"Forging Educational Stakeholder Partnerships through
Information Technology"

Ocean Creek Resort and Conference Center
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina http://ascue2001.gcc.edu

Conference Preliminary Pricing Information

Complete Registration information
will be available in the conference announcement in March 2001.

Roundtable on Distance Education / Web Based Learning

By Jon Mueller, North Central College
from notes taken by Peter Smith, Saint Mary's College

The session started with a description of how North Central College is approaching distance education. North Central has web enhanced courses and has approved six courses to use some of the on-line technologies (e.g. course web pages, discussion boards, etc.) to gain knowledge about how distance education can improve traditional courses and also to get their feet wet with true distance learning. There Distance Learning is some concern on the part of the administration that students will respond negatively to on-line courses.

The participants at the roundtable raised a number of issues. We will state these issues and describe the points raised concerning each:

1. Evaluation/Testing - how do we test students who never come to campus?

   It was felt that faculty need an attitude shift so they don't feel they have to monitor everything the students do. Instead faculty teaching distance education courses must learn to trust external proctors. There may well be cheating, but it is unlikely to be a worse problem than we face with local courses. If an online course emphasizes writing, both essay questions and papers, it is unlikely that remote students will find people to write all their papers and will soon realize that they can get better grades writing their own work. Writing assignments also help students synthesize their knowledge.

   A faculty member at a school using Blackboard let students take exams in the residence halls outside of class. Students liked the ability to do this, but it did not significantly affect the grades they got on the tests. Others use the technology to let students assess their knowledge in an ungraded fashion.

2. Faculty need support to overcome the steep learning curve for web-based learning

   There were a number of approaches to this problem. A mentor model was popular. At one school both the mentor and faculty member received a one-course reduced load. The expectation was that both would put in as much time mastering the web-based technologies as it would take them to prepare for and teach a course. Faculty could also go to another institution to work with a mentor. At another school, faculty members write a proposal about how they would help a colleague in the department get up to speed. The selected faculty received a laptop rather than reduced load, but they had to write a report on how successful the mentoring turned out. At this school, each department has a technology assistant (an advanced student) available to help faculty in their office. This approach was very successful. At North Central there are three student assistants available to help faculty. A number of other schools provide this service.

   One insight concerning web-based learning is that it takes on a life of its own. Soon everyone is trying it and the support problem grows exponentially.

3. Are there software and hardware considerations which restrict the use of distance education?

   Many faculty use generic course management systems such as Blackboard (Course Info) and Web CT. About half of those present use Blackboard and a third use Web CT. Blackboard is cheaper and gives good training support. Web CT is harder to use but more powerful (e.g. greater quiz flexibility). Others use Real Media, Real Presenter (incorporates powerpoint), Flash (steep learning curve), Dream Weaver, Lightstream, etc. A good source is www.realnetworks.com. Some schools have found that they have to greatly increase server capacity when using course management systems. Saint Mary's started the year with about 30 courses on Blackboard and the response time was at least 10 minutes for each student to even bring up the first screen. Things improved when we increased server capacity.

   Slow modem speed is a problem on the student end of a distance learning course. Audio sounds like it is coming through syrup and dynamic video is almost impossible to use. You have to use still frames. If the lectures are burned into a CD before the course starts, delivery is greatly improved, but interactive lectures on line are very hard to broadcast. Another problem is that urban areas may be able to get DSL or Cable broadband access, but rural areas are lucky to have paved roads. Some students will not have touch tone phones and may not be able to access the internet at all. In some places, students can use the public library to get access to on-line materials. Some national guard centers let students under faculty supervision use their computer classrooms. Agricultural extension centers also have technology and might be open to allow students to use it. The prerequisites for the on line course may have to specify the level of technology needed before the student can enroll. Some students expect the university to provide this technology.

4. How can we compensate for face-to-face contact when using distance learning

   Several participants mentioned that some face-to-face contact is necessary even when using distance learning. This can be accomplished in several ways: bringing studnts on campus for the first (or last) week of classes; using streaming video during class so both students and teacher can see each other; teach two classes, one on site and the other at a distance through video, and swapping places ever other week or so. The teacher who did that got credit for teaching two sections even though there was only one lecture. Of course, all the other tasks, such as grading papers, consulting with students, etc., are still required whether the class is or is not web-based. One problem with streaming video is that students feel uncomfortable when the camera zooms in on them and they see themselves large on the screen. They also have to remember to turn on the mike before they speak out in class. Email is helpful when a teacher cannot meet students face-to-face, but it is not as good as having students drop in at your office.

   There are some advantages to web-based learning even in a traditional face-to-face on-campus class. At North Central, faculty are using web-based discussion boards with limited enrollment. The teacher may pose a half dozen thought-provoking questions and ask 3 students to post answers for each question. The teacher and other students in the class can then respond on line to the answers. In programming classes, students can meet on line and help each other out - or the teacher can listen in and offer a suggestion. A major disadvantage is the incredible amount of time required, even after the material has been prepared - late night email disrupts family life.

5. What about student motivation? Can the average student succeed in a web-based course?

   Students don't take on line classes because they are better. They choose them because it is the only way they can get the education. A lot of students, even traditional ones, are not self-motivated. Many times they have to "crash" before they learn to direct their own learning. One college actually forces all students to take a five week long distance learning course. This helps students decide if they are cut out for distance learning. A teacher who had developed 40 on line courses forces students to participate in a list serve and sets deadlines for students to meet. Some students actively participate and some just lurk. There was no agreement in answer to the question: "How can we convey to students that they will need self-discipline to do distance learning?"

6. What about compensation and property rights for distance education materials?

   FIPSE paid $1,000 to the instructor to develop a course without specifying who has the rights to the material. Each time you teach the course you get paid $500. One school pays $2,000 for the development of a course and $150 for each student who enrolls. The author retains the copyright and intellectual property rights. It is possible that some colleges will begin buying courses from other schools. With the shortage of faculty in some areas, these colleges would not be able to teach the courses otherwise. Some schools have young teachers who are jumping into web-based teaching. Will they get lured away after they get trained and become experts at distance learning curriculum development? One state has adopted Web CT at all state schools and has required that each school develop one (different) web-based course that all the others can share.

7. Can distance education teaching be made attractive to senior faculty members?

Some senior faculty who are nearing retirement are found to be open to learning new technology since they have nothing to lose and developing on line materials might be a source of income after retirement.

The remaining topics were raised but there was not enough time to deal with them:

8. "Difficult" disciplines and topics for distance education
9. Class size
10. Faculty attitude that distance learning is a passing fad.
11. Extra time spent with long-range students (up to 5 times as much as with on-campus students)
12. Administration commitment to the project
13. Program certification/degrees
14. Constant change in technology and course content

There was a brief discussion of how faculty developing web-based courses can make sure that their office equipment is sufficient for this work and is kept on the same level as the lab computers where the students taking the course will be accessing the material. One school has a four tier system where equipment is replaced on a four year cycle. Tier 1 computers are placed in labs and classrooms. Tier 2 machines are taken out of the labs and classrooms each year and given to the faculty developing web-based material. Tier 3 faculty get hand-me-downs from tier 2 faculty and tier 4 faculty get hand-me-downs from tier 3 faculty. This provides a high incentive for getting on the web-based material bandwagon.