Sharpen the Focus - Spring 2007
The Illinois Virtual Campus (IVC) provides an additional enrollment reporting procedure to help institutions better understand the trends of distance education. This procedure involves phone interviews with administrators from select colleges and universities who can provide a “snapshot” of distance education enrollments at their institution. This term, interviews were conducted with Annette Haggray – College of DuPage, Steve Garren – Lake Land College, Tracy Louis – Southwestern Illinois College, and Susan Edgren – Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The interview consisted of five questions. The questions and individual responses are listed below.
Why were your distance education programs created? Student demand? Institutional initiative?
College of DuPage (COD) – Distance education began at College of DuPage in the 1970's with flexible learning courses and has evolved to include a comprehensive array of learning opportunities for students. Student demand for flexible learning opportunities has remained strong. Increasingly, feedback from our students indicates that those who have work commitments and family demands find the option of learning at a distance best meets their unique needs. In addition, many students who are successful as independent learners indicate they prefer to learn in a distance format. The advent of online and other technology-based instructional systems has provided significant opportunities to expand distance education to meet the needs of a broader community of learners - learners who are technologically adaptive and who seek more flexibility in choice of learning modalities. Distance learning options at College of DuPage include online, telecourse, broadcast, cable TV, and hybrid courses. Faculty provides guided instruction in each format.
Lake Land College (Lake Land) – The distance education programs at Lake Land were created to give students an alternate delivery style as well as an alternative to coming to campus for courses. This has proven to be a big money saver for students with gas prices today.
Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) – In Fall 1986, Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) initiated a “new” concept in instruction in an attempt to reach students within the college’s diverse 2,100 square mile district. The concept involved bundled course materials and non-classroom instruction which allowed students convenience and flexibility in their education. Some innovative instructors developed three telecourses which generated an enrollment of 286 students in the first semester they were offered. From that point forward, student demand drove the program to become one of the largest in the state.
The telecourse program laid a strong foundation for distance education at SWIC. A combination of institutional initiative and growing awareness of student need in distance education led to the development of Interactive Video instruction at SWIC. In 2005, the college transitioned to an IP based video conferencing system in an effort to serve students with newer technologies.
Online instruction is the newest delivery mode in distance learning at Southwestern Illinois College. Instructor initiative was the driving force behind our early online courses. In Spring 1999, SWIC offered 4 online courses. In Spring 2007, we offered 87 online courses.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) – Our Office of Distance Education was created in 2000 as an institutional initiative. We began offering online semester-based classes at this time. We have also made an effort to convert our print-based independent study courses to web-based versions. Our Individualized Learning Program has been in existence since 1981.
Will your institution be offering any new completely online programs in the next academic year ? If so, in what area(s)?
COD – College of DuPage currently offers the Associate in Arts and Associate in General Studies degrees fully online. Several certificates are currently available online including: Management, Supervision, Marketing, Consumer Marketing, Office Technology Information Essentials, and Word Specialist. New online certificate programs in 2007 will include Administrative Assistant and Executive Assistant.
Lake Land – We will not be offering any new completely online degree programs within the next academic year. However, we offer approximately 15 newly developed courses each year.
SWIC – SWIC continues to develop and grow its distance learning program. Online instruction has experienced the greatest growth of its three distance learning formats (telecourse, online and video conferencing). In addition, Web-enhanced instruction has experienced tremendous growth in the traditional classroom setting at SWIC. Today, 356 traditional courses are enhanced with WebCT supplemented instruction. As society has evolved, SWIC instructors and students have tended to gravitate to technology enhanced instruction whether it’s online or Web supplemented. Currently, SWIC is a few courses shy of offering a complete online degree. However, new courses are being developed each semester to continue to better serve students.
SIUC – Some programs are currently under discussion. However, the plans are not finalized.
What is the process at your institution for creating new online courses ? Do your instructors need approval in advance? Is there a staff to help them with the technology and the pedagogy of online learning?
COD – New online courses are developed at College of DuPage primarily through an annual Request for Proposals process. Proposals must be aligned with institutional, division or discipline goals. Faculty may submit a proposal to develop a new online or flexible learning course in fall semester and, if approved, complete course development in the spring semester using reassigned time. Faculty submitting proposals must have the approval of their Dean or Associate Dean and support of the discipline faculty. A unique partnership exists among the Office of Instructional Development, Information Systems and Teaching and Learning Center in support of college-wide course development. The Office of Instructional Development coordinates the course development process and provides instructional design consultation to faculty who are developing new courses or revising existing courses. The area of Information Systems, including an instructional design specialist and programmers, support faculty in online course development. The Coordinator of Faculty Development arranges ongoing faculty development opportunities through the Teaching and Learning Center.
Lake Land – There is a step-by-step process for course approval. First the instructor gets approval from the division chair of his/her department, then the Director of Learning Technologies checks to see that the course meets the requirements set and the instructor has the technological ability to teach online. After these steps are complete, approval must be granted by the Associate Vice President of Educational Service and the Vice President of Academic Services.
Our instructors have access to our Center for Technology and Professional Development which offer courses on the use of the learning management system, pedagogy of online learning and training on media for distance education such as Camtasia, Elluminate, and Respondus.
SWIC – Instructors who are interested in teaching an online course simply coordinate with their department chair/dean.
Our college has an excellent instructional design team to help faculty get their online courses up and running. They support faculty in the design, development and implementation of the course materials. Professional development workshops are provided for faculty in addition to customized, individual training.
SIUC – To create a new online course the first step is to obtain departmental approval. The instructors do need approval in advance. Staff is available through the Instructional Support Service at the Library as well as an instructional designer in the Office of Distance Education. They assist faculty with pedagogy, instructional design and technology.
Describe your typical distance education student. Is your typical distance education student taking courses as part of a completely distance education degree, or is he/she taking individual courses?
COD – The majority of enrolled distance learners at College of DuPage are between the ages of 18 and 24 and are primarily female. Online courses, telecourses, and print-based flexible learning courses are the most heavily enrolled formats. Many students complete individual courses leading to degree or certificate completion. Nearly 70% of online students surveyed in Spring 2007 indicated that the primary reason they took an online course was because the flexibility of the online course allows them to choose the time and place to participate in the course. Fewer than 10% indicated that they enrolled in an online course because the classroom version was closed or scheduled at an inconvenient time. We interpret these findings to mean that students are enrolling in online courses based on their preferences and needs.
Lake Land – The average age of our distance education student is between 18 and 40. Most of the students are females who live in district and are part-time students. Our students are taking individual online courses working toward a degree or certificate. Their degree or certificate may or may not be an online program.
SWIC – The profile of our typical distance education student is:
- Female
- Single
- Mostly in her twenties and then thirties
- Mostly in-district
- Returning student
- Works full time (the next largest group works part-time of 15 hours or more)
- Students are usually preparing to transfer classes to a 4-year college or university (the next largest group is preparing for a future job after attending SWIC)
- Students are taking individual online classes only because we do not yet offer a fully online degree.
SIUC – I would say we have a broad spectrum of students. We have an online sequence of 5 courses in Behavioral Analysis Therapy that leads to certification. These are older, professionals. Our other students range between18-60.
What is the most important trend in distance education at your institution?
COD – An important trend in distance education is the continued growth in online course enrollment, including general education and career areas. Also, the age demographic indicates an increasing number of traditional age students are enrolling in online courses.
Lake Land – The most important relational data we are seeing involves the retention rates for online students. Lake Land College has been consistent in retaining online students averaging around seventy-seven percent. We will be looking at ways to increase the retention rates of students taking online courses. One way we are looking to increase the retention rate is by creating a peer mentoring program for online students. The mentors would be students who have taken the course online in the past and been successful. The mentors would help students in the course succeed in the online environment by helping them through the mechanics of the learning management system, modeling effective behavior, appropriately communicating with the instructor and fellow students, and offering advice about the course in general. This program has been successful at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
SWIC – Online courses, combined with Web supplemented traditional instruction, are paving the way for hybrid instruction which also appears to be a growing interest at SWIC. Most recently, the use of iPods and podcasting in online instruction is being explored. A pilot group, known as the “iPod Innovators” was created in Spring 2007. The purpose of developing the pilot was to promote discussion, collaboration, and exploration among leaders in instruction, technology, and distance learning in the use of iPods and Podcasting in education at Southwestern Illinois College.
SIUC – There is a trend toward offering more certification and degree programs rather than individual courses.
