|
• back
Press Releases
UNITED STATES DISTANCE
LEARNING ASSOCIATION
140 Gould Street, Needham, MA 02494 800-275-5162
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April
19, 2001
USDLA
Honors South Dakota Governor William Janklow With 2001 Eagle
Award,
Distance Learning Pioneers
Recognized with Hall of Fame Awards
Washington, D.C., April 19 — The United States Distance
Learning Association (USDLA) today presented its prestigious
2001 Eagle Award to the Honorable William J. Janklow, Governor
of South Dakota. USDLA also honored three outstanding individuals
with USDLA Hall of Fame awards, recognizing the contributions
to distance learning of Don R. Foshee, Jolly T. Holden Ph.D.
and Frank B. Withrow, Ph.D. Former USDLA Treasurer, Colonel
Bruce S.Byrne, was also honored with a special award for his
service to the distance learning community. The awards ceremony
was held in conjunction with the 2001 e-Learning Conference
and Expo in Washington, DC.
The 10th Annual USDLA Eagle award was
presented to Governor Janklow in recognition of his creative
support for technology in South Dakota schools, most of which
are small and rural. In 1996 the Governor initiated a program
to wire South Dakota schools for advanced technology applications.
But the cost of this was estimated at $100 million, money
that was not available in the state's budget. Janklow's innovative
solution was to use prison inmates to do the wiring, teaching
them new skills so they could return to society as productive
workers.
The "Wiring the Schools" program
was only the first step. To fully utilize the Internet and
other network technology, the schools had to be connected.
Governor Janklow brought together the state's many school
districts, universities and phone companies to form a "Connecting
the Schools" partnership. This led to creation of the
Dakota Digital Network. The state provided standardized equipment
such as servers and routers so that every district had the
same local area network configuration.
To make sure every student was able to
gain the maximum advantage from the new technology, Governor
Janklow also created the "Technology for Teaching and
Learning Academies" program in 1997. This program was
designed to train South Dakota teachers to use the new technology.
Since teachers said they needed a "total immersion"
course to really gain the most from the teaching, Governor
Janklow challenged technology education leaders to develop
a four-week, 200-hour curriculum. Teachers were paid to participate
during the month of June. Since 1997, nearly 42% of South
Dakota's 9000 teachers have participated in these "total
immersion" programs. School administrators and network
managers also took specialized courses.
Governor Janklow, a Republican, is now
in his fourth term. He plans a major emphasis on early childhood
development programs, and will continue his campaign to lower
taxes, improve education and bring better health care to South
Dakota.
At the same ceremony three outstanding
distance learning professionals were honored with USDLA Hall
of Fame Awards. In alphabetical order, they are:
Don R. Foshee, President of Innovative
Interactions, Inc., a consulting group based in Austin, Texas.
Foshee is widely recognized for his two decades as a distance
learning pioneer, during which time he has designed, built
and managed some of the largest and most successful distance
learning, training and telemedicine networks in the United
States, including WGU, UT Telecampus and the SUNY System.
Foshee is former Project Manager and Acting CIO for the Western
Governors University, Past President of USDLA; Founding President
and Board Chair of the Texas Distance Learning Association.
Foshee has played major roles with the STAR Schools in several
states, and launched a Native American Network for the Bureau
of Indian Affairs. He also served as Director of Strategic
Programs for VTEL Corporation, and his own experience with
life-threatening illness has made him a champion of "forgotten
learners" with special needs - the critically ill, homebound,
hospital-bound, and learning impaired.
Jolly T. Holden, Ed. D., is Senior Projects
Manager for Training and Development at StarBand Communications
Inc., where he is developing strategy and leading the initiative
in developing online training for this new company. Holden
was previously Chief Learning Strategist at Spacenet, Inc.
and GE Spacenet, and was Executive Marketing Manager for Distance
Learning at AT&T Tridom. For the past 13 years, Holden
has been actively involved in researching and promoting distance
learning throughout the Federal Government and corporate communities.
He is co-founder of the Federal Government Distance Learning
Association and played a key role in the development and deployment
of the Government & Education and Training Network. Holden
is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of USDLA and
a member of the Executive Committee, as well as past president
of USDLA. Holden sits on the Boards of The Education Coalition,
Ball State University's Center for Information and Computer
Sciences, the Educating Everyone Foundation, the Georgia Distance
Learning Association Board of Advisors and the TeleCon Advisory
Board.
Frank B. Withrow, Ph.D., Director of Development
for Able Company, A Better Learning Experience Company, which
is now in the first phase of developing software and Internet
Services for children in hospitals. Withrow has a long and
distinguished career in distance learning, with roles as varied
as Educational Program Director for NASA's Classroom of the
Future, Executive Director for the President's National Advisory
Committee for the Handicapped, and Senior Learning Technologist
for the U.S. Department of Education. He was program manager
for the Department of Education's development of more than
fifty television series, including "Sesame Street,"
and organized, developed and managed the STAR School Distance
Learning Program. In February 2000 the Consortium for School
Networking named their Outstanding Educator Award after him.
He has written and edited numerous books on technology and
education, and is the author of more than 300 professional
articles. He has been on the editorial board of T.H.E. Journal
for 16 years.
One other special presentation was made
at this year's Awards Ceremony. The Connecticut Distance Learning
Association (CTDLA) was given a $500 memorial grant to honor
Colonel Bruce Byrne, USDLA Treasurer and Board Member and
President of CTDLA. Colonel Byrne died of cancer last October
22nd. He was a highly distinguished Army Officer, founder
of CTDLA and a gifted distance learning professional. He was
54 years old, and he will be long remembered by his many friends
in the Army and in the distance learning community.
About USDLA
United States Distance Learning Association is a non-profit
organization founded in 1987 to promote the development and
application of distance learning for education and training.
USDLA represents 2000 members from pre-K-through-12, higher
education, continuing education, corporate, military and government
training and telemedicine. USDLA is a leading source of information
and distance learning policy recommendations for Congress,
government agencies and industry. In 1993 USDLA began the
process of establishing chapters in all fifty states. For
more information visit USDLA's website at www.usdla.org
CONTACT:
USDLA —
Kathy Clemens | 617-686-2843 | usdlakc@aol.com
George Collins | 864-370-0955 | gcollins@learntek.com
Bill Wagner | 301-774-8214 | 877-992-4637 | bwagner@bafsat.com
|
