Distance Delivered Courses and the University Professor Mark Hawkes, Dakota State University July 15, 2003 Nova Southeastern University... “Trends and Issues in Instructional Technology and Distance Education”

Presentation Purpose Distance delivered coursework has significantly changed the scope and nature of the university professor’s work. This presentation will identify several considerations to be made by the distance instructor, giving emphasis to the methodological and pedagogical shifts required of online teaching.

How does this affect me?  Promotion and Tenure  Teaching Load  Pay  Personal Capacity  Institutional Capacity  Teaching and Instruction

DSU’s MS in Educational Technology  36 Cr. Hr./Portfolio Review  Consistency between program goals and the state-wide initiatives  Specializations: Tech Systems/Distance Education  Predominantly web-based delivery  Multi-delivery methods  Client: teachers, teacher developers, trainers, technology coordinators, higher ed., etc.

Typical Problems in Online Courses  Facilitating and encouraging collaboration  Time management  Student proficiency with course tools  Ambiguous directions  Timeliness of feedback

Faculty Instructional Roles Traditional  Subject matter expert  Instructional Design and Delivery  Motivation  Assessment Online  Web Development  Discourse Moderator  Technologist  Technical Support Agent  Formative Evaluator

Instructor Roles: ID... Client Centered  Learning objectives as tied to state and national learning standards  Situation based design  Motivation: Learning vs. Performance Goals  Encourage self and group reflection on professional practice  Tightly linked to the K-12 curriculum design process

Instructor Roles: ID... Client Centered  Tendency toward world related and flexible sequencing  Instructional strategies incorporate real- world/engaged learning activities  Emphasize group work collaboration  Immersed in the language, context, and policy of K-12 schools  Discourse and interaction focused

Instructor Roles: Assessment  Growing role of assessment as a design feedback mechanism  Performance assessments  Quantifying participation

Instructor Roles: Web Developer  Visual Design Tasks Visualization tools to improve the comprehensibility of ideas Consumer friendly page design Media only when it directly contributes to key ideas of the instruction Multimedia

Instructor Roles: Web Developer UUser Interface Design Minimum depth access to information Usability focused Functionality Design for device diversity (desktops, TV, handhelds) Accommodate and supports user-controlled navigation

Instructor Roles: Discourse Moderator/Motivator  Announcements   Discussion Board (asynchronous)  Synchronous text chat  Desktop Video  File Loading  Room-based Video

Instructor Roles: Technologist  Web Chat (archiving, managing users, attaching files)  Editing sound (wav.) files  NetMeeting/CU-See Me Video Conferencing  Stream Real Video from Web Server  Accessing free scripting code and programs

Instructor Roles: Technical Support Agent OOn Demand Assistance Real Video Information—Real Server Downloading files from the Internet Dial-Up access to University network Diagnosing computing requirements (operating system, processing power, memory, drives, display, etc.) Burning information/assignments onto a CD Changing a file to a MIME format

Instructor Roles: Formative Evaluator  Multi-sourced data (students, server log files, etc)  Internal and external sources  Performance based data  Comparison and criterion based

The breadth of this course was: Not nearly enough The right amount Way too much Compared to a traditional course A much narrower range About the same range A much wider range of of material was covered of material was covered material was covered Online: 4.61 Compared to traditional 4.65n=32

The depth of this course was: Not nearly enough The right amount Way too much Compared to a traditional course Material was covered in Material was covered in Material was covered in much less depth about the same depth much more depth Online: 4.48 Compared to traditional 4.42n=32

The extent of critical thinking required: Not nearly enough The right amount Way too much Compared to a traditional course Much less About the same Much more Online: 4.61 Compared to traditional 4.94n=32

The amount of effort put into the course: Much less About the same Much more Compared to a traditional course Much less About the same Much more Online: 5.65 Compared to traditional: 5.26n=32

How to Design and Effective Online Course?  Follow basic ID principals  Build a climate of disclosure and full participation  Institute informal student evaluation and check- in mechanisms  Active and intensive instructor participation  Build in as much interactivity as possible  Create visually interesting screens/pages  Ensure instructions are very clear

Summary  Two-days with CMS won’t make distance educators out of faculty  Pedagogical shift in ID protocol ensures effective learning  Main contributions are in instructor contact, feedback and participation  Multi-mode interaction is critical  A contingency plan for every element is required