Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
From Key Handouts to More Hands On Keys: Planning for the Progressive Use of Technology by Faculty
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By: Mary Nunaley, David Warner |
Proceeding
ABSTRACT
Two faculty members from Volunteer State Community College were assigned the
charge: “design an institution-wide faculty training and development program
for distance learning.” The approach to planning began by reexamining the evolution
of their use of technology, culminating in online course delivery. The presenters
explore the stages through which faculty progress, which can then become the
basis for an institution’s faculty training and development program.
Background
Faculty members are being asked to integrate more technology-usage into their
courses, not only by students, but also, by colleagues and administrators.
Within an institution, a wide range of technology skills and/or experiences
with Distance Learning courses exists among faculty. When an institution considers
use of the WWW, web-authoring and computer-mediated communication tools, planners
must recognize that faculty skills and knowledge exist on many levels. Thus,
an institutions’ planning to provide faculty training and support should address
the various technology-usage “entry-levels” of faculty and succeeding “development
stages” of existing Distance Learning faculty.
Two faculty members at Volunteer State Community College were assigned the mission:
“design an institution-wide faculty training and development program for distance
learning.” The authors were granted partial course release time in order to
complete the task. The faculty members have instructional responsibilities
in the Humanities Division (Department of Communication) and the Business Division
(Hospitality Services). Both are members of their institution’s Distance Learning
Committee, a cross-section of academic divisions and administrative offices,
such as the Student Services and the Admissions and Records offices. The Distance
Learning Committee reviewed the distance learning planning and approach.
Preliminary Planning
The approach to planning began with a re-examination of the evolution of the
faculty member’s use of technology, culminating in online course delivery.
Reflection suggested a pattern, a series of stages faculty progress through
in their development of course materials and the use of computer-mediated communication
tools in their courses.
Individual faculty members’ evolving use of the WWW and computer-mediated communication
may be viewed as a series of stages faculty progress through as course materials
are developed and communication tools are incorporated into courses.
Five development stages were proposed: communication-emphasis, content-emphasis,
integration of course content and communication activities, use of a course-management
system, and course conversion to an online or web-based delivery stage. Development
of training and resources for faculty must anticipate a variety of skills and
prior experiences with the worldwide web, web-authoring software, communication
tools, and course design. The five stages of faculty involvement will serve
as the focus areas to develop training and resources for faculty development.
Faculty Survey
A variety of course-delivery formats may exist within an institution’s distance
learning program. At Volunteer State Community College, distance learning includes
ITV classrooms and courses that are available on CD-ROM, videotape, and online
(as web-based courses). In addition, many courses are web-enhanced. Each of
the college’s five divisions offer distance learning sections of courses, with
several courses available in a variety of formats.
A component of the initial planning for faculty training and the development
of faculty resources for course development started with an online faculty survey.
The Distance Learning Survey message and link was e-mailed to full- and part-time
faculty, with an additional survey of adjunct faculty planned. Faculty members
were asked to respond to a series of questions, organized under Interactive
TV, Videotape classes, web-enhanced courses, and online courses.
The survey used a combination of radio buttons, one-line and scrolling text
boxes and drop-down menus to organize responses in the survey areas. The question
format for ITV, videotape, web-enhanced courses and online courses was essentially
the same. Faculty were asked whether they had taught a course using the format,
whether they had developed a course for a particular format, whether they had
ever taken a course using that format, what training could be provided to encourage
course development and what training could be provided to assist the faculty
member to improve instruction.
Course Standards
Prior to designing training and resources for faculty, an initiative to establish
standards for distance learning courses was begun at the institution. The Distance
Learning Committee Chair appointed members to serve on a sub-committee to examine
standards and make recommendations to the full committee for review and recommendations
for adoption. Sub-committee members were a cross-section of faculty and administrators.
Administrators represented Admissions and Records, Student Services and Public
Relations while faculty representatives were from Business, Humanities, and
Math and Science divisions.
Members of the standards sub-committee reviewed actual and
implied standards from a variety of sources. Active distance learning faculty
members were requested to make suggestions in a variety of areas, including
meetings (actual or online), orientations, course syllabi, calendars and scheduling,
assignments, grading and communication.
A student focus group was used to discover student expectations in the same
areas as the distance learning faculty members were polled. The institution’s
distance learning Instruction Evaluation questions were used for this information-gathering
aspect.
Finally, requests for copies of existing distance learning standards from the
state sister-institutions was made. Reviews of online university websites were
made and reviews of pertinent print and electronic resources were conducted.
The sub-committee proposed standards in five areas: syllabi, schedule/calendar,
course materials, communication, and the learning community. Proposed standards
were further presented as “must” or “should” statements. The “must” statements
were proposed as required of all courses while the “should” statements were
proposed as recommended course enhancements.
In addition to recommended standards for review, the sub-committee recommended
a course peer review process. Peer reviewers may be members of the faculty
members division, or a team of reviewers from a variety of divisions.
Stages for Distance Learning Course Development
Development Stage 1: Faculty members use or plan to use communication
tools such as e-mail, message boards and chat features to communicate with students
outside the classroom.
Initially, faculty may begin their integration of technology with “resource”
sites, communication tools, or course websites with basic course materials,
e.g., a welcome or index page, a syllabus and a calendar. The beginning use
of computer-mediated or other electronic communication tools and the development
of web-based course materials can be concurrent, but interviews suggest, in
most cases, an either-or approach, either computer-mediated communication or
a website.
At this stage, faculty members use or plan to use communication tools
like e-mail, message boards, instant messaging and/or ICQ and chat features
to communicate with students outside the classroom.
Faculty may require training and resources for e-mail, discussion, chat, and/or
instant messaging. In addition to assisting faculty with software, resources
for pedagogical issues should be addressed. Examples are: What are best practices?
How will electronic communications improve the actual course? Are there security
issues involved? How does opening up email communication alter the learning
that typically occurs in the classroom?
Training issues include online etiquette, attachments, use of “emoticons,” and
threaded discussions, to name a few.
During this stage, faculty members are also beginning to think about ways to
expand the horizons outside the classroom. This thinking may often start before
the communication function is fully explored - placing the syllabus and handouts
online for student access are two common thoughts of faculty.
Stage 1 is a “communication-emphasis” development stage. Faculty members are
engaged in the development of communication approaches that reach beyond the
four walls of the traditional classroom
Development Stage 2: Faculty members use or plan to use FrontPage or
other) web-authoring software to develop course materials and enhance student
experiences.
As noted above, even before the content-emphasis development stage
has begun, faculty often start thinking about how they can use the Web to enhance
their courses, including links to websites, having students do research assignments
online and starting to become comfortable with the technology and terminology.
Oftentimes, faculty will begin to learn a little bit about HTML before they
even venture near web-authoring software.
Technical concerns faculty are interested in at this stage include: ADA Requirements,
Bandwidth Issues, and appropriate software for multi-media enhancements.
Pedagogical Issues include copyright and creation of content that goes beyond
simply placing lecture notes or lecture outlines online.
Training and resources faculty will require assistance with include: text formatting,
graphics, page design, use of colors and FTP.
Although the entry-level for faculty may be a communication-oriented or a content-oriented
approach, content development can follow communication. Institutions will often
already have an e-mail system for student and faculty communication in place.
Stage 2 is a “content-emphasis” development stage. Faculty members are beginning
to explore web-authoring software and are thinking about what course materials
to make available online.
Development Stage 3: Faculty members have combined or plan
to combine the use of communication tools and course website materials (combining
“Development Stages” 1 & 2) for course assignments
Faculty may still be using communication tools that are separate from the course
website at this stage. For example, faculty may be using an institution e-mail
address, a home address, or a third address such as Hotmail or Yahoo, with a
course website and course materials on the institution server.
As technology-use expands or broadens, communication tools and course materials
are usually integrated, and that integration can lead to a more “connected,”
collaborative student learning. Faculty may combine faxed or e-mailed communication
assignments with assignment directions and/or resources posted on a course website.
At “Development Stage 3,” faculty members have progressed to the use of both
communication tools and web-based course materials for one or more individual
courses or sections of a course.
A significant pedagogical issue at this stage includes developing a plan for
building community online.
Training needs include additional instruction in using web-authoring software,
facilitating student interaction in the online environment and assisting students
with basic technical help issues.
Stage 3 is an “integrated content/communication” development stage. As faculty
members place course materials online and use electronic means to communicate
with students, an integration of the two begins to develop. Concerns of faculty
members may focus on student interaction with course materials and communication
of student responses between instructor and student.
Development Stage 4: Faculty members have transferred or plan to transfer
web-enhanced course content, classroom materials and communication initiatives
to a course management system.
An increasing integration of the use of a separate communication tool (like
Microsoft’s Outlook mail program) and a separate website for course materials
invites faculty to desire a more integrated approach. A course management system
will offer faculty the opportunity to combine course materials and communication
tools at one location. Integrating the communication and course materials at
one site, combined with the additional features offered by a course management
system like WebCT (a calendar, grade book and testing, for example) allows for
the more expedient use of student and instructor time.
Training needs include using the course management system features and integrating
outside sources such as email into the existing course management system.
Stage 4 is an enhanced “course management-oriented” development stage. Up to
this stage, faculty members may have been using a “separated” approach. For
example, course materials exist on a website, but a separate e-mail program,
like MS Outlook may be used for communication, or course assignments are faxed.
Faculty members can enhance their courses by using a course management system,
combining many class activities at a single site. Examples of course management
systems are WebCT and BlackBoard.
Development Stage 5: Faculty members are converting or revising a course
site or have considered conversion of web-based course content and classroom
materials to an online course.
At “Development Stage 5,” faculty members are ready to consider a course conversion
to an online or web-based course environment. The WebCT e-mail discussion board,
chat feature, calendar, testing and grade book offer additional opportunities
for student-to-student collaboration and instructor/student communication.
Technical Issues include: designing multimedia content, available technology
and bandwidth.
Training needs include advanced instruction in web-authoring tools such
as Flash, encouraging collaboration and communication between students, and
advanced facilitation skills for faculty.
Stage 5 may be identified as an “online conversion” development
stage. Faculty members have been using a course management system and are preparing
for conversion of the course to an online or web-based environment.
Training and Resource Development Recommendations
- Dedicated print resources on reserve for distance learning faculty
- Distance Learning website pages with electronic resources for faculty at each development stage
- Faculty In-service meetings, workshops, and individualized training in the Faculty Development Center
- Course and Communication development checklists and standards for faculty
- Various course templates, including a syllabus, office schedule, and homepage
- Course Management System “practice courses” for faculty engaged in course development
- Peer Review Teams for course evaluation and coaching