Distance Learning: Trends, Opportunities, & Current Statistics

1. Distance Learning: Trends, Opportunities, & Current Statistics Presenters Bonnie Fink: Interim Director, Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology Sheryl Hansen: Director, Development Programs, Ohio Learning NetworkConnie Molnar: Director, Distance Learning February 9, 2006

2. 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

3. Distance Education: An Overview

4. 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

5. Grants (9): Partnership (2000) Learning Communities Learning Institute Course Redevelopment Emerging Needs Content Leadership: Governing Board Committee/advocacy: Academic Outreach Professional Development OLN/BGSU Partnerships

6. DL Is Still About Learning – Just at a Distance • 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 Students and instructors are not in the same place at the same time.

7. 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

8. Do you Know… • 56 % of Americans have access to Internet • 61% of workers want on line training • 58million log on daily • 94% of Ohioans use computers at home And increases in U.S. (and global) digital divides

9. 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

10. 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

12. 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

13. 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?

14. 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 in 2-3 years (spacepioneers.msu.edu/) • Augmented Reality and Enhanced Visualization in 4 -5 years (vam.anest.ufl.edu/wip.html) • Context-Aware Environments and Devices in 4 -5 years (www.coolclassroom.org/home.html) Horizon Report, 2006

15. 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)

16. 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?

17. 25000 Television 20000 15000 Cell Video E-mails Phone Games 10000 Reading 5000 0 Media exposure By age 21, the average person will have: • spent 10,000 hours engaged in video games • received 200,000 emails • watched 20,000 hours of TV • spent 10,000 hours on a cell phone • spent under 5,000 hours reading – Prensky, 2003

18. 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

19. Mature 63% Boomer 55% Gen X 38% Net Gen 26% Age vs. learning preferences Students who were very satisfied with Web-based learning by generation 60 40 30 Percentage 20 10 ―Dziuban, 2004 0

20. 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 OLN Services

21. Resources Bounded Exuberance: e-Learning in Ohio Ohio Learning Network, 2005http://www.oln.org/about_oln/pdf/Bounded-web.pdf Growing By Degrees: Online Education in the United States, 2005 The Sloan Consortiumhttp://www.sloan-c.org/resources/survey.asp 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

22. 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/educatingthenetgen/5989 Steven’s Web, Stephen Downes http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?db=post&q=crdate=1114559592&format=full

23. Distance Education at BGSU Interactive Distance Education for All Learners

24. 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.

25. 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

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

27. BGSU Online Information

28. Online Course Enrollments

29. 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)

30. Online Certificate Programs • International Scientific and Technical Communication • Food and Nutrition • Quality Systems • Reading Endorsement

31. Resources at BGSU

32. Distance Education Web Sites http://online.bgsu.edu

33. Distance Education Web Sites http://ideal.bgsu.edu

34. Distance Learning Newsletter

35. Pedagogical and technical training: • Online seminar for new instructors. • In-class seminars. • Departmental presentations. • Individual consultations.

36. Other IDEAL Activities: • Distance Learning Advisory Board. • Collaborations, grants, conferences. • Research of new technologies, current trends, best practices. • Participation on BGSU committees and organizations.

37. A Success Story

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

39. 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.

40. 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.”

41. 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.”

42. Without distance courses, BGSU could not accommodate these students.

43. Student Inquiries • Adult learners • Military personnel • People who have workforce changes and/or educational requirements • International students • Parents • BGSU Alumni • Residential students

44. An Online Faculty Perspective

45. “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”

46. “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

47. Virtual reality is “reality” for online students. • Distance learning can be “presence” learning. • The Internet, as the “medium,” becomes the shared place.

48. Combining pedagogical techniques, instructional design, and technology creates: • Access • Community

49. TECH 302

50. TECH 448