Welcome to ADEC

ADEC
A Consortium for Quality Distance Education

In 1862, it was a radical idea...higher education based on a practical curriculum and open to anyone--not just those preparing for careers in medicine or law--but education focused on learning applicable to real life, real economic needs. The Land-Grant Act changed our world forever.

Today, we are doing it again. The Global Land-Grant and the Digital Age, that's what ADEC is all about.

ADEC is a non-profit distance education consortium. Owned and operated by 50 state universities and land-grant colleges, ADEC provides high quality, economical distance education programs and services through the latest and most appropriate information technologies.

Offering programs and services in the land-grant philosophy through emerging network technologies, ADEC creates access to quality distance learning opportunities. ADEC draws upon the best and most effective subject matter specialists and information resources to share knowledge and content with learners in these areas of competitive advantage.

Food and Agriculture
Children, Youth and Families
Community/Economic Development
Distance Education & Technology
Environment and Natural Resources
Nutrition and Health

THE NEED
Combining information and technology creates a totally new universe--available to all.

Lifelong learning is now a reality for most Americans. Studies show that non-credit classes, short courses, and conferences are more important than traditional classes-for-credit as a means of obtaining additional education. ADEC recognizes and responds to that important need.

The statistics look like this:

• Eighty-one percent of U.S. adults say getting additional training and/or education is important for them to be successful in their work.

• Eighty percent have received some type of job-related training or education in the last three years.

• Almost three-fourths say they're interested in getting college education or training in the future.

• People most likely to seek additional education have relatively greater access to home and workplace computers.

THE SOLUTION
Maximizing reach, scope, potential through Distance Education. ADEC members can provide distance education programming that overcomes the significant barriers to lifelong learning. Information that improves your effectiveness in your job and your life has always been available from your land-grant university. Now it's become available where and when you need it most.

ADEC combines evolution--a slow, well-structured change matching the audience needs over time, with revolution--the capability to seize the moment and make the best of any situation.

ADEC serves diverse audiences with appropriate combinations of technology including satellite and audio teleconferences particularly for public issue education through the nationwide cooperative extension system; short courses, workshops, and certificate programs; academic courses at undergraduate and graduate level and degree programs.

The ADEC network includes 39 satellite uplinks and more than 2,000 downlinks, many of which are located in county extension offices. ADEC delivers satellite programming for both Ku and C-band reception and is rapidly exploring the potential of digital television delivery. ADEC uses the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) as more than pipelines to information warehouses, but as value-added communication tools to interact with learners across the globe. These are the tools of the virtual organization. ADEC is the prototype.

THE RESULTS
Efficiency, effectiveness, progress, learning. Combining its content expertise and research base with its communication and instructional design capacity, ADEC creates access to learning opportunities anytime--day or night, and anyplace—home, work, community setting.

ADEC member programs can be found in schools from K-12 and advanced placement resources, to community colleges and graduate programs. There are community education programs and learning opportunities for social service agencies as well as businesses and corporations, locally to globally. Through these important conduits, ADEC reaches learners in places such as Latin America, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. ADEC offers learning opportunities for you whether you are a consumer or producer, a worker, or a student.

Planning Grants provided by ADEC to develop both credit and non-credit academic/educational programs exemplify its ability to make these learning opportunities materialize. Successful and award winning planning grants range from Kids Space on CYFERnet to Distance Education Instructional Design, and Decision Making Processes for Public Lands Issues to Beyond the Basics: Web Based Courseware.

The results speak for themselves. ADEC works for you and for those you need to reach by offering efficient and effective services that support its distance learning mission domestically and internationally.

PARTNERSHIPS
Strong alliances, improved opportunity--The Cornerstone. The power of ADEC is greatly enhanced through some exciting and innovative partnerships. ADEC partnerships provide collaboration and synergy that benefit all partners...but especially the learners.

ADEC partners include the National Computational Science Alliance, NCSA, at the University of Illinois, one of the world's most advanced virtual reality (VR) research laboratories available to academic and industrial researchers; the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative, NLII, which focuses on educational software application, access and productivity and of which ADEC is a charter member; EDUCOM, which provides assessment and evaluation expertise; and Sigma Xi, the national science and technology honorary society; and the National Science Foundation, NSF, to promote science in education.

ADEC is associated with several other alliances, public, private, non-profit, and government organizations and agencies, working to create closer linkages among public higher education and publishers, telecommunication providers and distance education product developers.

THE FUTURE
Vision, technology, education. ADEC will continue to be the foremost leader in providing and creating access to customer driven distance education. Its land-grant university members have a tremendous competitive advantage in building toward this future. With a deep reservoir of expertise and quality subject matter, as well as a tremendous technology infrastructure from local to global through relationships and partnerships unparalleled in the world, ADEC will be synonymous with high quality and effective distance learning.

Through the Land-Grant traditions of 1862, 1890, and 1994, higher education has continued its evolution. ADEC continues that evolution and revolution of serving learners by extending reach, focus, and vision through technology, enhancing education through availability, accessibility, and collaboration.

TO LEARN MORE
The ADEC consortium, as an incorporated, non-profit body of collaborators, works proactively through its Board of Directors, national Program Panel, and Principal Contact Officers on every member campus.

The ADEC home page on the World Wide Web can be found at:   http://www.adec.edu.

The ADEC home page offers a host of information detailing ADEC programs, services, partnerships, and resources. The web page provides information, on-line resources, trends, links, and a searchable database.

E-mail ADEC at: jpoley@unl.edu, or contact a Principal Contact Officer at any of our member institutions.

Contact ADEC at:
Dr. Janet Poley, ADEC President
Box 830952
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68583-0952
Telephone (402) 472-7000
Fax (402) 472-9060