eLearning in PA: Praxis makes perfect

1. eLearning in PA: Praxis makes perfect Dr. Kirsten Kim Loutzenhiser Assistant Professor Troy University And Dr. Kristie Roberts Assistant Professor Troy University

2. The eGovernment & eLearning Connection • The main argument of this presentation is that eGovernment projects serve as an impetus to offer online professional development through online or and blended computer/classroom teaching delivery. • It is hard to imagine any kind of preparation for the 21st century, the eGovernment phenomenon and other web 2.0 technologies without considering peer based networking and mentoring in the online environment. • The growing collection of research offers findings that online courses offer a social dimension that makes networking a real possibility, even though it is very different from asking students to attend a NASPAA, ASPA, an ICMA or other professional meeting. (Dolan, 2008; Lei and Gupta 2010)

3. Portals don’t have walls • Distance learning technologies are the means to accrue instructional economies, but more importantly they are innovations in higher education that can remove the walls between academic and practitioner. • links online education to student preparedness for public administration in the 21st century. Students with online learning experience have had the opportunity to reflect on the process of eLearning and how it relates to practice. They are able to connect with practitioners through social networks such as facebook, government loop, linked-in. • The PA field has a long history of talking about the ways that teaching informs practice and the ways practice informs theory. The separation between students, practitioners and academics is one that has brought distance and connection. The tension and the lines that divide are minimized through social networks.

4. Praxis makes ‘perfect’ • Ask program managers what students can do to address quality • Ask about standards a professor must meet to teach on-line, how they are able to have a guest lecture on line, and how they bridge connections between teaching and practicing public administration • Ask about peer based support or course mentoring for both instructors and students. • Ask about course expertise and the different types of expertise a professor brings compared to a practitioner?

5. Let’s talk about what a classroom should look like? • Centralized or decentralized? Which offers a more constructive dialogue between academics and practitioners? • Does the traditional class room inhibit student dialogue and involvement. If the classroom looks like a den or a dorm room, does this encourage discussion and keep students from running out the door the second the class is over? • Can everyone be part of a discussion? • Does it happen in real or virtual time?

6. After 24 hours, how much information do you think students retain from a lecture?

7. What constitutes a learning exchange • Studies show students retain 5% of what is said in a lecture environment. If you add discussion ,retention goes up by 50%. (David Sousa, 2001) • Discussion boards are common in on-line classes. What if a practitioner were invited to be part of the discussion? Or better yet, student practitioners can offer their input into the curriculum as part of a public service educational program.

8. What counts as good practice • Encourages contact between faculty, students, and practitioners • Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students, faculty and practitioners • Uses active learning techniques • Gives prompt feedback • Emphasizes time on task • Communicates high expectations • Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

9. One-Stop-Shops • What is valued in the world of public service has potential in the world of education • One-stop-shops not only minimizes the distance between advising, staffing and teaching, but also the distance between teaching and doing public administraiton. . • One-stop-shops exist in a world that offers free online courses, tutoring social network style, Universities a la Wiki and do-it-yourself courses put all educators on notice to change cultures and practices in higher education (Kamenetz, 2009).

10. Preparing Public Administrators for the 21st Century: New Skills for Public Managers Drucker (1994): Public managers are “knowledge workers” who must have the ability to understand and apply both theoretical and analytical knowledge, and the habit of continual learning.

11. Teaching in the the 21st Century Friedman (2007): In a “flat world” students must • “learn how to learn” (309) • have the ability to “navigate the virtual world” (310) • have an attitude of curiosity and passion • have a background in the liberal arts Educators must nurture right-brain skills that deal with emotions and synthesis.

12. Implications for Teaching and Learning Being up to date and flexible on matters related to pedagogy and university structure build students and universities as links to practice, practitioners and future leaders.

13. New Metaphors: Portals or Classrooms • n. A doorway, entrance, or gate, especially one that is large and imposing. • An entrance or a means of entrance: the local library, a portal of knowledge. • The portal vein. • A website considered as an entry point to other websites, often by being or providing access to a search engine. (http://www.answers.com/topic/web-portal)

14. Imagine • Imagine the use of portals that add value to education by not only providing knowledge about online learning possibilities, but also about financial aid, quality assessment, advising, books, careers, internships and other resources important to students, faculty and staff related public policy analysis and administration.

15. How are ‘clicks and mortar’ different than ‘bricks and mortar’? • Blackboard - course content- classroom communication tools- admin./student communication tools • Wimba- audio and video recording tool- desktop sharing • - two-way video and chat • - advisor tool - “speech” tool- one way video with multiple user text chat

16. What builds online learning quality • Flexible access process • Continuous review • Expectations and performance targets. • Strong system of faculty training that is on-going and web-based. • Course links to learning and to practice • Learning objects (assignments, discussion boards, synchronous and asynchronous discussions and links to the practitioner world)

17. Culture of Innovation • Net Generation Realities • “Edutainment” Expectation ‘Edupunks’ • Adoption curve for New Applications • What Can’t be Taught Online? (Blurring…) • The walls between on line and on the ground courses are not clear. • New Toys… New Tools!

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