Dr. Saba to Serve as President-Elect of Alliance for Distance Education in California (ADEC)

Alliance for Distance Education in California was established 15 years ago by a wide group of educators in the California State University system as well as county offices of education, and public broadcasting. Dr. Saba, who is also professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University, said “ADEC is a leadership organization that works with state legislators, and government executives for development and implementation of policies conducive to the growth of distance learning. He continued “ADEC’s leadership activities embrace all segments of education in California from pre-school through university, lifelong learning, and corporate and industrial training.”

Saba, referring to the current crisis in California’s state budget said “this is an opportunity for distance educators to demonstrate how they can use technology to reach students that might be affected by recent budget cuts, and minimize the effects of this crisis for them as much as possible.”

Distance education has a proven record of maximizing recourses for students, Saba asserted. The role of ADEC, he went on to say, is to bring these capabilities to the attention of policy makers, and those who implement such policies. Also, there are several instances that with modest modifications to current rules, and laws distance education can become much more effective in embracing more students, and enabling teachers and administrators to meet their learning needs at a time of budgetary constraint and retrenchment.

Dr. Saba has been involved in various aspects of distance education, ranging from implementation of large-scale systems to policy analysis and evaluation since 1973. With 30 years of experience in the field, his consulting work has included many corporations, and public institutions. Among them Apple Computer Inc., Digital Equipment Corporation (merged with Compaq), Nortel, US Department of Education, Harvard Business School Publishing, Office of the Governor of the State of Connecticut, Office of the Chancellor of the California State University system, the World Bank, and San Diego County Office of Education are notable.

Dr. Saba has presented in professional conferences in many countries including Afghanistan, The People’s Republic of China, Great Britain, France, Malaysia, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland (The United Nations), and Turkey. He is on the editorial board of the American Journal of Distance Education, and the International Review of Distance and Open Learning; and reviews manuscripts for major publishers such as Simon and Schuster, Prentice-Hall, and Wadsworth. Dr. Saba’s scholarly publications have been honored by several international awards including the Charles A. Wedemeyer Award (American Journal of Distance Education) and by the Association of Educational Communications and Technology’s Educational Technology Research and Development Journal Award.

For more information about ADEC visit http://www.adec-cal.org