Desire2Blog

Part one examined the confusion about what is and what isn't a traditional classroom course. Part two will take a look at what is a hybrid or blended course. Part three (coming soon) will look at the new ideas about what is an online course. Within MnSCU, media code 09 has been used for many years to represent those courses that fall into the following description: 1. Course blends online and face-to-face delivery. 2. Some of the content is delivered online. 3. More than two class sessions face-to-face. 4. Reduced classroom seat time. 5. Also know as "web-enhanced." One reason for differentiating between an online course and a blended course is the special $5 per credit Minnesota Online fee. If a course is coded as an online course it will include a $5 per credit surcharge that is used to partially fund the budget for Minnesota Online. This budget is used to pay for the IMS (D2L) licensing and support costs, a state-wide D2L help desk (which we don't use at my school...

Apparently we've had a communication problem within Minnesota Online . We're a couple 13, 14 years (copyright the Common Man, Dan Cole) into this thing called online learning, and now we are being told that we need to be much more specific about what we mean when we say that we are offering online courses, and also hybrid and traditional face-to-face courses for that matter as well. The big question right now appears to be: "Just what exactly is an online course?" Along with that question, you also get to decide what is an on-ground class and what is a hybrid/blended course. Let the fun begin. This will be the first post of 2 or 3 in which I will try to explain my position regarding the proposed changes to the ways that we define the delivery method of various types of courses. In MnSCU, we attach something known as a media code to every class that is entered into the student records/registration system. I have previously posted about some of the confusion that surr...

News broke on Tuesday afternoon (12/15) that Desire2Learn and Blackbored (Blackborg, Blackbeard, BlackAngel, Dr. Evil, etc. - a.k.a. Blackboard) have reached an agreement to end their 3+ year patent dispute. Very little info has been released about the deal that was reached, and it appears as if there won't be a great deal of additional info coming any time soon. The whole "we're ready to move on" thing doesn't strike me quite right. These are the top 5 questions (or so) that I have (for today, anyway). Doesn't this move by D2L signal the possibility that there is some validity in Blackboard's lousy "Alcorn" patent? By walking away from this fight aren't we currently left with a patent that is no longer being vigorously challenged? I assume that the USPTO re-examination will proceed with or without this settlement, but they move as slow as molasses and you never know what their final ruling might be. At the current time, doesn't Blackbo...

Don't let all the news about budget cuts and layoffs scare you away. Here at Lake Superior College we are hiring adjunct faculty for as much as $545,000 annually. Here's the catch. You won't earn all that because it is only a part-time job (so you might earn 1/2 of the $545K if you teach half-time) and it clearly states that there are no benefits included with this position. (Click to view enlarged photo) A hat tip to @bergjj for the heads up on this one.

During a recent 2-day eLearning Quality Workshop in North Dakota we again had a brief discussion about student evaluations for online courses. Part of the discussion centered on the overall validity of student responses on course evals and part of it centered on the evaluation surveys themselves; particularly how long should they be and how can you get good response rates on a voluntary submission basis. (Flickr CC photo by kodomut ) A few years ago we (Lake Superior College) redesigned our end-of-course survey rather dramatically, from 32 questions to 10. We were hoping that the response rate would go up significantly if the students could see at a glance that the survey would only take a couple of minutes to complete. The response rate did go up, but only by a few percentage points and it still is less than 20% overall for all online courses combined. Near the end of each term, we set up separate course shells within D2L for each online course and then enroll all the students but no...

This new video (Oct. 23, '09) about net neutrality is very well done. Progress appears to have been made to convince the U.S. Congress to NOT screw up our (short, but important) tradition of network neutrality. If you are not yet familiar with this issue, this video would be a good starting place. Just a few other quotes about the importance of net neutrality: "Net neutrality is fundamentally important to allowing universities fulfill their educational mission." ( Educause ) "A simple principle that means internet providers, such as cable and phone companies, should not block or discriminate against legal content on the web." ( CommonDreams.org ) "the fundamental concern is that the provider of broadband service not be able to take advantage of that to act in an anticompetitive fashion against others that are trying to provide competitive applications using the same broadband facilities." ( Google's Vint Cerf ) All is not perfectly rosy just yet....

Yesterday I served as moderator for two hours for an online discussion forum about President Obama’s American Graduation Initiative The "Jam" was organized by the Knowledge in the Public Interest , the Brookings Institution , the Education Commission of the States , and Jobs for the Future . Community college educators from all around the country joined in the conversation. My topic was one of six different discussions and was titled "Accessing Online Education: Funding to Create Free, Web-based Courses." Plan is for $500 Million ($50M each year for 10 years) H.R. Bill 3221 should be voted on this week. Senate bill in earlier stages. UPDATE: 3221 passed right before I posted this . Senate bill still coming.) Here's the text from Obama’s speech in July about the proposal to “…build a new virtual infrastructure to complement the education and training community colleges can offer. So we're going to support the creation of a new online, open-source clearinghou...

Looking for your thoughts about the $500 Million ($50M per year for 10 years) that President Obama announced for the "creation of a new online open-source clearing house of courses" during his appearance at Macomb Community College on July 14, 2009. The relevant part of his speech is snipped and shown below. There seem to be very few details about this project at this time. It seems like a reasonable strategy for experienced distance educators to try to provide some guidance for how this initiative is developed. Please share your thoughts about how this should be crafted.

Inside Higher Ed's BlogU recently posted the following article: 5 Reasons Microsoft Will Buy Blackboard . While reading the story I couldn't help but think how different the article might have been if I'd written it. A little something like this ... The top 5 reasons why we WON'T see Microsoft buying Blackboard by the end of 2010: 1. Because they suck! (they = Bb of course) 2. Because Microsoft is trying harder not to suck so much. 3. Because buying Blackboard would only prove that Microsoft is more evil rather than less. 4. Because most of the people in the education space (including lots of Blackboard users) think that Blackborg is a terrible partner for education. Not exactly the best way for Microsoft to become more relevant in the education sector. 5. Because they suck! Please let me know if I've missed anything.

In previous posts, I highlighted part A and part B of the information from St. Petersburg College about their expectations of and for online students . Today I'll take a look at their part C - Academic Civility and Freedom of Expression. This is what St. Pete has to say about this: Expectations: Students may expect that: They will be able to pursue their studies in a stimulating, open environment where the pursuit of truth, free expression of ideas, responsible criticism, and reasonable dissent are recognized as basic to the educational process. Students have the right to exercise their academic freedom within the responsible confines of the course material. A process exists for students to express and document concerns they may have about specific action, inaction or behavior by any member of the College faculty or staff. Responsibilities: Students have the responsibility to: Act in accordance with standards of reasonable behavior, respect and civility. This standard w...

In a previous post I highlighted part A of the information from St. Petersburg College about their expectations of and for online students . Today I'll take a look at their part B. Part C is coming soon. From SPC: Part B. Academic Honesty and Integrity Expectations. Students may expect to: Pursue academic studies in a positive and ethical context, where academic standards are upheld. Have their academic work assessed fully and equitably in a learning community where competition is fair, integrity is required, and cheating is punished. Understand and agree with recognizable standards on plagiarism . Have access to a stated procedure for filing academic grievances and appeals. (See Board of Trustees rule 6Hx23-4.36.) Responsibilities. Students are expected to: Be honest and forthright in their academic endeavors. Familiarize themselves with the College's academic honesty policy and standards as specified in the online Academic Honesty Policy , Board of Trustees rule 6Hx23-4.46...

Continuing from the previous guest post by Jeannette Campos , here are five more suggestions that she gives for shaping expectations about online learning. 6. Make No Assumptions: Establish a baseline of what your faculty do, and do not, know about instructional design. Faculty need to understand the relationship between instructional objectives, instructional strategies, instructional tools and evaluation methods. Be prepared to do a lot of intensive coaching around how to design and develop online, prior to how we deliver online. Take time for the basics. The learning will be so much more solid if it is supported by good ISD. 7. Professional Development: Schedule weekly learning lunches and support them with an online resource center for faculty. In my experience, this predictable and consistent support really made a difference. I also had great success facilitating a week long intensive seminar for all faculty developing online courses for the first time. Prior to that workshop...

One of the better resources that I have discovered about identifying and communicating a college's expectations about online learning comes from a place where I have lots of friends. St. Petersburg College in Florida is rightfully considered to be a leader in the field of online teaching and learning. They have a very large online enrollment, a skilled support staff and administration, an engaged online faculty group, and plenty of awards to prove it. This is the first installment where I take a look at their list of expectations and opine about how a similar list might look when we are finished (if it's ever really "finished") with this project at Lake Superior College. From St. Petersburg College : ----------------- Part I. Guidelines/Expectations for Students A. Academic Participation Expectations. Students may expect: The opportunity to be active participants in a stimulating and challenging education that is international in scope, interactive in process and dive...

As mentioned in the previous post , we will be formalizing a list of expectations regarding online learning at Lake Superior College. I also mentioned a guest blogger who gave me lots of useful input about this project based upon her experiences in online learning. Jeannette Campos is the guest blogger. Jeannette teaches instructional systems development in the graduate program at UMBC , at The National Labor College and to agencies within the Department of Defense . She hosts a blog, From the Fox Hole , and she owns and operates a business with her husband, Carlos, called Fox Trot 6 (FT6). FT6 is a service-disabled veteran owned small business specializing in the design of learning solutions for non-profit, higher education, commercial and government agencies. FT6 specializes in instructional systems design, training and development, instructional technology and workplace learning. Jeannette and I became connected through Twitter . In this first guest post she draws on her e...