Abstract

The IUPUI Community Learning Network and Department of Computer Technology intend to develop a web-based, asynchronous course in Information Technology Fundamentals. This course may be taken for undergraduate credit or as a professional development course. Additional opportunities are needed for employees to receive enhanced technology training without the long-term goal of receiving an advanced degree. Although many large corporations have created internal training departments to update and prepare their employees, most small businesses, agencies, or school districts are unable to afford the luxury of full-time training programs. To satisfy the growing need for trained and knowledgeable workers within these three environments, an outside computer technology program is needed that provides the necessary knowledge, training, and support. Importantly, most employees who are most in need of additional training in the computer technology area cannot afford to leave their place of employment to acquire the needed knowledge. The CPT 299 Information Technology Fundamentals course is the first of six courses that are part of the Information Technology Certificate Program that offers carefully focused educational programs that are accessible to clientele who seek further training in computer technology. CPT 299, Information Technology Fundamentals, provides students with a working knowledge of the terminology, processes, and components of information systems, and the application development process. Students will receive hands-on experience with the World Wide Web. To assist in the development of this course, the IUPUI School of Engineering and Technology and the IUPUI Community Learning Network requests funding from the IPSE Course Development Grant Program.

 

Narrative

Need to be addressed and learners to be served:

Due to current global job trends, engineering and technology employees face an increased demand to demonstrate computer literacy and skills. Students will receive hands-on experience with theWorld Wide Web. The student population to be served by CPT 299 Information Technology Fundamentals include:

- Individuals in the data processing field who need to upgrade their skills to match current technology

- Small business owners who wish to create and implement computer solutions for their business

- Teachers who need computer enhancement to be able to use the technology in the educational environment

- Individuals in management who need computer knowledge to be able to manage computer systems

- Students seeking a basic computer literacy course to meet their own degree requirements

- A diverse student population that resides as close as downtown Indianapolis or anywhere in the state of Indiana and as far away as the other side of the world, since the planned course will be delivered via the Internet.

Rationale for choice of course and technology or technologies to be used:

The CPT 299 Information Technology Fundamentals course is the first of six courses that are part of the Information Technology Certificate Program. The Program is structured to address the needs of that clientele by focusing specifically on the design of a curriculum that is easily and cost effectively delivered and accessed via the Internet to virtual students anywhere in the world. While the program operates on the assumption that students will have access to a computer and to the Internet to electronically receive instruction, educational materials, and services, those who do not currently have access to a computer or who need computer literacy training are encouraged to utilize the computer labs on the IUPUI campus, or to visit any of the many learning centers operated by the Indiana College Network. The "anytime, anywhere" features of this program make it particularly attractive to working students, to those who live outside of the greater Indianapolis area and thus are distanced from the IUPUI campus, and to those who are living in other cities in and around Central Indiana, throughout the state, or nationwide.

 

The course will be delivered on the World Wide Web via real-time, streaming, (e.g. RealAudio/Video) which has been pioneered by the Purdue School of Engineering & Technology, Department of Computer Technology and the WebLab at IUPUI. Students will be able to hear the nuances of the instructor’s voice and see the instructor’s body language. Web-based evaluation techniques will be incorporated into the course offerings. As necessary, we will incorporate web-based laboratory offerings. Laboratory offerings can take several forms and considerable experimentation will be necessary to determine the most appropriate form in each instructional situation.

This method of delivery is very similar to that of the one-room schoolhouse of yesteryear. There in the one-room schoolhouse, all the subjects and resource materials were at the student's fingertips under one roof. The web-based delivery places the subjects and resource materials under one virtual roof for the students. Electronic resources will replace traditional resources. Browsers, hypertext, multimedia, bookmarks now replace traditional reference materials. Resources are now located throughout the world and delivery time seemingly is instantaneous. The live broadcast interface allows students, anywhere in the world, the ability to communicate with the professor and fellow students via a chat frame. Web content pages are pushed to the student, rather than the student having to type in each URL as stated by the professor during content presentation. The students will be able to view the professors in the video frame and hear the nuances of the professor’s voice. The professor will have knowledge of who is listening live via the login frame. The archived lecture interface is similar to the live interface minus the login frame and the chat frame. The online testing and the instant feedback to students when they submit examinations and quizzes is truly an innovative feature of the suite of software used to deliver these courses.

Institution's capacity and commitment to the course-development project:

IUPUI has been a dominant player in distance education for over 25 years, most notably through contributions made to the state by faculty and staff in the Schools of Medicine and Nursing. However, since 1990, the campus has developed a series of support services to develop faculty and staff to meet the needs of distance learners. Dr. Erwin Boschmann, Associate Dean of the Faculties, has been instrumental in establishing the Office of Faculty Development and Senior Staff Development and a world-class Center for Teaching and Learning. The programs and Center staff provide seminars, mini grant programs and opportunities for faculty to integrate technology into the teaching and learning environment. The campus created a WebLab to imagine and develop web-based authoring and course development environments that make course development a professional enrichment experience for faculty and staff. The University Library at IUPUI maintains an inventory of thousands of on-line journals, reference sources, and publications that can be accessed by learners across the globe. The Library established an electronic reserves initiative which enables faculty to electronically post materials for students in a secured electronic environment. In addition, the University Library participates in instructional teams comprised of faculty, academic advisors and librarians to create a web of services gathered to meet the needs of distance learners. University Information Technologies Services maintains a 24-hour help desk to assist learners in gaining access to the university electronically.Since 1990, the IUPUI Community Learning Network has developed almost 20 courses with faculty from virtually every school represented at IUPUI. CLN serves as the project manager, fiscal and administrative office and has responsibility for managing and developing the undergraduate distance education strategic plan.

The Purdue School of Engineering & Technology at IUPUI maintains a close working relationship with hundreds of companies in Central Indiana. The School offers a wide range of internships and coop programs placing university undergraduates in a fast-paced computer technology environment. The curriculum is geared to meet the evolving needs of industry.Instructional design plan:

The Information Technology Fundamentals course will contain 6-8 independent modules. Each module will contain an assessment component which enables the learner to customize their learning path. The learning path enables the learner to spend the majority of their time on areas in which they need to develop additional expertise. The modules are learner-driven and can be taken at times and places most convenient to the learners. In addition, learners may begin their coursework at any time during an academic year. IUPUI maintains a contract with National Education Training Group to host on-line computer training courses. The Fundamentals course will include several pre-produced learning modules. The Fundamentals course may also include video lectures, presentations, and RealAudio components within the learning modules. These video graphics and audio modules will be created, produced, digitized, and incorporated into IUPUI’s newly developed Oncourse environment.

When instructors of record log on to the web sites for their classes, they are automatically entered into the authoring environment where they may easily add, edit, and update the content of each course web site. Each dynamically-generated course site includes an up-to-date class roster including the names all registered students as well as photos if they choose. Each course web site also provides facilities for chat, mail, and conferencing, as well as a comprehensive toolbox and resource center. The toolbox contains a variety of teaching tools including online testing, web authoring software, and a variety of multimedia electronic resources unique to the content of a specific course available through IUPUI University Library or other digital libraries around the world.

The Oncourse environment is designed to comply with technical specifications for learning materials proposed by EDUCAUSE and the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) and is fully Y2K compliant.

Course evaluation plan:

A web-based course evaluation system that is comparable to the standard Department of Computer Technology course evaluation will be developed and used at the end of the course, along with a standard distance learning evaluation that collects information including student demographics, learning needs, and educational goals. Several evaluative items along with a narrative option will be provided after the completion of each learning module or lesson. In addition, student learning of basic course content will be compared to the achievement in the standard, classroom sections because of planned test content overlap. Overall student satisfaction, student evaluation of learning modules, and the level of student learning will provide feedback useful for continuing course improvement and quality assurance. The goals are both course improvement and to be able to make comparisons between students in the web-based course and their university-based counterparts on the relevant dimensions of learning and student satisfaction.

CPT Information Technology Fundamentals course is equivalent to CPT 115 and will eventually replace both CPT 106 and CPT 115. The course does not require prerequisites.

Project schedule:

May – August '98

- Review existing course description and learning objectives

- Collect video and graphic images & data

- Beta test the IUPUI Oncourse on-line web environment

- Begin initial stages of instructional design & seek commitment from University Library

- Develop brochures, marketing materials and web site; distribute to corporations, associations, and the Indiana College Network

December '98 - May '99

- Prepare course materials,

- Seek peer review of course content and instructional design

- Begin cross promotion of Fall course offering through campus, ICN, and IHETS

- Script and record video segments

- Prepare graphics and text materials

- Develop threaded messaging themes and integrate into course curriculum

May '99 - August '99

- Digitize video and audio materials

- Complete visual graphics and synchronize materials to video and audio

- Finalize interactive modules

- Test threaded messaging concepts and interactions with CPT 299 students

- Finalize on-line library resources, provide electronic reserve materials to the library

- Release marketing materials through IUPUI Communications and Public Relations to media outlets

August '99

- Course offered statewide through the World Wide Web

November '99

- Implement course improvements

The School of Engineering and Technology’s commitment reflects the ambitious schedule for completing up to six courses in three years. Because of the rapid evolution of the World Wide Web, a web-based course must be developed in one year or less to ensure that the available technology suits the content and methods of the new course.

Key course development personnel:

Senior Personnel

Personnel	Topics
Thomas I.M. Ho	Faculty
David Williamson	Systems & User Interface Design
Ed Sullivan/Eugenia Fernandez	Data management/programming
Thomas Ho	Architecture
Ali Jafari	OnCourse Developer
Chuck Fearnow	Project Manager

Professor Thomas I.M. Ho, the most experienced pioneer in applying real-time streaming to instruction in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, IUPUI, will manage the project. Professor Tom Ho serves as the Chair of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. He earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University.

Dr. Ali Jafari began his professional career as a design engineer at IU where he initiated the multimedia classroom project and designed and produced the first classroom human-computer interface system. In 1997, Dr. Jafari established the WebLab as a new R&D laboratory at Indiana University to conduct research and develop new systems benefiting the new age of teaching and learning, distance education, and distributed learning. He is currently directing the Oncourse project, a new web authoring toolbox and environment for the creation of class website for every courses offered at the university.

Chuck Fearnow is currently the manager of Distributed Education for the IUPUI Community Learning Network. Chuck has an M.S. in Education, with a major in Instructional Systems Design, and a B.S. in Education with a major in Broadcasting. For the past 9 years, he has worked for IUPUI, first in the Medical Education Resources Program as a course designer and video producer for 5 years and as a producer of telecourses and web courses for the IUPUI Community Learning Network for the last 4 years.

Senior personnel (subject matter experts) will be responsible instructional content creation, including soundtracks and voice clips as well as instruments for assessing student learning.

Other Personnel:

Other personnel will assist the senior personnel by providing technical support including audio/video editing and the synchronization of soundtracks to visual content delivered via web pages. The School is committed to the development of all four topics—programming, data management, systems and user interface design, and architecture. Also, a webmaster will assist Professor Ho, while graduate students will assist the other senior personnel.

In addition to assisting Professor Ho, the webmaster is also responsible for software tool development. Software tools to be developed by the webmaster include user interface for Synchronized Multimedia (a prototype already exists) and productivity tools for audio/video content creation. The graduate students will also assist the subject matter experts in web page development.

 

 

Appendix A

Dr. Ali Jafari

Dr. Ali Jafari began his professional career as a design engineer at IU where he initiated the multimedia classroom project and designed and produced the first classroom human-computer interface system. Since 1989 he has worked as the director of research and development and an associate professor of Computer Technology at IUPUI. He has presented extensively in national and international conferences on human computer interface design, multimedia classroom design, multimedia information systems, technology automation and distance education. He travels extensively to consult on information technology and multimedia system design with universities and educational institutions across the world.

In 1989, he founded the Information Technologies Laboratory, a R&D centre developing multimedia systems for educational use. In 1993, he directed and worked on the Interactive Multimedia Distribution System, which resulted in the production of the first university wide interactive video-on-demand and authoring system. In 1997, he completed another million dollar research and development project that resulted in the development of the first multimedia digital library system. The outcome of this project was deployed at Universiti Tenaga Nasional, in Malaysia, one of the first universities capable of delivering MPEG digital video to the computer workstations across the campus on an ultra fast ATM data network.

In 1997, Dr. Jafari established the WebLab as a new R&D laboratory at Indiana University to conduct research and develop new systems benefiting the new age of teaching and learning, distance education, and distributed learning. He is currently directing the Oncourse project, a new web authoring toolbox and environment for the creation of class website for every courses offered at the university.