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  1. David Boyd

    David Boyd New Member

    A closed thread because an Administrator thinks the discussion is foolish? (Reference the “Question for Dennis Ruhl”) Can’t it be left for the reader to decide what’s foolish?

    Discussions can sometimes be foolish but this is a “Discussion Board.”
    :confused:
     
  2. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    This is a MODERATED discussion board. And sometimes the moderators have to step in and moderate.

    Which would you rather have: flame wars, or people contributing useful info on distance learning? It's a fact that flame wars drive some of those people away.

    I don't always agree with the moderators. But in this case I do. And even when I disagree, I recognize that they're making tough calls.
     
  3. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    I'm with the moderators.

    (In fact, I'm almost surprised that Bruce didn't close the other thread in which I threw a few zingers at Rich, who most certainly did not earn his Ph.D. from Union in eight months. Anyone who would make such a ridiculous assertion on A.E.D. is obviously unaware of Rich's previous association with Union. Believe me, I love to throw barbs at Rich, but his doctorate is certainly credible.)*

    Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the moderators "close" Dennis, who seems more preoccupied with flaming Rich and me (with his recent "gay truckstop" riff). On the other hand, all Dennis will have is a doctorate from California Coast, which hardly makes him a threat to anyone. :D

    The fact is, David, there are those who would flame here all day long if there were not some controls. In fact, I could not see any further contributions to the subject thread that would have been constructive, period.

    At one time, I was one of the strongest proponents for a free and open forum, especially in the case of A.E.D. Then look what happened to A.E.D., which is now worthless. There are far too many psychos on the Internet to allow a totally open forum, especially in a field such as distance education, where way too many people have a vested interest in attempting to legitimize bogus degrees. Short of burning them at the stake, which would be rather amusing, controlling their bullshit is the only logical alternative.

    Moderation? I'm all for it.
    _____________________

    * My god, it hurts to actually give Rich a compliment. But when he's right, he's right.
     
  4. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    Someone opens a thread to flame me and I am the problem???

    Sure the truckstop comment to Steve was somewhat inappropriate but had elements of humour. I did sort of apolgize. I think that is one of the very few comments I have ever made concerning Steve or any of his posts.

    I haven't complained about flames directed at myself or others who make choices contrary to the party line. I just get on with it.
     
  5. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    I still go back to aed now and then and it's really sad to see how far that newsgroup has fallen. If I was going to disagree with anything that Steve said it's that aed is worse than a waste of time. Some of the things that get said over there are probably actionable, if you could ever figure out who the wackos really are. If you were to spend some time reading that newsgroup you'd realize that degreeinfo would look like that if it were not moderated. Anarchy is fine unless you're actually trying to get something accomplished.
    Jack
     
  6. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Now this is funny!

    Huh? Steve is concerned about flaming? An archival search of Steve's posts will reveal a history of "in your face" posting and 7th Grade pre-adult gutter language. :(

    Dennis, I suggest you immediately apologize to Steve for being preoccupied with him. :D :D :D
     
  7. David Boyd

    David Boyd New Member

    I have no problem with a moderated forum. In fact, as pointed out earlier, it’s necessary of avoid the AED type problems. But in reviewing this particular thread, I didn’t see anything particularly alarming.

    Strong differences of opinion? Yes. But little in the form of personal attacks.

    To the moderator's credit, he or she did not delete the tread but merely closed it.

    Rich had commented in this thread on my opinion DETC had more experience that all regionals combined in evaluting distance education programs.

    “I don't know about this. There are far more regionally accredited schools offering distance programs than there are DETC-accredited schools. Lots more.”

    I had planned to reply but with the thread closed, I couldn’t.
     
  8. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Does Dennis really aspire to be a "threat" to anyone?

    I think that Dennis is kind of refreshing around here. He doesn't play the pompous DL authority, but is just a guy interested in education who says what he thinks.

    And what he says deviates just enough from what sometimes threatens to become a Degreeinfo party line to make his contributions interesting and stimulating.

    I enjoy reading Dennis' posts.
     
  9. MarkIsrael@aol.com

    [email protected] New Member

    Hmm, I'm eager to please. Would you say that my contributions differ too much from the party line, or not enough?
     
  10. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    While Rich is technically correct, I'm inclined to agree with David.

    There are more RA DL programs than DETC ones, and they have been in existence longer. But the regional accreditors are institutional accreditors of what in most cases are B&M univerities that offer the occasional DL program. That suggests that DL receives glancing attention in evaluations that are mostly directed at other things.

    DETC is a DL-specialized accreditor. All of DETC's attention is directed squarely at DL programs and how they are delivered to students.

    That's why I suggested that DETC might have a valuable function as a DL program effectiveness accreditor, even at universities that already have wider RA institutional accreditation.

    The analogy is with the other specialized accreditors. An RA university might offer an MBA. While regional accreditation tells us something about B-school academics, specialized accreditation by the AACSB tells us more. That's because the AACSB is composed of business educators who came in and look at the B-school specifically.

    In the same way, DETC is composed of educators with special experience in DL delivery, and they arguably could be brought in to look specifically at things like DL course design and delivery effectiveness. In this kind of situation they would be less concerned with course subject-matter content than with how that content makes its way from the university to the remote student, and in how students interact both with faculty and with one another.
     
  11. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    I agree heartily with Bill's view of Dennis, who is still a d*mn fine Canadian.

    Having seen the psychodrama (pun intended) on some of the other DL boards, I have no inclination to argue in public with the moderation of this board. Should I have a bone to pick with the moderators, I'll do it via PM.
     
  12. Myoptimism

    Myoptimism New Member

    Lighten up Steve. Maybe flaming was appropriate in context. :cool:

    Tony

    Pompous? Perhaps. Flaming? Fuh-get-it.
     
  13. David Boyd

    David Boyd New Member

    My point exactly.

    The majority of distance learning programs at brick and mortar schools are not comprehensively reviewed by the regional accreditors.

    For example, if the school already has a classroom based MBA program, an expansion into distance learning will not be reviewed in detail. The regionals generally require notification but it is rare that they will ask to review the course materials or conduct a site review.
     
  14. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    I always take the credit or blame for my actions, so I'll mention for anyone that doesn't know that I was the one that closed the mentioned thread. Afterwards, I received PM's and e-mails from almost everyone involved.....I gave someone the last word, I closed the thread before ______ could respond to my last post, etc., etc.

    As Mark mentioned, this board is moderated so it won't fall to the depths of a.e.d., but as Steve hinted, we're
    very lenient when it comes to moderation. I'll always err on the side of vigorous debate when it comes to moderation, and I can count on one hand the number of threads I've closed or members that I've banned.

    In many ways, being a moderator here is much like being a police officer, MLB umpire, or NFL referee. No one is ever going to be completely satisfied with your decisions, so you just try to strike a balance that everyone can live with. I'd like to think that we've done that.
     
  15. The CAT

    The CAT New Member

    What's AED? Sounds Amusing!!!! Don't flame me, just a newbie trying to get a grip......
     
  16. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    aed or, alt.education.distance, is a usenet newsgroup dedicated (at least once upon a time it was decidcated) to the discussion of distance learning. It was the first incarnation of degreeinfo. Because it is unmoderated, it was taken over by some unscrupulous persons who seem to have no limit to the anger they possess for John Bear et al due to their work toward eliminating degree mills. These days it is a sad shadow of its former self, existing as little more than a forum for the perpetuation of lies. You can sample this for yourself by going to google.com, click on "groups" and follow the rancid smell to alt.education.distance
    Jack
     
  17. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    It used to be very amusing, and I sort of miss the old days of Emir (Laters) Mohammed, Les Snell, Ray Chasse, Sheila Danzig, and the rest. Sort of.

    It's now a useless piece of bandwith that's clogged with spam and attacks against John Bear & Rich Douglas (as payback for them exposing degree mills).
     
  18. Han

    Han New Member

    I have visited several other sites, and degree info is a big topic there, as well as a lot of name calling. There isn't much of solid questions and information on those boards. I only visit here, there are some slow times, but mostly great discussion, great learning, and great moderating to keep quality high (thank to all who moderate, it is a thankless job).
     
  19. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Hear, hear. The a.e.d. newsgroup had as its regular participants many of the folks you read here. In fact, some people who are not so well-behaved there tend to restrain themselves here, or leave.

    The only difference between a.e.d.'s sewer and this board's success is the moderation effort.
     
  20. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    What is the link to AED? I hear that onlinedegree is a mirror site, and I have been there several times, but not sure I have ever made it to AED. Could someone post a link.
     

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