2. Purpose
The purpose of this presentation is to provide information for
Anytown Community College to address the addition of a
distance education program.
Included in the presentation:
The issues that need to be analyzed before any additions can be
Suggestions on how to address these issues
3. Overview of Presentation
Issues to be addressed in distance learning
Faculty
Motivation & Support
Orientation
Student interest
Program offering
Support
Communication
Technology
Existing and emerging technology
Analysis of characteristics
Suggestions on how to address these issues
A vision for distance education at ACC
Wrap Up
Question & Answer Session
4. Issues of Additions of Distance
Learning
Faculty Student Interest Existing & Emerging
Technology
Motivation Program Offering Analysis of
Characteristics
Support Support
Orientation Communication
Technology
5. Faculty
Importance – Content/Learner centered > teacher centered
Traditional vs. Distance Learning
Chair of the faculty senate involvement is needed
Motivation & Support
Advisor
Orientation
Who’s responsible?
(Simnson et al., 2006).
6. Faculty Orientation
Importance of an orientation
Unfamiliar with distance education
Motivation
Added responsibilities
Time Commitment
Confront fears/doubts
Offer support
Goals
Continuous support and motivation
Conferences & Workshops throughout the year
7. Student Interest
Saltsman and Shelton stated that the number of students
engaged in distance education will only increase over time
(2005).
Higher demand = Good opportunity
Concerns:
Program availability
What are the big interest programs?
Support from Faculty
Support from the Institution
Communication
Technology
8. Existing & Emerging Technology
An Aid to Anytown Community College
Only if user friendly
Existing Technology
WebCT
Blackboard
PeopleSoft
Moodle
Emerging Technology
Facebook
Myspace
Linkedin
10. A Vision for ACC
Embrace the current changes to better the institutional
changes.
Anytown Community College is capable of transitioning to
distance education if the right steps are followed.
Distance education is growing and it is the right time for
ACC to start making the necessary changes.
Economical hardship may be cause of enrollment
11. Wrap Up
Faculty
need to be oriented into the changes that distance education offers as
well as the benefits and changes that will need to be put into place.
Students
will explore distance education if there is something that can help
them in their educational journey; something that is able to benefit
them but also isn’t entirely too difficult to understand. Support needs
to be there on all levels; for all parties involved and from all parties
involved.
Technology
will get the distance education program started but it alone will not
keep it afloat. Administration will need to do a great deal of exploring
to find ample programs that are user friendly.
12. References
Saltsman, G., & Shelton, K. (2005). An administrator’s
guide to online education.
Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S.
(2006). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of
distance education. (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Merrill Prentice Hall.
Greet the audience.
Make an introduction as to who I am and what qualifications I have to discuss this topic.
Announce why we’re meeting today, presentation subject – distance education addition at ACC.
Explain the purpose of the presentation: issues that need to be addressed & suggestions on changes.
Overview of presentation layout.
Here you are able to see what the presentation will offer and in what order topics are addressed – this enables you all to follow along.
Here is a break down of the three issues that were chosen – most important & most changes needed.
Primary issues: Faculty, Student Interest, Technology
Secondary issues: Faculty motivation, support, orientations. Student interest in program offering, support, communication, technology. Technological analysis of characteristics.
Each issue will be discussed indepth later in the presentation.
Importance of this issue is based on the transaction from being teacher centered in a traditional program to content/learner centered in a distance program. Faculty will need to adapt to changes.
Chair of the Faculty senate will need to be highly involved with this because they need to be able to motivate fellow members to volunteer with teaching the courses in the distance education. The motivation will need to come from someone who is knowledgeable on faculty issues and concerns. This person should also act like an advisor to those faculty members who choose to participate. If needed another person in a executive role of the senate should also be included as a mentor advisor too.
A faculty orientation should be added as well, but this will be discussed more in depth further on in the presentation. It was brought up now to express the high priority that it will need to help with the transition to a distance program for faculty members. For the faculty orientation a group of administrators and faculty members will need to be responsible for facilitating it. It would be best if ACC could work with a “sister institution” that has a distance program so that they have the familiarity with it. Also, if faculty members at ACC are familiar with distance education then they should definitely be involved with this orientation. People with knowledge on the subject will be the best option to help facilitate.
Importance: Orientation for faculty members makes an easier transition for those involved because of the information that is gained and questions that are able to be answered. Also, it allows for the program to be more successful because the faculty members are more aware of the vision for the program as well as the duties involved.
Unfamiliar: Most faculty members are used to face-to-face courses. They will need to be informed on the differences of distance learning. During the orientation these members should have the opportunity to try distance education and how a course room that they would be in charge of runs. A trial of the software will be necessary for this. Beneficial to orientation is hands-on learning, gives faculty more knowledge of and ability to know if they would be able to handle it or not.
Motivation: By allowing hands-on experience it may also help motivate faculty members to volunteer for the position of teaching a distant learning course. This will answer questions for them, which they will be able to get help with by the orientation administrators.
Confronting fears/doubts: By having people involved that are familiar with distance education this session should be self-explanatory. Giving the faculty members who are interested but hesitant about going forth will have the opportunity to get a better idea of what it all will entail.
A way to confront these fears and doubts would be to reassure each member that there will be support and guidance throughout the transition. There should be workshops periodically throughout the year to touch base with faculty. Also, an annual conference for updates and a wrap up of the year or semester would be beneficial. This would be a good time to recruit for more faculty members as well.
Higher demand means that it will be a good opportunity for ACC to go forth with offering distance education. However, these issues will need to be addressed before the program can be established. ACC will need to make all of these decisions before hand in order to have a successful distance learning opportunity for students and faculty.
Concerns: Program availability – ACC will need to choose programs that professionals would be interested in. These can be decided on the popular careers as well as the geographical/economical status of ACC’s location. The job trend in the area will give information to what programs would be best fit. This means that ACC could start small with their distance learning by offering to a more local network and then gradually growing out to a large online option for learners.
Support from faculty: Students need reassurance just as faculty members do. Distance learning is a new means of education and there are many people out there that are hesitant to try it out. With support from the faculty it allows learners to be more at ease. They not only need the support from the faculty, but also they need to know that the institution will be helpful as well. Support will need to come from all aspects of enrollment management and even some of student affairs. These two departments involvement in distance education can ease the reservations of students because it would be more familiar to them on a traditional basis.
Communication – Students need to feel comfortable in order to communicate both in discussions and with the professor. In order for this, both need to be able to adjust to changes. Because distance education does not have opportunities for face-to-face interactions, students will need to know exactly what ways are available for communicating with their professors. This means that one of the requirements that faculty have are to clearly state the different ways and how learners may contact them throughout the course of the specific class. Faculty should have specific “office hours” available as well throughout the week where students are capable of logging into the courseroom and speaking with them if needed.
Which is where the technology will come into play here.
Technology – The use of technology is growing faster than ever and this is benefitting a lot of industries; education is one of them. With distance education more people are capable of going to college for their first degree or to enhance their previous one(s). Something that could help students correlate with faculty members is of instant communication. If faculty are unable to provide a phone number for verbal communication something that can help would be for either the use of chat rooms or instant messages. These are two uses that people seem to have forgotten in recent years. Students and faculty members could benefit from this instant communication by having real time discussions on related topics to the course or even the readings for the week. This also allows for faculty members to be in the courseroom during specific hours that students are able to contact them.
Existing and emerging technology will be able to aid ACC in its addition of a distance education program, but only if they are able to take advantage of technology. Supporting faculty and students as well as motivating both populations can also be included in the use of technology. As long as ACC is able to implement a user friendly technological atmosphere it should be able to be successful and beneficial to the institution.
User Friendly – meaning easily accessible to learners of all technological levels. Able to be understood from the website to logging in and navigating the courseroom.
Existing technologies that ACC could use and will need to use in their distance education program are online course rooms, such as programs like WebCT, BlackBoard, PeopleSoft and Moodle. These programs will need to be examined in their entirety to make sure they will be accessible to all students who are capable of being accepted into the distance program. Choosing the right program is crucial for a program to be successful. Trial and error will be too costly here, so all research on each of the programs will need to be done in depth far in advance before ACC will be able to transition to distance learning.
WebCT/BlackBoard/Moodle are useful applications for courserooms. Each offers opportunities for completing assignments, staying in touch with faculty members, and participation in discussion boards.
Peoplesoft is useful for more of the enrollment management and student affairs aspects. It’s been used in the past for keeping track of student information. ACC is able t speak with representative from each company in order to be more informed of what these products have to offer.
Emerging technology that could add to the support and communication between students and faculty members could be web based networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Linkedin. These sites offer the ability to stay in touch and updated on events, but if used to their full potential could also benefit students to see their professors in a humanistic light rather then just as a faculty member. Colleges started out as very holistic places where faculty were more then just someone who supplied knowledge to students, but rather offered them personal insights and knowledge. With distance education it is difficult for students to feel any connection to their professors because of the lack of interactions that they have. With these limits there should be an outlet in another venue that enables some common ground for students and faculty members. With incorporating social networks it would benefit both faculty members engage with their learners as well as students being able to see their professors in a humanistic light that they can relate to more. Being in distance learning doesn’t mean that there should be limitations to the interactions that you’re able to have, and that you actually have to distance yourself from on either side (faculty or students).
Faculty need to be oriented to the new teaching style.
Implement Annual Conferences to refresh faculty on policies and procedures – twice a year, after each semester or two quarters
Workshops faculty should attend twice a semester or once each quarter.
Keeps faculty up to date – allows for improvements if any need to be made.
Conferences should request for on site visits, where as workshops can be completed online.
They also need to be responsible for keeping up with program changes – including with technological advances.
Students
Communication needs to be open and clear – both with learners, faculty, and administration
Being able to communicate with other learners allows for more interaction amongst learners, which enables for better in course discussions and participation.
Students who are capable of speaking with faculty members are more engaged in their coursework. Without a connection there is no drive to participate more then necessary, so to encourage students to get the most from their courses there should be an ample amount of communication.
Administrators need to be willing to communicate with students. Having the ability as a student to contact the right departments when there are issues give a sense of relief to learners who may not be familiar with higher education. This communication is beneficial in giving the institution a good reputation, as a learner who has a good experience is more likely to recommend the institution to others who are looking for a program of the same nature.
Technology
The main suggestions for technology are the most important to having a successful program. One is to find the right courseroom program that benefits both faculty members and students in the ease and user friendly features. The second would be to enhance communication and humanism in distance education with social networking. Social networking can be beneficial when it is used properly and professionally. The sight www.linkedin.com is one that would be most beneficial in this instance. It’s a basic social networking sight that can be used for a virtual resume as well. It enables faculty and learners to engage in each others lives and bring back the holism to higher education.
The issues stated within this presentation needed to be addressed before any real changes can be implemented. There will need to be a lot of research done for the proper programs in able for it to be successful.
AAC will need to find the right technology, appeal to students, and have faculty members who are motivated and willing to follow the vision of ACC to engage in distance education to supply more students with the education that will enhance their lives as well.
With the economy where it has been, it seems that distance education will see a rise in enrollment rates for those who are able to afford the costs. This is so because if people are able to afford a program then they are able to enrich their lives with higher education and find a job that may allow for a salary rise. People are looking towards educational venues now to either enhance their present positions or to change careers to one that will be stable.
In conclusion, the previous issues all relate and support the final issue of the vision for distance education, and being able to inspire others in their educational attributes. If these issues are addressed and adequately implemented then it will be a much more successful transition for ACC. Being able to motivate others into the technological age as well as the changes within the field of Higher Education can make for a purposeful vision that enables a larger population to have something to strive for.
List of references for any sources that were used in the presentation.
More information can be found through these sources as well.
Take this time now to open the floor up to any questions, feedback, concerns on the topic.
After questions & answers – Thank the audience for their participation in the presentation and allowing for me to come in to speak with them today.
