institutions. High quality SIGCUE publications can help promote such changes.
To establish itself as an organization of significant importance, SIGCUE must establish WEB resources in all areas of learning technology.
SIGCUE must expand its membership.
Outreach programs must be established to:
When a SIG is in transition, it can make changes to its bylaws with the approval of the SIB Board rather than by vote of SIG membership. Proposed bylaws changes include:
The duties of the Information Officer include managing SIGCUE communications such as web site, mailing lists and list-server.
The duties of the Membership Officer include managing all membership activities such as member lists and membership promotion activities.
The duties of the Chair Elect include management of conference and workshop activities such as planning and finding volunteers for the positions of conference/workshop chair and treasurer.
In the recent past, SIGCUE has relied on co-hosting or co-location of conferences and workshops. Workshops and Conferences are the heart of any SIG. They provide the venue for a gathering of researchers and practioners within a discipline and form the backbone of publications through the workshop or conference proceedings. It is important that SIGCUE work towards having their own workshops and conferences in addition to co-hosting or co-location with other SIG workshops and conferences. SIGCUE conferences or workshops provide identity and community for SIGCUE members as well as a venue for their creative efforts.
SIGCUE should start by planning a workshop for the 2002 year. The workshop could be organized around a theme, perhaps Distance Learning. This would allow SIGCUE to assess interest within its community in distance learning as well as assessing its ability to organize a major event.
SIGCUE should plan to host a conference in 2003. The conference should have tracts in several areas of application of digital technology to learning.
Co-Hosting of workshops or conferences should be continued only where SIGCUE can be sure of maintaining a major visible identity within the joint venture. Co-Hosting can take nearly the same effort from an organizing committee as a separate conference or workshop and those resources would be better spent on projects which would more directly benefit SIGCUE and its publications.
Many SIGs have award programs. These programs provide an opportunity to focus some attention on the SIG by honoring the achievements of an outstanding contributor to the field. SIGCUE should begin offering an Outstanding Achievement Award. The SIGCUE advisory board should make a yearly recommendation of a recipient for this award to the Executive Committee.
SIGCUE Officer's Conference Call
SIGCUE Officer's Conference Call
Resume Outlook Publication
Presentation of Plan to SIG Board
Outlook Issue
Identify Editorial Board Members
Approval of Draft Outlook Submission Guidelines
Revised SIGCUE Transition Plan Submitted to SIB Board
Formation of 2002 SIGCUE Workshop Committee
Recommendation for Outstanding Achievement Award
Identify a volunteer to serve as the Chair Elect officer
Formation of 2003 SIGCUE Conference Committee
Resume Outlook Quarterly Publication Schedule
SIGCUE management, SIG Board Presentation SIGCUE Transition plan, SIGCUE bylaws changes
SIG Board meeting, Explore SIGCOMM/SIGCUE conference/workshop collaboration
Explore Distance Learning conference/workshop
SIGCUE web site
SIGCUE mailing list, Explore continued SAC, ITISE conference/workshop collaboration
Identify Outlook Editorial Board members, Outlook submission guidelines, Explore Hypertext/ Digital Library conference/workshop collaboration
The persons who have volunteered to manage SIGCUE's transition period strongly feel that this difficult job is worth doing. However, the task is immense and much additional volunteer help is needed. Unless we can enlist the support of additional volunteers, our efforts will probably not succeed.