Setting Expectations for e-Education

Excellence in e-Educationhttp://xlents.com

Barry Dahl

Beautiful Duluth, MinnesotaBeautiful Superior, Wisconsin

Barry Dahl dot com

Great Expectations

Option 1 - PSOL

2009 PSOL – Summary Statement

1=Much worse than expected

2=Quite a bit worse than I expected

3=Worse than I expected

4=About what I expected

5=Better than I expected

6=Quite a bit better than I expected

7=Much better than expected

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

So far, how has your college experience met your expectations?

Overall score 5.0

But seriously…

LSC National5.35

5.40

5.45

5.50

5.55

5.60

5.65

Another PSOL Example (2005)12. There are sufficient offerings within my program of study.

5.46

5.64 Satisfaction Score: Max of 7.0

National A.A. Business Other4.80

5.00

5.20

5.40

5.60

5.80

6.00

Breakdown of LSC Data

A Closer Look at Satisfaction (2005)12. There are sufficient offerings within my program of study.

5.91

5.64

5.365.27

RSCC Expectations

Where is the Value in eLearning?

• Why is RSCC engaged in eLearning?

• What are the benefits to the college?

• What are the driving factors?

Another Angle to Consider

• What is the “right amount” of online learning?

10% 25% 50%

The Governor says (said) 25%

• Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty set a goal of 25% for online learning within the MnSCU state system of colleges and universities.

Why?

Do You Expect Online Learning to Cannibalize

F-2-F Enrollments?

FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 -

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

LSC - Full Year Equivalent Enrollment

Online On-ground Total

2,699 2,700

2,923

3,675

224

975

Expectations about Completion

Almost Weekly Journal Articles

Almost Weekly Journal Articles

Almost Weekly Journal Articles

What are Reasonable Expectations for Completion Rates for Online Learners?

And how do you know?

Students in Online Developmental Courses can’t possibly have decent

completion rates.

Can they?

Grades Earned

A B C D F FN W0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

LSC Developmental Courses - 2009-2010

Online On-groundN = 510 N = 2,226

Passing Grades in These Courses

C or better D or better50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

60.4%

67.5%

62.3%

66.8%

Passing Grades in Developmental Courses

Online On-ground2009-2010 N = 510 N = 2,226

Expectations about e-Education

You Already Have Expectations

• The questions are …– How clearly have they been communicated?– How easy are they for the following to find?

• Students?• Faculty?• Staff and Administration?

Example: Synchronous, or Not?

• What should online students expect when taking an RSCC online class?– Are classes completely asynchronous?– Do some classes have synchronous requirements?– How do students know in advance at the time of

registration?– Should they know in advance?

Example: Faculty Office Hours

• What does the college expect with regard to office hours for faculty who teach online?– Do faculty have to make themselves available

electronically at posted times each week?– Are services/software available that enable faculty

to meet with students online?– Are certain modes of communication preferred?

Re: Expectations

• The people who have set the expectations believe that they are common knowledge.

• There’s no such thing as common knowledge when it comes to what the expectations are.

• Your expectations are not the same as mine.

A Common Scenario

• “What do you mean you expect interaction in online classes?”

• “I’ve never heard that before.”

• This came from a 10-year veteran of online teaching at the college.

Course Design Rubrics Can Help

Specific Review Standards PointsV.1 The course design provides learning activities to foster instructor-student, content-student, and if appropriate, student-student interaction. 3

V.2 The student requirements for course interaction are clearly articulated. 3

V.3 Clear standards are set for instructor response and availability (turn-around time for email, grades posted, etc.) 2

V. LEARNER INTERACTIONGeneral Review Standard: The effective design of instructor-learner interaction andmeaningful learner cooperation is essential to learner motivation, intellectual commitment, and personal development. (From LSC Course Design Rubric)

Course Design Rubrics Can Help

• But they only go so far.• Did the interactions actually occur?• Did the feedback actually happen in

a timely manner?• Design rubrics don‘t tell you that.

Do You Evaluate Teaching Quality?

• If not, why not?• If so, what do you base the

evaluation on?• How clear are the expectations of

the factors upon which they will be evaluated?

Have you clearly defined the following items?

• What the college expects from online students.

• What online students should expect from your college.

• What the college expects from online faculty members.

• What the online faculty should expect from the college.

Expectations for (of) Students

Most of what you’ll find online are along the lines of online orientations

and readiness quizzes or lists.

St. Petersburg College

• Examples of posted expectations for students:

• Login to new courses during first week.• Recognize their ethical obligation, as

members of the College community, to report any violation of the SPC Academic Honesty Policy.

Goodwin College

• Examples of posted expectations:• Be courteous, polite and respectful – to

faculty, staff and fellow students. • Use your Goodwin email.• Go through the orientation.• Meet all appropriate deadlines.

Lawrence Tech University

• Be open-minded about sharing life, work, and educational experiences as part of the learning process. Introverts and extroverts find that online learning requires them to talk about their experiences. Sharing is made easier by the anonymity of the online environment.

University of South Carolina

• Expectations for Attendance• Although online courses don't require students to

attend class at specific time or place, students are still required to "attend" class. For an online course, this means you must:– Login to the Blackboard course the first day of class.– Email the instructor as prompted to confirm

registration.– Login to your course each week of class (at a

minimum).

Sample Topics: expectations of online students

• First week of class• Attendance

(engagement)• Internet access• Textbooks & other

materials• College

communications

• Policies & Code of Conduct

• Academic Honesty• Netiquette (civility)• Computer skills• Resolving technical

problems• Course evaluations

College expectations of online students

• Example - Textbooks• Students are expected to purchase textbooks or

other required course materials IN ADVANCE of the start of the term, preferably 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the term to ensure that the books are in their possession at the start of the term.

• Failure to acquire the required course materials in a timely manner is not an acceptable excuse for missing deadlines at the beginning of the course.

Sample topics: student expectations of the college

• Course syllabi• Course length• Test proctoring• Evaluation &

oversight• Feedback/response

times

• Textbook availability• Interaction• Time flexibility• Calendar due dates• Academic support• Technical support

Students’ expectations of the college

• Example: Time flexibility• Students should expect to find a reasonable amount of time

flexibility for completing course requirements. In online courses, time flexibility generally means the size of “windows of opportunity.”

• For example, a 2-day time period to take an online exam or quiz represents the window of opportunity for that requirement.

• Check the course syllabus or other faculty instructions to be sure that you understand how long you’ll have to complete various aspects of your online courses.

Expectations for (of) Faculty

St. Petersburg College

• Examples of posted expectations for faculty:• Respond to email within 24 hours, 5 of the 7

days a week at the instructor’s discretion.• Exam marked within 7 days of due date.• Assignment marked within 7 days of due date• Routine updates to all students every 7 days.

Lawrence Tech University

• Examples of posted expectations for faculty:• Communicate with students enrolled in your

course at least one month prior to the start of classes, and again approximately two weeks before the start of classes.

• Check the discussion forum daily and be sure to post responses to student contributions at least four times weekly.

UMUC

• Examples of posted expectations for faculty:• Organize class activities to take place mostly

in the online classroom, rather than by email, phone, or mail.

• Respond to student inquiries within two business days, even if it is just to let students know that the instructor is working on the inquiry and will reply fully as soon as possible.

Penn State

• Examples of posted expectations for faculty:• If an instructor will be unable to log into the

course for more than four business days (e.g., during professional travel), the instructor is asked to give one week's notice to students and to Outreach Student Services.

• The instructor is asked to grade and submit to students all digitally formatted assignments and exams within two business days of receipt.

City University of New York

• Responsiveness to Students’ Circumstances• Assignment deadlines and testing periods should

not be set so that they fall within the typical work day. Instructors should remember that there are students who live in different time zones and, where there are specific end times for activities, indicate the time zone that will apply, e.g. 10:00 PM EST.

• Instructors should keep track of religious holidays and other observances that might preclude participation for individual students.

Sample topics: college expectations of online faculty

• Course design• Interaction

w/students• Online office hours• Feedback/

response time

• Teaching loads• Final exams• Proctored exams• Due dates/times• Sick/Personal

leave

College expectations of online faculty

• Example - Final Exams:– Online faculty are expected to give final exams (or

due dates for other types of final projects) during the final exam period as established and posted by the college.

– The final exam period typically consists of four weekdays and may or may not include a weekend. This schedule is posted on the college for each semester.

Sample topics: online faculty expectations of the college

• Course offerings• Program offerings• Evaluation &

oversight• New online faculty• Feedback/response

times

• Technology support

• Off-campus faculty• Professional

development• Intellectual prop.

claims

Online faculty expectations of the college

• Example – New online faculty• Faculty teaching online for the very first time

should expect the following:– to receive instruction and help in online teaching

from the e-Campus staff.– that a first online class will not be canceled if it

receives at least ten student enrollments.– that a first online class will have a reduced

maximum class size of 20 students.

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