“Technology is Changing Higher Education…” Develop scalable institutional models Need for instructional support staff that are skilled beyond technology Promote new ideas about what comprises quality instructional support Separate short-term and long-term support Create faculty learning communities that focus on technology and instruction Need for collaborative efforts

Overview of our Project What are we developing? A sustainable, strategically planned support model that promotes efficiency in online course production and maintenance Goals Scalability Efficiency Clarify unit priorities Promote collaboration Empower faculty

Expected Benefits Quality experiences for students Appropriate mix of instruction/technology Qualified instructors Quality experiences for faculty Excellence in support Allow professional/personal development

What will we show you? Select pieces of our model Separation of Short Term and Long Term support Focus on College of Education/vuDAT support relationship Support unit: Virtual University Design and Technology College: College of Education Outcomes: Of the model

I. vuDAT Model of Support

Provost Academic Support Units Degree Granting Colleges Libraries, Computing and Technology College of Education ACNS vuDAT Help Line IVSDMCTrainers Faculty Teaching Online Instructional Support Units

vuDAT Staff Administrators Support eProducers New Media Designers Programmers Student Media Developers

Course Development – Outline First Contact Mtg./Decision process Producer Assignment Development First Offering End of First Offering “One-up” courses – End of active VUDAT support Degree program courses – Project based interactions

New Course – Pre-development Faculty member(s) approach VUDAT with new course First Contact meeting (information gathering) Decision Process Producer Assignment

The eProducer Interpreter between faculty, and support specialists Directs faculty to various resources on campus Has technical, design and pedagogical knowledge Variety of backgrounds

Development Set expectations, timeline, goals Consultant philosophy Design, development, revision Make sure faculty understand how to use the technology

First Offering Support during first offering Tech problems Revisions Often requires more development

End of First Offering 1. “One-up” courses Revision Period Two months or 20 hrs. whichever comes first— revise existing material End of active vuDAT support Future support provided by College/Department Can go through the entire process again for major course redesigns

End of First Offering 2. Courses in a degree program Course debriefing, schedule revision time Project based interactions from now on Scheduling is done by the producer

II. College of Education Support

College of Education Instructional Technology Support Center for Teaching and Technology Computer Support Group Hardware/ software Equip. Loans Teaching Support Tech Exp. for Grants In-class Server admin Classroom support Research Support Online/hybrid development Consulting Starting Research PCMAC

COE Model of Support Benefiting from changes at college Faculty develop skills Forming collegial networks Support is provided in the form of: Consulting/Technical Support Policy and Planning Committee Labs/equipment Presentations, workshops and colloquia

Support for Online Program Consulting / Technical Support Pre-/Post-development Research On-request support Policy and Planning Committee Share successes and concerns Plan new directions Assess program

Support for Online Program Equipment loans/Laboratories Video equipment Laptops / projectors Labs Presentations, workshops and colloquia Lab tutorials Current trends Software demonstrations CMS Development software

III. Outcomes

Example of Current Project Design and implementation of a “comment” tool for adult career development course

What have we learned? Inter-unit collaboration brings varied views Relationships between vuDAT and colleges vary Inter-college opportunities can strengthen programs (e.g. breakfast series, brown bags) Frequent / open communication, resulting in a “friendly” working relationship Open access to all key players

What have we learned? Core components remain static, methods must be dynamic Separation of short- and long-term support (scalability) Allocation of resources (e.g. human, financial, etc.) can be problematic Strong institutional commitment to support is vital

Assessment Satisfaction Student ratings Administrative support Faculty support New Ways of Assessment Under development Collaboration with other universities (e.g. UCF)

Future Directions Model is supporting our needs and goals Continuing assessment of program, addressing new needs as they arise and modifying the program as necessary Continuing to build new partnerships and invite new parties into existing partnerships

Questions? Brandon Blinkenberg Scott Schopieray More information and resources available at: