Desire2Blog

D2L is no longer a startup

2012-01-19T09:02:00.006-06:00

This post is probably not very important (are they ever?). But I felt compelled to point out a few facts about Desire2Learn. This compelsion (that's a Barney Fife word) was fueled by recent news articles about D2L, like this one:

The Globe and Mail published this article about a new COO at D2L. Notice in the headline that they call D2L a "startup."

I'm not sure why they choose to use that term. How long exactly is a company called a startup?

D2L was founded in 1999. I guess that means that they'll be celebrating 13 years in business sometime this year.
They currently have more than 600 clients and six million users.
There are nearly 400 D2L employees located around the globe.

I have personally been a part of the D2L user community for over 8 years. Doesn't feel like a startup to me.

Another Switch from Blackboard to Desire2Learn

2011-10-20T10:42:00.006-05:00

As many of you know, I am always interested in the comings and goings of the LMS wars. Who's leaving Blackboard and what are they going to? I rarely have to ask the opposite question - who's migrating to Blackboard from a non-Blackboard platform - because it almost NEVER happens.

The latest one to catch my eye was the University of Surrey in the UK. Here's their press release about choosing D2L. Nowhere in the release do they mention what platform they've been on - but it doesn't take much effort to find this on their current website:

So, yes, this is another school switching from Blackbeard to Desire2Learn.

I find portions of their press release to be revealing about their previous experience with BlackCT Vista.

"A new hi-tech system is being introduced at the University of Surrey to enable students to learn on computers and mobile devices via a more personalised platform."

"The new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), replacing and vastly improving the current system with the latest technology, will mean thousands of students can learn through a flexible and innovative computer system that provides them with more choice."

"It’s called the ‘Desire2Learn® Learning Environment’ and is a result of a six year partnership between the University and the information technology firm Desire2Learn UK Ltd., a member of the Desire2Learn family of companies. It will be set up from this month (October 2011) and is due to go-live in August 2012 for the 2012/2013 academic year."

Laura Gibbs: Fall Startup News for Faculty Using D2L

2011-08-03T09:33:00.007-05:00

Someone I connect with online and consider to be an essential player in my personal learning network is Laura Gibbs, faculty at the University of Oklahoma. Laura and I are mainly connected through Google Plus as well as a Yammer network. Both of those are fairly new additions to the various learning networks that I attempt to engage in. Laura teaches completely online and is one of the least satisfied D2L users that I know.

Most of Laura's issues with the D2L Learning environment appear to me to be things that would also be an issue (IMO) with almost all LMS platforms; primarily related to the closed nature of traditional LMS and lack of true Web 2.0-ish tools. From my reading of her posts, she is also dissatisfied with the lack of a vibrant community of D2L users for sharing and learning.

Laura has been engaged in the past few days in making her courses ready for the start of the new semester. I asked her permission to cross-post some of her G+ posts here in an effort to reach a different audience. she agreed, so here they are. (Laura's words will be bulleted.)

Here's an example of her unhappiness. After I posted a link on G+ to my recent blog post about the D2L Student Success System, Laura replied with this:

"why do I learn about this from you and not from D2L? Why is there STILL no viable D2L online community for sharing ideas and strategies? And by viable community, I mean a community with discussions, notifications, sharing of files and media, etc.... gosh, kind of like Google+...!"

Laura definitely gives credit when credit is due. In this recent post, she shares the following:

Well, I have to say KUDOS to the guys at Desire2Learn... normally I budget appx. 8 hours per course to adjust all my course object dates every semester (ugh, it is the task I dread the most of getting ready for school), since in the past I have had to do that manually... but this semester, thanks to the magic power of OFFSET DATE I was able to reduce that 8 hour task to about 45 minutes!!!
For those of you at the University of Oklahoma, in case you want to take advantage of this EXCELLENT new feature at Desire2Learn:
For Weeks 1-7 of the Fall semester we are 217 days ahead of Spring 2011.
For Week 8 - use caution! That was Spring Break of Spring 2011.
For Weeks 9-12 of the Fall semester we are 210 days ahead of Spring 2011.
For Week 13 - use caution! That is when Thanksgiving falls in Fall 2011.
For Weeks 14-15 of the Fall semester we are 217 days ahead of Spring 2011.
I was able to automatically offset my dates for 13 weeks of the semester, leaving me just two weeks (Week 8 and Week 13), where I had to fiddle a little bit, using a mixture of automated and manual date changes.
THANK YOU, Desire2Learn! I have been waiting for this literally for years, and it will save me a solid two days of course preparation time that I can devote to something far more worthwhile than manually adjusting dates in the system. I am VERY grateful.
You will find this genius new feature in the Edit Course - Manage Dates menu, as shown in the screenshot below.

In another post she also highlights another new addition to the D2L LE, rearranging gradebook items:

Another nice new feature at Desire2Learn - it used to be that while the Gradebook items could be rearranged with numbers, for the Quizzes you had to bang a little arrow over and over again to move something. I've had to bang that little arrow as many as 100 times or more to move something up or down!
I would pick a favorite song and listen to it, banging in time with the music to make it (somewhat) less tedious. Now they have changed that to a numbered system.
Okay, that's good! But here's a question: in the Gradebook view, I get to have things nested: items appear in categories so I can rearrange items AND I can rearrange categories. Why doesn't it work the same way in the Quiz area? That would be even better - in addition to being a more consistent interface.

One more from Laura. I'm not sure if this issue is related to settings in place just at OU, or if everyone will have similar issues, regardless of settings. I'll update this post if I get clarification on this:

Okay, I have had two good Desire2Learn experiences (see previous posts about offset dates and homepage widgets) as I get ready for Fall, and now one seriously BAD thing... I just found out that the "notifications" feature that is new in D2L for us this Fall is GLOBAL - there can only be one notification standard for all students for all courses at our entire university.
Eegad: students cannot choose to have the notifications visible or not, and even instructors cannot choose for their own courses. That really sucks for me.
When a student logs on at D2L, for my course they will see the notification below: almost 200 unattempted quizzes. Well, that is true, but it is totally irrelevant and misleading information: my courses are set up so that students CHOOSE from a huge range of options for what they will do the complete the course.
Nobody is expected to take all 200 quizzes (which are not even quizzes, for that matter - they are "work declarations" for the most part) - so even as students get near the end of the course, they will still see this message about all the unattempted quizzes, giving them a totally wrong and discouraging message - because those quizzes are not really quizzes, and the students are not supposed to be attempting them all anyway.
This really bugs me: it is just CARELESS DISREGARD for users on the part of D2L that they did not set this up so that students or, at least, instructors, could enable or disable that notification.
Just when I start thinking D2L might have learned something from the customizability that is a hallmark of web2.0, I discover something like this. Ugh. My students are going to see a wrong and misleading "notification" every single time they log into my class... and there is not a darn thing I can do about it.

So there you have it. If you want to learn more from Laura, you can add her to one of your circles in Google Plus.

The FUSION Buzz - All About Analytics

2011-07-28T10:54:00.006-05:00

While "attending" the D2L Users Conference, FUSION, in Denver this month, there was no other topic mentioned as much as the Action Analytics project that is currently under development. During the Product Launch presentation, John Baker and Jeremy Auger brought Brian C up on the stage to run through a little demo.

I was expecting to see the continued build out of a project that was started at MnSCU a couple of years ago, and that's exactly what I saw. I had the pleasure of working on this project with Al Essa and a few other folks while both Al and I were employed within MnSCU. Several things have changed since then: Al now works for D2L, I now work for nobody, and MnSCU killed the development project of what was easily the most innovative thing that has been done there in many years.

What we called Action Analytics at MnSCU, is called the Student Success System at D2L. However, before I go on, let me make it clear that although there are many similarities between the two projects, the D2L project did not continue the work started at MnSCU; they created a similar, but different, analytics prototype.

The demo was shown on a touch-screen (probably an iPad) tablet. The visuals begin below with what you might think of as a "seating chart" for an online classroom. For each student you get a visual reference to the progress that they are making in the class - currently shown as the small icon in the lower right corner of each student photo. Of course, the visuals will likely continue to evolve as the projects proceeds.

To learn more about a particular student, you will simply click (or touch) the photo to drill down to more information. Or, as the photo below illustrates, you can filter the class enrollees to see which of them are at-risk, or doing great, or whatever.

In this case, Bobby D isn't doing very well in the class. The next view will provide information about the how well prepared the student is for college-level work, how well prepared he is for this particular class, and similar things such as how much the student has engaged with various course tools or other requirements.

The tool will also be used (if desired) to help predict the likelihood of student success based on comparisons with other students in the class or with previous students in similar sections. Much of this predictive use of the data is still being researched (generally speaking, by everyone doing this type of analytics work) and the final functionality or utility of these predictions is not certain.

Once a student has been identified as being at-risk of non-completion, failure, or other negative consequences; various possible remedies/interventions/reactions are possible that can be initiated by the instructor or advisor, or whoever else is using such a tool.

There are still many things to be worked out before this SSS is ready for prime time, but the D2L team appears to be making tremendous progress down this road.

Now would be a very good time for colleges and universities to start thinking about what policies and procedures they need to put in place in order to effectively use this type of tool. Who will have access to it, what actions can they initiate with or without approval of someone else, should students be allowed to opt-out of such a system - and about a hundred other questions that will come up. I know someone who could help with that project.

I am proud of the work that we did at MnSCU on a similar project, and I am excited to see the prime-time version of this tool when D2L is ready to release it. Different timelines for release have been bandied about, anywhere from 3 -12 months (Oct. 2011 to July 2012).

I've looked at several other data analytics projects that use data from an LMS. In my opinion, this is by far the best I've seen. Yep, by far.

Blackboard Client Exodus

2011-07-18T07:54:00.002-05:00

Last week I sort of attended the D2L Users Conference (D2L11), also called FUSION, in Denver, Colorado. I love Denver and the surrounding area, but since I grew up in Cheyenne I've never been too impressed by the whole "Mile High City" stuff. Cheyenne is over 6000 feet in elevation, which I believe is higher than one measly mile.

I was a presenter at the Unconference (emceed by Kyle Mackie) that preceded the main conference, and I closed the evening with a little ditty titled "If I had a Beer..." This unconventional presentation was half-serious and half not-so-much. The basic premise was that a nickle is not really worth very much, so the whole "If I had a nickle for every time I've heard that" thing just doesn't seem to add up for me. However, if I had a beer for each of those times - then I'd really have something of value.

For example - the bit started with the following.

If I had a beer...
for every stinking time I've
clicked a link on the INTERNET
only to find that it was a link to a WORD document,
then I'd have a whole boatload of beers.

That was followed by a short rant about how stupid it is to put non-web documents on the WORLD WIDE WEB when it's just as easy and much better to put up a web-friendly document instead. There were about 10 of these little snippets of things that either make me crazy or make me go "huh?"

The final little snippet of the evening was a little shot at Blackboard, the recently acquired former-juggernaut in higher education. It went a little something like this, although there were graphics included: (BTW, these were not intended to rhyme, nor did they do so)

If I had a beer...
for each of the Blackboard clients,
that is currently looking elsewhere,
then I'd never go thirsty
with at least 300 beers in my fridge.

Later that evening, someone highly placed in the LMS industry told me that my number seemed a bit too low. Their research has indicated as many as 700 Bb clients are currently considering a switch to a different LMS.

Seems to me that 300 is a really big number when it comes to potentially lost clients. Clearly 700 is an incredible number. It's also true that Blackbeard won't lose all of the captives (err, clients) - but it begs the question of what percentage of these clients are they likely to lose? If the past few years are any indication, my guess is that they will lose over 50% of the customers who evaluate BlackAngel's offerings in comparison to the competition.

The pic shown below is a view of part of the enthralled audience at the Unconference.

Is Blackbeard Sinking?

2011-05-23T07:23:00.001-05:00

The current (5/18/2011) Wikipedia entry for Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach) is most excellent. It states:

"A shrewd and calculating leader, (Blackbeard) Teach avoided the use of force, relying instead on his fearsome image to elicit the response he desired from those he robbed. Contrary to the modern-day picture of the traditional tyrannical pirate, he commanded his vessels with the permission of their crews and there are no known accounts of his ever having harmed or murdered those he held captive."

With just a few slips of the fingers on the keyboard, it could easily be:

"A shrewd and calculating vendor, (Blackboard) Learn avoided the use of force, relying instead on its fearsome image to elicit the response they desired from those they robbed. Contrary to the modern-day picture of the traditional tyrannical pirate, they commanded their clients with the permission of their crews and there are no known accounts of ever having harmed or murdered those they held captive."

The funny part is that their captives keep escaping from the Blackboard stockade. Even though they're locked in for a while, sooner or later there is a small hole in the wall where the captives can get a glimpse of freedom - and then the vast majority of them flee as if their lives depended upon it. At least that's the way it appears to me.

Of course I can't prove anything (and chances are, neither can they), but I'm of the opinion that the recent Blackboard "news" about potential suitors interested in buying them out is nothing more than a fabrication. It certainly was a profitable fabrication (okay, possible fabrication) since the stock price got the intended bounce after the "news" got published, discussed, and digested.

You do have to ask yourself who would be interested in buying this pirate ship. It certainly seems to be sinking. At least the lead ship of the fleet (the LMS) is taking on water at an alarming rate. The other ships in the arsenal might be staying high and dry - including Transact (card transactions) and Connect (emergency notification), and maybe they are attracting potential suitors.

So what's up with the Bb LMS? Well, many of the old WebCT customers parted company when they had the chance to do so. Here are just a few recent examples:

1) Howard CC is taking their 29,000 students from BlackCT to Instructure.
2) Flinders University is moving their 19,000 students from BlackCT Vista to Moodle,
3) Auburn U is moving 25,000 students from Vista to either D2L or Instructure,
4) CU-Boulder's 31,000 students will leave BlackCT for D2L
5) Univ of Greenwich is moving 26,000 students from BlackCT to Moodle
6) University of Florida is moving 55,000 students from BlackCT to Sakai

Likewise, many of the Angel customers are unhitching their dinghy from the Blackboard ship. For example:

1) Providence College will be moving their 4,600 students from BlackAngel to either Moodle or Sakai.
2) Univ of Oklahoma School of Nursing (1,600) is moving from BlackAngel to D2L.
3) Marylhurst Univ. (11,000) switched from BlackAngel to Moodle.
4) Univ. of Waterloo (30,000) is moving from BlackAngel to D2L.
5) SUNY Plattsburgh (6,000+) is moving from BlackAngel to Moodle.

These are some very short lists gleaned from a much longer list of schools that have already decided to leave from one of the various flavors of Blackboard or are currently contemplating a move. I will continue to analyze the validity of, and continue to post more information from the list sent to me that indicates over 300 schools and consortia that have either decided to leave Blackboard or are currently evaluating a switch from Blackboard.

Just one more note about this list - all of the data is from 2010 and after. This doesn't include all the schools that dumped Bb prior to 2010 (of which there are many).

Just one more note about this list - No, I can't send you the list. It's not mine to share in its entirety.

Chatting with John Baker about the future of D2L

2011-03-25T09:58:00.006-05:00

Last week I had the opportunity to chat with John Baker, CEO of D2L for 30 minutes or so. I was telling him how I am frequently contacted by various people about two main questions:

1) my experiences over the past 7.5+ years as a D2L client (now ended, unless an unemployed person can still be a "client").

2) my opinions about the future of D2L, especially from an investment perspective. In particular, these questions tend to fall into two main categories:
=> a) do I think D2L is going to sell out to the highest bidder (this Q has been around for all of those 7.5+ yrs.), and
=> b) is D2L preparing to issue an IPO (initial public offering of stock) and go public?

John and I talked at length about these things. I told him that the speculation about an IPO seemed to be especially hot right now. He told me that this is not something that they have even talked about, and that he has no interest in even looking at that possibility at this time.

For a company like D2L, going public would serve to crush their corporate culture, IMO. They currently only have themselves to answer to, and that seems to work quite well for them. Stockholders, meeting Wall Street expectations, constant pressure on revenue growth and earning growth - who needs it, right?

Either selling out or going public would certainly serve the purpose of cashing in on their position in the LMS market, but that's about all it would do. If the D2L decision makers were interested in either of these options, they would most likely have already done so or at least be on the verge of doing so. But I'm very certain that they are quite happy in their own skins right now. I believe him when he tells me that they are not considering either one of those options.

Speaking about Wall Street expectations, has anyone checked lately to see the size of the short interest in Blackboard? The short interest represents the number (and %) of shares that have been sold short - which means that the investor doesn't actually own the stock, but they are expecting/hoping/gambling that the price of the shares will do down. Since Feb. 2010, the # of shares sold short has increased rather steadily from 7.67 million to the current level of 13.48 million, which represents 45% of the float in Blackboard. Ouch. You've gotta wonder what that feels like to have so many people betting against you.

Just for reference, Microsoft is looking at short interest of just over 1%, as is CISCO. Even Yahoo only has a short interest of 4.8% of float, and they can't get out of their own way in screwing up everything they touch. One more point of reference. As I write this, Blackboard is in the top 5 for the largest short positions on the NASDAQ (as % of float).

How is that related to D2L? Probably in several ways, but in particular I'll just say that D2L doesn't have to worry about this kind of stuff while they remain a private company. I personally believe that this is one reason why D2L has remained focused on education and educators. They don't have to deal with all the Wall Street distractions. They should keep it that way.

(CC attribution image by rightee)

LMS for Sale - But Probably Not D2L

2011-03-01T10:58:00.008-06:00

An LMS company with a code name of LPO Co. is for sale, according to the Wavepoint website. I'm pretty sure that it's not the London Philharmonic Orchestra LMS, and I'm also pretty sure that it isn't Desire2Learn.

There are always rumors (okay, often, not always) about whether D2L owners are going to take the money and run. At first blush, I think it's pretty easy to see why some people might jump to the conclusion that D2L is the unnamed company on this website, based on some of the sales info related to the mystery company, such as:

"a private North American based technology firm" (notice they don't say a U.S. company, so Canada comes to mind, and D2L is privately held).
"a leading provider of Learning Management System (LMS) technology with prestigious clients" (D2L is generally considered to be the #2 LMS company (at least size-wise) and all of their user base considers themselves to be prestigious, of course).
" Since 2001, LPO Co. has had on average an annual growth rate of 40%" (that sounds like a lot of growth, which D2L has had, and sounds like about the right year for that growth to have started).
"expand their markets internationally with offices now established in 3 other countries" (yep, D2L has offices in Canada, the U.S., and Australia)
"one of the fastest growing companies in North America in the learning management sector" (that statement probably applies to D2L)
"has developed an award winning learning management system" (yes, but everybody can win an award these days, doesn't make you special).
"Proven scalable and robust solutions – deployed in some of the largest global networks" (well, D2L is deployed in some of the largest higher ed installations - not sure if that means the same thing).
"Adherence to AICC, SCORM and IMS standards" (although just about anybody can say that sort of thing, apparently)

I'm guessing that many people look at some of those statements and immediately think of D2L. I'm also guessing that they're wrong about that. Here's why I don't think D2L is disguised as LPO Co.

Just on general principles. I don't think D2L would be shopping itself in this manner. Doesn't make sense and probably not a good strategy to attract the right buyer.
Just playing the odds - as Wavepoint says, the LMS market is "made up of more than 60 different providers." Chances are good that it is someone else (but who?).
"has developed partnerships with a number of internationally recognized technology and HR companies that act as resellers." To my knowledge, nobody is a reseller of D2L.
"Approximately 4 million registered users of its learning management system." This one should be pretty easy to verify, but I think they have a much larger user base than 4 million. There are 400,000+ user accounts just within Minnesota.
All of us in higher ed tend to think about the LMS market of consisting of the 6-8 companies who tend to have the market cornered in higher ed. This listing sounds like one of those corporate training LMS solutions - there are many out there, but most of us don't know much about them.

Rather than add to this list right now (heading into a meeting) - how about a little crowd-sourcing in the comments for this post? Why do you believe or not believe that LPO equals D2L?

Photo (CC-by) Marcin Wichary

Blackboard 138 Patent in the Ether?

2010-11-16T13:45:00.015-06:00

Why wasn't I invited to the party? There must have been a Blackboard patent burning party, and I'm feeling pretty badly about not being invited. Seems strange that I can't find any news about the party on the Internets. Y'all did a pretty good job of keeping this celebration a secret. Or did we just let the '138 patent slip into the ether as if it never happened? 'Tis a shame if we missed an excellent opportunity for fun and frolic.

I'm referring to the Blackboard (Alcorn) '138 patent. You might remember that they had this little flap with Desire2Learn that played out in a Texas courtroom and at the USPTO, and at the Software Freedom Law Center, and on a couple thousands blogs, including this one.

However, it's been really hard to get any substantiated news about the status of the Blackboard (Alcorn) '138 patent since about March, 2010. That's when Jeff Bohrer posted info about Blackboard's last 30 days "to appeal the USPTOs decision to overturn all claims in the '138 Alcorn patent." Apparently, they didn't do that. If they did, where is the evidence of that action?

To further give credence, the Blackboard Patent Pledge page no longer lists the '138 patent, which indicates to me that they can't list it because it is no longer a valid patent. Here's a screenshot from Nov. 16, 2010. (click for larger)

Compare that with this screenshot posted by Ray Mosteller back in March. The '138 was featured front-and-center on their pledge page back then, but it is missing-in-action today.

It seems odd to me that this news was allowed to pass into the ether without being widely shouted from the blogtops. Do I have this wrong? Did I miss all the action? I don't think so.

Back in October I was enjoying a pizza with a few friends when one of them opined that the Blackboard patent was dead and buried. That didn't seem credible to me, since no one else had been saying so. So I've looked and searched and asked around, and the best I can come up with is the conclusion that indeed

The wicked witch's patent is dead. Most sincerely dead. Long live Dorothy.

This next item looks like it might be fairly insignificant, but it still looks like a fun thing to me. The North Texas Patent Group, Inc. has filed a complaint against Blackboard for "False Marking" of the '138 patent. This happened back on Sept. 25, 2010.

It does appear that these false marking suits are a dime a dozen. Here's one list of them, including the NTPG vs. Blackboard claim. It also appears (admittedly, on the surface) that there are several watchdog groups who tend to pursue claims of this type. My first reaction to this is that the NTPG isn't trying to get rich off of this claim against Blackboard (asking $500 in damages per instance), with only half of the proceeds (if any) going to NTPG and half to the United States of America (to help pay down the national debt, or what?).

The problem with false marking is the potential adverse effect on the free marketplace when you state that you have a valid patent when you don't. In the words of the NTPG (pg. 2): "False patent marking is a serious problem. Acts of false marking deter innovation and stifle competition in the marketplace. If an article that is within the public domain is falsely marked, potential competitors may be dissuaded from entering the same market. False marks may also deter scientific research when an inventor sees a mark and decides to forego continued research to avoid possible infringement."

I don't know what evidence NTPG collected against Blackboard and when, but it was pretty easy for me to spot my own evidence of false marking of the '138 patent. I took the screenshot below on Nov. 15, 2010. The footer of this Blackboard webpage clearly lists the '138 patent. The webpages in the "Investor Center" section still contain the old footer, but all the other pages I viewed had a new footer that didn't list any patents by number. (click to enlarge)

On line 25 of the "Facts" section, NTPG states the following:

"United States Patent No. 6,988,138 (the “’138 patent”), titled “Internet-based Education Support System and Methods”, was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) on January 17, 2006 and all independent claims were held invalid as indefinite or anticipated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on July 27, 2009. (See Ex. A.)

Okay, so what's right and what's wrong? Is it dead or alive? And who was in charge of sending out the party invitations?

Comic Strips in Online Courses

2010-10-24T22:11:00.004-05:00

Over the years I've done quite a few workshops that included some sort of reference to using comic strips in online courses, either as part of the content provided by faculty or as part of the student assignments.

This narrated slidecast is a short (5 min. 40 sec.) description of some of the ways that comics can be used to pump up the creativity in an online course.

Using Comics in D2L

View more webinars from Barry Dahl.

Custom Home Pages in D2L

2010-10-22T11:56:00.004-05:00

I recently gave a short presentation about using custom home pages for courses taught using Desire2Learn. This is a 6-minute Slidecast (via Slideshare) that includes audio. Click the arrow to start the audio.

D2L Custom Homepages by Barry Dahl

View more webinars from Barry Dahl.

Do you know what web pages are "framebusters" if you try to embed them into the D2L course home page? Check out slide 5.
Do you know where you can easily make custom widgets for your course home page? Check out slide 9.
Please share in the comments if you do something different and useful on your course home page.

D2L Intelligent Agents

2010-09-17T07:00:00.004-05:00

My first look at Intelligent Agents in Desire2Learn.

Having spent some time working on a Data Analytics project for MnSCU that would have served as an early alert system for online students not making good progress, I've been curious to see how deep the functionality runs in the D2L Intelligent Agents (IA) tool. The short answer is that there's some basic functionality there that might prove beneficial to some users, but the tool falls short of being a full featured Army soldier (you know, Be All That You Can Be!). (CC-by Flickr photo by Sarah G...)

I've recorded a narrated slide show that will illustrate the basics. In the slides you'll see: (a) where to access the IA tool, (b) how to create a new agent, (c) how to write a customized (sort of) email to be triggered by the agent, (d) how to schedule (or not) the agent to run when you want it to, (e) what happens when the agent is run, (f) and some pros and cons about the IA tool.

Click the green triangle Play button at the bottom of the frame to listen to the narration for the slides (or not). For better views of the screen shots, click the Full Screen icon in the lower right corner.

D2L Intelligent Agents

(View more webinars from Barry Dahl.)

Basically, there are a few good things in this tool. You can receive notifications (and/or also send them to students via their D2L email address) for the lack of login activity for a specified number of days. You can also receive notifications when a student has performed poorly (or performed well, if you prefer) on a particular assessment that they have completed.

There are several shortcomings that I feel need to be pointed out. The IA tool could be very useful if these things are added in the near future:

1- The login agent only works at the system login level, not at the course access level. However, faculty will mainly want to know who isn’t accessing their specific course, which is where the agent was created in the first place, so this is only logical. With version 9, D2L added information to the User Progress tool to indicate the last time the student accessed the course homepage. Now they absolutely need to make this information available for the IA tool. Slide 14 specifically addresses this concern.

2- Currently the release conditions for an agent require an action on the part of the student, such as you took a quiz and got a high or low score, etc. However, it is usually more valuable for the faculty to know (and for students to get an email) when they are not doing something – didn’t take the quiz, haven’t posted to discussion forums, etc.

3- There isn't a way to create an agent that looks at overall user progress based on the overall grade book score, such as "you have only received 50% or less of the points available so far in this course, and your immediate attention is needed." The agent needs to be available to run on an overall view of user progress rather than just on one or more individual items in the course.

I contacted D2L about a future road map for the development of the IA tool. I received a reply from Matt T. He said, "I don’t have any details on specific time lines to address any of these or an overall road map for the tool, but I agree all three would be great additions."

My first grade for the IA tool is a solid C (I was always a tough grader, just ask my accounting students from back in the day). It is a step in the right direction, and has really great potential moving forward, BUT, it does need to move forward with additional enhancements to really meet expectations.

Eavesdropping on D2L10

2010-07-13T14:13:00.007-05:00

Even though I'm happy with my decision to not attend the D2L User Conference this year, that doesn't mean that I wasn't interested in the goings on, nor did it mean that I didn't miss the many friends who were in attendance. I followed the Twitter stream from the conference in an effort to stay somewhat in the know. Here's a chronological listing of selected tweets.

Desire2Learn_PR: Boat cruises, great food, connecting with colleagues… FUSION 2010 is off to a fabulous start! http://bit.ly/17POaR (expand) #D2L10

ajwms: At #d2l10. Last time to see @140universityElluminate as sponsor, I guesshttp://twitpic.com/24h5u9

tabrown: Lots of fun catching up with folks at the #unD2L conference this evening#D2L10

ConnectYard: launching our new learning tool today for #d2l that integrates FB, TW & TM into courses. Stop by our booth at #d2l10 for more details!

ajwms: Has anybody been able to get their iPad connected to hotel wireless at#D2L10 yet? Get a blank login screen only.

kylemackie: 326 new D2L users at #D2L10

krivedal: And none of them were lawyers! RT @kylemackie: D2L has hired 60 new employees this year. #D2L10

barrydahl: RT @ajwms: @condonfnm on stage (in a coat and tie!) to present the first Desire2Excel award at #d2l10 - He does clean up well.

ajwms: SHARE Project (Support, Harnessing & Advancing Repository Enhancement) - Nottingham Trent accepting Desire2Excel Collaboration award#d2l10

Goamick: RT @kylemackie: Keynote: Stuart Brown MD, The National Institute for Play www.nifplay.org #D2L10

barrydahl: RT @katblue14: How do u put on ur playface in an online class?#D2L10 This speaker better have the answer for this one, or why is he there?

dariusz: Listening to Stuart Brown explain why playing around is super importanthttp://www.desire2learn.com/Fusion/keynotes/ #designd2l #d2l10

kylemackie: the opposite of play is not "work", it's depression. #D2L10

ben_ggg: Instruction Design - If you graduate with our degree without learning technology, shame on us. #D2L10

katblue14: Reminder to faculty that a PDF of a scanned doc is a picture and a screen reader can't read it, use OCR. ADA session (faboo session!) #D2L10

ben_ggg: Students DON'T want to visit course related websites, read postings online or participate in online discussions. #d2l10

ajwms: RT @barrydahl: Hey #D2L10 has @ajwms told u about Peillissippi State Ed Tech Svcs. on Facebk? http://bit.ly/a3qtzf (expand) /help us get 2 100 likes!

jcthomsonjr: RT @barrydahl: @kfrisch Maybe the Blackberry should go to a student since almost NONE of our students have Blackberries. How about Android/Apple? #D2L10

atblue14: Kaltura gets it! Same media piece mixed easily into versions for multiple delivery points. Let students control engagement point. #D2L10

kylemackie: Desire2Learn 2Go improvements: delivery of content, schedule meetings, AND they say they're bringing it to iphone and android soon. #D2L10

tjoosten: #d2l mobile will allow you to take video or picts on #droid or others and *share* to #d2l like you share with facebook, picaso, etc. #d2l10 (coming "soon")

w_mcelroy: Some fun web 2.0 tools I want to play with now (ediscio, animoto, glogster....)I can see instructors using these.... #D2L10

ajwms: #designd2l add ability to lock down parts of navbar to protect sections from editing. Please? #d2l10

kylemackie: want to talk community? come to the session @corykittel and I are leading, today at 2:15 (room 6-Illinois) #D2L10

barrydahl: @kylemackie Include this tidbit: developing online community is 36th most important thing to online students at LSC. Out of 36 items. #D2L10

kfrisch: Julie Evans Key note speaker at lunch The New " Free Agent Learner"-Are You Ready? FUSION 2010 http://bit.ly/aqarRN (expand) #D2L10 #osnss10

ajwms: Evans: 55% of students want reminders and alerts sent to mobile device. Glad we are sharing textblaster with faculty this fall #D2L10

rjasonthompson: #D2L10 "Understanding Pedagogy and Instructional Design when moving courses on line" - James Falkofske: www.pedagogyonline.com

tjoosten: Our preso is avail athttp://professorjoosten.blogspot.com/2010/07/student-perceptions-of-desire2learn.html #d2l10 @uwmltc #eportfolio #uwm

duncwhite: Using Soundpaper on the iPad to capture Fusion2010 notes. Patchwork is also a good app to try - will use with teachers this fall. #d2l10

krivedal: #D2L10 National American University has students sign a Self- Directed Learner's Statement

katblue14: #D2L10 the integration of Live Mail w D2L is looking sharp:) This may solve an issue!

jbohreruw: Sweet! RT: @kylemackie: Desire2Excel award, III goes to...learn@ UW.#D2L10 @LearnUWMad

Goamick: Joel Cohen Writer and Co-Executive Producer of The Simpsons talking about engaging an audience #d2l10 this is excellent!

kylemackie: sometimes not using a great idea is a great idea #D2L10

kfrisch: You can get energized by a joke. Goes back to the theme we've heard all conference--play! #d2l10 #osnss10

_dmlong: John Baker: FUSION 2011 will be at Denver! #D2L10 #D2L11

No Show at D2L User Conference

2010-07-09T09:14:00.012-05:00

I've been asked by quite a few people (seriously I have, approaching double digits) why I am NOT attending FUSION, the D2L User Conference that starts in a few days. I will very much miss hanging out with everyone at the Unconference Sunday night - in fact, I almost chose to attend this event without attending the rest of the conference, but decided against it. (CC photo by David Paul Ohmer)

A conference in July is never easy because there's just too much summer stuff, family-time, and all that jazz going on. But that's not the reason. We have severe budget cuts that are restricting our travel to these types of events. But that's not the reason.

Without further ado, here is my Top Five List for reasons why I will not be attending the conference this year:

Number 5: Location (actually this is a very distant fifth place)

I hate attending conferences in Chicago. Getting from the airport to downtown is as bad as flying into Denver.
Once I went out in Chicago with three friends for pizza and beers. Between the four of us we had one pizza and 6 beers. Our "guest check" was $120 before tip. This is the Midwest people - there's nothing special going on here at all. Get over yourselves.

Number 4: Screwups

I don't need to go into details here, let's just say that my days of being on the planning committee came to an end when some things were handled very poorly. Certain people will know what I'm talking about. Nuff said.

Number 3: Transparency

For three years (or whatever) during the Blackborg fight, all I heard from D2L was how "transparent" they were being with their clients - keeping the clients (and anyone else who might be interested) as informed as possible about how they were fighting the good fight for higher education in particular and against software patent bullies in general.
You lose all credibility (with me at least) when you then shut off all information and become as opaque as possible when the end game is reached.
Okay, I understand that you negotiated the silence during the end game as part of the settlement with the Evil Empire of BlackAngel, and that this particular item probably came at the insistence of Blackbeard, BUT STILL - this should have been a deal breaker. Don't tell me that you're transparent and all that crap and then just roll over and say "psych!"

Number 2: Deletion

The Desire2Learn website previously had a "Patent Info Blog" located at the URL that now contains just a single letter from CEO John Baker explaining (okay, not really) the settlement with BlackBart. In it he says "Consistent with our mission and vision, it's time for us to put the past behind us, and look to the future. As a result, we'll be taking down our patent blog tomorrow."
This patent blog had all the documentation, all the D2L assurances, all the maneuvers and counter-maneuvers that had occurred since the beginning of the litigation. It was an important resource. It was linked to by hundreds of people for many different reasons.
Of course Bb would have never posted all this information in the first place. By removing the information, the end result is that D2L looks just like Bb. Close-lipped and close-minded.
BTW. Thanks for the heads up in advance of deleting the blog. I hate to kill trees, but I went ahead and printed well over 100 pages of info from the blog site. I finished printing about 15 minutes before it started to disappear. Someday this will make for good bedtime reading.

Number 1: Desire2Quit?

Seriously? Laying down with the enemy? All the rhetoric over the years was just bullshit? "We're in it to win it?" The long chat we had last year at FUSION in St. Paul about how important it was to fight the good fight and how victory was within grasp - that was all a load of bull?
When you lay down with BlackVader, you become BlackVader.

So here's a list of questions that should be answered at FUSION 2010:

1) Now that you are licensing the portfolio of Blackboard patents, in what ways have those patents impacted the newest version (9) of the Desire2Learn LE or other products?
2) In what ways will those patents impact future versions of the Desire2Learn LE or other products?
3) By licensing their patent portfolio, aren't you giving credence to the validity of the Alcorn patent (the subject of the litigation)? And if not, then what patents do they have that you do find valuable?
4) Is there an end date on your cross-licensing agreement? If so, when? Either way, are new patents included automatically in the licensing agreement, or not?
5) Did you ever get your 3.1 million dollar judgement back from BlackChasenSmall, or did that possibility go away in the middle of the night when the litigation ceased?
6) What is the status of the Alcorn patent in the USPTO, or is this something you no longer care about?

Okay, so as you can see, I'm avoiding FUSION this year because pizza and beer in Chicago are just too expensive.

A few final points of clarification:

1) I still think D2L is by far the best choice for a vendor-based LMS.
2) I consider many of the employees to be friends, not because they work for D2L, but because they are engaging, smart, and good people. All at the same time.
3) I hope the conference is a smashing success. I am not attempting to send any ill-will their way, but I am willing to boycott something when I feel strongly enough about it. This is one of those times.
4) I haven't decided whether I will feel differently in 2011. Lots can happen between now and then (and probably will).

Blackborg Rides Again

2010-07-07T21:12:00.003-05:00

Blackboard went on another buying spree today. Just a few random thoughts.

If Blackboard had purchased either Wimba or Elluminate, they could have spun it as a strategic business decision. By purchasing both of them, the only possible explanation is that it is another example of squelching innovation and limiting competition.
In Ray Henderson's blog post, he refers to both companies as "former rivals." Although it's true that Blackborg has some sort of a lame virtual classroom, synchronous tool (I believe they call it the Bb POS), very few people who work in educational technology would have seen Wimba as a rival of Blackboard. Or Elluminate. Hell, we barely see D2L or Moodle as rivals of Blackboard.
Maybe when you are the most hated company in the education sandbox, everyone seems like a rival to you.
Ray also says "We hear consistently from our clients that their online infrastructure and offerings have grown from important to mission critical." Apparently they stop listening when those clients follow that up with "However, the last thing we want is to have total vendor lock-in where we are completely dependent upon you and at your mercy (of which you have none)."
My favorite tweet of the day went something like this: "Blackboard Collaborate sounds so much nicer than Blackboard Conglomerate, Blackboard Cartel, or Blackboard Cabal"
It seems to me that buying Wimba would have been sufficient since it is more fully developed than Elluminate. However, by purchasing Elluminate they have effectively upset the partnership arrangements that Elluminate has with Desire2Learn eCollege, RemoteLearner (Moodle), and Unicon (Sakai). If you believe that Blackboard will really continue to "sustain this work and the partnerships," then you just haven't been paying attention.

To all the Bb lovers out there (you know who you are), I have one question:

Will you still be Blackboard lovers when they purchase Apollo (UofPhx), Kaplan, Capella, and others to complete their vertical integration into the education space?

MeeboMe inside Desire2Learn

2010-04-19T11:14:00.004-05:00

I offered a one-hour workshop last week about using Meebo and MeeboMe inside D2L as another way of communicating with students. According to the Meebo website:

"Meebo is a web based IM that lets you log into your IM networks from any computer with a browser and internet connection with no firewall issues. It employs technologies (like AJAX) to make it act more like a desktop application, which dramatically improves usability. Many users enjoy the benefits of a native DHTML application, as it does not consume as many system resources as a Java applet (such as ICQ2Go or Yahoo Web Messenger). Meebo also offers other services such as a chat room client and a personal IM client for your personal/corporate web pages."

I've been using it for about three years now. I don't use the basic IM feature as much as I'd like, primarily because so few of my contacts use IM as a regular means of communication. However, I think the MeeboMe feature is just brilliant. You'll see a MeeboMe widget on this blog site as well on all my other blog sites. Here's a screenshot of placing a MeeboMe widget in the News section of the course homepage inside a D2L course shell. (Click image for larger view)

From their website: "Meebo Me lets you chat with anyone who comes to your blog or Web page. Visitors show up in your Meebo buddylist so you can strike up a conversation, answer questions, or just keep tabs on guests. Publish your online status so friends can see if you're available when they visit your site."

Another option would be to place the chat window into a custom widget on the home page. Of course, you could also choose to place the widget on a content page, or anywhere else in D2L where you might want to provide the communications channel between you and your students. You can actually place multiple instances of the chat window anywhere you want, and it will still work as a single window. (Click image for larger view)

If you want a full-featured chat room with one-to-many communications, then check out Meebo Rooms, which allow for a chat room to be embedded anywhere you can paste the html code. I don't use the rooms myself, but they should work as advertised.

The open dialog box from MeeboMe has several advantages.

Students will only see that you are online and available when you are logged into Meebo. In other words, if you want to hide your online status in D2L, you can make your self available through Meebo when it is appropriate to do so (think online office hours, etc.)
No one else needs an account to chat with you in the MeeboMe widget. If they have a Meebo account and are logged in, then you will see their username. Otherwise they appear as anonymous. Clearly there are times when you would need the student to identify himself for help reasons.
You can have any number of one-to-one conversations. There are certainly times when you don't want everyone in a chat room to see what you are saying. You can create groups in Meebo, but typically the MeeboMe widget would be for one-to-one.
It is very easy to convert the web chat into another form of communication. Skype, or anything else can be a time saver.
You can make any number of MeeboMe widgets which allows you to customize the title bar (header), widget size, and color choices any way you want for multiple classes or other uses.

Note: there's not much that you can do with the basic IM service that you can't do with the D2L pager. I think the main benefits come from the MeeboMe widget. My recommendation is that you try out a MeeboMe chat window as a way of opening up a line of communication for your students that easier than email or just about anything else.

D2L Enables Web Tools Interoperability

2010-04-13T10:43:00.005-05:00

I just finished watching the recordings of the D2L webinars from March where they demonstrate the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) features of Desire2Learn. This seems like a major step forward, IMO.

You can find the webinar links inside the D2L C ommunity. If you're not a member, I do believe that you will need to request access to view the recordings. The webinars were conducted by Chuck Severance of the IMS Global Consortium and Matt Teskey of Desire2Learn.

I've spent the past several years demonstrating ways of embedding web-based tools into D2L and other LSM platforms. However, in all those cases there was only the appearance of integration between the tools and the LMS - but now this is possible to happen in a truly integrated process. "Truly integrated" means that your authentication credentials can be passed between the tool and the LMS with actual single sign-on.

(Screenshot above CC photo from Chuck Severance, dr-chuck on Flickr)

Two specific applications that were demonstrated include MediaWiki and WordPress. That got my attention since we are hosting both of those open source tools on campus and have them tied into our active directory for credentialing. These appear to be easily added to a D2L course through the use of quicklinks. Looks very cool. A few other examples (shown through screenshots) are some new widgets/gadgets and Google Maps.

A few questions.

1. Are there any hopes of greater integration rather than just authentication? For example, I would love to have Zoho tools available for word processing, spreadsheets, web forms and other Zoho apps. Single sign-on is a good start, but I would really like to see integration where you can save documents directly into D2L and share with the instructor and/or other students.
2. Where is the on/off switch for this? I've looked in the Dome and can't find it. We are using version 8.4.2 at the current time and this is the D2L version that they are demonstrating in the webinar. My guess is that MnSCU has not turned this feature on at this point. Generally speaking, we don't get to use the new tools in a timely manner since we are self-hosted and apparently very risk averse when it comes to using new features in the platform.
3. MnSCU has a tentative plan to upgrade to D2L version 9.0 in early June. Are there any changes or improvements to the LTI in version 9, or is it the same as version 8.4.2?
4. What are some of the other tools that people would like to see the LTI bridge built for? For the most part, it seems to me that it would make sense for tools where the login is an essential part of the user experience (for publishing, in other words), but if all you are doing is viewing content that it might not be very important.
5. They stated that accounts in the web-based tools are automatically created for the students and tied to their D2L identity. It sounds then as though a student who already has an account (let's say in WordPress) will then have two accounts with the new one tied to D2L. That might not be a bad thing, but I'm not sure. What about several courses at the same school using these tools - does the LTI piece know not to create another account for that student (sounds like a stupid question, but I can't tell any more)? What about students who are attending more than one MnSCU school? Would they have a WordPress/LSC account and a separate WordPress/CLC account as well (where LSC is Lake Superior College and CLC is Central Lakes College)?

Magna Webinar - March 23

2010-02-17T09:13:00.003-06:00

I am the presenter for a Magna Publications webinar scheduled for March 23, 2010. The title is: Free Web 2.0 Tools to Use Inside Your LMS. This seminar costs $249 if you register at least a week in advance. The slides below (embedded from Zoho Show) indicate the things that I will be demonstrating during the online seminar. Because there are so many of them, I will likely have time to show either one or two examples for each of the eight goals.

I've done this workshop many times live and at least once before as a webinar. I'm looking forward to it. We'll see how it goes.

These Buttons are Worthless Now

2010-02-16T10:35:00.005-06:00

Remember when D2L was fighting the good fight? My single biggest disappointment (at least professionally) in 2009 was when D2L decided to make peace and lie down with the devil. That warm fuzzy feeling for me is all gone now. That's a shame.

Partnering with Blackbeard? That's a much bigger shame.

And what the hell is going on with the USPTO re-examination of that stupid patent? Is that no longer an issue? It is for me.

New Netiquette Guidelines for LSC Online

2010-02-02T08:26:00.000-06:00

The LSC Online Programs Advisory Committee decided to craft a set of netiquette guidelines that would serve as the recommended list that faculty could use for their online courses. It's not a full policy or anything like that, just an attempt to give them some useful information to post in their online courses. Faculty are free to use them, change them, add to them, not use them at all, or whatever. The list is posted in the LSC wiki.

This project was taken on because many of our online faculty had been using a particular web resource for many years as a netiquette guide. That web page began carrying less-than-attractive banner ads and quite frankly was always more about general online netiquette rather than focused on online learning. There are quite a few other sets of guidelines out there, but many of them are rather lengthy or include items that we don't feel are needed, and occasionally we just disagreed with them. So, we decided to write a relatively short list of our own, as follows:

LSC Online Course Netiquette Guidelines

1. Behind Every Name There is a Person

a. Respect the privacy of your classmates and what they share in class.

b. Ask classmates for clarification if you find a discussion posting offensive or difficult to understand.

c. Avoid sweeping generalizations. Back up your stated opinions with facts and reliable sources.

d. Understand that we may disagree and that exposure to other people’s opinions is part of the learning experience.

e. Be respectful of each other. We’re all in this together. Before posting a comment, ask whether you would be willing to make the same comment to a person's face.

f. Keep in mind that everything you write, indeed every click of your mouse is recorded on the network server. On the Internet there are no take backs.

g. Keep in mind that you are taking a college class. Something that would be inappropriate in a traditional classroom is also inappropriate in an online classroom.

2. Online Communication

a. Be aware that typing in all capital letters indicates shouting.

b. Be careful with humor and sarcasm. Both can easily be misunderstood!

c. Review all discussion postings before posting your own to prevent redundancy.

d. Check your writing for errors by reviewing what you’ve written before submitting it.

e. Acronyms (LOL, etc.) and emoticons (smilies) are commonly used online, but be careful not to overuse them.

f. Many communications with your instructor or fellow students are best handled through email. Only post on the classroom discussion board if the conversation is relevant to others in the class.

Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions.

Twittering about D2L and Blackboard

2010-01-26T08:15:00.010-06:00

I usually keep an eye on a Twitter search looking for posts that have something to do with D2L. The beginning of the semester is always interesting, especially as students are posting their unfiltered thoughts about school, online courses, professors, D2L, and lots of other things. Here are some examples. I'll leave out their Twitter names since I don't know these people.

Dear D2L though my college, please fix yourself so I can take quizzes on Firefox. THANK YOU! Love, Cissa
trust me, everything you click on d2l... and the time u spend on each "page" they cn see....
71 unread discussions on D2L? CRAP! I was only gone for one weekend!
In class with a professor that doesn't know how to work the internets and d2l. Maybe he should use the googles.
ocu's desire2learn has to be the shi**iest web page ever. period. well, aside from the other ocu web pages.
Online classes start today. Not liking their new D2L system.
Go to a "Laptop Campus"...should ALL of my classes have D2L sites? Whatever.
just LOL'ed when he looked at D2L at the same class he just took last semester. god taking the same class over is priceless. LOL hate it.
D2L is SUCH a pain in the tuckus.... Maybe online classes were a bad idea
just realized that something she thought she posted to D2L last week didn't actually get posted and of course she didn't save it... :-(
there has to be an easier way to keep track of due dates in d2l.. seriously!
Well this stinks. I've got an assignment due tomorrow and D2L is down :( fml
Really wish that more than 2 of my 5 classes were up on d2l... Come on profs, classes start monday! Get on that sh**!
really hopes this isn't a semester that none of my professors put their stuff on d2l...its friday...classes start monday...lets get movin!
I'm sorry but I have no "Desire2Learn" .. why must I be forced to go on that site.
D2L is making me angry.

Yep, that's mostly negative stuff. I didn't skip the positive posts from students because there basically weren't any (there were some from educators, along with lots of neutral ones). I'm posting this just because I find it interesting what students are willing to post online about this type of thing - and I wonder what their frame of reference is.

To be fair and balanced, I also check from time to time to see what people are saying about Blackboard. Not surprisingly, it's easy to find lots of comments there that fall in the negative category as well. I think the number of swear words per Blackboard post is higher than posts about D2L - which might be a good topic for a research paper.

Well that was quick, logged onto Blackboard and the only thing my class contains is a link to a real website for the class that works.
But I enjoy starting every semester with the Blackboard is completely unusable, so just send me your assignments via email instead. (Prof, I believe)
Great, my school upgraded to a new bug infested version of Blackboard. At some point I'd love it if they'd just move open source and fix it. (Prof again)
i love how i'd rather be on fbook or twitter than #BLACKBOARD. :)
Few things in life can anger me as much and as quickly as WebCT/Blackboard and their Java Applet CMS crap. And we pay millions for it. ugh
Blackboard is my frenemy.
i'm bout to get real ill. F**K is wrong with blackboard?
I hate Blackboard! Too many folders, no overview :-((
Effin hate the blackboard! Wtf. Pls load.
FUHHHH just noticed that the assignment i submitted online through the new Blackboard 9 for my online class on Fri didn't attach right! :(
i hate blackboard! ugh!
Trying to finish my online homework, but stupid blackboard/open campus isn't working so I can't finish it and it's due tonight, grrrr.....
Why doesn't Blackboard support Firefox versions above 2.X? This is ridiculous.
I've never hated something as much as I hate the new BLACKBOARD. Seriously!!!!!!!
I fu**ing hate #blackboard
hey, blackboard. wanna stop being retarded?

I'm wondering how much any of this chatter affects the general view of either Bb or D2L. Probably not much, but maybe it's growing in importance as a source of information about them. And finally, for the record, this post sums up my thoughts about these two "rivals" (partners?) -

This #desire2learn thing is SO much better than Blackboard. Yay! (post)

MnSCU Online Course Definitions - Part Four

2010-01-04T09:52:00.002-06:00

You might need to read the previous three posts to get a feel for all of my concerns about the proposed changed to MnSCU course definitions. For now let's just say that I think they're on the verge of turning a molehill into a mountain. (That's my photo from Pilot Mountain, NC - definitely not a molehill.) So, you should be asking, what is my proposed solution?

Very simple. Here they are.

On-ground courses: any course that is scheduled in a traditional classroom setting for the traditional amount of seat-time, which for us equals about 16 hours per credit. It should not matter whatsoever whether the faculty member chooses to use the Internet (in reasonable ways, see caveat #1 below), whether they use active learning exercises, whether they use PowerPoint, or whatever. Faculty members teach their classes how they choose to, within the normal guidelines of the institution.
Blended courses: any course that meets in the traditional classroom for a portion of the normal amount of seat time and has required online activities that make up the remainder of the learning activities for the students. The portion of learning that is assigned to classroom seat-time can be as small as 25% of the normal amount of seat time (4 hours per credit) or as much as 75% of the normal amount (12 hours per credit). These courses are not designed or intended for distance students.
Online courses: any course that is conducted completely online or can otherwise be completed at a distance. A maximum of two proctored assessments may be required. Students should understand that some online learning activities may require them to interact in real-time with other students and/or with the instructor. No traditional seat-time is required or allowed. (See caveat #2 below.)

Caveat #1 - It is incumbent upon the college administration to ensure that a faculty member does not dramatically expand the time expectations for students by "off-loading" significant amounts of class activities onto the Internet without reducing the seat-time requirements of the students. This is a real and growing problem that can greatly upset students. This is actually a pretty tricky problem to deal with since it begs the question of what are acceptable "homework activities" for a professor to require in an on-ground class. I'm not going to deal with this question fully at this point, let's just say that it is easy to see alternate points of view on this one.

Caveat #2 - I believe that it is important to stress to faculty who teach online courses that students enroll in online courses primarily for the time flexibility that they expect to receive with that registration. Every synchronous requirement, every proctored assessment, every too-small window of opportunity (assignment or exam due dates, for example) can lead to a very inflexible online course. Faculty who are not interested in providing a flexible learning environment for the students should consider a blended or traditional class schedule instead of online.

That's it. Easy peasy. Biggest changes from the current definitions are as follows:

Online: No required on-campus meetings are allowed. Offer a blended class instead.
Online: Doesn't matter what technologies or techniques a faculty member chooses to use (for example: synchronous or asynchronous). These change frequently anyway. Don't try to dictate so much.
Blended: 25% - 75% of the normal amount of seat-time. Everything else online.

All the rest of this is far too confusing and restricting. Don't go there.

MnSCU Online Course Definitions - Part Three

2010-01-02T12:23:00.012-06:00

Part one looked at the proposed changes to definitions of on-ground courses. Part two looks at the state of affairs regarding blended/hybrid courses in MnSCU. Part three will now parse some of the information related to the new proposals to further define what is and what isn't an online course.

The main reason for this effort appears to be a response to complaints/feedback indicating that students find information in the course registration system to be confusing regarding the

delivery method that they should expect when they sign up for a class. Therefore, MnSCU is attempting to create additional class codes so that students will have better advance notice as to whether the course will use the Internet in any way, whether they will have any required seat time, and even what types of online activities they should expect to engage in. That might not sound too bad on the surface, but the devil is in the details - as usual. (synchronized swimming photo (CC) courtesy by Eric Bégin)

Currently, MnSCU/MnOnline defines an online course something like this:

All courses where the delivery method is entirely or predominately online, are to be setup with the media code set to 03 – Internet Delivered Course.
Predominately = where all, or nearly all, course activity occurs in an online environment. One to two activities may occur face-to-face in a classroom, with the maximum being two activities.

Therefore, online courses in MnSCU have traditionally allowed up to two classroom sessions to be scheduled. Obviously this can be a significant issue for true distance students who are unable to come to a campus for the one or two required sessions. Many schools, such as my own, have strongly discouraged these types of required classroom sessions since it severely decreases the attractiveness of the courses to distance students.

IMO, the real confusion in the current set of definitions comes in the area of test proctoring. (No surprise, but I have previously posted about test proctoring in MnSCU here and also here.) At LSC, we have always treated proctored exams as fitting the definition of the "one or two activities that may occur face-to-face." In other words, we treated it more as a maximum of two times that you can require a distance student to have a specific time-and-place requirement. That might be a classroom activity, but it also might be the requirement of finding an acceptable proctor in the area where you live.

In the past we had one or two faculty members who assigned more than two proctored exams. After working with those faculty members, we were able to reduce the number of proctored requirements by changing assessment methods and consolidating small quizzes and tests into more significant exams (like a mid-term and final) that would still be proctored. Our goal was not to eliminate proctoring, but to reduce the angst that is caused on many different fronts by having a large number of proctored requirements.

So, let's get to the proposed changes. There are three proposed categories:

1. Online - Completely Online
2. Online - Completely Online with "synchronous" components
3. Online - Predominantly Online

Category #1 "Completely Online" has the following features:

All instruction is delivered online
No face-to-face meetings
No proctored exams
May not have required synchronous class meetings

Category #2 "Completely Online with synchronous requirements" has the following features:

All instruction is delivered online
No face-to-face meetings
No proctored exams
Has required synchronous online meetings or activities

Category #3 "Predominantly Online" has the following features:

Nearly all course activity occurs in the online environment
One or two activities may occur face-to-face in a classroom, with the maximum being two activities
No more than two face to face meetings -- as a cohort in the same physical location
May have proctored exams
May have synchronous components
NOTE: this is very similar to the current MnSCU definition of online

This brings several questions to mind:

1. Why do we want to allow an unlimited number of required proctored assessments as we have in the current definition and one of the proposed definitions? Isn't this absurd? At LSC we had the pleasure of providing proctoring services for one students from another MnSCU school for more than 20 different quizzes - FOR ONE COURSE!! Indeed, this is absurd.
2. What exactly do we mean when we say that there are "required" synchronous components? Does that mean that if you don't do them that you will fail the course, or does it mean you will miss out on a few of the available points? Big difference. Students often blow off a requirement that doesn't keep them from achieving their goals. What if the synchronous work comprises 5% of the total grade in a course? What if it comprises 75% of the total grade? Aren't those very different - and how will the students know in advance which one is the case for the courses they just signed up for? Oh yeah, they won't.
3. Will students understand what the heck we mean when we say "synchronous components?" Aren't we just creating a much more confusing situation rather than less?
4. Will students want to know which synchronous components will be used? Maybe they're totally down with using a web conferencing solution, but totally against using UStream or Skype. Should we care whether they object to one technology or another? Is that their choice to make?
5. Is a "synchronous group meeting" the same thing as a synchronous class meeting? If three students need to get together online at the same time in order to successfully complete their group project, is that a "required" synchronous meeting, or was it optional since they could have chosen to fail instead, or could have done a lousy job, or could have let one person do all the work?
6. Due to completely normal course scheduling issues, it won't always be possible to know months in advance whether a faculty member will require proctored exams or synchronous components. Many time we don't even know for certain who will be teaching a class until after it is already full of registered students. Perfect example would be late in the registration window when we end up canceling a class for a tenured faculty member and then re-assign a fully registered class to that person to keep them at a full teaching load (this happens all the time, BTW). Is the newly assigned faculty member required to live up to the proctoring/synchronous plan that the previous instructor had laid out, or are they free to change it even though 30 students signed up expecting no proctored exams (or whatever)?
7. Isn't the course registration coding a perfectly ridiculous place to try to tell students about all the nuances of how a course will be "delivered" to them? Students signing up for online courses will be confused by all the extra flags and codes - if they read them at all. Our system-wide course registration system is a highly inflexible beast - with very little chance to provide clarifying information. I can't see this working well in any way, shape, or form.
8. Determining the proper coding for thousands of courses is going to be a nightmare on campuses. The amount of information needed from each instructor will expand exponentially. The opportunities for coding errors or misunderstandings will also skyrocket. I can see it now: Student: "Hey, I signed up for a fully online course and now they say that I need to be connected every Tuesday night at 7 PM. What gives?" School official: "I'm very sorry, but I think our faculty member was confused about the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communications. Sorry about that."
9. This one is a big one for me - how do these new guidelines position us for the future uses of web technologies? IMO, it positions us perfectly for dealing with the online world in about 2002. The whole distinction between synchronous and asynchronous is becoming more and more blurred. Although a traditional LMS discussion board is pretty clearly asynchronous and a Skype Internet phone call is pretty clearly synchronous - most of the newer technologies fall somewhere in the middle and are not easily classified. Is Google Wave a synchronous tool or asynchronous? It's both, of course. What about a webinar using WebEx or DimDim or something similar? Since they can easily be recorded and archived, they are both also. Is the D2L pager synchronous or asynchronous? Both, of course. And on and on and on.
10. Is this a solution in search of a problem? Sure feels like it. Or, alternately stated, I believe this will create an even bigger problem than whatever problem has been currently identified.

That's enough for one post. I guess there will be a part four as I attempt to clarify what I think should be done with this mess. Coming soon.

MnSCU Online Course Definitions - Part Two

2009-12-28T14:42:00.008-06:00

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), and several other services and personnel costs related to the 32-school consortium that makes up MnOnline.

The Minnesota Online website is designed to serve distance learners and others interested in learning through the online offerings from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. The website does not provide information about the blended course offerings. I believe that the main reason for this is to not confuse the issue about which courses and programs can be completed by a true distance student and those that require a significant amount of time on site.

MnSCU allows institutions to separately determine their tuition rates for online courses. This is known in the system as a "market-rate" tuition. The idea of market-rate tuition does not extend to blended courses. Blended courses will be charged the base tuition rate for each institution rather than the campus-determined market rate for online tuition, although campus exceptions are possible if a course falls into an expensive (to offer) program that has a higher tuition rate than the base.

One thing that MnSCU has never dealt with is the question of how much reduced seat time is appropriate for a blended course. Doing some simple math, here is what I come up with given that there are no other restrictions:

-- 1) a course must meet a minimum of three times to be considered a blended course. Consider the minimum to be 3 hours of meeting time out of the normal 48 hours for a 3-credit course. Therefore, a course could be 6% classroom (3/48) and 94% online and fit the MnSCU definition.

-- 2) To be blended, it has to have reduced seat-time, but apparently that could be as little as one fewer course meeting than normal. So, a course could meet 98% in the classroom and 2% (1/48) online and be considered a blended course.

-- 3) In other words, in lieu of other guidance (there isn't any), a blended course could be anywhere from 2% to 94% online with the rest of the instruction delivered on-ground in the classroom.

I really thought that since MnSCU is going through the exercise (again) of trying to define all of these delivery methods (media codes for the MnSCU-ers out there), that they would also try to build a little definition into the possible range for blended courses. For example, the University of Illinois Chicago defines blended as being between 25% - 74% online. It appears as though Central New Mexico CC stipulates a 50-50% breakdown between classroom and online for blended courses. The Florida Distance Learning task force recommends that a blended course be conducted at least 50% and not more than 79% online.

To sum up, blended courses in MnSCU:

don't get charged the $5 per credit fee.
don't appear in course search results at MnOnline website.
are charged the base tuition rate.
receive no guidance about how much or how little instruction must occur in the classroom.

Basically, there will be no more clarity here than there was before. Looks to me like a missed opportunity.
CC photo by wheredidyoubuythat.com

MnSCU Online Course Definitions - Part One

2009-12-21T13:32:00.010-06:00

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 surrounds the media codes, but I need to take a different angle with this post. This first post will only look at what is a traditional classroom course - and what isn't. Online and blended courses are coming soon.

Currently, media code 00 is used for the traditional classroom or face-to-face learning arrangement. The following are some of the typical components of this delivery method:

1. The course meets in a traditional classroom (or facsimile thereof) on our campus or in another college facility.
2. The course typically meets on a regular schedule such as Mon-Wed-Fri mornings from 10 to 11; although it is possible to have a one-day course or any other date/time schedule that is conducive to a successful course.
3. There is no reduced seat time as measured by the traditional method of 1 classroom hour (50 minutes, of course) per week for the typical semester of 15-16 weeks. For example, a 3-credit course would typically meet for 48 (50 minute) hours during the semester, or the equivalent.

That all seems rather basic and shouldn't be controversial. However, the proposal would call for one more requirement:

4. "All instruction is delivered face-to-face in a classroom setting."

In other words, media code 00 (traditional F2F or "on-ground" instruction) CANNOT use the IMS or even use the Internet in any basic sense. AND APPARENTLY THAT'S OKAY!!

If a faculty member wants to use any kind of Internet resource then we will need to use a separate code for that. Media Code 10 (classroom-based with web facilitation) includes the following features:

1. The course meets in a traditional classroom (or facsimile thereof) on our campus or in another college facility.
2. The course typically meets on a regular schedule throughout the term and DOES NOT have reduced seat time.
3. "May use the Internet"
4. "May use the IMS (currently D2L)"

Apparently, an instructor's decision to include Internet resources into a course requires a completely different coding in the course registration system. When I asked about this, I was told that they WEREN'T going to specify that the Internet CANNOT be used in a face-to-face (code 01) course, but that is how the end result appears to me.

This bothers me on several levels - but I'll only mention three at this time:

1. This appears to restrict an instructor's ability to add new content on the fly if the mood so strikes her. "Gee class, I just found a great new resource on the Internet, but we can't use it in this class because this is a 'NO INTERNET' class."
2. Coding every class this way will be a nightmare. Just trying to get the information about each class about whether it uses the Internet or not will be quite a chore, not to mention the need to explain why you're asking for this information in the first place without sounding like an idiot.
3. It also bothers me that on some level we are making the use of the Internet to be some sort of a special thing - at least that's the way it looks to me. If we are doing that, why don't we also do some of the following? A) indicate which classes are mostly lecture and which are not, B) indicate which classes require students to engage in active learning and which don't, C) indicate which faculty members take most of their test questions from the textbook and which take most from their lectures or other resources, D) which classes use PowerPoint all the time and which don't, E) and what about clickers - shouldn't those be specified too? Etc, etc., etc.

My Top 5 Questions about "The Settlement"

2009-12-16T08:25:00.006-06:00

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 Blackborg still have this Alcorn patent that they can wield against other small competitors? But, the main question in this first group of related questions is "Doesn't cross licensing the patent portfolios indicate that there is something there to license?" Granted, Bb has more patents (rats) than just the Alcorn patent, but still we don't know what they are licensing and what that means for the future of product development for either vendor. It strikes me as a little too cozy, "Gee, we really like your stuff, can we use it?"
What happened to the whole "we're in it to win it" attitude on behalf of D2L? Sure, I know that business decisions have to be made that sometimes represent a change in course, but this one strikes me as especially hollow. John Baker has personally told me on more than one occasion that D2L was carrying the fight forward for all of the other companies out there, not just for themselves. This settlement without reaching a resolution about the patent validity still leaves a whole lot of unanswered questions about the LMS market and patents that can have a very negative effect on the educational community.
Why would D2L be taking down their patent blog (sometime today, or so it says)? This is a good record of all the filings and maneuvers (albeit from a D2L slant - still, much of it is factual) and this is widely viewed as a rather historic fight in realm of LMS geeks. Why is it necessary for this public record to go away? One of the main reasons for having a blog in the first place is to have an archive of events. postings, etc. There's a lot of useful information in that blog site, why turn out the lights? (Update: during the time that I was writing this post, most of the material was removed from the site. Another update: now everything but the final post is gone.)
As a client who is concerned about financial stability of the vendor and future price increases (and all that other stuff), is D2L getting their 3.1 million dollar judgment back from Blackbeard? This will clearly be one of those details that both sides choose not to talk about but I think it is an important piece of the puzzle. I understand that lawyers and litigation are expensive so they may have wanted to end the money drain right now, but if D2L is forfeiting the 3.1 million by abandoning the fight, then again it raises questions for me as to why.
Has this whole ordeal made D2L more like Blackboard? Has the ongoing litigation turned them into a corporate culture similar to the evil empire? For example, D2L has been very vocal and public about this whole mess while Blackboard has been mostly silent. Now at the end, both are silent - which looks like D2L is more like Bb than they used to be. If they are going to cross-license software (or whatever), aren't we looking at less differentiation between products rather than more? Just by lying down with the enemy, don't you give the enemy more credence and begin to look more like them rather than less like them? If D2L begins behaving more like Blackboard, then Blackboard has won and all of us in education have lost.

Notes:

There is wide speculation that this settlement is the first step toward an acquisition of D2L by Bb. I highly doubt that, but at this point I find predicting what these two companies will do to be an exercise in futility.
The Alcorn patent is also known as the '138 patent and in most of the actions was reduced to claims 36-38.
Regardless of my question about whether D2L is becoming more like Bb, I have many friends who work at D2L and I wish them all the best. I'm just a bit worried about what their futures may hold, both as a company and as individuals.
I felt more confident about D2L's future before this settlement than after. Call me crazy.

I smell a rat!

Now Hiring - Fabulous Salaries

2009-11-20T07:40:00.005-06:00

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.

Online Course Student Evals

2009-11-02T14:13:00.005-06:00

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 not the faculty members into those courses. Those extra "courses" appear in the students' course listings when they login to D2L near the end of the term and they can click in to take the survey. We post info there about the anonymity, that faculty won't get results until 2-4 weeks after the end of the term, and profusely thank them for their participation. We send out emails to all students informing them that the evals are open (they don't really read our email) and post messages on the front page of the D2L home page.

So, my questions for you fair readers are these:

a) do you have any advice for how to get the response rates substantially higher for student evals?
b) how do you convince students that their responses are anonymous and won't influence their final grades?
c) has anyone tried evaluating only after the course has closed and grades have been posted? If so, how?
d) do you have the "killer eval" that asks all the right questions and that you're willing to share?

Please reply in the comments section with anything you might want to say.

I'll close with the eval that we use at LSC as shown below.

--------------------------------

Thoughtful student evaluation can help improve teaching effectiveness. This survey gives you the opportunity to express anonymously your views of this course and the way it has been taught. Your assistance is appreciated.

For all questions, please use the following scale:
1 - Strongly agree
2 - Agree
3 - Disagree
4 - Strongly disagree
5 - Choose not to answer or Don't Know

1. The instructor has created a course layout that is easy to navigate (locate quizzes, lookup grades, find directions to assignments, etc.).
2. There was agreement between the posted course objectives (as listed in the syllabus) and what was taught in the course.
3. This course challenged me intellectually.
4. The course materials used in this class helped me learn the subject matter.
5. The instructor posted information about how best to communicate with him/her and was readily available to students.
6. The instructor provided feedback in a timely manner.
7. The feedback received on my coursework was helpful.
8. Policies for determining grades in this course were clearly explained.
9. I was satisfied with the amount of interaction with other students in this course.
10. Overall, this instructor has created a valuable learning experience for students.

Finally: Please provide any additional comments about the course that you believe will be helpful to the instructor of this course.

Great Net Neutrality Video

2009-10-26T10:30:00.006-05:00

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. Here's a short article that makes clear that we may have concerns about whether there can be agreement on what "legitimate content in the continuing development of the Internet." might look like when it comes to dealing with the FCC. (THR.com)

Online Discussion about Obama's CC Initiative

2009-09-17T13:54:00.006-05:00

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 clearinghouse of courses so that community colleges across the country can offer more classes without building more classrooms. And this will make a big difference especially for rural campuses that a lot of times have struggled -- attract -- have to struggle to attract students and faculty. And this will make it possible for a professor to complement his lecture with an online exercise, or for a student who can't be away from her family to still keep up with her coursework. We don't know where this kind of experiment will lead, but that's exactly why we ought to try it because I think there's a possibility that online education can provide especially for people who are already in the workforce and want to retrain the chance to upgrade their skills without having to quit their job." (see video in previous post)

So, what were people saying in the Jam? Here are a few excerpts:

1. How would this open-source clearinghouse of courses fit into the massive development of online courses that has already occurred at community colleges? In other words, would it fill in gaps in online course content that haven't been effectively filled at this point, or would it be duplicative of the many efforts already underway? Some suggestions were for a concentration on developmental (remedial) courses. Another suggestion was to focus on emerging academic programs that don't already exist (or at least not much of an existence).

2. Another major area of conversation centered around the words "free" and "open." The first term (free) doesn't actually appear in Obama's remarks, but it does appear in the White House Briefing Room (in the phrase "freely available courses"). J.S. from Honolulu asked the following: "Does 'open' mean:

Free to use as you will with absolutely no cost?
Free to use without citing or acknowledging sources?
Freedom from any and all constraints in transporting the content -- as is or in modified form -- to different sites?
Complete freedom to alter the content?
Freely and easily accessible with no site subscription fees or complex registration and log-in procedures?
Stable or "permanent" URLs?
Options for different levels of privacy in terms of tracking or "footprints"?

All good questions, but no answers at this time.

Lastly, I'll paste the text from the Briefing Room linked above:
"Create a New Online Skills Laboratory: Online educational software has the potential to help students learn more in less time than they would with traditional classroom instruction alone. Interactive software can tailor instruction to individual students like human tutors do, while simulations and multimedia software offer experiential learning. Online instruction can also be a powerful tool for extending learning opportunities to rural areas or working adults who need to fit their coursework around families and jobs. New open online courses will create new routes for students to gain knowledge, skills and credentials. They will be developed by teams of experts in content knowledge, pedagogy, and technology and made available for modification, adaptation and sharing. The Departments of Defense, Education, and Labor will work together to make the courses freely available through one or more community colleges and the Defense Department’s distributed learning network, explore ways to award academic credit based upon achievement rather than class hours, and rigorously evaluate the results." (my emphases added)

From that, John S. made the following recommendations for how it could be crafted:

- Provide funds for grant projects which develop new online degree programs in emerging fields. (I could name several for which I've heard reports of demand.) This would help focus the project on workforce development and degree completion, which is the stated goal of the overall initiative.
- The interactive individualized open courseware is fine, but projects should show how the courseware will lead to higher graduation rates as a criterion for funding. If they could actually do that, it would be tremendous.
- Outline a framework by which open, free course materials will be disseminated. (SCORM is not a dissemination mechanism; it is an interoperability mechanism.)
- Fund a project or two which explores how successful inter-institutional collaborations currently work and how they could be scaled to promote easier 'swirling'.
- Fund a project or two which explores offering "academic credit based upon achievement rather than class hours." But let's use the experience of existing institutions and see if a project can help expand the acceptance of those approaches. For example, how 'bout a project which supports the creation of a national online course catalog with inter-institutional articulation a la SOC/SOCAD? Or what could be done to expand the capacity of the existing institutions (Empire State, Thomas Edison et al.)?
- Allow for the use of broader evaluation methods which measure outcomes more richly. Why should we individualize inputs (as in individualizing courseware) but continue to standardize outputs? (And reliance on experimental or quasi-experimental methods, randomized controlled trials, bias toward standardized tests, does not constitute "rigorous evaluation.")
- Fund a project which changes how graduation rates are currently calculated. According to a recent AACSU report, the current methodology is highly flawed. (I was shocked to learn that I would not count as a successful graduate because I was a transfer student.) This is not just mere window dressing; it would help IHEs and the general public have a better sense of the actual success rate.

All in all, it was a productive and very long discussion thread about the initiative. I'll probably pull out a few more things for future postings.

Obama's Free Online Course Initiative

2009-09-16T16:31:00.003-05:00

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.

5 Reasons Microsoft Won't Buy Blackboard

2009-09-09T08:16:00.000-05:00

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.

Setting Online Expectations - Academic Freedom

2009-09-08T08:01:00.001-05:00

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 would prohibit behavior that is disruptive or interferes with the teaching/learning process, including:
- the posting of inappropriate materials in chat rooms, emails, bulletin boards, or Web pages;
- use of obscenities;
- personal attacks on fellow students or faculty;
- sexual harassment; or
- comments that are demeaning or disrespectful to another's ideas and opinions.

That seems to be pretty well stated. I think the bigger (err, harder) question has to do with Academic Freedom on behalf of the faculty when it comes to e-Learning. Don't get me wrong, I think that academic freedom is extremely important and needs to be protected - however, I think that it is often misunderstood. In fact, what I really believe is that academic freedom is tossed on the table in many situations where it is not a question of academic freedom in the first place. Or, to state it another way, academic freedom does not equal freedom - you are not free to do whatever you want just because you work in academe.

With regard to e-Learning, I have been waiting for quite some time for a battle to ensue regarding the intersection of academic freedom and access to technology. Several years ago I heard a negotiator for the state (employer) side of the negotiated contract language (union contract) state unequivocally that the choice of using or not using the state-supported IMS (D2L in our case, but no matter) is NOT a question of academic freedom. In other words, faculty cannot (according to him, at least) just claim academic freedom as the reason why they are choosing NOT to use the state/school-supported IMS, and instead choose to use a different IMS. Because of the licensing, support costs, and several other tech-related factors, and because the IMS is simply the vessel through which they teach, the question of academic freedom does NOT apply in this situation. Part of his rationale was that there is nothing "academic" about the choice of whether you use the supported IMS or not.

I think this is a fascinating argument. I also don't pretend to know the answer. IANAL, but I sure like to pretend as if I am from time to time. I would love to hear your opinions about this question. Please submit a comment (I moderate them due to high levels of spam, but try to approve them quickly) and share your thoughts.

Setting Online Expectations - Academic Honesty

2009-09-03T08:47:00.008-05:00

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 6Hx23-4.461.
Adhere to these standards of academic honesty and integrity as a condition of enrollment at SPC.
Understand that failure to comply with these standards may result in academic and/or disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from the College.
Recognize their ethical obligation, as members of the College community, to report any violation of the SPC Academic Honesty Policy.

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OK, I'm not just trying to be picky here, but look at that statement again: "Students may expect to understand and agree with recognizable standards on plagiarism." Does that make sense? Umm, no. That should be filed under the next category, more like "Students are expected to understand and agree with recognizable standards on plagiarism." (Although that also strikes me a little bit like "students are expected to agree with everything that I tell them." What if they don't agree with the "recognizable standards?")

Possibly in the first category there should be something like this:

"Students may expect to receive information and/or instruction from their faculty as to what constitutes cheating and plagiarism."

Everyone seems to want to punish students for academic dishonesty, but they seem to assume that students already know the same things that the faculty know about what is and what isn't cheating. That's a very poor assumption. Somewhere we need to spend the time teaching students about this or else the students will always be at a disadvantage. (P.S. I doubt that any Academic Honesty Policy really does a very good job of "teaching" student about these important issues.)

Anyone who has read my postings before is probably waiting for something like the following:

Students may expect to have their intellectual property (original writings or other creations) protected from low-life companies that seek to make a profit from them without compensation.
Students are expected to never give up their intellectual property to low-life companies that seek to make a profit from them without compensation.
The college administration and faculty are expected to honor the intellectual property of all students. Any attempt to force students to submit their intellectual property to low-life companies that seek to make a profit from students' work without compensation to the students is to be avoided, thwarted, or denied with extreme prejudice.

Overall, I think this section from SPC is very good. I just have to take my shots at the abomination that is Turnitin dot bomb every chance I get, and this was a chance to do so.

Setting Expectations - Jeannette Campos #2

2009-09-02T08:11:00.005-05:00

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, I standardized the folder structure, naming conventions and branding pieces (images, fonts and colors) to be used in all classrooms. Although the faculty were responsible for developing with these tools, the tools were really about setting and stabilizing expectations for the student: courses follow conventions, logical structure, predictable navigation and message design standards. Wow, learning is so much easier now that we aren’t confused and distracted!

8. Support: Break it down. Often times there isn't enough systematic support for online learning initiatives. To help you achieve a lot with a little, consider shaping expectations by breaking support questions down into four types: student support, BlackBoard functionality, faculty non-instructional support and faculty instructional support. Use your resources! Consider hiring a Federal Work Study student to handle the first three types of requests, and dedicate a capable and competent staff member for the instructional support issues. I think you'll find that both students and faculty alike are calmed knowing how to frame their request and seek help.

9. Engage: Involve them and make it fun. In my experience, online learning is really misunderstood and somewhat feared. Engaging the faculty, staff and leadership is very important. Shape the expectation that instructional technology is possible (for everyone!) and not so hard, so crazy, so radical, and so different from orthodox classroom instruction. It’s evolutionary, not revolutionary. Also, the more engaged the approach (student services, academic advising, library, etc), the greater the chance for student success.

10. Spell it out: Look to the abundant research out there to help you determine "what makes good online course design.” Consider using the research to determine what competencies you want the online learning on your campus to achieve. Then, use a research-based, competency approach to support your faculty development. Faculty like that they have a target that doesn't prescribe the methods they must use. They like it because it tells them “what right looks like” without removing their creative license to satisfy the standards. You can also use the competencies to certify courses. Faculty like this because the competencies provide a blueprint for the architecture of their online classroom. Last, it helps shape and manage the expectation of the students because they know, if they see the “certified logo” that this class passes muster.

There you have it. That's the end of Jeanette's thoughtful response to my question about shaping expectations for online teaching and learning. I really appreciate her taking the time to provide this feedback. Many of the things she mentions are similar to efforts we have made at Lake Superior College over the years, but a few of the things are either things we haven't gotten around to or things we decided not to do (such as "certify" a course for meeting design standards). Thanks very much Jeannette.

Expectations for Online Students - What does St. Pete Say?

2009-09-01T10:47:00.002-05:00

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:
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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 diverse in content and approach.
A course outline or syllabus that provides information regarding course content, teaching methods, course objectives, grading, attendance/participation policies, and student assessment guidelines.
Instructors who are responsive and available to discuss students' progress, course content, assignments, etc. at mutually convenient times from the first day of the term through the last day of the term. Individual instructors' schedules, availability, and procedural details will appear in the course syllabi. (See Instructional Performance Targets that follow.)
To have access to instructor feedback and grading on projects, exams, papers, quizzes, etc., so they are able to determine where they have made errors or need additional work.

Responsibilities. Students are expected to:

Have baseline computer and information skills. Since computer literacy is a general education requirement, students are encouraged to either take a face-to-face or online literacy course or take the literacy test prior to taking online courses.
Log into their courses during the first week (for the traditional semester) or within 48 hours (for non-traditional classes like modmesters, express, or "dynamically dated" classes) of the beginning of the session to confirm their participation. (Students who register after the session has begun will be responsible for any assignments or material already covered.)
Take an active role in each class, participating fully in class discussions, assignments and other activities throughout the entire session. If some event interferes with that participation, the student is responsible for notifying the instructor in advance.
Review the course syllabus and other preliminary course materials thoroughly as early as possible during the first week of class.
Be responsible for raising any questions or seeking clarification about these materials, if necessary, within the first week of the session.
Submit assignments and papers on time, and take tests by the posted dates. Acceptance of late work and any penalties for late submissions are up to the discretion of the instructor, based on the expectations outlined in the course syllabus.
Complete the "Student Survey of Instruction" for each class to evaluate the instructor and the course.

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That's a pretty good list. A few questions come to mind.
1. Are any of the included items either unclear or confusing to a typical student?
2. Should any of the included items be removed from the list?
3. Is there is anything missing that should be included in the list?
4. How will these expectations be communicated to potential and current students?

Before trying to tackle some of those questions, permit me to make one (possibly obvious) observation. The first section about what students may expect seems to be as much about shaping the college's expectations about faculty and online teaching as it does about shaping students' expectations. Clearly the only way that students may expect learning that isinternational in scope is if the faculty member provides the opportunity for that happen. Similarly, the only way that students can expect certain things to appear in the syllabus is if the college expects the faculty to include those items. Etc., etc. Clearly this is not rocket science.

So what's missing? Let's start with a somewhat snarky (but sensible) answer:

If students are expected to have baseline computer and information skills, doesn't it follow that:
Students may expect that their instructor has baseline computer and information skills
and by the way, where exactly is that baseline? and is "baseline" good enough, or is that minimally acceptable, or what?

What else is missing? How about a less snarky answer?

What can students expect as far as having access to course information? In other words, when will their login enable them to get to "their stuff" in the course?
How about this? Students may expect to be able to access the course shell and review the course requirements for 5 working days (Mon-Fri) prior to the first day of class.
And how about this? Students may expect to be able to access the course shell, review their work and the assigned grades for a minimum of 5 working days (Mon-Fri) after the last scheduled day of the course.

Something else that is missing is an item that always seems to catch students by surprise when taking an online course (although maybe this belongs in the next section (next post) about academic honesty and integrity):

Students may expect that an online course instructor could require them to take one or more proctored examinations or other assignments. Students at a distance from the campus will need to make arrangements to have an approved proctor available.
Ideally, there would be information available to students prior to enrolling in each online course about these requirements. It may be very difficult for some students to comply with these requirements depending on their circumstances.

There are other possibilities for this section, but I think I'll stop there. Any comments regarding this section of the SPC list of expectations will be appreciated.

Coming soon: SPC's Part B: Academic Honesty and Integrity and Part C: Academic Civility and Freedom of Expression

Setting Expectations - Jeannette Campos #1

2009-08-31T10:46:00.000-05:00

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 experiences as an online student, online instructor and online learning strategist to share her observations about preparing and deploying an online learning initiative. This first post includes her observations in five different areas: Strategy, Attributes, System Requirements, Standardizing Syllabi, and Quantifying Behavior.

1. Strategy: Confirm that the leadership supports (AND understands) what learning online is. Ensure that learning online is aligned with the strategic goals of the college. For example, “We’ll put anything online just to increase our course count” is a commander’s intent that can fail miserably. Rather than increasing enrollment and decreasing cost, a college can actually cannibalize its own course catalog by offering the same courses through the day, evening and online divisions. This can result in depleted enrollments and course cancellations (the opposite of the intended effect). Leadership needs to have a sound vision and a strategic approach for online learning. (Often times they need your help). Go bravely!

2. Attributes: Start by providing a list of attributes that make for good online learners and instructors. I put together a two-column list that showed the qualities of online learners and online faculty. The qualities for each were essentially the same (no surprise), and even so, I think it helps to demystify online learning a little bit for the faculty. It also helps to set the stage for a partnership of learning between student and instructor. Last, this list of attributes will help your advising department to feel better prepared to encourage, support and recommend students for online learning options.

3. System Requirements: Create a list of minimum software and hardware requirements for both faculty and students who want to learn online. You can cross-reference the list with the computers available in your campus library to ensure that your students will have access to solutions if they cannot afford their own hardware and software. I also recommend checking out the internet service provider on your campus and trying to increase your bandwidth. During one semester that I observed, the campus internet could not support the increase in traffic that the online course components were generating and no one on campus could get online. This is a fast and easy way to kill your online learning initiative.

4. Standardized Syllabus: Consider creating a standardized syllabus as a dynamic file that includes hyperlinks and embedded audio and video. Verify that the syllabus addresses all of the common concerns that faculty have about learning online, such as; academic integrity, synchronous course policies, what to do if there is a power outage, netiquette, etc. Creating a dynamic file as a template really helps faculty feel prepared and it gives them confidence that their online courses will be postured for success. I have found that this has been a very helpful tool in shaping expectations for both faculty and students.

5. Quantify Behavior: One of my colleagues John Fritz, the Vice President of Instructional Technology, at UMBC is working on an extended research project related academic analytics. More specifically, John is trying to show the relationship between online activity and grade distribution reports, in order to demonstrate how “good students use BlackBoard”. It’s very powerful stuff, and preliminary data shows that, for students, the higher one’s level of engagement, the higher one’s likelihood of academic success. This type of evidence can be very compelling for a student who has never enrolled in an online course. Based on John’s research, my syllabus now always includes a statement telling my graduate students, “Students who successfully completed this course last semester “hit” the classroom XX times per week and spent XX hours offline.” This clearly sets the expectation and patterns behavior. I have seen this also help faculty learn how to model online behavior. Posting frequent announcements, remaining engaged, responding promptly to posts, etc., can help the faculty provide better instruction and builds the motivation for the student to get engaged, and remain engaged, in the course work.

The next post will conclude Jeannette's observations as she provides information related to: Assumptions, Professional Development, Support, Engagement, and Spelling Things Out.

Setting Expectations for Online Learning

2009-08-28T08:53:00.003-05:00

One of the major projects during the upcoming academic year at Lake Superior College will be to develop several lists of expectations regarding online learning. This is our thirteenth year of offering online courses and programs and we have always preached certain things about how to teach online and how to learn online.

However, we have never had a written list of what those expectations are. So, anyone who wasn't in the room when we were talking about these things probably never actually heard our expectations. This is a problem particularly when we bring in a new online faculty member and they might not get all the information that the long-term faculty have heard time and time again.

For example, we have always had the expectation that our online courses will NOT be electronic versions of independent study (also called e-correspondence courses). We expect faculty members to plan for and design into their courses a great deal of interaction - including student-to-student and student-to-instructor. BUT, no where does it actually state that in writing that we can point to.

Therefore, we will have a work group comprised of people throughout the college, plus student representatives, who will work to put together the following lists:

1. Expectations that we have for online students
2. Expectations that we have for online faculty
3. Expectations that we have for administrators of online learning

A couple of weeks ago I tossed out a quick tweet seeking ideas and resources from my Twitter network about this topic of expectations. I received a thoughtful response from one of my Twitter friends and I will be using her input to make a couple of posts regarding her experiences with shaping expectations in online learning. Coming soon.

Test Proctoring - Part Two

2009-08-25T09:22:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I posted the first installment about an email exchange on the MnSCU Deans list about test proctoring for online students. This is another reply received on that thread.
--------------------
As of this fall '09, (a college) is not testing our own online students in the on campus Testing Center due to space and proctoring personnel limitations. Consequently we will not be testing online students from any other campus either.
-------------------
To which I replied with the following:
-------------------
It's me again. Something that (colleague) said triggered a thought that I should have put into the first email.

At LSC, we have NEVER had a policy of providing an exam proctoring service on-campus for students taking LSC online classes from us. Just like faculty who teach in the classroom, if an online faculty member wants to give a proctored exam, then that faculty member is expected to make arrangements for a space and time on campus when he/she will proctor (probably not even the right word when they are giving their own exam) the exam. We do not pay faculty to teach and then turn around and also pay staff members to give exams for those faculty members. Notable exceptions include certain accommodations for disabilities services and the occasional extenuating circumstance.

I think any institution would be making a big mistake in encouraging (or permitting) online faculty to assign examinations that must be proctored, but then expecting other people to do all the proctoring work. Of course I could be wrong. Let's just call that a strong opinion that is deeply held.

One more note about test proctoring for online courses at LSC. Test proctoring is required in something less than 10% of our online courses. We constantly encourage faculty members to choose assessment techniques that will not require substantial proctoring, but a few faculty members do choose to go down the proctoring road.

Barry
----------------
So far I have heard one dissenting opinion from a Dean who thinks that it is perfectly fine for staff to give exams for faculty members who teach online. They have a multi-campus environment which might make it difficult for one faculty members to proctor "on-campus"exams in multiple places. Still, I think it is a slippery slope to establish the precedent of giving exams for faculty - whether they teach online, on-ground, or both. YMMV.

Test Proctoring for Minnesota Online

2009-08-24T11:29:00.003-05:00

The question shown below was sent to the MnSCU Deans list this morning at the start of the Fall 2009 semester.
-------------------------
Colleagues,
We are receiving more and more request for proctoring, some of them from students at four-year institutions. What is your policy with respect to proctoring examinations for students taking online courses from other institutions?
-------------------------
My answer to the list appears below. I decided to post it to the blog so that I can simply point to it in the future when this question comes up again.
-------------------------
Never a dull moment when it comes to test proctoring for online students. This question comes up several times each year. Gary gets the prize for being the first one to ask during the fall term.

All MnSCU schools are part of Minnesota Online. As members, all are expected to provide test proctoring for local students taking online classes from other MnSCU students. In return, your distance students who live in other areas of the state should expect the same service from their local MnSCU institution.

http://mnonline.org/student/proctoring.html

As you'll see from the list linked above, not everyone chooses to play in the same sandbox. The MnOnline Council decided several years ago that all schools should provide this service as an integral part of being a "system." This is still the expectation as far as I know.

On a personal note: this is one of the many factors that led to a great deal of frustration on my part when involved with the MnOnline Council. Test proctoring is the poster-child example of how some schools are more cooperative than others when it comes to matters related to Minnesota Online. In my opinion, there still needs to be more of a mandate for schools to cooperate in situations such as these. However, as long as there is no penalty for non-compliance, some schools will continue to be less system-oriented than others.

In closing, I'll try to anticipate the next question about proctoring. NO, you cannot charge a MnSCU student a fee for test proctoring. All fees need to be on the board-approved list, and there is no such fee for test proctoring. It is appropriate to charge a fee for test proctoring (locally decided amount) for a student from a non-MnSCU school.

This has been the standard answer for the past several years, to the best of my understanding. If things have changed, or if I have misstated anything, please feel free to issue a correction.

Best wishes with the start of a new term, Barry
(Flickr CC photo by psd)

Twubs = Twitter Hub

2009-08-09T21:23:00.004-05:00

I've been working on developing a Twub (Twitter Hub) for use at EAT-IT 09 on Aug 12-13 at Inver Hills CC. One feature is the ability to embed the Twub info on any webpage, so here is an embed of the Twub. Just experimenting. The best experience will be to go to the actual Twub.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://twubs.com/eatit09"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;#eatit09&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

ITC Grand Debate - Suggestions Needed

2009-07-27T14:01:00.004-05:00

The ITC Grand Debate is held each year at the organization’s eLearning conference. The 2010 conference will be held from February 20-23 in Fort Worth, Texas at the Omni Hotel. Last year I was a participant in the Grand Debate titled “Virtual Worlds are the Second Life for Online Learning.” That event has been well chronicled and I don’t care to discuss it more at this time. The purpose for this post is to solicit a few topic ideas for the 2010 Grand Debate.

The ITC Board of Directors meets later this week in California and we will choose the debate topics (and hopefully the debaters as well) for the next conference. A couple of the previous topics included: “Classroom Observation is an Administrator’s Right” (2008), “Cheating is Rampant in Distance Education Classes” (2007), and Open Source vs. Proprietary Course Management: Is Proprietary Software Dead?” (2006).

Through a couple of tweets I received the following suggestions about two weeks ago.

Generations: Net Gen Skeptics vs. Net Gen Evangelists. Statement: “Digital as a first language changes everything about how to teach the Net Generation.” (suggested by @cmduke)
LMS versus PLE (or distributed sources) – Statement: “An LMS is no longer useful in a Web 2.0 world.” Or “An LMS is even more critical and useful in a Web 2.0 world.” (suggested by @dietsociety)
eLearning vs. ITV
Multiple learning styles. Statement: Through online learning we are able to adequately deal with groups of learners possessing different learning styles.
Online learning enables meaningful and effective individualized instruction. (suggested by @brueckj23)

Please leave a comment to this post of you have one more possible debate topics for the group to consider. It should be relevant to an eLearning audience (for example, I question whether a topic about ITV courses is relevant as we go forward), it should have two good sides that can be argued strongly, and we need to have some ideas about who could make those arguments during the debate. Thanks in advance!!
(CC photo by hive)

Screenjelly and ShareTabs

2009-07-23T13:12:00.006-05:00

Just a quick note to introduce two new web apps that you might find useful. Add Screenjelly to the list of web-based screencasting tools. In April I posted a comparison of Screencastle and Screentoaster for the very specific task of recording the creation of a chart in Excel.

Screenjelly is restricted to a time limit of 3 minutes, which may make it less useful than the others, although it worked very easily and would be great for quickies. I used Screenjelly to demonstrate a new service called ShareTabs. Jane Hart tweeted about it this morning:

Basically with ShareTabs you can provide a list of weblinks in a much more useful and visible format. I was thinking about how this could be used for aggregating web content for an online course, so I made this quick little screencast to demonstrate how you can embed a ShareTabs page inside Desire2Learn (and also how to use Screenjelly). Here's a link to the ShareTabs page of 6 Twitter links that I used for the demo.

See this video at Screenjelly.

D2L09 UNconference Video

2009-07-13T17:05:00.003-05:00

The D2L UNconference was a blast last night at the Liffey, an Irish pub in St. Paul. Kyle Mackie (@kylemackie) did a great job as emcee or chief organizer. Here's a short video (4.5 mins) containing several snippets from the evening, although not all presenters are shown. This video has absolutely zero value, as you'll soon see.

There is a good chance that the full video of some of these segments will see the light of day, but probably not from me. I'm just saying.

D2L UNconference at 6:30 today

2009-07-12T15:55:00.005-05:00

50 or so of the early-arrivers for D2L09 FUSION will be gathering at 6:30 today for the UNconference prior to the official start of the conference tomorrow morning. Check out the attendance list to see who is going to be having the most fun in St. Paul tonight.

The tag for the conference is D2L09. I expect lots of Twitter activity since many people that are coming are tweet-aholics. Here is a FeedFlash of tweets tagged with D2L09.

I expect there will be much more to report about this as it unfolds. Live streaming might occur if we have good connectivity. We'll be at the Liffey in St. Paul starting at 6:30.

Call for Keynote Presenters

2009-06-17T21:19:00.017-05:00

EAT-IT 2009 will happen on August 12-13 at Inver Hills Community College in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. EAT-IT stands for Emerging Academic Technologies and Instructional Techniques (yes, I spent 30 minutes coming up with a name that would fit the acronym.) More information about the conference at the Innovations in e-Education blog.

Here's a little different twist. We're NOT going to ask keynote speakers to come to this conference, they're going to ask us (we hope!). The conference is called EAT-IT! The focus of the conference will be Emerging Academic Technologies and Instructional Techniques. More info here.

So here's the deal. Submit the form below (or here) and tell us why we should hire you as a keynote speaker. Clearly you want to have a message that is on-topic for the conference. Additionally, consider the following:
* We need to know your total required fee. In other words, give us one price that represents the total amount that we will have to pay you. Don't say "fee plus expenses." As an independent contractor we can't separately reimburse your expenses anyway (in other words, roll the expenses into your fee).
* We would really appreciate it if you would also provide a 50-60 minute breakout session in addition to your 60-75 minute keynote (on the same day). However, you can refuse this if you're not interested.
* Feel free to submit more than one proposal if you have different topics that you think we might be interested in for the conference.

Why are we asking for proposals from potential keynote speakers?
* Why ask why? Why not ask why not?
* Because this might be a chance to see a great proposal for a keynote from someone who never gets asked to do a keynote. Newbies are encouraged to apply.
* Because maybe we'll have a chance at getting an expensive speaker at a bit of a discount. Sort of like unsold seats on an airplane - if these dates are open in someone's calendar then maybe they'll be willing to accept less money to have an extra gig. Maybe not, but it was worth a try.
* Because we'll be able to choose among proposals from people who really want to come to our conference - they'll have to persuade us to hire them rather than us having to persuade them to let us hire them.
* Because we'll be able to tell you up front that we won't be able to pay $5,000 for a keynote speaker. We're hoping to hire at least two different people, and we're expecting only about 75-100 people to attend this conference (it is prime vacation time after all) so we won't have a huge budget to work with.

That's it for now. Hope we get some innovative proposals.

e-Learning Leadership Development

2009-05-15T08:31:00.002-05:00

It seems obvious that there is a perceived void in the development of future leaders in the field of e-Learning. At least it certainly appears that way. I come to that conclusion based on the fact that there are three different efforts by reputable organizations to develop leadership academies focused on e-Learning. One by ITC (note: I am a board member), one by WCET (note: I am involved in the event planning and execution), and one by SLOAN-C.

From the Instructional Technology Council (ITC): (copied from website)

ITC 2009 Leadership Academy
July 26-28, 2009, Costa Mesa, California Application Deadline: May 20, 2009

See Academy Web site

The ITC Leadership Academy is designed to develop and enrich the leadership skills of distance learning professionals in higher educational settings. Ideal candidates include distance learning administrators or learning technologies administrators with three or more years of managerial experience in a distance learning program. Along with a group of approximately 25 fellow professionals from throughout North America, participants will gain the opportunity to:

• Understand your organization and create a sound leadership strategy for your environment

• Develop a leadership model that fits your institution

• Identify and acquire key tools for successful leadership in distance learning

• Build a network of colleagues and fellow practitioners

This three-day academy will be held in beautiful Costa Mesa, a community of Orange County, California. The deadline to submit an application is May 20, 2009.

Visit the Academy Web site for more information and an application form.

(end)

From WCET: (copied from website)

CatalystCAMP

Explore Leadership Strategies for eLearning Success with the Experts. In conjunction with the WCET Annual Conference on October 21-24, the first-ever CatalystCAMP is providing a unique professional development opportunity for emerging elearning leaders. CAMP participants will be teamed with national experts who will lead sessions addressing policy, technical, funding, and accountability issues currently facing higher education.

In these tight budget times, all available professional development funds must be spent wisely. By blending CatalystCAMP into the WCET conference schedule, it becomes a "2-for-1" savings on travel and also allows participants to augment their professional development program with selected conference sessions.

5 things YOU will do at CatalystCAMP

AWARENESS: Analyze external and internal pressures and what impact they may have on your institution.
ANTICIPATION: Identify needed changes and the rubrics for decision-making.
ARTICULATION: Plan what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.
ACTION: Implement, monitor, and manage change.
ASSESSMENT: Evaluate and evolve.

(end)

From SLOAN-C: (copied from website)

The Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL)

Has your institution recently launched or are you planning to launch an online program?

Do you have the next level of leadership prepared to embrace all that online delivery has to offer?

If you, like many, see developing the leadership capacity as a critical issue in establishing your an online program, you may be interested in participating in The Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning, a unique blended-learning leadership development program sponsored by Penn State and The Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C).

"A key objective of the Institute is to get emerging leaders together with online learning pioneers to share their experiences," explains Dr. Gary E. Miller, executive director emeritus of Penn State’s World Campus and one of the Institute leaders. With so many of the early adopters at or near retirement age, there is a real need to foster the development of the next generation of higher education leaders in online learning, Miller notes.

The institute is a blended format, which means participants will meet as a group for an immersive experience then continue their learning in an online environment that culminates with a capstone project at The Sloan Consortium's annual conference in October, explains co-director Lawrence C. Ragan.

The group experience will take place August 10–13, 2009, at Penn State.

(end)

I have no doubt that all three organizations will provide valuable learning opportunities for participants. Maybe a better question is whether there are enough potential participants to go around.

Blackborg Goes Creative Commons

2009-05-12T18:17:00.005-05:00

In the category of chock one up for electronic communications, MikeLeSombre (his blog) changed his copyright on the image shown above after getting requests from several people (including me) asking him to reconsider his "All Rights Reserved" copyright and allow sharing through Creative Commons licensing. That's exactly what he did.

Now his image is licensed as CC Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 which means that his image will be used and shared far and wide - legally. Thanks Mike. You have many fans who appreciate your handiwork with this poster.

Resistence is futile* (see note above) All your IMS are belong to us.

Thanks from Online Student Scholarship Winners

2009-05-12T15:07:00.003-05:00

A few years ago I started a scholarship fund at Lake Superior College for students who are pursuing an online degree program or at least completing most of their courses via online delivery. Back then I was struck by the irony (or maybe sadness?) while attending the student awards banquet that none of the scholarships were going to online students. That just didn't seem right considering that about 15% of our enrollment was for online courses, but none of the financial support was being given to online students. They were clearly a hidden population. Now the online enrollments make up over 25% of our total enrollment, but I am happy to report that for the past several years we have honored online students on scholarship night. (CC photo by stuartpilbrow)

This year there were three online scholarship winners. Today I received thank you cards from each of them. They want to communicate with all the people who made their awards possible, so I will post their words here in an effort to let people know how appreciative they are.

#1: " Just a short note of thanks for selecting me to receive your scholarship through my education at LSC. I am currently seeking my dgeree in accounting to be able to hopefully upgrade my position with the State of Minnesota. I also am raising my 3 children, so any type of help such as this is greatly appreciated. Thanks, again."

#2: "Thank you very much for choosing me for the Virtual Campus Scholarship. I filled out 11 applications and I am pleased to have received one! I've been struggling to get my foot in the door to college for many years now, and now that I started classes I realized I enjoy college. When I try hard in classes I surprise myself because I never thought I could do that well. Thanks for helping me achieve my goals and believing in me. :)"

#3: "First of all, thank you for choosing me as one of the Virtual Campus Scholarship recipients. I have struggled to get half-way through my program and dealt with many hard things, hindering my abilities. But nothing is more important to me than graduating and being able to start my paralegal career with an A.S. degree in Legal Studies. I rely on financial aid and student loans to pay for college, but because I went over full-time both semesters, I had no funding left for summer classes. I am a single mom and unable to work for a few reasons, therefore, getting this degree as soon as possible is a major priority for me."

"I am very grateful that I was one of the many people chosen. I really needed this scholarship to attend summer classes. It is a great honor and privilege to have received this scholarship and I am so thankful. It has made my life somewhat easier and not as stressful in a few areas of my life. I really do appreciate receiving this scholarship more than words can say."

So there you have it. Those are the reasons that we needed the fund. Thanks so much to the other employees who donate money to the e-Campus scholarship fund and /or help out with the few fundraising events we hold each year. You all make a difference.

Blackboard Hearts Angel

2009-05-07T22:34:00.012-05:00

I haven't posted anything about the Blackboard purchase of Angel during the first two days of the hub-bub because as my mother once told me, "If you don't have anything snarky and bitchy to say, just don't say anything at all." As I was preparing to write this post (and while mulling over her words of wisdom), I decided that I need to set the record straight regarding this much-maligned purchase. (CC angel photo by adselwood)

What a fabulous move by Blackboard! Once again, the Blackboard suits in the white hats have pulled a marvelous coup in the LMS market. Current Angel clients should embrace the fact that they have now been adopted by the mothership - where there will always be a bird in every pot, a car in every garage, and a lawyer in every chair.

I'm totally perplexed by all the negativity being expressed by various members of the education community. I even heard a few people remark that Michael Chasen appears to be a complete slimeball in this video from the fabulous Fox Network. I beg to differ. Mr. Chasen appears to me to be a completely sympathetic character; one who is only striving for the betterment of education and one who is not at all slimy. Just knock off all the talk about him being slimy. Clearly that is not the case. I see no slime whatsoever. (And it's certainly not his fault that the woman interviewing him is absolutely clueless.)

I have many friends at colleges and universities that are Angel clients. I have received emails/tweets/wall posts from several of them who want to cry on my shoulder and are expecting my sympathies in return. Get off my shoulder. Get over it. Put down that bottle of whiskey. This is absolutely the best thing that could have happened to you. The Angel platform is certain to live a long and fruitful life now that they have Blackboard's financial backing, BB's cadre of dedicated employees, their best-in-class architecture, and their much-deserved patent on the basic functionality of the LMS. Without this purchase by Blackboard, Angel was heading to a certain death and then where would all the Angel users be? Think of this as your BAILOUT, and Obama didn't even have anything to do with it. Or did he?

At Inside Higher Ed, both the article and the comments are mostly negative about this purchase. Don Gardner, Associate Vice President for Academic Technology at California State University, Long Beach is quoted as saying that Blackboard has provided "consistently poor customer service" and that Long Beach was in the process of switching to Angel because of Angel's superior customer service. Note to Dr. Gardner: since Blackboard is buying Angel they are also buying Angel's fabulous customer service. Therefore, you are going to be getting that great customer service from a company that is 12 to 15 times larger than Angel was, which means of course that you can expect the customer service to be even better than what you were hoping for under Angel - maybe even 12 to 15 times better.

In that same article, Fred Lokken, Associate Dean for Teaching Technologies at Truckee Meadows Community College in Nevada said he objected to the "predatory" way that Blackboard is fighting with Desire2Learn over patents. "Is the idea to own the market so that we have no choice?" Yes, Mr. Lokken. That is exactly the point. That is the American Way, and Blackboard is the poster child for illustrating the American Way of doing business. Every b-school student can learn a lot from watching the shrewd moves that Blackboard makes in dominating the education market with their superior technology and innovative innovations in the user interface and tool set.

"Chasen stressed that the attraction of Angel to Blackboard was respect for just the qualities that Angel's fans praise: teaching tools and customer service. He pledged that Angel customers would continue to receive strong support, that the new version of Angel that is coming out just as this deal is being announced would in fact come out, and that pricing would remain stable." (also from IHE) In this section Mr. Chasen lays out the the basic strategy for the Angel and Blackboard platforms. It reminds me greatly of the old days of General Motors. Pound for pound, Buick cars were always more expensive than Pontiacs. Many of the features of Buicks and Pontiacs were very similar, but Buicks were the big dogs (not as big as Cadillac, but big enough) and Pontiac was the younger, less mature, less expensive sibling. Considering the price differences between Blackboard and Angel, and considering that Mr. Chasen has stated that the pricing would remain stable, I think it's safe to say that LMS customers will now have the choice of buying the more expensive Buick Blackboard or the less expensive Pontiac Angel. And wouldn't those also be great names for cars?

Commenter Dane said "As one who has used Blackboard, I have found that, apart from whatever failings it has in service, it is one of the worst course management programs there is." Dane, you sound like a bitter, broken man. Clearly you are misguided in your opinions about Blackboard. Don't be a hater.

Commenter Kim says "Hmm ...Rapidly escalating prices, ignoring security issues, regularly purchasing competitors, aggressively pursuing patent protection, and deteriorating customer service. Should we not be concerned about the possibility of abusive monopolistic practices?" Yes, we should not. Just move along. Nothing to see here.

In a phone interview, when asked about whether this acquisition would have a stifling effect on competition, Mr. Chasen told Campus Technology "Actually there's more competition today with course management systems than ever before." That does sound perfectly reasonable to me. I have no doubt that Blackboard is actually pursuing a strategy of encouraging more competition, not trying to squelch it. In fact, it sounds like they would love to have a whole bunch of tiny little companies nipping at their heels. It helps keep them more agile that way, sort of like the postman.

Commenter Robert Blechman said "Given our recent economic history why would anyone think that one company controlling 80% of the market is a good idea? Who is going to raise the appropriate anti-trust objections to this merger?" Not me Robert, and not you either. You see, Angel was (still is) a privately-held company which means that most of the anti-trust legislation doesn't apply to this transaction. Translation: Blackboard can buy Angel and no one can stop it. Now that's smart positioning in my book.

Anonymous commenter said "I find it interesting that there has not been a single BlackBoard customer that has come to BB defense. Not one positive comment. It says a lot..." It says nothing. I have no doubt that these blog and news sites are deleting those positive posts because positivity just doesn't sell. There are lots of positive comments about Blackboard, they just don't show up on any public websites. Trust me.

And besides, just to prove you wrong Mr. Anonymous, consider this post to be one long, very positive comment in Blackboard's defense. Blackboard hearts Angel, and I heart Blackboard.

Do you have a mirror? (.dias tsuj I gnihtyreve esrever yletelpmoc tsuj woN)

Student Authentication Update - April 2009

2009-04-23T13:26:00.005-05:00

In the previous post I wrote about the second round of discussions by the rulemaking committee that took place this week at the Department of Education in Washington D.C. This is the group that will decide how the distance learning student authentication issue in the Higher Education Opportunities Act will play out.

Thanks to Chris M, the Executive Director of the ITC, I can provide you with a sense of how those conversations have gone so far. The third and final meeting for this group will occur on May 18-20, at which time we expect to have clear language about how accrediting bodies should apply the law as handed down for the HEOA.

Based on the conversations late yesterday afternoon, this is how we expect (best guess?) the language will be handled: (expected changes to the proposed language in red)

602.17 Application of standards in reaching an accreditation decision.

(g) Requires institutions that offer distance education or correspondence education to have processes in place through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit. The agency meets this requirement if it --

(1) Requires institutions to verify the identity of a student who participates in class or coursework by using such methods as, but not limited to --

(i) A secure login and pass code~~, randomly generated personal questions,~~ or proctored examinations; and

[NOTE: there was widespread agreement to drop this phrase in section i since the participants agreed that we shouldn't be locked into the use of any particular technology or method - apparently, no one (who spoke) felt it should be left in.]

~~(ii) New identification technologies as they become widely accepted; and~~

[NOTE: it seems that number ii will be dropped entirely, but that is not yet certain.]

(2) Makes clear in writing that institutions ~~should~~ not use or rely on technologies that interfere with student privacy.

--- end of proposed rulemaking language ---

If that is what happens, then I think we will be able to breathe a big sigh of relief. Getting rid of language that specifically promotes one new technology (random questions) and an emphasis on maintaining student privacy goes a very long way toward making this a workable requirement, without closing the door on future possibilities that might develop in this space.

The next time for an update will be in May when the third and final discussion period happens for the negotiated rulemaking. Several people have worked very hard to put some common sense and reasonableness into this language. Let's hope that those thoughts prevail at the end of the day. Either way, they deserve our thanks.

Distance Ed Authentication Rulemaking

2009-04-20T22:32:00.006-05:00

The second round of discussions by the rulemaking committee occurs at the Department of Education in Washington D.C. on Tuesday through Thursday, April 21 - 23. It is this group that will decide whether the final resolution of the distance student authentication issue goes beyond the clarifying language attached to the Higher Education Opportunity Act.

You can read the draft language (PDF submitted by the Department of Education) for the second round of discussions by Team III - Accreditation. Of primary importance to distance educators is Issue #1: Definitions of correspondence and distance education and Issue #10: Authentication of distance ed and correspondence ed students.

Issue #1: The lesser of the two issues, this one is an attempt to determine definitions for correspondence courses and distance education. The draft language defines various features of correspondence courses and then states that "Correspondence education may not be considered distance education." (pg. 2)

The definition of distance education is proposed as:
"Distance education means education that uses one or more of the technologies listed in paragraphs (1) through (4) to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor, either synchronously or asynchronously. The technologies include--

(1) The internet;
(2) One-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices;
(3) Audio conferencing; or
(4) Video cassettes, DVDs, and CD-ROMs, if the cassettes, DVDs, or CD-ROMs are used in a course in conjunction with any of the technologies listed in paragraphs (1) through (3)."

This is significant in that it clearly delineates between correspondence courses and distance education. However, it is also significant because it does NOT differentiate between fully online courses and hybrid courses. One of the concerns is whether the distance ed requirements will also be applied to hybrid courses since the students are sometimes "separated from the instructor."

Issue #10: (pages 37-40) "Amends current regulations regarding change of scope and agency standards to include references to distance education and correspondence education and to require processes to authenticate distance education and correspondence education students."

This is the section of the HEOA that has all distance educators shaking their heads in disbelief. Fortunately, the draft language isn't too far crazy - but it's not perfect either:
"(g) Requires institutions that offer distance education or correspondence education to have processes in place through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the course or program and receives the academic credit. The agency meets this requirement if it--

(1) Requires institutions to verify the identity of a student who participates in class or coursework by using such methods as–
(i) A secure login and pass code, randomly generated personal questions, or proctored examinations; and
(ii) New identification technologies as they become widely accepted; and
(2) Makes clear that institutions should not use or rely on technologies that interfere with student privacy."

I certainly hope that the good people working on the negotiated rulemaking come to realize that the inclusion of the "randomly generated personal questions" is very problematic. There is only one company (Acxiom) that is trying to push this down out throats and I question how much influence they have had (can you say lobbyists? Sure, I knew you could) on the process. Being a bit of a conspiracy theorist, I also question whether Blackboard has been influencing this legislation since they are in bed with Acxiom and would potentially stand to benefit if this language doesn't get removed.

The “randomly generated personal questions” is absolutely one of the methods that we were attempting to exclude via the clarifying language as a new identification technology that is not ready for prime time (another is the remote proctor "big Brother" camera). One way to read the language is that they are mentioning three possibilities for authenticating students - and that random personal questions will not be a requirement. However, just by having that language in there leaves open the door for an accrediting agency to require it.

BTW - I'm rather peeved that our accreditors, the Higher Learning Commission (North Central Association), saw fit to jump the gun on the student authentication language in the HEOA. The accreditation report that was due a couple of weeks ago asked us which of these intrusive student authentication methods we have already put in place at the college. We cited the clarifying language of the HEOA and told them that we are doing everything that we are required by law to do at this time. I still stand by that statement.

Blackboard Invented Nothing!

2009-04-17T14:14:00.003-05:00

... but of course, we already knew that. Now, the USPTO seems to have figured it out as well. Today they released their Action Closing Prosecution (nonfinal). decision (announced at D2L Patent blog)

Rather than write a long blog post, I'll share my initial thoughts (from Twitter) as I first heard about this and as I was reading the USPTO report (read from bottom up). Basically, the USPTO agrees that prior art renders the Blackboard patent baseless. However, we're still not done with this mess. What next? More Blackboard shenanigans, without any doubt.

ScreenCastle Wins Round One

2009-04-06T09:02:00.004-05:00

Just when I was ready to recommend ScreenToaster (a couple of months ago) as a slick browser-based (no download) way to make screencasts, I ran into a problem. Today I tried the new kid on the block, ScreenCastle.

The assignment that I was trying to illustrate with ScreenToaster was the possibility of having a student make a screen recording of how they created a chart using Microsoft Excel. I remember teaching those classes years ago where the students had to turn in a paper copy of their completed chart. Seems to me that this is the same question that is raised all the time about distance learning - "how do I know that Billy Bob is really the person who made that great chart and that somebody else didn't do it for him and now he's just turning in the printout?" or some other long run-on question like that.

By having the students make a screencast of their work they would be able to talk through the steps that they completed. However, to avoid technical problems I really didn't want to have all the students download and install something like CamStudio or Jing. Instead, using a browser-based recorder that is simply click-talk-click would be a better alternative.

Here is the example of this using ScreenCastle. This was my first take and the first time I used Screencastle.

That seems to work pretty well. After you record the screencast, they give you various options for getting the code to the video. Still trying to figure out whether that is a one-shot offer, or if I can easily get those same codes later on. Here is the link to the recording at Screencastle. You don't even create an account at Screencastle so there is no way of associating the screencasts with the creator. In other words, if I can't find the link (now I can in this post, but what about a student who has created a screencast and then closed that page?), I might not be able to find the screencast again.

After it worked successfully with Screencastle, I decided to do exactly the same thing with ScreenToaster. I once again made the chart in Excel. Click on the link below to see the totally unsatisfactory result. This is the same result that I saw a month or two ago.

Here's the lousy Screentoaster version of the same chart making exercise. (Yes, I really did make the chart, you just don't get to see it.)

There are certain things that I really like about ScreenToaster. If they continue to improve their service I have no doubt that it can be a player in this screencating space. One thing I don't like is how your choices go away after recording the screencast. For example, you have the choice to upload (high quality, they say) to ScreenToaster or to upload directly into YouTube. I wanted to do both, however, after uploading to ScreenToaster I was no longer able to upload to YouTube.

BTW, Screencast-o-matic is another browser-only tool in this space, and it works pretty well.

Is Blackboard Losing Clients?

2009-03-30T06:58:00.004-05:00

There's lots of speculation about how much ill-will has been created in the education community by Blackboard's predatory business practices, but not much hard data either way. The real question is how many former Blackboard/WebCT clients have left the flock since the merger (acquisition?) of the two giants that was first announced on October 12, 2005.

Now it's 3.5 years later. I thought it would be interesting to try to compile a list of schools/consortia/orgs that have switched away from either Blackboard or WebCT to any of the other alternatives, or vice versa. To that end, I've thrown together a simple wiki where anyone can enter information about changes they've made to their IMS/VLE adoptions during that time frame.

Besides the home page, there are three additional pages on this wiki:

Those who have left Blackboard/WebCT during the past 3.5 years
Those that are seriously considering leaving Blackboard/WebCT during the next 2-3 years
Those who have signed (as new clients) with Blackboard/WebCT during the past 3.5 years

In addition, there is a discussion forum for those who are so inclined.

For those who have missed it, on March 26, 2009, Desire2Learn announced their Million $ Mission in a letter from D2L CEO John Baker to Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen. That same day a Facebook fan page was also created to show support for this offer as a resolution to the ongoing patent battle between the two companies.

Please share this widely. Let's try to get lots of entries on this wiki. (Of course, Blackboard could help us out by publishing a list of new clients added and clients lost, but I'm quite certain that will never happen.)

I saw two things during the past couple of days that made me decide to try to gather this info.

First, I was intrigued by the listing of the IMS choices of the 64 teams in the NCAA basketball tourney. Those schools seem to be a pretty good cross-section of larger universities in the U.S. The only IMS that appears to be under-represented in the field is Angel (only 1 school). Otherwise, the scoreboard says Blackboard = 49 (77% of the 64 schools), Desire2Learn = 9 (14%), Sakai = 2 (3%), and Moodle = 2 (3%).
Second, Leonard Low of Australia left a comment on the previous post (Blackboard's Last Chance) stating that "The disapproval of Blackboard's conduct over the last few years has been so strong that 100% of the tertiary institutions in my city (5 of them) - all of which once used WebCT - have now already migrated, or are in the process of migrating to, other platforms. They could have kept us all if they'd conducted themselves with a modicum of integrity." How common is that point-of-view? I hope we find out.

Blackboard's Last Chance

2009-03-26T12:34:00.008-05:00

Desire2Learn has lobbed a softball directly at Blackbeard (err, Blackboard). We'll see if the Presidential Pirate (Michael Chasen) can hit the ball out of the park.

From the D2L Patent Info blog, we read that D2L's John Baker made the following proposal to Blackboard's Chasen:

Blackboard drop its recently-filed suit in a timely manner.
In return, Desire2Learn will donate $1,000,000 to non-profit schools and educational organizations.
Blackboard is invited to join us with its own donation.
Up to 50% of the Desire2Learn donation will be directed toward schools in need in and around Washington, D.C., the home of Blackboard.

Obviously, Blackboard hasn't been willing to do the right thing up to this point, and the amount of badwill that they have incurred over these lawsuits has to be a great deal more than they estimated when they undertook this path against D2L. Here's a chance to do the right thing - quite possibly the last chance for Blackboard to begin repairing their image with much of the educational community.

Baker is giving Chasen a chance to be the good guy (not sure that he is interested in such a moniker), and I think he would be wise to take it. Blackboard will most certainly disagree with my next statement, but I believe that the lawsuit is a major contributor to their continued loss of clients.

The 2008 ITC survey "Trends in e-Learning" (will link when website comes back up) was completed by 139 schools. 58% of those schools report that they are using one of the BlackCT products for their LMS. A year earlier the same survey (not exactly the same repsondents) showed a 77% usage rate for BlackCT (that's Blackboard and WebCT combined for the unitiated). "This continues a trend in the decline in usage of Blackboard/WebCT over the past four years." Additionally, 37% of the respondents indicated that they were considering a switch in their LMS platform in the next few years. Obviously, many of those are Bb users. The survey last year also indicated a large number of schools considering a Blackboard dump.

Here's a chance to put this nonsense to rest - to save everybody a ton of money (except the lawyers) - and to put education/teaching/learning at the forefront as it should be. Even Chasen should be able to see that slow-arcing pitch and lay the wood to it. (I was reading today about how men overdo the use of sports analogies, so I couldn't resist.)

8 Week Courses for Online AA Degree

2009-03-24T07:50:00.000-05:00

Registration opens soon for both summer and fall terms at Lake Superior College. We will now be offering enough sections of online courses in an 8-week format to allow students to compete the Online A.A. (Associate in Arts) degree on a more flexible schedule. Courses run for 8 weeks at a time instead of 16, although the traditional length courses will still be offered and are in fact still the standard offering in our schedule. However, I do expect the 8-week courses to be quite popular. In addition, students will now have 5 different entry points (start dates) during the school year.
Here's our new video:

and here's the new print ad:

Twouble in Twitterville

2009-03-22T08:42:00.004-05:00

Even though I love Twitter as a way to stay connected with really smart people, I still think that this Current.com video is hilarious.

The inane commentary shown in this video is the reason that I almost gave up on Twitter about a year ago. The tweets were basically worthless and I didn't care at all about which bagel shop someone had stopped at. However, then as I added the right people to the network, I started to learn something useful from it every day. Now it is the one web-based tool that I would least want to give up. Still, that is funny and very well done.

Student Introductions in Online Courses

2009-03-05T07:50:00.009-06:00

Why not throw away this tired, old assignment? "Please post an introduction of yourself to the rest of the class on the discussion board."

This is the type of response you'll get to this opening week assignment. (This is an actual student post, although YMMV)

"My Name is Kristine. I am currently working towards my LPN degree. I would like to complete my RN someday too. I stay busy, as I have a husband and a 3 year boy & a 2 year old daughter! I also have 5 horses and 4 dogs. They all keep me very busy, but I love it. We live on a farm in rural MN. I am very excited about this course, it should be very interesting!"

Musical Introductions

Change the assignment. Tell students to use a free music service such as iMeem or Seeqpod (or any of several others) to create a 3-song playlist that tells you a little something about them. You might ask them to write why these songs speak to them or what these songs say about who they are as a person.

2008 Web Tools Embed

Creating the playlist is free and easy. They can simply link to the playlist in the discussion board, or with just a little bit of effort they could actually embed the playlist into the threaded discussion area for the introductions (assuming your VLE allows students to edit html, which they can in Desire2Learn).

Comic Strip Introductions

Change the assignment. Tell them to go to Toondoo.com and create a comic strip that tells a little something about them. Pretty much open ended - you never know what you're going to get!

Once again students can either link to there completed Doo or embed it in the discussion post. Another option would be to have a wiki set up where students would just edit the page and add their playlist or comic strip so that you have them all on one page for comparison and future reference.

These are just two examples of how you can use free web-based tools (Web 2.0, if you will) to spice up an otherwise boring assignment. These tools are easy for students to learn, totally free to use, and fun. Nothing wrong with having a little fun while you learn.

This post is based on a portion of a workshop I presented with Kim Goudy at ITC09 titled: "It's NOT my Job to Entertain Students." See the presentation wiki here.

Twitter Favorites from ITC09

2009-03-03T20:39:00.009-06:00

At the eLearning 2009 (ITC09) conference last month there was a fair number of active Twitterers who were keeping up with the various activities by tweeting their experiences for others in attendance as well as many followers who were not at the conference at all. Sharing links, making comments, making plans for dinner and other get-togethers, and several other purposes were enabled by Twitter. Below are some of the almost 400 tweets that included the tag ITC09. There were many others that didn't include the tag.

One of the best examples of how Twitter changed the conference for me was when I was sitting in a not-too-special presentation and saw a tweet about how a discussion about accessibility formed in another room after the presenter didn't show up. I was curious about how that was going and two minutes later I was able to join the discussion. I was also able to get almost immediate feedback about sessions where I was presenting to see what worked best and what didn't.

There were several blog posts, including several live blogs of sessions, but I think there was more Twitter activity than blog activity related to the conference. This highlights the importance of having wifi available throughout the conference site to enable this kind of communication. This is a sampling of the tweets about the conference.

barrydahl a little less than 1% of photos on Flickr have CreativeCommons licensing. @BryanAlexander ITC0910:16 AM Feb 22nd from web
cmduke a new blog post > What’s missing in online course quality? (ITC09) http://tinyurl.com/cnwqal1:12 PM Feb 25th from twitterfeed
m2sE Moved chairs in a circle to have a conversation rather than lecture for our #itc09 session- what an amazing group 2 share with, thank u all!2:04 PM Feb 24th from web
hardball8 #ITC09 "mass personalization strategies" discussed here: http://tinyurl.com/brulkf2:00 PM Feb 24th from web
cmduke http://tinyurl.com/ckc493 - the Managing the Back Channel section is outstanding.11:15 AM Feb 24th from TweetDeck
cmduke RT @ajwms @sherrymn @cmduke Live blog for "Understanding the Nature of Mobile Learning" http://tinyurl.com/c7wbux10:40 AM Feb 24th from TweetDeck
marsmars2 - Itc09 is awesome - so many great ideas! Whoa!7:17 PM Feb 23rd from Ping.fm
cmduke liveblogging Measuring Quality in ONline Courses Using Multiple Metrics at #itc09 http://moourl.com/fskji5:59 PM Feb 23rd from TweetDeck
gabrielmcgovern Brian keeps suggesting other people for the #ITC09 keynote. I disagree, listening to Brian is like a mashup of all those individuals.11:26 AM Feb 23rd from web
Goamick ITC09 Brain Lamb keynote finds that limiting image searches to freeuse results inbetter images for educational use-besides legal to use yah!11:09 AM Feb 23rd from web
cmduke @mccant there's a good conversation going in a CoverItLive backchannel - http://moourl.com/zl9y511:09 AM Feb 23rd from web
Goamick In Session "It's not My Job to Entertain Students" ITC09 "But it is your job to ENGAGE students" Barry Dahl and Kim Goudy5:39 PM Feb 22nd from web
sherrymn @rashford I agree. Had a conversation with @cmduke after. We are concerned on the impact debate may have had.4:10 PM Feb 22nd from TwitterBerry
ajwms @fleep: community of educators provides a great way to learn and try. Not for all but it is new way to see the future.3:35 PM Feb 22nd from TwitterBerry
ajwms @barrydahl: SL is a creepy treehouse where higher ed is trying to show how cool we are. Not many students are in SL. #itc093:29 PM Feb 22nd from TwitterBerry
gabrielmcgovern Best tip of #itc09 yet: 80% off at restaurant.com: http://tinyurl.com/dlzpkr Thanks Stephen!2:09 PM Feb 22nd from web
gabrielmcgovern #ITC09 wireless seems much better then the presenters ethernet connections. Bizarro world. How did the hotel screw up the land line?12:39 PM Feb 22nd from web
cmduke @BryanAlexander #elearn2009 answer to my question: Clear Forest Gnosis - http://tinyurl.com/2tjjyl11:23 AM Feb 22nd from web

jjjohnson01 #itc09 thanks for attending our presentation. Good conference; can't wait until next year!3:47 PM Feb 24th from twitterrific
jjjohnson01 Last day for #ITC09. It's been a great conference this year. Kudos to the organizing committee and staff!! I'm voting for Nashville!8:37 AM Feb 24th from web
ajwms @barrydahl think ITC is ready for The Rev? 6:20 PM Feb 23rd from TwitterBerry
brlamb I generally hate hit-and-run trips, and I wish I could have seen more of Portland. But I did get to go to Powell's and hang out with @jstein5:02 PM Feb 23rd from web
brlamb Judging from the new Twitter adds, and some @brlamb replies, I made some friends at the talk today. Relieved it went OK, it was a big room.5:01 PM Feb 23rd from web
busynessgirl Wishes there was a website RateYourPresenters.com3:24 PM Feb 23rd from mobile web
seanmckay 12.9% of online growth rate for online enrollments exceeds the 1.2% growth of the overall higher education student population #itc091:44 PM Feb 23rd from TwitterFon
busynessgirl Presenters need to spend more time ontheir real topic and less time leading up to their topic.12:21 PM Feb 23rd from mobile web
evinsmj If you didn't go to the cheatability session, use this survey to determine how cheatable your course is - http://tinyurl.com/6mcq22 #itc0912:18 PM Feb 23rd from TweetDeck
ajwms totally stealing @brlamb's joke about who never raises their hand at talks. Asked them to raise their hand.11:02 AM Feb 23rd from web
brlamb Man, I just looked at the schedule, and my keynote is scheduled to begin at 8 AM. Who the hell would actually want that? I'd better sleep.11:42 PM Feb 22nd from web
jjjohnson01 @fleep @barrydahl Thanks for the debate at lunch! Barry cheated (great debate technique, btw), but good info from both sides.8:01 PM Feb 22nd from web
evinsmj Apparently I'm using twitter too much when @barrydahl pulls up his netvibes account for the conference and the top few tweets are from me!6:11 PM Feb 22nd from TweetDeck
pascher The cheatability factor session this morning at eLearning was great. Thanks John and Jared! http://learningfield.org/ch...5:58 PM Feb 22nd from twhirl
BryanAlexander Live-blogging course management comparison session, Epsilen vs Blackboard: http://tinyurl.com/dd9gqf, at #itc09.5:54 PM Feb 22nd from web
pascher Entertaining the idea of using http://toondoo.com for online class intros and assignments5:50 PM Feb 22nd from twhirl

Live Blog - Brian Lamb Keynote at ITC09

2009-02-23T07:58:00.006-06:00

Brian Lamb is the early morning keynote in Portland for the eLearning 2009, the ITC annual conference. Session title: The Urgency of Open Education

Brian Lamb at ITC09

Innovations in e-Education

2009-02-18T15:08:00.002-06:00

The ITC eLearning 2009 annual conference begins in a few days in Portland, OR. At this event, we are running an advertisement in the conference program for the new service being offered by my employer, Lake Superior College. It is called Innovations in e-Education and it is all about customizing e-learning conference experiences by bringing presenters and a full schedule of sessions to your entire campus, rather than a few people traveling to the next tech conference.

The website is not nearly fully developed, but you can start to get a sense of the offerings for workshops, conferences, and consulting.

The basic idea is that you can bring in 2 or 3 key presenters, for 2 or 3 days at a time, add in some of your local presenters if desired, and have a fully immersive professional development opportunity right at your campus or in your local area. Most of the time it costs about $10,000 to send 3 to 5 people out of state to a conference. For the same cost you can bring a 2-day conference to you and engage 100 or more of your faculty and staff in a similar learning experience.

Contact me for more information. b dot dahl at lsc dot edu

ITC09

ITC09 - eLearning Conference in Portland

2009-02-16T12:14:00.004-06:00

The annual ITC eLearning 2009 Conference conference begins this Saturday at the Portland Hilton and Executive Tower in Portland, Oregon. From the conference website: "eLearning 2009 is the friendliest and most comprehensive annual distance learning conference you will find for eLearning practitioners. It is the one place where you will learn who is doing what, what technologies they are using, what works, and what doesn't." This is always my favorite conference of the year, which I certainly hope is true again in 2009.

I'm busy working on presentation materials for all of the following sessions:

The Basics of Blogs, Wikis, and RSS - Saturday morning: 1/2 day pre-conference workshop.

This workshop will start at the very beginning, with no prior knowledge assumed. We will look at how blogs and wikis can be effectively be used in education. You'll create a blog, and see how you can use a blog to effectively communicate with your students as well as how you can have your students use blogs as a significant part of their learning experience. You'll also learn how RSS feeds make it very simple for you to follow the entries that your students make to their blogs.
We'll also look at the many effective uses of a wiki in education. You'll create one and learn how to edit the pages, as well as how to share access to the wiki for others to collaborate with you. They can be especially effective for student group projects and other academic work such as committee work and college planning. All materials will be available online for your continued use after the workshop.

Using Web 2.0 Tools inside your Virtual Learning Environment - Saturday afternoon: 1/2 day pre-conference workshop

Social networking and collaboration are enabled by many free Web 2.0 applications that are useful in education and can help enhance student creativity. They can augment and make slide presentations and other forms of course content unique. Barry Dahl will demonstrate the use of these applications inside various virtual learning environments (VLEs), such as Desire2Learn, Blackboard, Angel, and Moodle.
Each participant will receive access to an online course they can continue to visit after the workshop ends. You will use examples of many free Web-based tools, including SlideShare, Zoho, Flickr, UStream, Wet Paint, Toondoo, Blip, iMeem, Delicious, various Google tools, Twitter, and Netvibes, and learn how to integrate these tools within your VLE for added convenience for your students.

Grand Debate: Virtual Worlds are the Second Life for Online Learning - Sunday luncheon: where my far-too-worthy opponent will be Chris Collins of the University of Cincinnati. I'm the Con Man.

Pro position: Online simulation and role playing in virtual worlds are leading to new forms, methods, and modes of communication, collaboration, and creation that will enhance the educational process. Web-based multi-user 3D virtual worlds continue to attract educators from all over the world by offering a variety of opportunities for interactive learning experiences, developing a rich sense of community, and allowing students a greater freedom of self expression. Well over 100 educational institutions have established a presence in Second Life or other virtual worlds and are actively developing a significant virtual experience for their constituents
Con position: But how much of this is hype and how much is truly useful? How many of these virtual world efforts are simply duplicating things that can be done (better) in real life or using other, less complicated and demanding technologies? Trolling around a virtual world and not finding anyone else to interact with can be discouraging to say the least. Then when you do run into someone in world, they are either a virtual porn star or someone trying to pull some sort of financial scam. Not exactly the environment that we usually send our students into. Maybe there is a great deal of HOPE for the future of virtual worlds in education, but right now it’s mainly HYPE.

It's NOT My Job to Entertain Students!! Sunday 3:30 breakout session with Kim Goudy of Central Ohio Technical College.

Some faculty say it is not their job to entertain students. Yet, to be entertained is to be engaged. Would they also say it is not their job to engage students? Probably not.
The presenters will look at ways you can engage students with technology, in the virtual and face-to-face classroom. Every idea will be something your students can do for free, and many can be used to facilitate student collaborations. One example is a creative writing project where students create an electronic comic strip rather than the same old word processing paper.
The presenters will demonstrate several additional ideas using new social technologies. Participants will walk away with resources that provide access to a large number of free, Web-based tools that they can use in their teaching to engage students in new ways.

Sunday evening 6:30 ITC Regional Event: Rock Bottom Brewery. Fun competitions in various games includeing Wii Sports, Wii Guitar Hero, pool, poker, and speed Scrabble.

Web Conferencing 2.0: The Old, the New, and the Difference; Tuesday 10:00 breakout session with Ronda Edwards of the Michigan Community College Virtual Learning Collaborative.

The proliferation of online meeting tools makes it easier and cheaper to collaborate across distances. However, to get started you must choose from among all those tools. Some are free, some are cheap, and some are expensive. Some are Web-based and some need an install.
The presenters will compare several tools you can use to share documents, make presentations, troubleshoot problems, and collaborate like never before via video and audio conferencing, instant messaging, application/desktop sharing, and interactive whiteboards. Participants will learn which Web conferencing tools work well for various educational applications.

Online Student Mentors

2009-02-13T08:39:00.005-06:00

I've been asked to do a couple of webinars after winning a 2008 Desire2Excel award for our Online Student Mentor program at the July Desire2Learn conference in Memphis. The slides used for these webinars are shown below. There's a sufficient amount of explanatory text on these slides so I didn't feel the need to narrate then as well. You can also view the slides at SlideShare.

Online Student Mentors - 2008

View more presentations from Barry Dahl. (tags: d2l elearning)

Although I've never actually made a list of my Top 5 accomplishments in my career (nor even thought about it), this program would most likely be on that list. Not because of having the idea of the program, not because we've won a couple of awards for the program, but because this program has had a profound positive impact on so many of the students who have served as online student mentors.

New Scheduling Options for Online Students

2009-02-03T11:01:00.006-06:00

As part of our AQIP Action Project dealing with Flexible Learning Options for students, we are proposing a new opportunity for online students who are interested in completing the Associate in Arts degree from LSC through the Lake Superior Connect e-campus. AQIP is our alternative approach to accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission and focuses on continuous quality improvement for the institution.

The marketing plan for these offerings is still in development, so I can’t yet tell you what we will call this, but it will have something to do with the option of taking 2 classes at a time, 8 weeks at a time, and completing the AA degree within two years. (Those are 2-by-8 LEGO blocks in the photo - build your degree using 2-by-8s? Too lame?) There will be five start dates for courses during each academic year, which includes the three normal start dates (summer, fall, spring) and additional start dates in the middle of both the fall term and the spring term.

Summer 2009 – 8 week session (dates: May 27 – July 21)
Fall 2009 – 1st 8 weeks – (tentative dates: Aug 23 – Oct 8)
Fall 2009 – 2nd 8 weeks – (tentative dates: Oct 11 – Dec 10)
Spring 2010 – 1st 8 weeks – (tentative dates: Jan 10 – Mar 4)
Spring 2010 – 2nd 8 weeks – (tentative dates: Mar 14 – May 11)

During the Fall and Spring semesters we are looking at offering about seven course sections in each 8-week session. If student demand warrants, we can easily add more sections with the 8-week time length. This will still give students about many course selection options for completing their AA degree requirements using the 8-week courses.

Just for clarification:

1) In MnSCU, students don't actually declare an online program as their intention. They become online program students simply by the courses that they register for. Our student record system does not include a field that indicates whether a student is an on-ground or online program student.

2) Because of the above item, students who start taking these 8-week online courses are still free to mix and match their classes with any delivery method (on-ground, hybrid, or online) and any length of class (typically either 16- or 8-week classes, or any other). This truly does allow the student greater flexibility in their enrollment options.

3) These 8-week offerings are not intended to reduce the number of available courses for students seeking to complete their online AA degree by taking courses that last the full length of the semester. We expect that a majority of our students will continue to select the full-length courses, but we will be monitoring that situation closely. The online A.A. degree is definitely our most popular online offering. We hope this will help build additional capacity.

4) Students who need developmental coursework will be encouraged to complete their developmental courses prior to starting the 8-week course sequences. Developmental courses are offered during the summer session, but we are not currently scheduling them for the other 8-week sessions during the fall and spring terms. We might decide to do so in the future, but at this time we are taking small steps to start this learning opportunity.

CC photo by oskay