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VI. Recommendations
Any review of the first decade of internet-based learning should leave the
reader with a sense of excitement and caution. There is much promise, some success,
and, frankly, some spectacular financial and pedagogical failures. In using
the lessons of this history to propose an e-learning strategy for Augsburg College
we have distilled three principles we think should be applied to any new e-learning
proposal or initiative:
- Online learning and educational technology should not be ends in themselves,
but tools we employ to further the institution’s existing mission—to
increase the quality of learning, and to build on Augsburg’s strengths.
- New initiatives need to have a manageable scope. Broad, unfocused e-learning
projects tend to fail, and fail expensively.. Focused projects with high visibility
are more likely to win support and spark further change and innovation even
beyond their intended scope.
- New and updated offerings based on online learning and educational technology
need to be clearly identifiable and communicable to outsiders. An innovation
that cannot be marketed is less likely to add to the College’s revenue
and reputation for excellence.
1. Embrace the Concept of a Hybrid Environment for Learning
We recommend that the college develop a culture in which the possibilities
for application of technology, particularly web-based components for teaching
and learning, are considered whenever new courses or programs are developed
or revisions made to existing courses. The goal should be to enrich the potential
for student learning with a variety of learning options, supported by sound
pedagogical practices, that provide broader access to quality education. This
precludes neither fully face-to-face instruction nor fully online instruction,
but provides the most flexibility to faculty in designing and implementing their
courses and to students in accessing quality learning opportunities.
2. Focus Initial Efforts in Three Areas
Recognizing that the college has limited resources, we have identified three
areas which have strong potential for e-learning and fit well with strategies
currently underway.
- Hybrid Options in Weekend College
WEC students match the demographic profile of students who choose online classes
for their convenience. Technology options such as course management systems
can be used in multiple ways. First, they can provide a bridge between class
meetings in WEC to keep students engaged in learning activities. Second, for
some courses, online activities can replace some of the face-to-face meetings.
In the e-learning literature, courses requiring writing, reflection, and discussion
are considered an especially good match to the asynchronous environment. Third,
courses requiring additional contact time, such as the physical sciences,
could be offered and/or improved in WEC if some online material and activities
replaced standard lectures so that precious on-campus time could be used for
laboratory and other hands-on experiences.
- Summer Online Session
The college should create a permanent set of fully online or heavily hybridized
courses for the two summer sessions or for a separate summer online session.
Students who would be attracted to this could include day students who would
like to continue taking courses while holding summer jobs, WEC students who
want more flexibility for vacation time, and students who are traveling abroad.
The successful enrollments for the 2004 Summer Online Pilot are an indicator
of student interest in this kind of program. Valparaiso University in Indiana
has run a similar program with success.
- MBA program as hybrid and online option
The MBA program is currently being developed using a course management system
as an integral part of each course. Since this entails new development in
all courses, it is an ideal place to experiment with a variety of hybrid options,
including fully online courses where applicable. Assessment criteria appropriate
to each medium may also be developed at this time.
3. Develop Plans for Other Areas to Move to a Hybrid Environment
Other institutions have used a variety of approaches to identify courses with
the best payback for e-learning use. We have identified four approaches that
could be beneficial for Augsburg.
- High Demand Courses
Identifying the 1% of courses with the greatest enrollment demand is a recommended
way of choosing courses to target for revision using technology, since a larger
volume of the student population will receive the benefits. At Augsburg, these
high demand courses include the Search for Meaning core courses and Effective
Writing, as well as introductory principles courses such as Microeconomics,
Psychology, Human Society, and Management.
- Degree Bottleneck Courses
Departments should identify important courses that are not offered frequently
enough to meet student demand, causing delays in student progress toward the
degree. These courses should be targeted for instructional design support.
- Courses with High Adjunct Faculty Use
Courses which utilize a number of adjunct faculty often have poor consistency
in content coverage and quality over sections. In addition, the Augsburg Core
Curriculum has specific signature elements and themes unique to Augsburg that
must be infused in our courses. If these courses are fully developed in a
course management system with lecture materials, discussion questions, and
other supporting activities mapped out, adjunct faculty can have a complete
template as a base for customizing the course and students will have a consistent
experience regardless of who is teaching the course section.
- Online Courses Through The Center for Global Education
Given the drive to engage more students in study abroad experiences, the college
should develop a set of courses that can be taken by students studying abroad
so that they may continue progress on their Augsburg degrees. In some cases,
it may be possible for a student to participate in an international experience
if he or she can rely on just one online course that completes a major requirement.
In other cases, more courses might be necessary. The Center for Global Education
should be involved in the development of these courses with a view towards
marketing them to students from any institution doing international experiences.
4. Faculty Support for Development of Teaching Skills in all Mediums
- Innovation and Evaluation Group
We recommend establishing an Innovation and Evaluation group housed within
the Center for Teaching and Learning which would play a number of key roles
in the college’s evolution to a hybrid environment. The placement of
this group’s functions within CTL reflects the fact that teaching and
learning are the primary goals of any instructional delivery system. These
functions would include:
- training and mentoring faculty in best practices for e-learning,
- establishing assessment standards and guidelines, including course
evaluations which reflect the delivery medium, and
- monitoring competitor and industry practices, including the experiences
our new faculty may have had at their former institutions.
- Instructional Design Support
Hybrid or fully online courses are not created simply by porting course materials
to the web. Courses must be designed to take advantage of the strengths of
the delivery medium as well as to compensate for any deficiencies. Faculty
members in general are content experts, not trained instructional designers.
An instructional designer has the expertise to appropriately tailor course
materials to specific course delivery media, in this case, for online or hybrid
delivery. An instructional designer may or may not be a content expert. The
college needs to hire instructional designers to work in conjunction with
the faculty and LFCs for course development and redesign.
- Enterprise Course Management System (CMS)
The College should acquire an enterprise CMS which allows seamless integration
of administrative and academic functions as well as fuller support and ease
of development for courses and programs.
- Technical Support and Training for Faculty
In conjunction with the recommendations for instructional design support and
an enterprise CMS, faculty will require additional training and support in
order to be comfortable with the tools and the practices for development of
student-centered instructional design. This will require collaboration between
the new CTL Innovation and Evaluation group, the instructional designers,
and the LFCs who will continue to work with the faculty.
- TPL and Compensation
Faculty engagement and commitment is key to Augsburg’s evolution to
a hybrid environment. This can happen only if proper recognition for their
contributions is built into the tenure and promotion process, and methods
to engage faculty initially are established. In order for this to happen,
we recommend
- use of the CTL collaboration model for early adopters developing courses
with e-learning components,
- revision of the TPL standards in the faculty handbook to specifically
include e-learning course development and teaching, and
- establishment of incentives for initial development of highly hybridized
courses.
5. Expansion of Student Support
While it is often assumed that the current generation of students is highly
information literate and technologically savvy, studies in e-learning have found
this assumption to be incorrect. Additional support is needed to ensure student
success and satisfaction,.
- Expand Technical Support
Heavier use of e-learning techniques in courses will increase the
student demand for technology support, as users can be found online at any
time of day or night. Student support from the Student Computing desk will
be needed 24 hours a day. In conjunction with this support, the college will
need to look at ways to expand access to other functions such as the library
and writing lab.
- Provide Training for Online and Hybrid Courses
Several studies cited in the literature section found that students’
online success, retention, and satisfaction is improved by requiring initial
training prior to enrollment in online courses. Training for students should
be provided in a number of ways:
- New Day students could receive training and exposure to e-learning,
similar to the current library instruction training within AugSem.
- A half credit course or tutorial guide could be available for transfer
or WEC students
- The initial class session for courses heavily utilizing e-learning techniques
could be face-to-face and provide initial training and instruction.
- Utilize E-learning Techniques for Student Remediation
A developing tool in e-learning is the use of learning objects, small self-contained
modules on a particular topic or concept. While the current quality and accessibility
of these objects is uneven, there are areas where it would be beneficial to
Augsburg’s students if we invested in learning object development.
- Basic concepts and/or drill-and-practice needs observed in the Tutor
Center, Writing Lab, and CLASS office offer good potential for learning
object development.
- Specific courses where student backgrounds vary or often have ‘holes’
would benefit from learning object development as a way to bring all students
up to speed on a topic. For example, the Computer Science department frequently
waives the requirement for an introductory course for students with extensive
experience in computing. It is rare, however, that these students have
had exposure to every topic covered in the introductory course. The topics
of Boolean logic and logic gates are common examples. The development
of learning objects on these concepts would provide instant remediation,
and could be made available to other courses requiring background knowledge
of the concept.
6. Future Implications of a Hybrid Environment
Moving to a hybrid environment where e-learning techniques are incorporated
in a continuum from fully face-to-face courses to fully online courses has a
number of implications for the future growth of the college which must be considered.
The following implications are areas that should be considered in future planning
strategies and initiatives.
- College Technology Plan Supporting the Entire Student Cycle
The student life cycle can be conceptualized as beginning with the enticement
of students to Augsburg, moving students to enroll, retaining students through
graduation, and obtaining their (preferably undying) loyalty and engagement
with the college. Each phase of this cycle has potential for technology use
which should be considered. Examples could include
- the use of web-streaming for convocations, concerts, guest lectures,
and theatre performances as marketing tools to attract students as well
as means to improve connections with WEC students and alumni,
- web-based co-curricular activities such as gaming and virtual coffeehouses
to increase participation by students and alumni,
- establishment of E-portfolio capabilities to support student retention
and job searching, improving alumni loyalty, and
- providing technology services to alumni such as permanent email address
for email forwarding.
- The Conception of 1 Course/ 1 Semester/ 1 Credit
Internet and communications technology provide mechanisms to organize learning
in ways outside the standard course credit that can benefit the student. Course
modularization provides one immediate example. By developing smaller units
of learning than a single course, we have the potential for offering some
kinds of remediation, continuing education, tailored courses, or advanced
instruction for students capable of going beyond course material.
- Rolling Enrollments
Rolling enrollments refers to allowing students to register and begin coursework
at any time, not just on term boundaries. While we recognize that many administrative
functions and processes, particularly in the registrar’s office, would
require redesign, rolling enrollments combined with a re-conception of the
definition of a course can allow greater student flexibility and satisfaction,
as well as monetary benefits to the college.
- External Collaboration
In a manner similar to the cross-registration allowed between the ACTC colleges,
development of learning objects and online courses provides an additional
opportunity for collaboration, moving perhaps to an E-ACTC or similar collaborations
with other institutions.
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