Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses Naugatuck Valley Community College

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

Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses Roles in Online Learning

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.

Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses Role of Technology

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

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”

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

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

Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses Role of WebCT Administrator

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

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

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

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

Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses NVCC’s Online Learning Begins here...

Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses Role of Course Designer

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.”

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.

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

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.

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.”

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

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

Issues and Best Practices in Designing Distance Education Courses Into the Classroom This way to Ms. Caserta’s College Algebra... Requires username and password

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!