Leadership and Innovation

We are pleased to welcome you to this special issue of the Quarterly Review of Distance Education! Our theme in this special issue is leadership and innovation in instructional technology and distance education. We have assembled for this project a series of expert leaders, innovators, academics, and graduate student authors, each committed to contributing to the dialogue on revitalizing and redefining research, practice, and policy in instructional technology and distance education. The end result is a series of articles that highlight and provide insights relevant to those working in today's distance education community. It is our wish that you will both enjoy and benefit from the work that has been assembled here.The editors of this special issue of QRDE are of the opinion—in a belief shared with many in the community—that their roles as faculty are not simply limited to executing a predefined curriculum during a specific semester time frame; the faculty role also involves working with students to help ensure that they maximize their academic experiences as they prepare themselves for leadership roles in the field. To that end, we have constructed this special issue by working with students currently pursuing graduate degrees at one of two online instructional technology programs (the Instructional Technology and Distance Education program at Nova Southeastern University, and the Educational Technology and Leadership program at The George Washington University) to conduct interviews with expert leaders and innovators in instructional technology and distance education. A handful of the highest performing students were mentored to then take what was learned from the interviews and literature reviews, with the goal of developing a manuscript for publication in a peer reviewed journal. The result of that process is the special issue you are reading now.The interviewees selected for this special issue are all recognized leaders and scholars within the field. Recognizing that effective leadership is crucial to the success theory-to-application in our field, we focused this issue on leadership themes as they pertain to instructional technology and distance education. These leaders were asked to convey their perspectives on a variety of issues, such as; recognizing opportunities for innovation, unique leadership issues in technology-driven environments, identifying and responding to challenging situations, and key trends emerging on the horizon. Their perspectives provide a unique insight which is often lacking in the academic literature in our field; global practitioner perspectives, clearly formulated needs for additional research to inform practice, and a call for closer (technology-mediated) relationship that recognizes crucial nuances in research and practice in the field.For this special issue, the editors' primary goal was to collect original, meaningful, information to share with the broader academic community; the mediating mechanism to achieve this goal was the interview, executed by graduate student authors. In addition to generating authentic and meaningful information for the QRDE readership, the interviewing technique would afford graduate student authors the maximum learning experience as they prepared their articles. We were focused on transfer of learning, enhancing learner interest, and increasing learner engagement. For students in a graduate level instructional technology curriculum, the interview is a logical choice based on these factors, as well as several others:The editors began the process of mentoring graduate student authors by providing them with the name and contact information of the expert they would be interviewing. In addition, graduate student authors were provided several documents to guide their work, including a timeline, deadlines for major tasks and deliverables, an overview of the goals and process for conducting their interviews, and written guidance on writing a scholarly article based on an interview.Graduate student authors (either individually or in small groups), planned their tasks, determined the scope of activity, assembled required resources, planned in accordance with expected timelines, and assigned responsibilities. In executing the interview they began gathering information on the experts they were interviewing, focusing on the interviewees' country and regional location, professional and academic background, and scholarly work. Initial literature studies were conducted. Based on the information gathered from these tasks, interview questions were formulated as a framework (script) for each interview that would be carried out.With a finalized interview script in hand, graduate student authors scheduled and executed the interview. A semistructured interview format was used to ensure that interviews could become more conversational, and that new insights could be obtained, generating new knowledge resulting from the exchange between the interviewer and the expert.Upon completion of the interview, results were transcribed. Transcribed data were reviewed and analyzed with three objectives in mind: identification of key issues and themes; development of any additional follow-up correspondence with the interviewee; and finally, determination if an additional literature study was required to better contextualize collected comments, cite primary sources of information, and so on.The final step was the actual preparation of manuscripts based on the interviews. In writing these manuscripts, the goal was to generate original scholarly articles based on the interviews with the experts. Using interview data and results from the literature studies, graduate student authors developed initial and final drafts of their manuscripts. After editorial review, the draft final manuscripts were shared with the interviewee for feedback and approval of the content. Articles for submission to the QRDE were based on the finalized manuscripts developed by the graduate student authors.Both editors of the special issue are adjunct faculty, one at The George Washington University and one at Nova Southeastern University. They agreed it would be an interesting and worthwhile “learning project” to collaborate with a number of graduate students toward the publication of a scholarly article, based on an interview of an expert, in a peer-reviewed journal. This led the editors to develop a work plan, consisting of the following steps:Our graduate student authors (interviewers) were provided a stimulating opportunity to work in an environment that gave them a chance to take initiative, demonstrate leadership, and work on a product that demanded perseverance and dedication. Student interviewers were also provided an unusual opportunity to develop a sustained relationship with an international expert in the field. Furthermore, these student interviewers were given the chance to demonstrate that they were capable of leading the interviewing process and work with interviewees in a systematic and professional manner. Their research experience was tested as the literature review demanded critical thinking and creativity.Student interviewer feedback was encouraging for the editors of the special edition. The student interviewers expressed enjoyment working on interviewing the expert leaders, and also with applying their skills to developing written articles for publication in this special issue. Student interviewers enjoyed the process to such an extent that several proposed carrying out more projects like this in the future!The expert leader interviewees expressed being impressed by the well-prepared and knowledgeable student interviewers. This is all the more impressive when we consider that most of these leaders have extensive experience with interviews, and being interviewed. Several of the leaders thanked the editors for having had the opportunity to work with the student interviewers.We congratulate the graduate student authors for their work, dedication, and perseverance. As is often the case with scholarly writing, the process for preparing these articles was not always straightforward. The student authors showed professionalism and commitment while they developed their articles, and we are confident that these authors have reason to be proud of their contributions.We would also like to thank the interviewees, without which this special issue quite simply could not have been realized. These professional academics and practitioners have much on their plates at any one point in time, and agreeing to serve in this role required an additional time commitment beyond their already full schedules. The graduate student authors for the special issue reported not only that they learned a great deal from the interviewees, but that they were met with a collegial and enthusiastic rapport from the interviewees.Our thanks also go to Michael J. Feuer, dean and professor, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, The George Washington University, and H. Wells Singleton, dean, Abraham S. Fischler School of Education, Nova Southeastern University, both of whom contributed to this special issue by reflecting on its unique value and by expressing their appreciation for the work of the students from their respective schools.Our colleague, Ray Amirault, has with his excellent contribution enriched this special issue of the Quarterly Review of Distance Education in important ways.Finally, we want to thank Charles Schlosser and Michael Simonson for their guidance and skill in helping to oversee the finalization of this special issue.As we close this introduction, we want to once again welcome you to our special issue of the Quarterly Review of Distance Education, and hope that you receive as much from reading it as we did in assembling it!