Theme: Growth
Contents:
- Me, Instructional Design, and the T-Shaped Man - Sharon Guan
- New Site: ISU Student Services via the Web - Linda Ferguson
- Are Ebooks in Your Future? - Judy Tribble
- Check Your Computer for Year 2000 Compliance - Kathy Butkiewicz
- New ISU Distance Education Opportunities at ISU
- Sneak Preview: New ISU On-Line Courses and Media Projects
- DegreeLink: An Update
- Thought for July
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.
Me, Instructional Design, and the T-Shaped Man
by Sharon Guan
At the 1998 National Convention of the Association for Educational
Communications and Technology (AECT), Lloyed Rieber, the Peter
Dean Lecturer for the Division of Learning and Performance, gave a
presentation entitled, "The Proper Way to Become an Instructional
Technologist." When I read the lecture on the Web
(http://itech1.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper24/paper24.html),
I was completely plunged into his story of how he got into the field of
instructional technology -- a field 'that was unknown by many people until
they were already a practicing member of it.'
Recently, when I started telling people about my new position in
instructional design, I saw the puzzlement in their eyes --puzzlement that I
had never seen when I talked about my old position of Computer Graphic
Designer. (Oh, you are a computer person!) So I found myself facing the
task of explaining to people what the nature of instructional design is and
why I like it. The thought of answering such questions brought me back to
Lloyed Rieber's story in which he wrote "I found myself thrust into a
position where technology, education, and different cultures were
rapidly mixing...in a lot of ways, this was a perfect position for a person
like me." Should I need to reply to Lloyed Reiber, my answer will be
'me too.'
Six years ago, when I transferred from the Communication Department to the
Curriculum, Instruction and Media Technology Department, I saw this little
poster on the door of a faculty member of the CIMT Department. The poster
said "I teach teachers." I could sense both the pride of this faculty
member and the difficulty of his job. My brother, a very successful
journalist, once told me that the toughest job for a journalist was to
interview another journalist. That tells the challenge of being an
instructional designer whose job is to teach instructors how to
instruct or, to be more specific, how to instruct using the correct
method and the correct media.
However, my year-and-half experience of working with faculty as a computer
graphic designer has made me feel that acquiring the acceptance of
professors, either the ones who have taught me or others, is not such a
hard thing to do. As a matter of fact, the majority of them remind me of the
metaphor of the T-shaped man.
The T-shaped man is the one who has been deeply rooted in his special area
seeking and searching in-depth for every little detail, and who also can
crawl out from his little hole and interface with others of completely
different disciplines and appreciate the effort spent by others in their own
holes.
To me a wholly developed scholar should be and must be a T-shaped man who
dares to go deep at the bottom of his T and extend wide on the upper part of
the T. And then the university will become the land with a series of
broad-topped Ts, or better, a series of broad brimmed screws augured into
it. Each of the Ts will penetrate the surface to a greater or lesser depth,
depending on the length of its stem. In turn, each T will span the surface
to a greater or lesser extent depending on the breadth of its 'cap.' I
believe that a person who has spent quality time in his own hole will, when
he rises to the surface to interact with others, have much greater empathy,
respect, and understanding of the needs, values, and beliefs of those others
who may also have encountered difficulties in their digging.
At this year's AECT conference, Dr. Tom Reeves was teaching a
$150-per-person workshop. Two of his former professors were in the
audience. Dr. Reeves said that he felt like he was back facing his orals
again. But what I saw was two T-shaped professors with profound knowledge
in their discipline paying their respect to their students for the hole he
had dug.
To me, it is a great privilege to be able to work with the T-shapers. They
are the ones who have penetrated deeply into their discipline, while at the
same time have taken time to rise to the surface to broaden themselves with
the knowledge of instructional technology and to accept me with respect for
the hole I am digging.
When I was working with computer graphics, I was nicknamed "the PowerPoint
girl." So let me conclude by presenting to you in a 'PowerPoint way' the
points I borrowed from Lloyed Rieber on the role of instructional designer:
- I help people learn new things
- I try to solve problems in education and training, or find
people who can.
- I use lots of different tools in my job; some are 'things' like computers
and video, others are ideas, like knowing something about how people
learn and the principles of design.
- I know a lot about these tools, but I know I have to use them competently
and creatively for the task at hand before they will work.
- I consider using all of the resources available to me, though sometimes I
have to search for additional resources.
- I believe that 'if you have a chance to make things better and you don't,
you're wasting your time here on earth (Roberto Clemente).'
- I admire life-long learners who believe 'learning is a integrated part of
being.'
- And finally, I am looking forward to working with you. I can be reached by
phone at extension 8718 or email mtrguan@amber.indstate.edu My office is located in Erickson Hall Room 236.
A New Site - ISU Student Services via the Web
by Linda Ferguson
Students can now access general information and some personal
information at the Indiana State University Interactive Services
website (http://interact.indstate.edu).
Public access information (no student ID or PIN required) includes:
- Schedule of classes
- Application for admission
- Office of Student Financial Aid (general information)
- Office of Registration and Records (general information)
- School of Graduate Studies (general information)
Secured information (student ID and PIN** required) includes:
- Personal information: change PIN, view addresses and
phone numbers, and update addresses and phone numbers
- Financial aid information: view financial aid status, award
information, eligibility information, and receive or send messages to
the Office of Student Financial Aid
- Student record information: view grades, academic transcript,
account information, and holds
** The PIN (personal identification number) students use for secured
login is the access PIN (not the advisement PIN) they use to access
the touchtone scheduling system. The PIN is the student's birthdate
in MMDDYY format unless the student has previously changed it. The
first time the PIN is used for secured access to records on the WEB,
the student will be required to change it.
Are Ebooks in Your Future?
by Judy Tribble, Distance Learning Librarian
There have been several announcements and articles in the popular
press and in the library literature over the last few months touting
electronic books, or ebooks. Edward Mendelson wrote, "Electronic
books are too new and too awkward for beach reading, but they portend
the most significant technical change in book publishing since
Gutenberg." (PC MAGAZINE, "Read 'Em and ... Beep," Dec. 1, 1998,
p.36, available on the ComputerSelect Web database at http://odin.indstate.edu)
Several companies have introduced hand-held
devices designed for reading electronic texts. One product,
NuvoMedia's Rocket eBook (tm), originally priced at $499, is already
being sold on the Web for $300.
There are many hurdles which the fledging ebook industry must face
before most readers will purchase a special reader. One of these is
the creation of a critical mass of etexts. One company, netLibrary,
is developing an electronic library of etexts and claims it will have
8,000 titles available online by the end of the year.
Those etexts which are in the public domain are available for
reading free of charge and can be downloaded and read on one's PC
(no special reader required) after downloading free viewing software.
Copyrighted texts can be purchased or borrowed for a specified loan
period for a fee, thus the name netLibrary. netLibrary is "working
with universities and other institutions to develop custom eBook
collections, which they can make available to their patrons...."
(email to the author from netLibrary, 06/02/99) You may wish to visit
netLibrary at http://www.netlibrary.com
The ebook reader and etext initiatives offer great promise for our
students, both those on and off campus. Users can search,
bookmark, and annotate the texts. Imagine carrying just one book
around campus rather than a huge backpack. No more mailing of books
back and forth to off-campus students!
One of the reasons for writing this article is that I am looking for
a handful of volunteer faculty members and on-campus students who
would like to experiment with ebook/etext technology over the course
of the next academic year. I would like to "test drive" one or two
readers and also a few texts from netLibrary. If you are interested,
please contact me at libtrib@cml.indstate.edu or x2592. There is no
charge to participate :)
Check Your Computer for Year 2000 Compliance
by Kathy Butkiewicz
As we approach January 1, 2000 (01/01/00), concern about Year 2000
(often referred to as Y2K) problems is becoming a top priority among
people who depend on computer programs for many of their business
processes and daily activities. Information Technology has placed its
Y2K Preparedness Computer Self-Check on the web at http://web.indstate.edu/acns/user-serv/y2k/
The checklist provides step-by-step instructions for you to test your
computer hardware and software for Y2K compliance and offers options for
bringing them into compliance.
There are 5 steps for you to follow:
Step 1 -- Change date format in Windows regional settings
Step 2 -- Check your computer for Y2K compatibility (using the
Check 2000 tool)
Step 3 -- Check your operating system
Step 4 -- Check your software applications
Step 5 -- Check your data files
This Y2K Checklist will assist ISU Faculty and Staff with the Check 2000
tool which tests your computer BIOS and operating system for compliance
with date formats, millennium date rollover, and leap year detection.
Although many of the recent purchases of hardware and software are
already compliant, it is still necessary for each user to test their
environment to confirm compliance and correct any problems well before
the end of the year.
If your have any questions or concerns, please contact the Information
Technology Help Desk at x2910 or email cchelp@amber.indstate.edu
The Risk Management Department at Indiana State University is
researching the impact that the Year 2000 and beyond will have on our
inventory of installed software and process control systems. Due to the
risk of system failures resulting from the year 2000 date problem, we
need to gain a better understanding of how each department 's electronic
equipment will handle dates in the year 2000 and beyond. We are
attempting to clarify the exposure we face in the area of Process
Control Systems such as Security Systems and embedded micro code in
automated machinery. Any electronic products which you own may have
the potential for Year 2000 problems. To see a list of possible products
with embedded processes, go to the web site: http://web.indstate.edu/adminaff/emblist.htm
New ISU Distance Education Opportunities at ISU
On June 11, 1999, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education
approved for three ISU degree programs for statewide delivery:
* Nursing (M.S.)
* Student Affairs Administration (M.A./M.S.)
* Vocational Trade-Industrial-Technical (a bachelor degree-completion
program to be offered through DegreeLink)
The Commission has agreed to take action, during their August meeting,
on three additional DegreeLink programs: Insurance, Nursing, and
Criminology. These programs are tentatively slated for fall 1999 distance
delivery.
In addition to these newly approved distance education opportunities,
ISU offers the following programs that can be completed entirely via
distance education or with minimal visits to the ISU campus:
Undergraduate Degrees
* Bachelor degree-completion programs (DegreeLink)
* General Aviation Flight Technology (A.S.)
* Human Resource Development (B.S.)
Master's Degrees
* Human Resource Development (M.S.)
* Health and Safety (M.S.) with Specialization in Occupational
Safety Management
Doctoral Degree Programs
* Educational Leadership, Administration and Foundations (Ph.D.)
* Technology Management (Ph.D.)
Endorsements, Certifications, and Licensure Programs
* Driver Education Endorsement
* Basic and advanced certification programs in Corrections,
Private Security, and Law Enforcement
* Educational Administration Licensure
Sneak Preview: New ISU On-Line Courses and Media Projects
Here's a glimpse at ISU faculty who currently are developing online courses
and media projects. If you are working on a course that is not included in
this list, please let us know by contacting Interaction at:
interact@web.indstate.edu
ISU Online Courses Currently in Development
School of Business
* Belva Cooley
SDS 486: Seminar in Decision Sciences
* Sandra Nelson
BUS 220: Dynamics of Professional Success
ASBE 336: Business Report Writing
* Mike Harmon
BUS 310: Legal Environment/Finance
* Jim Buffington/Bob Green
BUS 320: Marketing/Information Systems
* Tammy Davis/Bruce McLaren
BUS 330: Management/Operation
* Connie McLaren
SDS 350: Introduction to Management Science
School of Nursing
* Deb Bartnick
NURS 300: Transition to Professional Nursing Practice
* Mary Bennett
NURS 322: Research/Theoretical Basis for Nursing Practice
* Bonnie Saucier
NURS 400/500: Topics in Nursing
* Suzy Fletcher
NURS 601: Health Care Perspectives
* Esther Acree/Sheila Rangel
NURS 304: Comprehensive Health Assessment of Individuals
NURS 305: Nursing Assessment Across the Lifespan
School of Education
* Jim Jacobs
SPED 602: Behavior Management
* Susan Kiger
CIMT 678: Teachers Workshop
School of Health and Human Performance
* Stan Henderson
HLTH 415A/515A: Driver Education
HLTH 415B/515B: Laboratory Program in Drive and
Traffic Safety Education
College of Arts and Sciences
* Jim Schellenberg
SOC 625: Conflict Resolution: Theory and Research
* Dave Hutchison
MATH 301: Fundamentals and Applications of Calculus
* Paul Hightower
JOU 270: Introduction to Photojournalism
School of Technology
* Ming Zhou
IMT 811: Experiment Design and Process Analysis
Media Projects: As part of the Spring '99 CTA Workshop, we asked
participants to develop a media project. In the June issue of Interaction,
we included information on many of these projects. Here are several more!
* Veda Gregory
Community Health Nursing Bag
School of Nursing
The media project I developed for Spring 1999 CTA consisted of one
part of a three-part video to be used as an instructional tool with
Community Health Nursing students prior to their home visit
practicums. The second part of the video illustrates the contents of
a Community Health Nursing Bag. The nursing bag is a primary tool
utilized by Community Health Nurses in Home Health Care. This part of
the video was completed in collaboration with two Leadership nursing
students. The students assisted with literature review and writing
the script.
The course I plan to develop in the next year is Nursing Care of
Families in the Community for the RN-BSN track. This course will
utilize the Internet and two-way video. The course will be designed
to encourage students to focus on family as the unit of care in the
community. The topics address health promotion and
social/cultural/political influences that affect vulnerable and high
risk populations.
* Glenn Dunlap
Graphic Design 3: The Typographic Grid
Art Department
I decided to explored the feasibility of offering a graphic design course
at long distance. There are several logistical problems with software,
file size and comparability to be resolved. At the current time I'm still
working on the setup of the course and hope to have it ready for a trial
run by my regular class this fall. This has not been a typical drag and drop
type of CTA project. The course assignments that are returned will be in
the form of layouts that must be viewed correctly with photos,
illustrations, type styles and also keep in proper placement when
sent by the net.
DegreeLink: An Update
DegreeLink, ISU's baccalaureate degree-completion program, enables
individuals to transfer their associate degrees or credit earned from
Ivy Tech, Vincennes University, and other institutions to ISU, and complete
a bachelor of science degree on campus or via distance education. Since
implementation in Spring '98, DegreeLink has evolved and grown to offer
unprecedented access to students in approximately 90% of Indiana's
92 counties. Here are the latest facts:
* In FY 98, a total of 56 students were enrolled and completing a
degree through DegreeLink. In FY 99 (which started May 99), we already
have 138 students enrolled (62.7 FTE).
* 17 students are scheduled to graduate in an approved DegreeLink program
(2 in May '99; 5 in Aug '99; 9 in Dec 99; and 1 in May '00)
* Five DegreeLink students qualified for the Spring '99 Dean's List
* Six degree-completion programs are approved for statewide delivery:
electronics technology; business administration; human resource
development; general industrial technology; industrial supervision;
and vocational trade-industrial-technical (area major).
* Three new degree-completion programs are tentatively scheduled
for statewide delivery by fall '99, including: criminology,
insurance, and nursing. Approval for statewide delivery is
anticipated at the August '99 meeting of the Indiana Commission
for Higher Education.
Thought for July:
What is the most rigorous law of our being? Growth.
No smallest atom of our moral, mental, or
physical structure can stand still a year.
It grows -- it must grow; nothing can prevent it.
-- Mark Twain
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.
