Special Announcement: Sign Up Now for March '99 Workshop on ISU's Intellectual Property Policy
Contents:
- Revisiting the Roots: Some Perspectives on Ten Years of
Distance Education - Keith Hawkins
- ISU's Intellectual Property Policy - **Sign Up** for March 18th Workshop
- U.S. Copyright Law and Distance Education - Nancy Franklin
- Have It "Your Way" - by Bob DeFrance
- ACNS Computer Training Available to ISU Faculty
- Distance Learning Library Services: **Revised** ACRL Guidelines
Deserve a Second Look - Judy Tribble
- Edible Bytes - Paula Vincini
- CTA Workshops - **New** Workshops Available in 1999!
- Thought for February
Welcome to Interaction, ISU's monthly electronic newsletter for people
interested in developing and teaching distance education courses. The
purpose of Interaction is to provide you with information on course
development and design, new technologies, and teaching distance
courses. As the name implies, we hope to make this electronic
newsletter "interactive," its contents reflecting current issues,
challenges, and innovations in teaching. Your part is simple-just tell
us what you want. Send us your questions, frustrations, and topics of
interest, and we will include information on that topic in a future
issue. In addition, we invite you to share your experiences and tips
on teaching distance courses, and to send us announcements of upcoming
events. Please submit your comments and requests to interact@web.indstate.edu,
a secured access e-mail account. Your contributions will not be posted as a "global" message to subscribers
of Interaction. The staffs of Continuing Education/Instructional Services,
the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Library, ACNS, and other
ISU offices are eager to answer your questions and offer you assistance
as you develop and teach your distance education courses.
Revisiting the Roots: Some Perspectives on Ten Years of
Distance Education
Keith B. Hawkins, Director, Distance Education
Thanks to a fearless faculty member, who also happens to be somewhat of a
pack rat, I recently viewed a videotape of her class which she had delivered
on IHETS television in 1989. That was only ten years ago but compared to
the look of today's video classes, it might have been made at the dawn of
the television age. If one were to critique that tape, two characteristics
stand out. One, the quality of the instruction was excellent. The
instructor was well prepared, used a primitive overhead camera and a
chalkboard to illustrate the lecture points, and then encouraged student
participation for a discussion portion of the class. Two, the technical
quality of the tape was terrible. The cameras were so old that their only
color was a faint green and skin tones resembled lime jello. For security
reasons, since the room was used as a regular classroom, the instructor
camera was mounted near the ceiling and pointed at that ugly chalkboard.
The instructor had to reach around a post to utilize the overhead camera,
and the audio from the class and the sites was mostly scratches and squawks
and nearly inaudible.
In short, it was a disaster. Students were willing to endure the poor
technical quality because there was substance in the instruction and it was
the only way for many to complete a degree. Faculty accepted these
circumstances because they had no experience with distance education and
did not know any better. Staff accepted these conditions because there were
no resources to correct them.
As the Spring '99 semester begins, two brand new classroom/studios will be
brought 'on line.' This will bring the total to four. The new facilities
have been built to allow faculty to assume as much control of their class as
suits their comfort level. Touch screens have replaced television switchers
and auto tracking cameras have replaced manual (director controlled) pan and
tilt units. The new rooms are designed to be used to deliver classes by
two-way video as well as by one-way video, two-way audio or videotape. Class
origination for any current or projected video delivery mode is or will be
possible.
While these new rooms and the retrofitted original studio/classrooms
represent the best and most current technology available within a modest
budget, their value is negligible without the willingness of faculty to
develop their courses to take maximum advantage of the opportunities that
the new technology offers. Much to the credit of the faculty, they have
enrolled in the Course Transformation Academy in record numbers. The CTA
introduces faculty to alternative pedagogies, new technologies, and the
support services that are available to them. Therefore, the instructional
quality and substance, which was apparent ten years ago, is still assured
for the future. It is the instruction, after all, that drives the growth of
distance education, not the technology.
The original studio/classrooms were designed and equipped with television
broadcast equipment, which allowed for a quality standard similar to that
which we see at home on our televisions. The new rooms, having been
constructed to utilize equipment designed to provide for maximum
flexibility, does not allow for the same 'broadcast quality' as that of the
original rooms. It is hoped that this regression will not jeopardize the
learning that takes place or the shared pride that both faculty and staff
feel when producing a good-looking product.
If the last ten years are any guide, the next ten years should be very
exciting as higher education evolves toward greater acceptability of
distance learning technologies and less distinction between traditional and
nontraditional students. With continued effort, problems of inter-
institutional transfer will wane; cooperative agreements and partnerships
to exploit strengths will be commonplace. The rate of technological
change will certainly accelerate, bringing with it the prospect of
unimaginable possibilities for education and training at every level. Ten
years from now, when a decade old video tape is discovered and viewed,
I would guess that the reaction will be much the same as the one described
earlier. The progress that will have been achieved during that time will be
startling and nearly beyond belief. Most likely and perhaps most
importantly, it will energize us all for the decade beyond.
ISU's Intellectual Property Policy
**Sign Up** for March 18 Workshop
Phil Redenbarger, Director of the Technology Services Center, will conduct a
workshop on ISU's Intellectual Property Policy on March 18 from 2:00 to 4:00
pm. This workshop is open to all ISU faculty and staff. If you would like
to attend this two-hour workshop, please contact Mary Luz Petrowski at
ext 8639 or direct questions to Nancy Franklin at ext 8452.
U.S. Copyright Law and Distance Education
Nancy Franklin
In late October, the United States enacted new copyright laws that directly
affect distance learning. The new laws do not *yet* change the rules found
in Section 110(2) of the current law for using copyrighted works in
distance learning, but instead direct the U.S. Copyright Office to propose
new revisions to the current law by April 1999. The Copyright Office will
base these revisions on comments received from interested parties, such as
institutions of higher education, distance educators, and copyright owners.
The Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education's Copyright Committee, in
coordination with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, hosted a
conference in Indianapolis on January 21, 1999, to gather comments about
the needs of Indiana's institution's of higher education and to draft a
report detailing those needs for submission to the U.S. Copyright Office.
Approximately 60 representatives from public and private higher education
institutions throughout Indiana responded to Commissioner Stan Jones'
invitation to the state's college presidents inviting their representatives
to participate in this process.
The result was a "Statement of Principles" which was endorsed by the IPSE
Working Group on January 22, 1999 and forwarded to the U.S. Copyright
Office. The Statement will be followed by a report which will include the
substance of the details discussed by the 1/21/99 forum participants. It
is believed that such a statewide collective position is unique in the
country, and it is hoped that, as such, it will carry additional weight.
As a follow-on activity, representatives of the IPSE Copyright Committee
have requested an opportunity to testify at a regional hearing the U.S.
Copyright Office is conducting in Chicago in early February.
If you are interested in reading the text of the Statement of Principles
and following the progress of the subsequent report, you can do so by
visiting: http://www.library.bsu.edu/internal/copyright/resolution.html
Have It "Your Way"
Bob DeFrance
The Industrial Technology Education Department has been in the distance
education business for a long time - and they have become "masters of the
media." The ITE Department began delivering classes via IHETS in 1989.
Under the leadership of Dr. Lowell Anderson, and his successor
Dr. Anthony Gilberti, the newly created HRD curriculum has launched
into one of the most successful programs available on campus and
at a distance. Both undergraduate and graduate degrees are available
in HRD in all - or any combination - of the following:
- Live in class (primarily in TC 111)
- IHETS (available at more than 300 sites around the state)
- "Tape only" (All undergraduates and graduate students may
elect the "tape only" option. The Office of Distance Education shipped
more than 800 tapes last semester. 48% went to HRD students.)
- Internet (All ITE classes are available on the Internet.)
What is especially interesting is the flexibility. For instance, a student
who starts out on the Internet may shift to tape or vice versa. A "tape
only" student is welcome to visit the Internet for clarification or
reinforcement. Remote site students occasionally show up in class, and all
students may order a tape at their discretion. Clearly, a great variety of
student learning styles can be accommodated in this environment.
To Dr. Gilberti, Dr. Anderson, and the dynamic ITE faculty and staff - kudos
for an extraordinary effort!
"Have it your way" no longer applies to the burger business!
Chat's Room - News from the Faculty Computing Resource Center
A Satellite Dish for Your Computer?
In the last couple of articles on the subject about internet connectivity,
we talked about fast, permanent, internet hookups through the new DSL
technologies offered by the phone company, and cable modems offered by the
cable company. In this issue of Interaction we are going we mention
satellite dish systems for your computer.
Neither cable modems nor DSL service are meaningful if you live in a rural
area, or even an urban area where such technologies are unavailable. If you
find yourself in this category, you have two options. Either you stick with
a standard analog phone modem (almost all home computers sold these days
include a modem) or you get a satellite dish system for your computer.
Whereas an analog phone modem offers realistically downstream speeds of
about three thousand characters (bytes) per second (approx. 30k bits per
second), a satellite dish can give you forty thousand characters per second
(approx. 400kbps)--over ten times faster. Such speeds mean that you can
receive and view web pages, graphics, sound and video files at the same
practical speeds that many learning centers, colleges, and corporations
offer on their premises.
Dish systems cost about $199 at the outset and about $20 a month for the
internet service. A bonus is that most satellite TV DSS (18-inch dish)
owners can have this service added onto their existing systems. Thus if you
are thinking of TV dish receiver anyway, you can pay a little extra and get
an internet connection as well. The catch? Well, you still need to be
connected through a "normal" analog phone modem to a local internet service
provider (ISP) in order to send information and commands out to the
satellite system--at an additional cost of about $20 a month. This is
because we are still a long way off from consumer-affordable systems which
can send data up to a satellite as well as receive it - all from the 18-inch
dish.
The main supplier of this technology is Hughes Network Systems. You can get
more information on these systems by checking out http://www.direcpc.com
or by calling 800-DIRECPC, or you can send the editor of
Interaction a note and we will get the information to you.
* The Faculty Computing Resource Center helps faculty maintain web
pages and chat rooms, answers technical questions, and has a variety
of technical resources at your disposal including hardware repair
facilities, in-house technical consultation, and even a technical
periodical library for faculty check-out. We're open from 8:00am -
4:30pm, Monday through Friday. Call for details: 237-2603.
Learn Computer Skills Through ACNS Computer Training
ACNS Computing Courses for ISU faculty and staff are hands-on introductions
to computers and computer software. Taught by ISU faculty and ACNS staff,
these courses cover basic to intermediate computing skills and will help
you get started learning about computers and using technology in the
classroom. Courses are free to ISU faculty and staff. Most classes are
located in the new ACNS Training Lab in the School of Education,
SE 119.
Courses offered this semester include: Communicating with Your Students
Electronically; Web Publishing with Netscape Composer; and Using
CourseInfo Interactive Learning Network (ILN). A full schedule of training
for faculty and staff is available at the following web site:
http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/training/fscourse.html
To register for these courses, or for more information, e-mail
ACNS-Train@indstate.edu or call Teresa Crafton at x4140.
Distance Learning Library Services: **Revised** ACRL Guidelines
Deserve a Second Look
Judy Tribble, Distance Learning Librarian
In July 1998, the Association of College and Research Libraries revised the
'Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services.' Recognizing that
libraries are essential to the success of many courses offered at a
distance, the guidelines list the following library services as essential:
- reference service
- computer-based bibliographic and informational services
- reliable, rapid, secure access to institutional and other networks
including the Internet
- consultation services
- a program of library user instruction designed to instill independent and
effective information literacy skills while specifically meeting the
learner-support needs of the distance learning community
- assistance with nonprint media and equipment
- reciprocal or contractual borrowing, or interlibrary loan services using
the broadest application of fair use of copyrighted materials
- prompt document delivery such as a courier system and/or electronic
transmission
- access to reserve materials in accordance with copyright fair use
policies adequate service hours for optimum access by users
- promotion of library services to the distance learning community,
including documented and updated policies, regulations and
procedures for systematic development, and management of
information resources.
The complete guidelines may be found at:
http://www.ala.org/acrl/guides/distlrng.html
To find out what services the ISU Library offers to distance education
students, visit http://odin.indstate.edu/level1.dir/dised.dir/hompage.html
Edible Bites - Brief Summaries of Articles and Links of Interest
Paula Vincini, Instructional Designer
This column will address two frequently asked questions from faculty:
"What is an online course?" and "How will I put my lectures on the Web?"
What is an Online Course?
For those of you still struggling with how to design an Internet course, go
to http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/nethowto/index.htm and look for EDPY
497/597 (The Internet: Communicating, Accessing and Providing
Information). This course - the University of Alberta's first online
Internet offering -is a very well designed online course and course
site with the emphasis on design. The course helps "students
understand what the Internet is (and isn't), and learn to use Internet
tools." Be sure to look at the sections "Getting Started: What To Do First"
and "Just the Facts: Course Prerequisites and Objectives."
A feature that I have not seen on another Internet site is "Learning
Theory: The Theory Behind the Structure and Design" at:
http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/nethowto/theory/theory.htm This page
explains the philosophy of learning the instructor has incorporated into the
design of the course.
This in turn links to the full article 'Inquisitivism or The HHMMM??? What
Does This Button Do?' Approach to Learning: The Synthesis of Cognitive
Theories into a Novel Approach to Adult Education" at:
http://dte6.educ.ualberta.ca/tech_ed/publish/inquisitivism.htm
What Is It Like To Teach an Online Course?
This next online article "Addressing Student Needs: Teaching on the
Internet" at http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/98/mar/398feat4.html
shares the experiences of Dr. Tom Kubala who states, "I transitioned
from a community college presidency to a university professorship,
teaching graduate level online courses on the Internet, in one year."
He goes on to share his insights into teaching an online course,
including, "that students were more willing to participate in class
discussions and other learning activities online as compared to the
traditional mode of learning."
Another instructor with insights on how to teach on the Web is Thomas Fox
McManus (University of Texas at Austin) whose 1996 online article
'Delivering Instruction on the World Wide Web' can be found at
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~mcmanus/wbi.html You also might want to look at
the following sites that he lists as good examples of actual web-based
instruction, many of which are not-for-credit courses:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/debate.html
The 75th Anniversary Astronomical Debate is a good example of using the
power of hypermedia to "criss-cross the landscape" of a complex issue. It
also uses graphics sparingly, but well. It is built on the simplest HTML and
can be seen with almost any browser.
http://www.geom.umn.edu/apps/gallery.html
The Gallery of Interactive Geometry shows several extremely creative methods
for using forms to enhance the interactivity of the instruction.
http://gamma.wustl.edu/home.html
MIR Nuclear Medicine shows case-based learning through hypermedia. Notice
the extensive user navigation tools: indexed cases, keyword searches, and
random cases.
http://www.ils.nwu.edu:80/~e_for_e/
In Engines for Education, the designers use multiple perspectives and
revisiting to reinforce learning throughout the very complex site. It is
also an example of how you can create a very complex design using nothing
more than the most basic HTML tags.
How Do I Transform a Traditional Course for the Internet?
http://www.iat.unc.edu/publications/roberts/template.html
Visit this site and check out the "Template for Converting Classroom Courses
to Distributed, Asynchronous Courses." Although the template hasn't been
updated since 1995, it asks interesting questions which you may find helpful
in transforming an already existing course to the Web. The one I like the
best in terms of opening up our thinking about what kinds of learning can
occur with an existing course is the following:
"If you had a fully equipped multimedia classroom with a direct connection
to the World Wide Web and no time constraints, what would you do
differently from what you do in the classroom now? What learning and
instructional activities and resources normally excluded from the standard
classroom might you use to enhance interest, understanding and transfer?"
Another interesting article online is 'Restructuring Large Introductory
Courses: Using Technology to Transform The Foundation of Higher Education'
at http://www.learner.org/edtech/techstrats/restruct.html by Stephen C.
Ehrmann. He states that, "Lecturing has come to seem identical to
teaching" but that "the large lecture course never was a perfect educational
solution to the problem of cost-effective access to high quality
instruction." In the article, he discusses successful use of technologies
at the following institutions:
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute virtually eliminated lectures from its
giant introductory physics and calculus courses through the use of different
technologies that provided "for experiential learning, collaborative
learning, and rich, frequent feedback." You may find some ideas in this
article to apply towards transforming lectures for both an online and a
traditional course.
- IUPUI at Indianapolis has used technology to eliminate or reduce lecturing
to large classes of students. As a result of the restructuring of
introductory psychology courses, "Student satisfaction ratings are up
sharply (from 23% to 45%); attendance is up, especially in the last
several weeks of the term (37% to 55%), and grades are up."
- At Arizona State University, Prof Paul Privateer has transformed "an
introductory humanities course that enrolls 130+ students per section...
from a traditional 'sleep and slides' survey course of 20th century culture
to a computer-based, collaborative exploration by student teams."
- At Arizona State, "Computer-Aided Engineering Design," a required course
for all first year engineering students, includes no lectures.
"Project-based, collaborative learning is the spine of this course."
The article goes on to discuss how large introductory graduate courses can
be restructured, too. Brad Cox (George Mason University Program on Social
and Organizational Learning) has designed and developed an introduction to
the Internet titled "Taming the Technological Frontier." Besides the 60
graduate students taking this course, a section of high school students at
Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany are also enrolled. You can see this
course at http://virtualschool.edu/courses/LRNG572.html but hurry because
the instructor Brad Cox has left GMU and returned to industry; last semester
was the last time these courses will be offered by GMU. This is too bad
because the course recently won the $25,000 Paul Allen Foundation Distance
Education Competition.
If you can stand one more online article about how to augment, reduce,
or redesign lectures, look at "From Teaching to Learning: Part III.
Lectures and Approaches to Active Learning" at the following site:
http://borg.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVME/V21-1/Seeler1.html
This is really excellent in terms of ideas on how to create a learning
environment which increases students' involvement in, and responsibility
for, the learning process. According to the authors, "The challenge is
to make changes in the delivery of the lecture in order to improve its
effectiveness as a learning environment for students. The lecturer's task
is to teach students how to use concepts and principles and how to think,
not to present abstracts of textbooks or other readily available sources of
information." Although this article was written for instructors in schools
of veterinary medicine, the ideas are applicable to any instructional
setting.
CTA Workshops - **New** Workshops Available in 1999!
March '99 CTA "Update" Workshop:
Please note that Continuing Education/Instructional Services is
planning a CTA "Update" Workshop March 17-18,1999 from
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m for CTA graduates Spring 1997 through
Fall 1998. The focus of this computer-based, hands-on
workshop is to provide faculty participants with a working
understanding of the CourseInfo (aka Interactive Learning Network)
product which allows web-based courses to be developed on a
streamlined schedule. This two-day workshop will conclude with a
***special*** two-hour session on ISU's Intellectual Property Policy.
If you are interested in attending, please call Mary Luz Petrowski at
ext 8639 to reserve a spot.
The last CTA "Update" Workshop was held January 6-7, 1999. Feedback
from workshop participants indicates that many are pleased with the
upgrades to CourseInfo, and find this type of hands-on workshop
makes them feel more comfortable using the software. All seemed to enjoy
the food provided!
ISU faculty members who attended this update workshop include:
- College of Arts and Sciences: Edmund Grosskopf, Elaine Kleiner,
Dan Millar
- School of Business: Mary Ann Boose, Belva Cooley, Steve Lamb,
Connie McLaren, Sandra Nelson, Dale Varble
- School of Education: Karen Liu, Miller Maurey
- School of Health & Human Performance: Stan Henderson, Tom Sawyer
- School of Nursing: Esther Acree, Mary Bennett, Julie Fine,
Nancy Haggerty, Kathy Pickrell, Ann Tomey,
- School of Technology: Robert English, Larry Heath, Dave Malooley,
Gordon Minty, Hal Shoemaker, Bruce Welsh
- The Terre Haute Center for Medical Education: Mary Fox
CTA for Your Colleagues
Are any of your faculty colleagues planning to develop web-based
courses and looking for help getting started? Two *new* Course
Transformation Academy opportunities are planned for the 1998-99
academic year. The first is an asynchronous CTA which will be
offered during Spring Semester 1999. The second workshop,
scheduled for May 17-21, 1999, is a one-week, intensive CTA modeled
after last summer's well-received intensive version. Those interested
should call Mary Luz Petrowski at x8639 to register, or direct
questions to Nancy Franklin at x8452.
Thought for February:
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we
used when we created them.
Albert Einstein
Interaction is an electronic newsletter delivered on the first day of
the month via electronic mail. Each issue offers information on
teaching, learning, course design and educational technologies, and
events pertaining to distance education at Indiana State University.
We invite your comments, articles, and suggestions. Please contact
Interaction at interact@web.indstate.edu
Interaction is published by the Office of Continuing
Education/Instructional Services.
