Distance Learning: Trends, Opportunities, & Current Statistics

Presenters Bonnie Fink:

Interim Director, Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology

Sheryl Hansen:

Director, Development Programs, Ohio Learning Network

Connie Molnar:

Director, Distance Learning

February 9, 2006

Agenda

   Distance Learning: An Overview from OLN • Ohio Learning Network • Trends and Driving Factors • What is Happening in Ohio?

Distance Learning at BGSU • What are we doing?

• How are we doing?

• A success story A View From the Trenches • An Online Faculty Perspective • Community and Accessibility in an Online Classroom

Distance Education: An Overview

About OLN

OLN seeks to raise the overall educational attainment for all Ohioans :

• • • • Expand access to learning opportunities Assist campuses use of technology for learning Support leading-edge activities Facilitate partnerships and collaborations among higher education, schools, business and industry, and local communities

OLN/BGSU Partnerships

 Grants (9): • Partnership (2000) • Learning Communities • Learning Institute • Course Redevelopment • Emerging Needs Content   Leadership: • Governing Board Committee/advocacy: • Academic Outreach • Professional Development

DL Is Still About Learning –

Just at a Distance

Students and instructors are not in the same place at the same time.

  Distance learning has existed for decades (U of South Africa, first in 1946) via correspondence, video, TV, cable. More recently CD, DVD, web Late 1900s -- first US university online courses offered

DL Has Moved into the Mainstream     

2.35 million online enrollments in 2004, 18.2% increase over 2003 63% of institutions offering undergrad F2F also offer undergrad online courses 65% of institutions use core faculty to teach online courses 56% of institutions identify online education as critical long term strategy Top 4 Disciplines that offer DL at Public Institutions:

• 54.6% Arts and Sciences, Gen Studies, Humanities • 51.3% Business • 43.0% CIS • 40.7% Social Sciences and History Sloan, Growing by Degrees, 2005

Do you Know…

   

56 % 94%

of Americans have access to Internet

61% 58

of workers want on line training million log on daily of Ohioans use computers at home

And increases in U.S. (and global) digital divides

In Ohio, Too!

With about 585,000 college students in Ohio and approximately 44,971 Ohio e-learning students [37,471 e learners in public institutions (2004), probably 7,500 more in privates] . .

Almost 8% of Ohio students take online courses

Why Do Institutions Offer Online Opportunities?

     Access to higher education Hope for increased revenues & greater fiscal efficiencies Learner expectations Societal expectations Promise of increased learning via new technologies

Learners expect . . .

     Technology enhanced/delivered • ‘gamers’ • participatory / experiential preferences • mobile Anywhere, anytime learning Flexible, focused content Prefer increments – modules, info bits Access to learning - constant and lifelong

What’s Ahead?

    New/emerging technologies Greater competition and need for collaboration; shared services and content Institutional change, culture shifts Greater focus on students • Who are they?

• • • What do they already know?

How do they learn?

What services should we provide?

Tech on the Horizon?

 New Media Consortium and ELI see: • Social Computing common in 1 year (weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=87) • Personal Broadcasting within 1 year (cscwww.cats.ohiou.edu/aac/lab/techies) • Phones in their Pockets in 2-3 years (cnx.rice.edu/content/co/10286/1.1/) •

Educational Gaming

(spacepioneers.msu.edu/) in 2-3 years •

Augmented Reality and Enhanced

Visualization in in 4 -5 4 -5 years (vam.anest.ufl.edu/wip.html) • Context-Aware Environments and Devices years (www.coolclassroom.org/home.html) Horizon Report, 2006

Increased Competition and For-Profits     Other States enroll Ohioans (Indiana Wesleyan enrolls 600) For Profits - Phoenix, Capella On-line high schools (20+) in Ohio?

Increasing International Options (China, EU)

Greater Focus on Students     Who are they? How do we expand beyond traditional age students?

How do we engage them? How do they learn? How do we know?

What student services are needed?

What technical sophistication do our future students have?

Media exposure

By age 21, the average person will have:

    

25000

spent 10,000 hours engaged in video games spent under 5,000 hours reading

20000

received 200,000 emails

15000

watched 20,000 hours of TV

10000

spent 10,000 hours on a cell phone

5000 0 Television Video E-mails Games Cell Phone Reading

Prensky, 2003 –

Do you know . . .

that among children age 6 and under (born 1996+ -- college age in 2014)     48% of children have used a computer 27% 4-6 year olds use a computer daily 39% use a computer several times a week 30% have played video games

– Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003

60

Age vs. learning preferences

Mature Students who were very 63% satisfied with Web-based Boomer learning by generation 55% Gen X 40 38% 30 Net Gen 26% 20 10 0

― Dziuban, 2004

OLN Services

      

OhioLEARNS! – DL Portal TEACHU - online seminars E 4 Me – “how to” DL course

technopoli – e-calendar

CourseCheck – DL tool 100% Online Teachers Community Collaborative Learning Environment Hosting



ODCE Conference - March



OLN website

    

OLN Grants Program Learning Communities Initiative e-Learning Athenaeum of Ohio (ELA) Ohio IT Clearinghouse e-Learning Adjunct Professor Exchange

Resources

Bounded Exuberance: e-Learning in Ohio Ohio Learning Network, 2005 http://www.oln.org/about_oln/pdf/Bounded-web.pdf

Growing By Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005 The Sloan Consortium c.org/resources/survey.asp

http://www.sloan The Effects of Electronic Media on Children Ages Zero to Six: A History of Research Kaiser Family Foundation, http://www.kff.org/entmedia/7239.cfm

Horizon Report New Media Consortium – NLII Collaboration

http://nmc.org/pdf/2005_Horizon_Report.pdf

Resources continued

Marc Prensky

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp

Educating the Net Generation, Diana Oblinger, (Educause free e-book).

http://www.educause.edu/books/educatingthenetg en/5989 Steven’s Web, Stephen Downes http://www.downes.ca/cgi bin/page.cgi?db=post&q=crdate=1114559592&for mat=full

Distance Education at BGSU

Interactive Distance Education for All Learners

What does IDEAL do?

      Provides leadership, coordination, and support of campus distance programs and course development.

Provides training in online pedagogy and technology and instructional design.

Maintains a current centralized source of information on distance learning for faculty, staff, and students.

Conducts research in new technologies, best practices, innovations.

Provides guidance in policy development, research and grant opportunities.

Represents BGSU at state and national conferences.

IDEAL History and Milestones

     Blackboard CMS implemented Fall 2001 IDEAL Established 2001 DL Advisory Board Established 2001 • Defined terminology (Web- Based, Centric, Assisted) • Modification to blue/green sheet process for online courses • IDEAL checklist developed NCA Accreditation 2004 Received OLN “Best Practices for Student Services” award 2005

IDEAL staff

    Bruce Edwards, Associate Dean Connie Molnar, Director, IDEAL Debbie Milligan, Admin Assistant Instructional Designers: • Terence Armentano • Garrick Ducat • Michael Kudela • Garrett Whitehead

BGSU Online Information

Online Course Enrollments

Academic Year 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 Semester

Fall 01 Spring 02 Summer 02 Fall 02 Spring 03 Summer 03 Fall 03 Spring 04 Summer 04 Fall 04 Spring 05 Summer 05 Fall 05

Courses

25 47 55

Enrollment

324 481 620 34 57 281 635 72 52 57 938 485 591 123 85 82 144 84 1,656 1,032 1,283 2,031 1,107

Academic Year Summaries

805 students 72 classes 1,536 students 146 classes 2,014 students 181 classes 3,971 students 290 courses 3,138 students 228 classes

Online Degree Programs

     Advanced Technological Education Bachelor of Liberal Studies Bachelor of Science in Nursing Masters Degree in Education/Assistive Technologies Ph. D in Technology Management (consortium degree)

Online Certificate Programs

    International Scientific and Technical Communication Food and Nutrition Quality Systems Reading Endorsement

Resources at BGSU

Distance Education Web Sites

http://online.bgsu.edu

Distance Education Web Sites

http://ideal.bgsu.edu

Distance Learning Newsletter

Pedagogical and technical training:

    Online seminar for new instructors.

In-class seminars.

Departmental presentations.

Individual consultations.

Other IDEAL Activities:     Distance Learning Advisory Board.

Collaborations, grants, conferences. Research of new technologies, current trends, best practices. Participation on BGSU committees and organizations.

A Success Story

Sloan Semester

 National collaborative project organized by the Sloan Consortium and SREB to provide free online courses to students impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

Sloan Student Participation

   Over 4,000 enrollments nationally; 1,700 students involved. 150 participating institutions around the US.

BGSU faculty and staff made this project possible.

Student Feedback

“When the storm hit and I realized home wouldn't be the same my first question to myself was: what am going to do about school? I am very thankful for this opportunity. It also helps to keep my mind off other depressing events. Thank you so much for this online class.”

Student Feedback

   “Thank you for all your help…I sincerely appreciate this opportunity to further my education.” “Thanks so much for EVERYTHING. I appreciate your help and this opportunity.” “I am anxious to resume classes and look forward to the opportunity to do so. Thank you for this opportunity and your kind words of encouragement.”

Without distance courses, BGSU could not accommodate these students.

Student Inquiries

       Adult learners Military personnel People who have workforce changes and/or educational requirements International students Parents BGSU Alumni Residential students

An Online Faculty Perspective

“The fourth revolution after speech, writing, and print, is skywriting.” Stevan Harnad (1991) “Post-Gutenberg Galaxy: The Fourth Revolution in the Means of Production of Knowledge”

“The concept movement from virtual reality to reality and from distance learning to presence learning has at its basis multiple transitions of human awareness in relation to technology.” Peter Chepya, “E-Personality: The Fusion of IT and Pedagogical Technique” Educause Quarterly, Volume 28, Number 3, 2005

   Virtual reality is “reality” for online students.

Distance learning can be “presence” learning.

The Internet, as the “medium,” becomes the shared place.

Combining pedagogical techniques, instructional design, and technology creates:   Access Community

TECH 302

TECH 448

“Online learning now depends more on the ability of educators and trainers to tutor and support learners online than on the technology itself.” Dr. Ian Heywood, 2000 World Open Learning Conference and Exhibition, Birmingham, England.

Bonnie Fink Interim Director Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology 419.372.5563/[email protected]

Sheryl Hansen Director, Professional Development Programs Ohio Learning Network 614.995.3240/[email protected]

Connie Molnar Director IDEAL (Interactive Distance Education for All Learners) 419.372.7900/[email protected]