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e-Education Institute Renamed In Honor Of John A.
Dutton, Dean Emeritus
March 21, 2003
 Hershey,
Pa. – The Penn State Board of Trustees voted today
(March 21) to rename the College of Earth and Mineral
Sciences' e-Education
Institute: The John A. Dutton e-Education Institute,
to honor the man instrumental in creating the institute's
vision. Dutton, dean emeritus of the College of Earth
and Mineral Sciences and professor emeritus of meteorology,
served as dean for 16 years before his retirement in
2002.
The institute is a community of faculty, staff and
students in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
that works together to improve the quality and accessibility
of earth and mineral science education through the imaginative
use of networked computing. The institute's two-pronged
mission aims to help instructors use the Internet to
foster active learning and information literacy and
to support the development of Internet-based courses
and programs designed specifically for lifelong learners.
"The e-Education Institute really energized the
College," said Eric Barron, dean of the College
of Earth and Mineral Sciences. "It was John Dutton's
vision that established it as an entity in the College.
He realized the institute had the potential to do everything
from reach a global audience to enable the advances
of information sciences no matter where they are delivered."
Since the institute's inception in 2000, the College
of Earth and Mineral Sciences has developed award-winning
online courses and has seen student Web space usage
rise to nearly 50 percent.
"Now future employers, instead of just reading
a resume, can watch our students deliver a weather forecast
online. This is just one example of the institute's
success," Barron said.
By 2005, the institute aims to accomplish and create
the following: online portfolios for undergraduates
in the College; a tutorial to help students create online
portfolios; faculty seminars that explore basic and
applied research in learning theory and instructional
design; an annual e-Education fellowship designed for
faculty members committed to education through inter-networked
computing; "e-Edified" general education courses
that foster active learning and authentic assessment
in large-enrollment classes; new distance education
programs; decentralization and diffusion of instructional
design expertise; research opportunities for graduate
students interested in instructional design and development;
and leadership in e-Education through its services,
products, consultations and professional publications.
**aek**
Contact: Allison Kessler, Department of Public Information,
(814) 865-7517 or akessler@psu.edu
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