Panel Discusses the Role of i-Schools in Online Education Research

Ann Arbor, MI – Linda C. Smith, Professor and Associate Dean (Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and Christinger Tomer, Associate Professor (University of Pittsburgh School of Information Studies) led the panel “Community Online: The Leadership Role of i-Schools in Research on Online Education” on Monday, 10/16/2006 at the 2006 I-Conference. This year’s conference, Research Frontiers in Information, was held from October 15-17 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Abstract
In “Learning in the Digital Age” (2002), John Seely Brown observes: “The real test of a university is the community access it provides.  Any attempt to retool the education system must retain not only its degree-granting feature, but must also involve expanding access to the communities of practice that comprise the university and not simply to the content of courses” (p.68).  As i-Schools move from leading their campuses in the development of online programs to collaboration in the WISE consortium, a number of research questions need to be explored to respond to the challenge posed by John Seely Brown.

See https://iconference.si.umich.edu/index.htm for more information about the 2006 I-Conference.

The presentation can be viewed here.