EDUCAUSE October 20, 2004 James Madison Un iversity This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author. Copyright, Ralph Alberico and Jim Mazoue, 2004
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EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-
commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires
written permission from the author.
Copyright, Ralph Alberico and Jim Mazoue, 2004
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Summer Online Courses: A Novel Approach to Expanding Distance
Learning Enrollments
A Multi-Year Summary of Results
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Ralph AlbericoDean
Libraries and Educational Technologies
James Madison University
Jim MazouéDistributed and Distance Learning Coordinator
Center for Instructional Technology
James Madison University
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
James Madison University Institutional Profile
Carnegie Classification: Masters Fall 2004 Enrollment: 15,809 Rural campus Most students reside on, or near, campus 93%: Degree seeking Undergraduate 94%: Full-time 2%: 25 or older Summer: students leave campus & work
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
National and State Enrollment Trends
• Higher Education enrollment will grow 16% during 2001-2010
(U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics)
• Higher Education enrollment in Virginia will increase by at least 38,000 students(SCHEV, “Strategic Plan for Virginia Higher Education,” 2004)
• E-Learning may provide a solution to capacity constraints and resulting delays in graduation that growing enrollments place on the current higher education infrastructure.
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Barriers To Timely GraduationState Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) 2004 Student Survey
Causes of graduation delay:Reasons given by students who said they
will graduate delayed:
– Required course sections not offered: 54%
– Study abroad, travel, internships: 5%
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
What is the Summer Institute?
Faculty professional development program Week-long series of workshops Creation of summer online courses
A program funded and coordinated by the James Madison University, Center for Instructional Technology to evaluate the feasibility of developing and offering online courses.
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Goals of the Summer Institute
1) Meet the curricular needs of students by offering them the opportunity to work toward the completion of their degrees while living off-campus.
2) Provide professional development opportunities for faculty interested in online teaching.
3) Identify and address strategic institutional needs by providing alternative distance learning opportunities during the summer.
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Teaching
Research
Scholarship
Mentoring
Faculty Professional Development
Student Curricular need
Institutional Strategic Goals
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
How the Summer Institute Works RFP Submission and Authorization Proposal Review and Selection Four-day Series of Workshops Course Development Course Delivery Course and Institute Assessments Faculty Presentations Course Review and Revisions
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Faculty Commitment• Summer Institute Faculty receive a $2,000
stipend, production support, software• Faculty agree to:
– Attend a weeklong Summer Institute– Develop a course– Teach for 2 successive summers– Present their work and mentor colleagues– Write a final report on their experience
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Summer Online Student Profile
An upper-level Undergraduate
Degree-seeking
Virginia resident
Living at home outside Harrisonburg
Working
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Student Enrollment by Academic Level
2003
Total enrollment: 225
Freshmen: 17 (7%)
Sophomore: 52 (23%)
Junior: 71 (32%)
Senior: 78 (35%)
Graduate/Cont. Ed: 7 (3%)
2004
Total enrollment: 456
Freshmen: 20 (4%)
Sophomore: 86 (19%)
Junior: 132 (29%)
Senior: 175 (38%)
Graduate/Cont. Ed: 43 (10%)
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Student Survey Data
Reasons for enrolling Satisfaction Residence Retention Attitudes toward online courses
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Reasons Why Students Take Summer Online Courses
Curricular Need– GenEd, degree, or graduation requirement – Shorten time to degree– Reduce course load in the fall– Lack of availability of required courses
Convenience – Scheduling flexibility (home/travel)– Fits work schedule– For some, the only practical alternative
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
If this course weren't offered online, I would have had to take it . . .
58%
23% 19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
JMU F/S
Local C.C.JMU SS
JMU Fall/Spring Local Community College On Campus, JMU Summer Session
JMU Fall/Spring Community College JMU Summer Session
On Campus
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Residence
52%
2%
25%
20%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Virginia
Harrisonburg
Other state
Outside U.S.
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Student Satisfaction
78 80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100P
erce
nt 2003
2004
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Would recommend online courses to other students
72
83
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Pe
rce
nt
2003
2004
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Course Enrollment Caps and Student Retention
2003-2004
Overall retention rate: 93% All courses met or exceeded the minimum
enrollment set by their departments 24 courses met or exceeded the maximum
enrollment set by their departments Enrollment for all courses exceeded the
combined caps set by departments (681/665)
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Online Courses: 2001 - 2004
23 23 23
11
21
16
34
18
57
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2001 - 2002 50 2002 - 2003 78 2003 - 2004 98
Fall
Spring
Summer
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Distance Learning Enrollments: 2001 - 2004
219 224
146
394
715
285
187226
183
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
2001 - 2002 548 2002 - 2003 805 2003 - 2004 1,226
Fall
Spring
Summer
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Findings
The Summer Institute serves a substantial student interest in (and need for) online courses.
Faculty view the Summer Institute as an enhancement to their professional development.
Online courses developed through the Summer Institute are financially viable.
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Wrenching Change
The early decades of this second millennium may bring more changes to universities than their first thousand years. Some of those changes will be wrenching.
Gerhard Casper
Come the Millennium, Where the University?
April 18, 1995
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Then you better start swimmin‘
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Bob Dylan
The Times They Are A-Changin’
February 10, 1964
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Administrative Challenges
• The paradox of higher education: modern ideas and medieval structures
• When it comes to online courses the same rules do not apply
• Inflated expectations combined with resistance to change
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Administrative Advantages
• Ability to take advantage of unused capacity• Increased collaboration across academic departments
and between Ed Tech and the Library• Possibility for increased efficiency and reduced costs
(We try not to oversell this point.)• Stress relief on the system by load leveling of demand
for General Education courses• Rapid diffusion of new approaches to teaching and
learning with technology, an incubator for learning technologies
• Happy students & faculty
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Growing Pains
• Each of the 3 summer institutes presented its own set of challenges
• Growth of summer enrollments and issues associated with each phase of growth was paralleled by similar growth and challenges in the broader campus learning environment
• Three short steps from pilot project to mission critical service
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Formative Phase: Year One
• Concerns that online summer enrollments would cannibalize on-campus summer enrollments
• Uncertainty about costs and benefits• Issues related to class size and minimum and
maximum enrollments• Logistical issues related to enrollment
management and registration• Issues related to tuition for online courses• Academic inertia
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Developmental Phase: Year Two
• Need for more formalized course review and approval processes
• Issues related to tracking and reporting online enrollments
• Concerns about instructional quality in online courses
• Need for assessment of learning outcomes• Issues related to incentives and compensation
for faculty
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Maturity: Year Three
• Scaling issues associated with rising student expectations
• Issues related to resource allocation and distribution of course revenue
• Need to reconcile grassroots approach with programmatic priorities
• Desire to foster Communities of Practice• Fitting the Summer Initiative into the big
picture
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Evolution of Instructional Technology at James Madison University
1999 – Web, WebBoard, Centra, VTEL
2000 – Blackboard CourseInfo introduced
2003 – Blackboard 6 Enterprise version: move to mission critical, centrally supported utility service
2004 – Blackboard primary learning system framework; weaving together many content technologies including Web, Library systems, Centra, Respondus,Tegrity, Streaming Media, and Digital Images
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Environmental Impact
• Greatest impact arises from rapid growth and rapid diffusion
• Faculty participants become carriers of memes• Emergence of similar models to jumpstart
academic programs with an online learning component
• Rising expectations and rising demand extend to the long semesters
• Distance courses are a very small piece of the overall online learning environment
EDUCAUSEOctober 20, 2004
James Madison University
Active Blackboard Courses: 2000 - 2004(includes both online course and "blended courses")