Indiana Partnership for Statewide Education
Course Development Grant Proposal
EDCI591W Educational Applications of the World Wide Web
Purdue University
ABSTRACT: EDCI591W has been successful since its inception during the Fall 1997 semester. However, we must now begin to address issues related to limited resources and the inability to accommodate the growing number of individuals interested in taking the course. During Spring 1999 semester, a distance learning pilot was incorporated within the structure of the traditional on-campus format to investigate the feasibility of transforming the course to an interactive, on-line format via the World Wide Web. The results suggest that the learning needs of individuals seeking continuing education and professional development opportunities could be better met by utilizing and extending the medium about which the course teaches - the World Wide Web. The transformation of EDCI591W to exploit the very medium about which it teaches could prove quite advantageous to a somewhat neglected group of learners, in-service teachers. In-service teachers have a tremendous need for quality, on-going, continuing education and professional development opportunities that offer time and attendance flexibility. Of particular importance is the fact that EDCI591W would provide instruction in and on the very medium in-service teachers are being asked to integrate within their classrooms. At a minimum, transformation of EDCI591W to accommodate the continuing education and profession development population of in-service teachers would (1) allow for a better use of our personnel and resources, and (2) extend outreach to meet the learning and classroom integration needs of in-service teachers within the state of Indiana, on-line.
NARRATIVE: In the Fall of 1997, Educational Applications of the World Wide Web (EDCI591W) was approved for instructional delivery at Purdue University and subsequently offered during the Summer 1998 and Spring 1999 semesters. From its initial offering in Summer 1998, EDCI591W has been oversubscribed during each course registration period. Because upper level undergraduate students with acceptable GPAs are allowed to register for and fully participate in 500 level courses concurrent with graduate students, we have had to deal with a very serious problem. Undergraduate academic counselors have consistently blocked out approximately 95% of the available class seats to ensure the admittance of undergraduate students. This has negatively impacted the ability of post-baccalaureate students to enroll in the course. Those most seriously affected have been in-service teachers who both desire to take and need to take the course as part of their own continuing education and professional development.
Needs To Be Addressed
Both semesters in which the EDCI591W was offered the enrollment limits of 17
students were increased by 50% to partially offset the number of students seeking
admittance who were ultimately placed on waiting lists. Increasing the enrollment
limits still did not accommodate all the student desirous of taking the course
because academic counselors were blocking out the slots for pre-service teachers.
Their actions had rationale. A significant number of pre-service teachers need
the course as part of their computer endorsement, which is ultimately attached
to their teacher education certificate. In the process, numerous individuals
especially in-service teachers found themselves unable to take the very course
that had been designed for them. We concede that pre-service teachers have a
tremendous need for similar content and that an equitably solution must be provided
to both groups. From our pilot project in Spring 1999, we have evidence to support
the notion that post-baccalaureate students seem highly prepared for and would
welcome, participate in, and benefit from on-line instructional opportunities.
In-service teachers, in particular, seek out such opportunities for they themselves
will be implementing similar learning strategies with their own students.
Learners to be Served
High demand for EDCI591W was anticipated during the initial design of the
course in 1997. We did, however, underestimated the volume and diversity of
students who, each semester including summers, would seek such learning opportunities
under the School of Education umbrella. Our most feasible option to maximize
our resources and simultaneously accommodate the volume and diversity of students
is to extend outreach to the most neglected group, in-service teachers. This
can be accomplished through an interactive, on-line, World Wide Web format.
Such an option would permit us to construct and deliver a total on-line, interactive
learning experience to in-service teachers who appear ready and committed to
learning experiences at a distance. We would, however, continue to offer an
on-campus section of EDCI591W to predominately pre-service teachers, thereby
equitably serving both groups based upon their specific needs.
Rationale
for Choice of Course and Technologies to Be Used
The primary goal of this on-line course is for in-service teachers to learn,
explore, use to potential, and implement the most relevant educational application
of the Web available within their own classrooms. The World Wide Web is its
own perfect candidate for the next step in its own evolution and for exploiting
the changes in technologies (e.g., HTML, Java scripting, CGI scripting, streaming
video, web-design software) currently driving it. Exploiting these technologies
will help us do the very thing the course promotes is possible - elevate the
standard of one's learning to a higher level, without boundaries. Of the educational
applications of the World Wide Web presented, investigated and experienced thus
far in the on-campus course, partial and/or full learning at a distance has
been tremendously underutilized. This course will change that and simultaneously
teach in-service teachers how to do the same.
Institution's Capacity and Commitment to the
Course-Development Project
There was and continues to be a tremendous need for School of Education faculty
to become intrinsically involved at the foundational level with the design,
development, and implication of courses that provide and promote instruction
to students regarding the nature of learning and instruction via the World Wide
Web. This is especially true for instruction that will be delivered at a distance.
As such, School of Education faculty are continuously being encouraged to include
aspects of this involvement within their teaching, research, and outreach. This
project would be a futile attempt without the support of colleagues within the
Educational Technology program, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction,
and the School of Education. Pursuit of this project has the support of each
as evidenced by the three letters of support contained within the appendix of
this document. It also has the personal commitment of the project authors submitting
this proposal.
Faculty at Purdue University have access to state-of-art equipment via their own desktop computers, campus-wide computer labs, and departmental facilities. Students have similar access and in many cases, also have their own personal access. The Purdue University Computing Center (PUCC) maintains five state-of-the-art computer labs (Platforms: 1 Macintosh; 4 Windows 95/NT) within the Liberal Arts Education Building (LAEB) - home to the School of Education. These facilities are available seven days a week, approximately 12-19 hours each day excluding legal and/or campus holidays. In addition to the facilities maintained by PUCC, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (where the Educational Technology program resides) maintain three state-of-the-art computer labs for on-campus instruction and open lab usage. The computer lab facilities include: 21 PowerMacintosh G3 computers with 64 M of RAM, 6G hard drives, and video capture ability; 20 Pentium, 400 MHz, Gateway computers with 48M of RAM and 1G hard drives; five Pentium II, 300 MHz, Dell computers with 64M of RAM and 8.4G hard drives; a video-in and video capture Web/Lab server; a Videostreaming server; a CD-ROM recorder and CD Re-writeable recorder; post production video editing suite; Panasonic VHS Video camcorder; and two Sony Maverick FD5 and FD7 still JPED digital cameras that records to 3 1/2" diskettes. Licensed software maintained in our computer labs include: Photoshop, HyperCard 2.3.5 (web-oriented), QuickTime and QTVR, Authorware 4.0, Director 6, HyperStudio, Netscape, Internet Explorer, Front Page and standard Microsoft software applications.
Everything necessary for Website design, development, and implementation including the WebCT courseware tools is available here at Purdue. WebCT will be used because it allows for Website security and a highly interactive interface. Should we desire to implement a short, on-campus orientation to the Website, classrooms and computer labs are readily available for such use. Participants will simply need access to the Website in order to participate, which most will have. Others may use facilities at their schools, at their place of employment, or on the Purdue campus.
Instructional Design and Delivery Plan
Considerable thought and investigation has been given to the instructional design
and delivery plan for this project. Two iterations of this course have allowed
us to develop, pilot test and revise the content for a diverse group of learners
with a variety of learning styles and needs. The Gerlach and Ely Model was selected
to guide the design process. This model was chosen because of its fit within
our current constraints. Our content is already approximately 70% complete.
Objectives are partially in place via previous delivery and constitute approximately
75% completion with some modifications yet to be performed. More than two plus
years of data are currently available to assist with an analysis regarding the
diversity and skills individuals will in all probability bring to the learning
environment. During the small pilot conducted in Spring 1999, seven students
voluntarily committed to take eight weeks of the course over distance. Even
after taking into consideration much of the research currently available, we
still encountered a few problems. But we were able to resolve the instructional
problems quite quickly primarily due to our choice of medium - the World Wide
Web. The two pre-service teachers decided to return to the on-campus course
within the first 3 weeks of the on-line project. They felt they needed the discipline
of the structure classroom. The remaining five students completed the full eight
weeks and enjoyed the independence that distance learning brings. Both groups
provided us with tremendous feedback. Such knowledge will serve us well as we
move forward with the project.
Explanation of How the Instructional Design
Will Serve the Needs of the Target Audience
The Gerlach and Ely model has probably never been used for on-line instructional
design. Instructional design for this environment is still an area for further
research. We are tailoring the model to make it more student-centered by building
in collaborative components, which parallel the nature in which participants
may need to learn. The World Wide Web as a medium will allow us to do concurrent
design and modification of our instructional strategies, the organization of
student groups for learning opportunities, and the activities we implement to
account for diversity. Time and space become less relevant and our resources
become ever expanding because the technologies will be in a state of constant
improvement. This gives us a continuum upon which to develop and implement strategies
for the variety of learning styles on an as needed basis.
On-line learning will be made possible via self-study, small group interactions, and full class participation in accordance with the various technologies incorporated within the course Website. This process allows for the adaptation of activities to the specific needs of in-service teachers. As they participate in the variety of learning experiences, they have the opportunity to learn beyond what would normally be accomplishable within a traditional classroom. For example, within the traditional classroom when the time allocated for learning is up, we stop. With an on-line format, stopping is left to the participants. They control their progression along the learning continuum. This gives us tremendous latitude in dealing with the knowledge base of each in-service teacher. Deficiencies can be compensated for without a disruption to the entire class and expedient modifications to the instruction can be accomplished instantaneously, as necessary.
Whereas some might perceive the Gerlach and Ely Model to be somewhat linear, our use of the model will be implemented within a non-traditional classroom setting - the World Wide Web. We will use a team approach to development and delivery rather than the traditional single teacher approach. Learning will be student-centered and the authors of this project will oversee and facilitate the interactive, on-line instruction thereby closely monitoring student learning and addressing student needs as they occur.
Course Evaluation Plan
The evaluation plan for the continuing education and professional development
section of EDCI591W will consist of formative and summative self-evaluations,
peer evaluations of one another's work, instructor evaluations of students'
work, and student evaluations of the course. The entire course will be designed
such that it models the situations in which in-service teachers should be developing
their own on-line instructional activities. Participant performance will be
linked directly to learning activities and objectives. As such, anonymous feedback
will be solicited periodically for future instructional planning and improvement.
This is in line with the collaborative nature of the course. Additionally, on-line
activities will include short, succinct evaluation components to allow students
to document both positive and negative concerns regarding their learning and
the products being assessed. A process will also be in place whereby students
will have opportunities to offer constructive criticism regarding the on-line
products of their peers. This will allow students to obtain different perspectives
of the quality of their own work, the quality of their peers' work, and the
quality of comments provided. It will also allow them to contribute to and gain
a better understanding of the decision making process for making such judgements
and the mechanics of assessment via different media and various standards. The
evaluation plan also takes into account the need for students to comment on
the relationship between theory and practice, particularly the applicability
of using higher level thinking skills as defined in the upper levels of Bloom's
Taxonomy of Objectives: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
The on-line course will be predominately project-oriented. Students will receive points for each product produced. Products will be submitted in the form of email communications, email attachments, bulletin board postings, on-line surveys, and an on-line quiz with instant feedback. A selection of these products will be modified to perfection and developed into a mini-PowerPoint presentation. It will then will be converted to Web-format, uploaded to the Web and assessed against pre-defined criteria. Points will come from three sources: the students themselves, the facilitators, and a random group of 4-5 student peers. Total points will be tallied, applied against an existing scale, and converted to a letter grade.
Formal course evaluations will be monitored in three stages: two formative assessments four and eight weeks into the course and a final assessment using the Cafeteria evaluation in an on-line survey format which guaranteed anonymity. The Cafeteria evaluation is a standard, required evaluation procedure at Purdue.
Quality and/or Transferability Plans and/or
Strategies
The nature of educational reform initiatives beckons new and innovative solutions
to the many problems that need resolution. Currently, this is the only course
within our School of Education dedicated to providing individuals with such
depth and breath of knowledge into the educational applications of the Web.
Transforming it into an on-line course while maintaining a traditional section
is a feasible alternative for two reasons. As in-service teachers participate
in this course, they prepare to re-enter their schools with the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes of on-line learning necessary to productively contribute to the
goals and objectives of their district. As undergraduates continue to participate
in the traditional format of the course, more and more on-line portions can
be slowly integrated into its core structure. We can then structure some interaction
between the in-service teachers (who could serve as mentors) and the pre-service
teachers. Both groups need to enter or return to school districts with this
type of exposure to learning, particularly since they will be required to implement
similar standards. What better place than this course for them to ultimately
collaborate in addressing the very learning issues they must face?
Purdue University is also part of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) consortium. As such, we expect to see individuals seeking cross-registration opportunities to participate in this learning experience. Ultimately this project can serve as a working model for development and implementation of strategies that allow for in-service and pre-service teachers to collaboratively team up to learn from one another. The seasoned learner will outreach to the unseasoned learner, the technologically competent individual will help guide those aspiring to reach such status, and the visionary will guide the vision seeker in joining the ranks of those who see educational change as a challenge rather than an obstacle.
Information About How the Course Fits
Into Other Efforts in Indiana
Within our School of Education at Purdue University, we are seeing a significant
increase in the number of inquiries coming from individuals, particularly in-service
teachers, specifically asking for the on-line learning opportunities we provide
and also the opportunities for gaining experience in on-line instruction. We
would like to provide them with these on-line learning opportunities for if
they cannot find what they want within their academic communities at home, they
will take their business elsewhere, many times outside the state of Indiana.
This project also seeks to contribute to the pool of on-line courses already available within the state of Indiana. We hope to simultaneously outreach beyond the borders of Indiana to a diverse group of learners who have need of the interactive, on-line content we will deliver and also desire the quality of education for which the state of Indiana is known. Along the same lines, on-line courses are in extremely high demand throughout the country and in the state of Indiana. The need to keep up with such demand sometimes forces organizations to outsource such services to organizations in other states. This project will allow for the in-house development and on-line delivery of a quality product made in the state of Indiana.
Marketing Plan
The strategic plan for marketing EDCI591W is a very simple one. In excess of
25,000 Schedules of Courses are distributed each Spring, Summer, and Fall semester.
The high demand for EDCI591W came about through this marketing strategy. As
such, the same strategy will be used to market this on-line course. Additional
solicited advertising will come, particularly in the summer months, from the
Office of Continuing Education in the form of their standard list of on-line
courses. The Educational Technology program will also distribute flyers announcing
the course to several school corporations for distribution to their teachers.
We expect to see an increase in projected enrollment and an even higher increase
in enrollment during the summer months.
Project Schedule
The following timeline will be followed to ensure completion of the project
in a timely manner.
Key Course Development Personnel
Gloria Edwards, Assistant Professor of Educational Technology and Lead Investigator
Purdue University - School of Education / Curriculum & Instruction
Patrick Fultz, Systems Analyst Management Information / Masters Candidate in Educational Technology
Purdue University - Administrative Data Processing
Tristan Johnson, Assistant Professor of Educational Technology
Purdue University - School of Education / Curriculum & Instruction
BUDGET NARRATIVE
The most critical need for any project of this magnitude is manpower. Drs. Edwards and Johnson are committing 15% and 10%, respectively, of their yearly time. Mr. Fultz is using this project towards his graduate work. In lieu of release time, our only budgetary request is for a quarter-time graduate assistant. All individuals will have instructional design expertise, will be part of the design and development team, and will serve as facilitators of the course once it goes on-line. A dedicated web server with appropriate software is available for project use through the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and will accommodate the volume of students anticipated.
