Distance Education

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East Carolina University September 27, 2006

• Distance Education
• Where We Have Been
• Where We Are
• Where We Are Going
• Biwu Yang
• Providing opportunities to time and place bound
  students

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Distance Education Legacy

• Culture at ECU is serving students
• 1/3 of state with dispersed population
• ECU began Distance Ed in 1947
• Evenings, Weekends, TV courses
• Internet technologies opened up the East
• Full funding makes it possible to serve

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The Typical DE Student

• 35 years old, working, 2 children at home
• Pursuing degree for economic reasons
• Chooses DE as only possibility for college
• Can manage 1 or 2 classes each semester
• 2/3 live east of I-95 attended NC CCs

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DE Students by County

• DE is no longer site based/site bound
• DE has no digital divide local libraries,
  community centers, CCs

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DE and our Military

• 100,000 Active duty, National Guard, Reserve
• 10 billion plus impact in NC
• UNC is an important factor
• Many will retire in NC
• Troops to Teachers is growing
• 600 soldier enrollments
• Many troops are deployed
• DE programs go with the troops

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DE Programs Not Courses at ECU

• Programs chosen to meet state needs
• 57 degrees, certificates, licensures
• 47 entirely on line, 10 with some face to face
• Emphases teacher education, nursing, economic
  development. 81 of SCH
• Entirely online with the help of the CCs
• Proposed programs carefully considered

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DE Collaboration

• University Partnerships
• German Studies, Nursing, Gerontology
• Community College Partnerships
• BS completion with NC CCs
• Wachovia Project East a 3 way partnership
• Wachovia CCs ECU teachers in the East
• CC faculty prepared via DE
• 2/3 of DE students attended NC CC

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Educational Environment at ECU

• DE programs are the on-campus programs
• Same courses, requirements, standards
• DE created positions allocated to programs
• DE faculty are full time tenure track with mixed
  loads
• DE faculty profile and expectations the same
• DE is not extension education at ECU
• Backwash onto campus courses - 1100 of 1600
  faculty use DE based components in f2f courses

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Quality of DE at ECU

• Same faculty, courses, requirements, standards
• SREB FacSen statements are standards
• SACS accreditation examined DE OK
• Professional accreditations examined DE OK
• Licensure rates the same for DE on-campus
• SOIS indicates DE students more satisfied

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What is the DE Experience?
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DE Student Services

• Prospective student readiness counseling
• Catalog / Financial aid / Admissions
• Academic advising / Schedules / Bookstore
• Library services /Online writing center /
• Disability Support / Placement Center
• Help desk 800 number / Student Counseling
• Courses / Instructors / Other Students
• Grades / Transcripts

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DE Enrollment at ECU

• Need ECU Culture Technology Funding
• Growth in areas of need Ed, Nursing, Econ
• DE students would not attend on campus
• On-campus students have other opportunities
• 20 of our students and SCH are DE

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The Cost of DE

• DE is as or more expensive than face to face
• National, UNC, and ECU studies agree
• NSF nationally proven model for calculations
• Model accounts for building other costs
• Use of full time faculty course design/maintain
• Educating the underserved builds NC

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UNC DE Good for the System
is

• A single online library for all DE students
• A UNC Center for Best DE Practices
• A portal for military students
• Simplified course/credit/tuition transfer
• Large sections taught across campuses
• Internationalize with technology
• Global Understanding/Internationalization
• Off model programs to the world

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Academic Outreach Office

• The mission of our Academic Outreach Office
• Our office extends educational opportunities,
  through a variety of learning options, to 
  students in non-traditional formats.
• http//www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/academicoutreach/

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AO Services

• Blackboard and Learning Platform
• Continuing Studies
• Global Academic Initiatives
• International Affairs
• Military Programs
• Technology Advancement Center
• University Media Center

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Technologies Supporting DE

• Various technologies have been explored to make
  DE success
• Key technologies focus on
• Course Management
• Interactive Tools
• Collaboration

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Course Management

• Currently we use Blackboard
• http//blackboard.ecu.edu/
• Store course contents
• Tests/quizzes/Grades
• This semester, 2190 course sites, comprise 2860
  sections
• 2000 instructors
• 72630 enrollment seats

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Interaction Tools

• Asynchronous Tools
• Blackboard discussion board
• Email
• Mailing list server
• http//seagull.sit.ecu.edu

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Interaction Tools - cont

• Synchronous tools
• Centra (hosted service)
• http//prod1.centra.com/main/Customers/ecu/index.j
  html?defaulttrue
• IRC Chat (we manage the server)
• For class or virtual office hour
• Yahoo groups

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Lecture!
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Films/Media!
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Sync Office Hours!
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Pilot Projects

• Research, evaluate, test, and deploy new tools
  that will enhance the DE classes effectively
• Identify the needs (from faculty/staff)
• Search for good/best solutions
• Evaluate/test new tools
• Involve faculty in the evaluation process

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Confluence

• A wiki tool
• http//falcon.aos.ecu.edu8080/confluence/
• Provides collaboration environment
• For group projects, research projects, papers,
  etc.

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Moodle

• An Open Source CMS
• http//eagle.aos.ecu.edu/moodle/
• We are not replacing Blackboard, rather we
  provide faculty with options
• Unique features and benefits
• It is open source, so we can change its features
  and operation

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Journal System

• This is requested from faculty in the College of
  Education
• An open source solution to electronically manage
  the submission, review, and publishing processes
• http//eagle.aos.ecu.edu/ojs/

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Some Other Projects

• Videoconferencing technology
• Vignettes
• Social Presence for DE
• Best practice for Discussion Board
• Teaching with Technology Think-In

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Newsletter

• Provides monthly Teaching with Technology
  newsletter
• http//www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/academicoutreach/upload
  /Teaching_with_Technology_Fall_06_Final_9_25-2.htm
  

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Thank you..Questions?
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ECU English Department

• http//www.ecu.edu/english/

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Async Discussion!
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Quizzes!
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Feedback!