The USF/COB Distance Education Project

1. The USF/COB Distance Education Project Vicki L. Gregory, Mel Pace and James Andrews University of South Florida Willamae Johnson The College of the Bahamas

2. Overview • Introduction • How the Program Operates • Blackboard and Virtual Community • Access to Information • Conclusion

3. Introduction: Ms. Johnson, COB Library Director • Need for an LIS master’s degree in The Bahamas • Development of the Contract • Recruitment of students

4. LIS Program in The Bahamas • 13 courses delivered in 3 ways: • Face-to-face • Blended • Total web • Students will come to the USF Campus for a ten-week summer term in 2007 to complete their last 2 classes including supervised fieldwork.

5. Blackboard • All SLIS classes utilize Blackboard (web course management software) to some extent. • Blackboard also facilitates access to the USF Library, Registration system, and email to name just a few services.

9. Virtual Communities • Blackboard (web-based) course site with discussion boards, email, chat, and file-sharing capability. • Includes all members of a particular class • SLIS Virtual Community on Blackboard • Includes all SLIS students

10. What is a Community? • People who interact to satisfy their own needs or roles • People who have a shared purpose • People who act within a determined set of policies and guidelines • All communities shape social interaction and provide a common connectedness among members

11. Communities of Practice (CoP) • Virtual Communities in Education • Jennifer J. Preece • Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability • CoPs in Education or other professions

13. The Design Announcements Documents Discussion Board Chat or IM To exchange information among students & faculty not working at the same time . To allow conversation among members not in the same geographic area Anything of Interest To the Community Members Shared Documents, forms, applications, etc.

14. USF Library Resources • Students have full access to the electronic resources and databases at USF. • Students authenticate once when they log onto Blackboard.

15. Full Access to USF Libraries Resources Full Access toUSF Resources COB Student

16. Full Access to USF Libraries Resources Full Access to USF Resources WWW Browser COB Student

17. Full Access to USF Libraries Resources Full Access to USF Resources USF/Blackboard ID WWW Browser COB Student

18. Full Access to USF Libraries Resources Full Access to USF Resources Re-configures to USF IP address E-Z Proxy Software USF/Blackboard ID WWW Browser COB Student

19. Full Access to USF Libraries Resources Full Access to USF Resources Re-configures to USF IP address E-Z Proxy Software USF/Blackboard ID WWW Browser COB Student

20. Full Access to USF Libraries Resources Full Access to USF Resources E-Journals Re-configures to USF IP address E-Z Proxy Software Bibliographic Databases USF/Blackboard ID OPAC Tutorials WWW Browser …and many other resources COB Student

26. Conclusion • First cohort successfully underway – currently in their third semester. • Beginning to recruit for a second cohort to start probably in 2007. • PowerPoint available at: http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~gregory/ACURIL/USFCOB.mht