G.L. Heileman 1, C.T. Abdallah 1, W. Shu 1, C. Christdoulou 1, D. Knotts 2 1 Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering New Media & Extended Learning University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA Creating On-line Graduate Engineering Degrees at the University of New Mexico

Introduction In this talk we describe the motivation, strategies, implementation details, and challenges associated with the creation of on-line graduate-level degree programs in the ECE department at the University of New Mexico.

Background New Mexico is one of the largest but least populated states in the US. Widely dispersed population centers, some highly technical, e.g., Los Alamos. University of New Mexico (UNM) has a long history of attempting to service these remote students.

Background Distance Education at UNM:  1920s, Correspondence courses offered.  1980s, Instructional television offered statewide, and degree-granting distance education programs.  1997, First on-line course offered.  1999, Extended University dept. created  2000, WebCT adopted as university-wide learning management system.  , on-line offerings grow from 17 to 124 courses, many of them in the ECE dept.

Background The ECE department has played a leading role in the use of technology for distance education. Goal: creation of a completely on-line M.S. degree in the ECE dept. We expected the typical benefits associated with distance education, but a number of additional benefits emerged, and are discussed next.

Benefits Students often sign up for on-line sections of a class, yet primarily attend the in-class sections.  Flexibility - many of our students work full- time and miss classes due to travel. This allows them to use the on-line section to “make up” missed classes.  This was also possible through instruction television, but not nearly as convenient.

Benefits UNM LMS has allowed faculty to develop and teach courses from remote locations, e.g.,  While off-site during the summer months.  While on sabbatical in Europe. This activity is synergistic with the development of international programs.  These types of courses have made it practical to implement dual-degree programs with Jiao Tong Univ. (China) and Campinas (Brazil).  Some of the coursework requirements can now be satisfied at the home institution, thus lessening the travel burden.

Benefits Increasingly we see students “window shop” through our on-line offering.  Students can try out courses in the dept. before committing to pursuing a graduate degree.  This also addresses competition, as many nationwide on-line universities are now competing for our students.

Challenges - Students High drop-out rate. Less rigid => Students often underestimate the time commitment. Other problems typical of these types of programs:  Difficulty in developing personal relationships.  Trust environment necessary for exams.

Challenges - Faculty Biggest issue is workload.  We must continue to offer in-class sections.  Thus, on-line offerings imply additional work.  Currently UNM provides extra compensation (financial incentive) to faculty for developing on-line coursewares. This is critical!

Challenges - Faculty Many faculty also underestimate the time commitment associated with developing on-line coursewares.  Department policy - encourage courses to first be taught as web-enchaned before going on- line.  Web-enhanced means a traditional course that makes use of LMS technology as some part of the course.

Challenges - Technology Asynchronous nature of the technology:  Answers to questions are not immediate.  Adjustments to pace of course and volume of materials is more difficult. As bandwidth becomes more available, live lectures, or at least live Q&A sessions will be possible. This may create the “tipping point”.

Challenges - Technology Some courses are more difficult to implement on-line, as they have a more synchronous style. E.g., our graduate seminar series.  Required of all graduate students.  Seminars will be captured on video.  In-class students are told they have the burden of asking questions the on-line students may think of.

Challenges - Technology Laboratory courses have similar difficulties.  We have offered these courses with weekend lab sections - students travel from nearby cities.  We are experimenting with LabView to simulate some of the experiments, and with the ability to control laboratory equipment remotely.

Summary Our on-line course offering have grown dramatically over the past 5 years. It is now possible for remote students to take all of the graduate core courses in certain emphasis areas on-line. The offerings outside of the core courses are sparse - and this is what currently limits our goal. International students can satisfy certain UNM course requirements on-line while working at their home institution.

Questions?