northwest missouri state university 1 institutional support for the development of web-based courses...

Northwest Missouri State University1

Institutional Support for the Institutional Support for the Development of Web-Based CoursesDevelopment of Web-Based Courses

Dr. Roger Von Holzen

Director--Center for Information Technology in Education


Old Dogs New TricksOld Dogs New TricksThe Fear Factor– Colleges and universities are fearful of losing

student enrollment– Rushing to place curriculum materials out on the

web– Announce to the world that they offer web-based

coursesOld dogs--correspondence coursesNew tricks--delivered on the web*


Shifting the ParadigmShifting the ParadigmCenter for Information Technology in

Education– Strong support for faculty

Stipends Hardware and software

– Strong push to change the way of looking at teaching and learning*


Historical BackgroundHistorical Background 1987 Northwest established its Electronic

Campus– VAX network of terminals– Terminals located in every office and dorm room

on campusFaculty and student support provided

through Computing Services 1997 switched to desktop and notebook

computers*


CITE Faculty SupportCITE Faculty Support Established in 1997 Funded by the state Initial focus on funding faculty efforts to

modularize course materials– 10% of faculty per year

Funding in the form of summer stipends– Target faculty in specific content areas– Generally 7.5% of contract salary– Is this wise? Are we paying faculty to do what they

should already be doing*


CITE Faculty SupportCITE Faculty SupportConduct faculty trainingAssist in the development of:– course web sites – web-based courses– CD-ROM-based learning materials

Select three departmental CITE FTE faculty positions– Provide release time for faculty*


Software StandardsSoftware Standards Designated software packages center would

support – purchases

– technical and training assistance Financially can't support all software desires

of faculty Staff needs to have extensive knowledge of

limited number of software packages in order to fully assist faculty*


Hardware SupportHardware Support CITE provides each Northwest faculty

member with a notebook computer– two to three year rotation cycle– pecking order for receipt of new notebooks

Center retains "ownership" of hardware purchased for faculty– minimizes duplication of seldom-used hardware– maximizes array of hardware available for

faculty use*


DirectorCurriculum design specialistComputer specialist Student Help– Some funding designated for faculty stipends

switched to student support for individual faculty members

– Encourage department internships and independent study projects*

CITE StaffCITE Staff


Ownership PolicyOwnership Policy Ownership. If a faculty member receives University support (for

example, CITE Fellowships, Culture of Quality grants, reassigned time) then the materials developed (for example, modular courses, musical scores, computer programs, course-related materials, books, curricular materials, photographs) will be considered to be jointly owned by Northwest and the faculty member.

Jointly owned means: Both parties are entitled to utilize the materials and their derivatives. Both parties retain copyright and physical ownership in the event the faculty

member is no longer employed by the University. Royalties from commercial sale and/or use of the materials and their derivatives

will be split with the University receiving 50% and the faculty member(s) receiving 50%.

A faculty member has the option to negotiate an alternate agreement with the Provost’s office.*


Course Management SoftwareCourse Management Software Software that enables faculty to disseminate

course materials online– No need to create course web pages

Communication resources– E-mail– Threaded discussions– Chat sessions

Online assessment– Quizzes and surveys– Gradebook*


Course Management SoftwareCourse Management Software Comprehensive student tracking options Digital dropbox Tracking of access and usage Major web-based course management

software– WebCT– Blackboard’s CourseInfo– eCollege.com*


Northwest OnlineNorthwest OnlineThe “virtual campus” for NorthwestAddress: http://www.NorthwestOnline.orgHosted by eCollege.comWill have 30 classes online this fall*


CourseInfoCourseInfo Supplemental course management software $5,000 per year per server– Unlimited number of courses and students

Hosted by Northwest Over 575 academic courses currently

utilizing supplemental web resources Approximately 1/2 of Northwest faculty

involved*


One Step BackOne Step Back First step toward the new gold standard– EXPECT STUDENTS TO READ THE COURSE

TEXTBOOK!– All too often instructors simply rehash textbook

materials in the lecture notes Instructor no longer deliverer of course content

(done by the textbook)– Online “lectures” should be used to:

Summarize course content Explain in greater depth important, difficult course

content*


Getting StartedGetting Started Provide students with detailed instructions

on how to get started in the course Provide clear, intuitive site navigation Provide detailed syllabus– Comprehensive schedule

Readings Assignments Discussion forum

– Clear descriptions Point distributions Grading criteria--assignments and forum postings*


Getting StartedGetting Started Logical organization of course content– By week– By module

Most flexible for courses offered over varying lengths of time: spring semester and summer

Timely feedback– Exams– Forum postings– E-mail*


Let Addison-Wesley Do the WorkLet Addison-Wesley Do the Work Early in the process of establishing an online course,

explore what supplemental materials the textbook publishers provide

Lower division courses: an array of materials Often available for free or included with purchase of

the textbook Upper division courses may not have much available– Ask publisher if you can place materials on the web

Will need to develop materials with assistance from faculty technology center*


Two Steps ForwardTwo Steps Forward Need to redesign course from the ground up– Can’t simply translate course from classroom to online

environment– Need to employ the features of this new medium

Emphasis on active learning– Students work with the subject matter

Analyzing scenarios Making choices Creating answers Evaluating each other’s work

Can easily incorporate existing digital materials such as PowerPoint presentations, Word handouts, maps, and pictures*


Two Steps ForwardTwo Steps Forward Instructor assumes the role of mentor to the

students Allows replacement of the traditional one-to-

many classroom communication mode with one-to-one exchanges

Fear of e-mail overload?– Sign of poorly designed course– Attempt to anticipate questions during course design

phase– Preempt with class-wide e-mail messages*


Course Development EffortsCourse Development EffortsRedirect effort from generating course lecture

materialsFocus on the creation of tutorial modulesModules– Short, very focused tutorials incorporating audio, video,

text, animation– Concentrate on areas within the course content which

students historically have had trouble– Use instructor's expertise, experience and talent in order

to generate true "teaching" opportunities*


Tutorial ModulesTutorial Modules Produced using PowerPoint, Macromedia

Director, or Toolbook II software Should incorporate extensive amount of

interactivity– Self-paced– Allow interaction with examples and linked

materials Highlight critical content areas beyond the

textbook or that reflect instructor's unique approach to the problem*


Beyond the RhetoricBeyond the RhetoricNeed to move beyond the use of quizzes

and tests as evaluation mechanismsUse quizzes and tests as interactive

mentoring opportunities– Enable students to evaluate their own progress

through the course materials– Provide feedback on course content areas that

need further enhancement and/or development*


Beyond the RhetoricBeyond the Rhetoric Quizzes and tests should be viewed as means

of promoting learning– Open book and extensive testing time

Evolution from seat-time/credit hours to outcomes-based education– Acknowledging present reality

Should be only a small component of the overall assessment strategy for the online course*


Key to SuccessKey to Success Strong support from the administration– Budget– Status of online faculty

Strong support from faculty– Interest in participating in projects

Rapid integration into university-wide initiatives*


Dr. Roger Von HolzenDr. Roger Von Holzen

Northwest Missouri State UniversityNorthwest Missouri State University

[email protected]@mail.nwmissouri.edu

http://cite.nwmissouri.edu:2000/cite/presentations/http://cite.nwmissouri.edu:2000/cite/presentations/

northwest missouri state university 1 institutional support for the development of web-based courses...

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campus h faculty

hardware support h

northwest faculty member

faculty stipends

university support

faculty use

paradigm h center

year h funding