DeTurk - eLearning

Notes from eLearning Visioning Session
10 January 2005

Participants: Sabrina DeTurk, Jo Anne Snarponis, Jeff Leisse, Ed Nickerson, Anna Allen, Kristin Wentzel, Patti Zuzelo, Janice Beitz, Liz Heenan, Dave Thomas, Peg McManus, Kevin Riley, Juliet Fink, Jim Sell, Jim Smither, Donna Wake

Notes from small group brainstorming around goals & actions in four areas

Faculty / Faculty Development

Goal: Enhance faculty’s experience in use of e-tools for teaching and learning. Actions: Expose faculty to facets of eLearning. Assess faculty level and needs. Share teaching components. Recognize faculty development.
Mini-conference/faculty sharing
Teaching and Learning Center integrating with WebCT
Library resources: copyright, fair use, TEACH act, plagiarism
Understanding portal and WebCT linkages and overlaps
Upgrades: consequences for faculty and students
Modeling online tools by learning about them online
Personal Web site v. WebCT issues
Best practices for multimedia
Currently responsibility is on faculty for course/technology development – need to provide more staffing to assist with this
Focus efforts on adjuncts and new faculty – create an orientation CD with information and resources – give something to show completed
Communicate and enforce policy that faculty and students have to use La Salle email
Paradigm shift in faculty development – from “how to” to “how come”

Practical Issues / Resources

Goal: Have balanced resources (e.g., technology is not the only resource needed for success in teaching and learning).
Consider capping WebCT use for next year
Consider capping space available for use in WebCT (per course)
Investigate portal & email as viable tools instead of WebCT
Support systems need to be consistent and communicated
Identify/improve/communicate what services and functions are available to faculty and students online

Student Learning

Goal: Actively involve students in the development of their learning experience. Action: Real time assessment of their experience.
Goal: Expand student body. Action: Offer fully online courses.
No formal process (currently) to evaluate technology in course evaluations – change?
Students need to understand faculty expectations for use of WebCT tools
Fix or work-around compatibility issues for students accessing our resources at work/office
Do more with online testing/assessment
Students need to be educated about how academic technology use differs from general tech use (e.g., professor may not answer email in five minutes – not like IM)
Need to accept that younger students assimilate technology more quickly than many faculty and capitalize on this
Need to communicate our expectations about technology use to students
Students need orientation to technology tools, too (as well as faculty)
Should we include technology in course evaluations?
Can we do some initial outcomes studies between hybrid and non-WebCT courses?

Technology (Hardware/Software) & Support

Goal: Enhance student and faculty resources. Actions: Consider e-books. Consider laptops, wireless, smart classrooms.
Need plans for laptops, wireless
Need integrated strategic planning – admin/IT/implementation

Additional Ideas

“The Big Question” – To what extent will the new La Salle “college experience” be eLearning based? How do we determine this? How do we assess?