Download - Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses Naugatuck Valley Community College
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
NaugatuckValleyCommunity College
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Roles in Online Learning
Presented by
SysAdmin Virginia Beetz
WebCT Admin Eileen Medinger
Course Designer Barbara Caserta
Naugatuck Valley Community College
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Roles in Online Learning
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Roles in Online Learning
• At NVCC– System Administrator– WebCT Administrator– Course Designer– Student
Once everyone understands their roles, online learning begins.
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of Technology
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of Technology
• In a Classroom– Student, Teacher, Content– Desks, Chalkboard, Overhead Projector
• In an Online Classroom– Student, Teacher, Content– Technology, Software, Communication
Source: “Practical Tips for Teaching Online Groups”, Hanna, Dudka, Runlee
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of Technology
• Always present in online learning– Needs attention constantly
• Upgrades• Backups• 24x7x365
– Becomes the “classroom, desks, and chalkboard”
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of System Administrator
• Invest in a SysAdmin– Responsibilities include
• Server setup• Network connections and Internet access• Security issues
• Include your SysAdmin in all aspects of course development
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of System Administrator
• Additional SysAdmin duties– Student Helpdesk, troubleshooting– Import student lists, course lists– Course Backups– Firewall access– Loading e-packs
• Get friendly with your SysAdmin
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of WebCT Administrator
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of WebCT Administrator
• Coordinator for online learning
• The “Trainer”– Trains the course designers (faculty)
• To use software (WebCT)• To use communication tools• To monitor the course
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of WebCT Administrator
• The “Media” expert– Instructional designer
• Guides in design of course• Ensures consistency in course quality, style
– Graphic designer• Creates visuals and graphics• Designs web-based materials
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of WebCT Administrator
• The “learner liaison”– Serves as a point of contact for the learner– Organizes structure for NVCC’s online
learning “website”– Student Helpdesk
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of WebCT Administrator
• The “Coach”– Develops policies for marketing and
registration– Builds the catalog of online courses– Supports the course designer and student– Evaluates online experiences– Develops strategies to improve online
experiences
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
NVCC’s Online Learning
Begins here . . .
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Role of Course Designer
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
What Makes a Good Distance Learning Course?
"I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our
educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not
entirely, the use of textbooks."
Quotes by Thomas Alva Edison
“Education isn't play -- and it can't be made to look like play. It is hard, hard work.”
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Darned if I know . . .
. . . but, from my experience, I do know:– State clearly, at the beginning of the
course, what is expected of the student• How This Course Works• Course Calendar (Time-Tracker)• Approximate weekly time commitment• Frequent Online Testing
– Allows the instructor to track progress on a topic-by-topic level.
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
What Makes a Good Distance Learning Course? (cont’d)
• State clearly what the faculty member is expected to provide– 24-48 hour turnaround on answering messages– Tracking students’ progress online– Providing face-to-face assistance
• Build relationships online– student-to-student– student-to-faculty
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
What doesn’t work . . .
• Live Chats with Instructor• “... it was hard to have a chat room scheduled
for a specific date (and time). We all take the class because making the commitment to a specific time is not in our schedules.”
– Solution:• Break the class into groups of 3 or 4. Assign
each group a project. Have a threaded Discussion Forum and an (optional) Chat Room available for each group.
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
“Real Students do Attend Virtual Classrooms”
• Course Tools (Offline CD)– “This is the second on-line math
course I have taken.
I like the fact that you can use the software offline for this course. The last one required you to be online for all work except homework.”
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Increase “Class Participation”
• Required Threaded Discussion Forum– Homework questions are posted by the
instructor– Answers are posted by the students
• Communicate student-to-student– Additional required postings by students to
verify their classmates’ results
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
What I’ve Learned as a Distance Learning Course Developer
• Begin planning the course two semesters before the course is offered.– Two semesters before:
• Select delivery method, text and/or software • Carefully preview publisher’s materials
– One semester before: • Develop the actual course and its content
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Into the Classroom
This way toMs. Caserta’sCollege Algebra . . .
Requires username and password
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Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses
Speaking from Experience
• Roles to play– System Administrator
• Handles the technology
– WebCT Administrator• Coordinates online course development
– Course Designer• “teaches” the course
– Student• Enjoys the experience!