The following is sure to cause some readers to reach for excedrin and maalox: A bit of history first. UOP established some new territory with it's learning model and as it was growing along the way, did not attract very much attention from more traditional institutions of higher learning, until they went public and started impacting the FTE at these schools. The schools, not liking what was happening to their bottom line, put some political pressure on the Department of Education to examine UOP and it's processes. DOE did so, and not really understanding the model, decided to implement some rigorous policies, especially vis-a-vis the group meetings and documentation of their activities. Consequently, UOP created the Learning team concept designed to assauge the concerns of the DOE. That was, mas o menos, three years ago. Teams had to meet in specified locations and if not in those then give a rationale why the alternate site was suitable. All students had to be present and logs had to be filled out, attendance taken etc. Well, DOE has revisited the Learning Team concept and has, now that it understands the concept more fully, acknowledged that more schools are going DL and using these techniques, etc., implemented some new changes. Get this: essentially, they are returning to the previous status. Teams may now meet face-to-face, by teleconferencing or virtually. These meetings may be synchronous or asynchronous. And, although logs and official attendance are not required, UOP will modify these forms and continue to collect them on a voluntary basis. Oh, my! jim
