Course Continuity Planning at Fairleigh Dickinson University Catherine L. Kelley, Ph.D. Assistant Provost, Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University About Fairleigh Dickinson Mid-sized private university with four campuses  Metropolitan Campus: Teaneck / Hackensack, NJ  College at Florham: Florham / Madison, NJ  Wroxton, England  Vancouver, BC, Canada (new this fall) About 12,000 students Four colleges encompassing liberal arts & sciences, education, professional programs, business, continuing education DL initiatve: All undergraduates must take one DL or blended class each year

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University Motivation FDU is almost entirely tuition driven Our President was moved and troubled by the hurricane disasters of 2005 He was also very concerned about the possibility of an outbreak of H5N1 or “Avian Flu” If we closed for long enough that we would need to reimburse tuition or be unable to open, our doors would close for good

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University President’s Charge In Spring 2006, the President challenged his Executive Cabinet to develop a plan to keep classes running if our doors must close  Many in the cabinet felt that this was impossible The charge fell on my office and our CIO We wanted to create a plan that would work for other disaster scenarios, not just H5N1

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University First steps Analysis of what it would take to convert a campus based class to fully online  Communication plan is crucial – “if you can’t reach them, you can’t teach them”  Faculty need to know something about teaching online FDU’s distance learning initiative helps as many of our faculty already use Blackboard  Can’t count on just one system  Suppose Internet is not available

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University The Plan Faculty will develop their own teaching plans Four steps:  Communication plan  Course preparation  Learn to use Blackboard Between 1/3 and 1/2 of our faculty use Blackboard in some way Need to train the remaining faculty  Learn at least one other delivery method

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University Blackboard resource Preparation materials Checklist / Quiz Can (in theory) track faculty participation  Most of them have not filled out quiz, even those known to have created plans

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University Wiki We later created a wiki so that faculty could add their own ideas, and we could more easily change material So far, have only minimally advertised the wiki Please feel free to join the wiki and make changes

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University

Educational Technology Fairleigh Dickinson University