FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Long Beach, CA ? October 17, 2005 ? The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) today presented its 2005 Distance Learning Awards at a ceremony held in conjunction with the Fall Training and Online Learning Conference and Expo in Long Beach, CA, the premier conference and expo for USDLA and the distance learning industry.

The annual USDLA awards program acknowledges major accomplishments in distance learning and highlights those instructors, programs, and distance leaning professionals who have distinguished themselves in the field. This year?s competition included a new award category, the 21st Century Best Practices Award for Distance Learning. That award recognizes extraordinary achievement in distance learning.

While the USDLA awards have been closely followed by the industry for a number of years, the 2005 competition marks a new format for the awards. ?The USDLA awards have become the standard of excellence for recognizing achievement in distance learning,? said Dr. John Flores, CEO of USDLA. ?This year we received numerous entries. That made this an especially intense competition ? these winners are truly superb.?

For the 2005 Awards program, USDLA focused upon three major areas that exemplify the dynamic nature of distance learning. Awards were submitted for Online Distance Learning, Video Conferencing and Satellite Distance Learning.

The USDLA distance learning awards were presented to professionals and organizations for Excellence in Distance Learning Programming and Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching.

Excellence in Distance Learning Programming recognizes organizations that have designed and delivered an outstanding, comprehensive distance learning service. Recipients have regional, multi-state, and international programs, including courses from diverse disciplines.

Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching recognizes an outstanding individual who has creatively utilized the medium to inspire learning in a given subject. The recipients have all taught a course, series, or unit in a distance-learning format with an imaginative approach to the material, well-designed visuals, and a demonstrated rapport with the participants.

Mr. Don Lake, longtime USDLA board member and chair of the awards committee, noted that, ?This year?s award winners represent many of the most innovative leaders in the field of distance learning.? He continued, ?The USDLA awards program honors outstanding contributions from across the spectrum of distance learning ? from satellite and videoconferencing to online distance learning programs. These are the best of the best.?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Online PreK-12 EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING Platinum Harvard Graduate School of Education Wide-scale Interactive Development for Educators (WIDE) Professional development program
Gold Colonial Williamsburg Electronic field trips	Gold Virtual High School, Maynard, MA “Poetry writing” by Elizabeth Sanchez
Bronze WV Department of Education West Virginia Virtual Schools Spanish 1A & 1B -------------------------------------------------------------------- EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Gold Nathan Putney Florida Virtual School AP Calculus Bronze Daryl Diamond Broward County (FL) Public Schools Professional development -------------------------------------------------------------------- Online Higher Education EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING Platinum City College of San Francisco “Ownership/operation of a small business online”
Gold University of Southern California “Geo 260 – Natural hazards, basic principles"	Gold City College of San Francisco “Digital media skills"
Silver University of Southern California Edu522 – History and types of accountability	Silver University of North Carolina at Greensboro Master of arts in liberal studies, Online degree
Bronze Boston University Food stuff: A taste of biology	Bronze Connect for Education OnMusic fundamentals
-------------------------------------------------------------------- EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Platinum Dr. Linda Ross-Happy University of Missouri Gold Dr. David Levy Bellevue University -------------------------------------------------------------------- Online Corporate/Business EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING Platinum Engenio Information Technologies, Inc Engenio2882 with SANtricity9: Installation and configuration Gold General Electric Advanced Materials and GECIS New hire orientation Silver General Electric Advanced Materials and GECIS Polymer science
Bronze Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. Dimension 1 program	Bronze TRC Interactive, Inc Teller solution
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Online Government/Military EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING
Gold Defense Acquisition University Continuous learning team -------------------------------------------------------------------- EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Silver David C. Bachman Defense Acquisition University -------------------------------------------------------------------- Online Telehealth EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Gold Dr. Eric A. Brody EKG Jeopardy
EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING Platinum Global Nomads Group New York, NY Gold Missouri School Boards’ Association 2005 Board candidate videoconference -------------------------------------------------------------------- Videoconference PreK-12 EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Platinum Jody Howard Kennedy Eastview Middle School, White Plains, NY Satellite PreK-12 EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING Gold BJ HomeSat Network 3rd Grade English --------------------------------------------------------------------    Satellite Higher Education EXCELLENCE IN PROGRAMMING Gold University of Albany – School of Public Health Genomics and public health --------------------------------------------------------------------   Satellite PreK-12 EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Gold Mrs. Jennifer Cox BJ HomeSat Network
The USDLA Board also recognized the leadership of trend-setting and innovative corporations and non-profit agencies with its new 21st Century Best Practices Award for Distance Learning. This is the highest award bestowed upon an organization in our industry. The new 21st Century Best Practices Award for Distance Learning recognizes an organization which demonstrates extraordinary achievement through distance learning. The recipients have distinguished themselves in areas that include research and writing as well as leadership activities in regional, national, or international forums. They have been active in melding education and training technologies to enhance the learning experience of those at a distance. These recipients are singled out for their positive impact on the distance learning industry. Dr. Flores noted that distance learning technology frequently opens new frontiers of learning. “The recipients of the 21st Century Award have often been the pioneers, not only for distance learning, but for education and training in general. This award speaks of innovation and it speaks of excellence. These are the people and organizations that have done the heavy-lifting to make all of this happen.” -------------------------------------------------------------------- Government/Military DoD / Defense Acquisition University Blended technology The DAU performance learning model DoD / TRICARE Privacy Office Online technology HIPAA training program --------------------------------------------------------------------   PreK-12 Florida Virtual School Online technology Education and professional development programs Virtual High School, Massachusetts Online technology Education and professional development programs Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration Videoconferencing technology Education programs --------------------------------------------------------------------   Higher Education The LeCroy Center for Educational Telecommunications Blended technology Stevens Institute of Technology Online technology Webcampus.stevens The University of Massachusetts Online technology UMassOnline – Program aggregation Stanford University Center for Professional Development Online technology Stanford Online – Emerging technology University of Maryland Online technology Inter-institutions --------------------------------------------------------------------   Corporate / Business Polycom, Inc. Blended technology Collaborative communications Reynolds University Blended technology Corporate university training The Rendon Group Videoconferencing technology Empower peace

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

USDLA Outstanding State Chapter. This year, for the first time, USDLA recognized its most outstanding affiliate chapter. The USDLA California chapter – the Alliance for Distance Education in California – earned that recognition

USDLA Hall of Fame. Dr. Robert A. Wisher, associate director of Training Transformation Technologies and director of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative for the Office of the Secretary of Defense was selected by the USDLA board of directors for elevation to the USDLA Hall of Fame.

USDLA 2005 Eagle Award. The Eagle Award is presented by USDLA to a nationally recognized public official that has demonstrated unique leadership in distance learning. This year USDLA recognizes Florida governor John Ellis “Jeb” Bush for his commitment to providing greater educational opportunities in his state by means of distance learning technology and especially his support of Florida Virtual School.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About USDLA. The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 to promote the development and application of distance learning for education and training. USDLA represents 4,500 members from preK-12, higher education, continuing education, corporate, military and government, home schooling and telemedicine. USDLA is the leading source of information on distance learning that focuses on public policy which impacts distance learning and its varied constituencies. With offices in Boston, MA, the association continues to establish chapters in all fifty states. For more information about USDLA, visit the organization’s website at www.usdla.org.