SLN –  a little history

First Sloan grant in 1994-95 – R&D one year  – initially called MHRLN (mid Hudson regional learning network)

Sloan grants (there were 3 or 4 of them) totaled 4.1 million dollars. I believe this was their largest cumulative donation ever. Frank Mayadas was always a strong supporter and ally to SLN.

•2006-09 migration and evolution.
Objective: sustainability
2009 – in the last month of our migration BB buys ANGEL

2009-2013 – Bb contract and migration planning.

2013-2017 – migration to Bb

First courses offered via SLN in fall 1995 via Lotus Notes.

First courses offered via SLN in Fall 1996 on the web via Notes/Domino.

1996 Faculty development and course design processes was formalized and implemented for large-scale consistency and quality. Included research-based templates and course quality rubric/checklists.

1998 – first annual SLN SOLsummit – annual conference for online instructional designers and directors of online learning.  (there have been 15 annual summits to present day.)

1998 – SLN and ESC/CLT separated. Alexandra M. Pickett became assistant director of the SLN program at that time.

1998 – SLN began a systematic longitudinal research agenda using the CoI framework to further our understanding of how people learn well online and used to inform practice. That research continues today with Dr. Peter Shea/Ualbany.

2000-2001 – SLN hosted the Sloan funded ALN invitation-only Summer workshops at the Sagamore in Lake George.

Fall 1995 – 4 courses 58 students

Spring 1996 – 4 courses 62 students

119 students for the academic year

First 2 campuses were ESC and New Paltz (with teams of faculty from Dutchess, Ulster, Rockland, Sullivan) Courses were ESC and New Paltz courses though, the teams did not really work.

Estimated 5,000 faculty trained. 10% on SUNY faculty have been through the SLN faculty development process.

Institutionalized the role of the online instructional designer and have trained and mentored 200+ online instructional designers.

SLN leadership:

1994 – Lowell Roberts (Co-PI of the Sloan grant also held the title of assistant provost at Sys Admin under Jim Hall who was also president of ESC, not sure what his sys admin title was)

Rich Dressner was the other PI on the grant from Sys Admin. He was fired)

1995 – Greg Benson was the next Director and he hired Eric Fredericksen and  Tammy Mooney in 1996.

1996 – 2002- Eric Fredericksen, SLN director

2002 – Peter Shea, interim director SLN

2003 – Peter Shea, director SLN

2004 – David Proush interim director – Tammy Mooney and Alexandra M. Pickett were interim co-associate directors of SLN. Peter Shea left for  a faculty position in the UAlbany Education Department.

2005 – Ken Udas, SLN Director

2006 – present (2013) – Carey Hatch, interim director SLN & Alexandra M. Pickett, associate director SLN

 SLN Awards

National recognition for research and innovation in online teaching and learning effectiveness, faculty and student satisfaction, faculty development, and online course management system and interface.

1. In recognition of the exponential growth in online learning, the Sloan ALN Consortium (Sloan-C) granted its first annual awards for excellence in Web-based education. In November 2001 the first Sloan-C award for Excellence in ALN Faculty Development was given to the SUNY Learning Network, representing the online courses and programs of more than fifty institutions, ranging from community colleges to research universities, in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. At that time the staff of the SUNY Learning Network   provided comprehensive training to a diverse group of faculty that went on to effectively teach online courses that enrolled approximately 25,000 students this that academic year.

2. The 2002 Sloan-C award for Excellence in Institution-Wide ALN Programming was presented to the State University of New York Learning Network (SLN) in November 2002.  The primary goal of the SUNY Learning Network is to bring SUNY’s diverse, high-quality instructional programs within the reach of learners everywhere. In the 2001-02 academic year, the SUNY Learning Network enabled more than 40,000 student enrollments in 2,500 online courses. The fifty-five SUNY campuses participating in the SUNY Learning Network now offer fifty-five complete online degree and certificate programs.

3. In October 2001, The State University of New York’s online learning program, the SUNY Learning Network (SLN), received special recognition from EDUCAUSE, the nation’s leading organization aimed at promoting the intelligent use of information technology. EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association, bestowed its Award for Systemic Progress in Teaching and Learning in 2001 to the SLN, one of the nation’s premier online higher education initiatives.  The award recognizes higher education programs and practices that use information technologies to support learner-centered teaching and learning in ways that are “transformative, sustainable, and replicable.”

4. Sloan-C award in online teaching 2003 – William Pelz, Herkimer County Community College. Lead new faculty trainer for SLN.

5. USDLA 21st Century Best Practice Award – Online Technology – Higher Education 2006

6. NUTN Distance Education Innovation Award 2009 – for the SLN teaching presence survey.

7. Sloan-C 2010 Effective Practice Award – acknowledges SLN for advancing learning, access, scale, and student and faculty satisfaction.

8. Sloan Fellow (2012), conferred on Alexandra M. Pickett by the Sloan-C Board of Directors for her outstanding qualifications in the field of online learning; exceptional contributions to the field of online learning; a record of distinguished service to Sloan-C; and extraordinary contributions & leadership in the field of online learning – specifically “For innovation and vision in conceptualizing and implementing high-quality faculty development programs and course design and delivery processes.”