Dear Members and Potential Members of IDLA,

I am honored to have the role of president for the coming year. We have a diverse Board of Directors, filled with innovative skills/ideas, along with a growing membership to support our mission who will continue to move distance learning forward in Iowa.  I would especially like to thank our former President Karly Good as well as several of our past IDLA Presidents for helping me transition into this new role to help guide the Iowa Distance Learning Association.

At our spring IDLA conference, the theme was on innovation in online education.  Online education has now become a standard component of most educational systems.  Those systems are used to enhance learner skills and help people grow into new opportunities/positions.  So because of this now more established role, it is vital as Distance Educators to keep informed about innovations and trends in Online Education and as well as ways to keep the online classroom interactive and informative.  IDLA is positioned to help aid people with access to resources and ideas for optimizing their online learning strategies and goals.

In the coming year, we hope to offer our membership additional learning opportunities including both webinars and one-day symposiums. IDLA is also looking at a new web site and membership system that should enhance communication amongst IDLA members and keep all of our members both connected and well-informed.   We will also continue to share information about distance learning opportunities offered by our parent organization, USDLA (United States Distance Learning Association), and other organizations who offer learning opportunities free of charge. We would also like to extend our hands to our partners  both in the corporate/government sectors and in the K-12 audience who are using many of the same technologies, as we stand to learn as much from them as they do from us.  So, if you are not a member of IDLA yet, please join us!

I am excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and the many new distance-learning and technology options that are just a year or two away.  Feel free to contact me if you have questions or new ideas to bring to our board including educational resources or even symposium ideas or locations.  Also make sure you check out all the links on our Web site to find resources pertaining to your needs and interests.

Sincerely,

Joe Struss
IDLA President