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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
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