Far from the Eye – Close to the Heart

1. Far from the Eye – Close to the Heart Methodology and Implementation of a World Wide Online Educational Program Emanuel Gruengard Academic Coordinator – MSc in Computing Laureate Online Education and The University of Liverpool Updated: August 2005

2. The Program A joint venture of: • Laureate Online Education • Marketing • Operations and Finance • Academics • The University of Liverpool • Degree and Academic Control • Usage of the eLibrary facilities

3. Offerings and Students’ Profile • Master of Science (MSc) in Information Technology with several specializations • Master of Business Administration (MBA) • Professionals, usually with a Bachelor’s Degree • Some degrees not in Computing • Some are graduates of conversion programs • Several years of experience • Life Long Learning paradigm

4. Technology An Internet application: • Asynchronous / Symmetric model • Narrow communication band • Textual: Textbook and Web materials • Information exchanged through discussion forums and email • Localized and centralized projects

5. Communication • Using: • A client program (FirstClass) through an ISP (Embanet) With an option of • Offline reading and composing messages And an option of • Accessing the server using a WWW browser And lately also some • PDA support

6. Spread of Control • Globe-spanning: • The University of Liverpool, UK • Headquarters, Amsterdam, The Netherlands • MSc academic, Tel Aviv, Israel • MBA academic, UK • Servers’ site, Toronto, Canada • Students and instructors in over 110 countries

7. Requirements (MSc) 180 credit points are needed in order to graduate • Eight modules of 15 credit points • Terms of eight weeks • 10-11 times in a year • Workload of 10-20 hours per week • Usually one module per term • Final project (dissertation) of 60 credit points • Might be done in 2 years. Expected: 3. Max: 4

8. CurriculumRegular Modules (15 credit points each) 8 modules required: 1 mandatory, at least 1 from group A and 1 from group B • CS - Computer Structures (Mandatory) • CP - OOD and OOP using C++ (Group A - Programming Languages section) Optional addition: pPC - A pre module for C++ for the novice • JV - OOD and OOP using Java (Group A) Optional addition: pJV - A pre module for Java for the novice • IN - Programming the Internet (Group A) • DB - Databases (Group B – Foundations section) • CC - Computer Communications and Networks (Group B) • SE - Software Engineering (Elective) • OS – Operating Systems (Elective) • SN – Security Engineering (Elective) • AI - Artificial intelligence (Elective) • EC - e-Commerce (Elective) • QA - Management of QA and Software Testing (Elective) • MD - Internet and Multimedia Technology (Elective) • AT - Advanced Applications of IT (Elective) • WA – Web XML Applications (Elective) Dissertation Module (60 credit points) • DS - Final Project and Dissertation (Mandatory)

9. Components * Graded components

10. Text and e-moderating • Text allows: • More economically created and maintained material • Usage of narrow band-width • Users showed no interest in “fancy” multimedia • Posted lectures consists of: • Introduction to the subject, reading assignments, additional material to the textbook, Internet links, discussion and assignment questions, projects, solutions and feedback

11. The textbook • Exist in all modules (apart from AT) • A single textbook per module • Serves as “anchor” and reference • Latest worldwide edition: a constant follow up on availability with publishers and bookstores • Supplemented with Internet links: specified by instructor and/or researched by students

12. The weekly cycle and assignments • A repeating weekly cycle: • Wednesday evening: Posting of the material • By Sunday: Initial posting of answers to the discussion questions (DQs) • By Wednesday: 3-4 additional contributions (RP) and posting of the assignments (HI) / project (PJ) • Meaningful presence in at least 4 days of the week is required • 14-18 students per class + moderator • 150-300 public messages per week

14. Projects • In selected modules: • Localized personal projects • Localized group projects • Centralized (server) group projects  Require ongoing communication among participants

15. Moderating and Evaluation • The moderator should be present at least 5/7days, including weekends • Participates in the discussions • Help, guide and control • Provides personal support through personal email messages • Check the assignments and projects • At cycle end • Provide personal feedback to each student and post grades to the VC site • At end of module each student accumulated at least 24 grades • No final examination

16. Anonymity?

17. Intimate Anonymity! • In our distributed learning paradigm That’s not true! • The requirement for constant participation exposes each student • A build up of clear “personal signature” and capabilities Not so in on-ground lectures! • Easier exposure of plagiarism and collusion

18. Program Mangers • Each student is handled by a PM • From first day to graduation • Personal administrative care-taking • Follow up on his/her participation • Follow up on his/her progression • Dialogs with the instructor and academic coordinator concerning academic problems

19. Technical support • Embanet 7/24 support • Through the phone, textual chat and email • Informative sites • Staff: Administrative and academic tracking, grades (VC) • Students: Grades, enrollment (MY) • Manuals for instructors and the students

20. Quality management • Continuously performed through: • Moderating new instructors • The Academic Coordinator (sample monitoring) • The e-Learning unit of the UoL (sample monitoring, and monitoring of grading) • The Computer Science department and the QA group of UoL • External examiners • Monthly Phone Conferences of the Academic Division • Academic board meetings (2-3 time in a year) • Students’ feedback surveys

21. Student feedback surveys • Performed at the end of each class • Inquiring about the instructors, modules, materials, time flexibility, technical, administrative support and willingness to recommend the program • Many grading questions (range 1-4) and free text comments • Results by classes and instructors • Quarterly progression reports • Conclusions, changes, updates and enhancements • The average satisfaction for most questions is around 3.6 out of 4

22. Instructors Requirements: • University instructors / industry experts • Holding a PhD or a MSc degree • Proven academic teaching experience • Excellent written communication in English

23. Training the Instructors • A six weeks course • Pedagogy, Andragogy, on-line paradigms, hands on, procedures • Using the same system and same teaching paradigm as used with our students

24. Development & Instructing Modules • Subject developed by an assigned instructor • Reviewed and referred by the Academic Coordinator and other instructors • Placed in a repository • Used by other instructors in their classes • Suggested modifications and updates incorporated by the Module Manger

25. Faculty Development • Annual (online) conference • Faculty Development seminars • Instructors’ forums • Monthly newsletter

26. Conclusions • Peer learning (moderator included) is (probably) the right paradigm for continuous learning • High motivation and willingness for self study are essential • Extensive reading and writing capabilities are a must • The discussions questions which are the glue that holds the class and identify the students are essential • High load on the instructor/moderator as continuous class participation and fast responses are critical • Different cultures and time zones are easily bridged • No examinations needed due to comprehensive information on each student and large number of grades

27. Sites and email • Information about the project http://www.uol.ohecampus.com/home/index.phtml • The Computer Science Department of UoL http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk • The ISP site http://www.embanet.com • Email to Emanuel Gruengard emanuel.gruengard@ohecampus.com

28. Thanks for your attention.