Faculty Holi-dazed by the Possibilities

Dr. Barbara McKenzie and Dr. Allison Shook (MIT) had a ball, sharing a festive holiday meal with more than 35 other faculty, while learning from Dr. Brad Prince (MGMT) some of the newest multi-media options available to enhance online and hybrid courses. During our free monthly luncheon, Dr Prince shared not only his success using the software called Camtasia to capture movies and narrated presentations from his desktop to share with students, but urged others to give the newest version of Camtasia 4 a try. The new version allows instructors to publish podcasts and vodcasts in two simple steps, as well as clean-up background noise and automatically stabilize audio volume. Faculty can view Dr Prince’s presentation and sample here; as well as try out Camtasia for free. More helplets (mini-movies made with Camtasia 3) can be found here on the Distance Ed's Vista site.

Read Your News - Win a Turkey!

Hopefully, you've already gotten that RSS feeder up and running so you are reading this (we know most of you haven't, but once you do - you'll love it!) - see instructions in another recent post or call us for help (x90630). Anyway, we're giving away 2 turkeys (not cooked) for the first two faculty or staff to comment on this message (click on comments below). We'll even bring them to your office next Tuesday.
Now aren't you thankful you checked this blog?

Is Online Growth Slowing Down?

The answer is a resounding "No!" according to the 2006 Sloan Report, "Making the Grade: Online Education in the US." In fact, there has been no leveling off whatsoever, with nearly 3.2 million students taking at least one online course during the fall 2005 semester, up from 2.3 million the year before. This additional 800,000 online students is more than twice the number added in any other year. The study also found that the population is non necessarily non-traditional, but tends to mirror the general student population, with the vast majority being undergraduates. What types of institutions have the greatest penetration of online course and program offerings? The answer: doctoral/research institutions - with more than 80% having some form of online offerings. So, if online learning has becomed mainstreamed and offers tremendous potential for increased enrollments, then what's the problem? According to the study, the barriers to adoption are the perceived increased time it takes to develop and teach courses, and some remaining lack of acceptance of online courses by traditional faculty.

GeorgiaVIEW Vista 4 Coming Soon...!

The USG will upgrade UWG courses from WebCT Vista 3 to GeorgiaVIEW Vista 4 by Fall 2007. Training will begin in March. GeorgiaVIEW Vista 4 is the newest version of the state's standard online course management tool, used to enhance efficiency and quality in face-to-face courses, as well as to deliver courses partially or fully online. The new system is a more robust version of the WebCT Vista 3 we use now, with more tools and new functionality. Though the base product is the same, the old company name of 'WebCT' will go away, since Blackboard recently purchased the company; 'GeorgiaVIEW' was added to reflect the statewide implementation.

The transition will be much easier than the move from WebCT CE; faculty will not have to rebuild their courses. In addition to current capabilities including the secure online gradebook, tools for student interaction, the ability to provide class handouts, rich media, an assignment dropbox, and online auto-grading assessments, the upgrade to GeorgiaVIEW Vista 4 will bring these new features:

• An improved user interface with easier navigation, collapsible menus and a ‘Back' button in the interface
• New teaching and learning tools, including Class Blogs, Student Journals, Peer Review of discussion posts and Grading Forms (rubrics) that can be associated with assignments or gradeable discussions
• Ability to create ‘categories' of web links, and to allow students to add web links and media resources, e.g. images
• A Roster tool that allows students to publish personal info and a photo for classmates and instructors to reference

Visit our GeorgiaVIEW Vista 4 Info page for more information and a online demos - click here

Faculty Learn Valuable Tips Over Spooktacular Lunch

Julia Chibbaro, Mary Hancock, and Susan Boes joined about thirty other colleagues from across campus for our spooktacular Apollo Club lunch last Monday. During the free monthly lunch-n-learn session, faculty Darlene Owens demonstrated how she uses pen-based electronic grading, audio, and video screen capture to provide feedback to her MIT students. Distance learning colleagues dined for a spell while Owens shared the secrets to success with this medium; prepare students for the technology and don’t waste time editing or re-recording a less than perfect session. Eighty five percent of her fifty-four students agreed that the process was easy, and eighty percent said that the video/audio feedback was more helpful than written feedback. Owens explained that this method was also easier for her than trying to type out long descriptive narratives. Though the lunch participants only saw a seven minute abbreviated presentation, the original full powerpoint can be found here.

First Four Faculty to Respond Win Pumpkins

Yesterday, Janet sent an email out encouraging faculty to subscribe to this newsletter using an RSS aggregator. Today, we'd like to reward the efforts of those who did. In addition to ongoing news, we will also have occasional contests like this one on our newsblog - and of course, the surest way to win is to be a subscriber. If you are one of the first four UWG faculty to send an email to WebCat and say that you saw this, then we'll deliver a lovely pumpkin to your office next Monday.

Free Software for Interactive Assessments

For faculty looking for ways to offer interactive and fun assessments into their online classes, there is a free tool provided by the University System called iMod. The Interactive Media Object Development(iMOD^® ) tool is an easy-to-use software tool which enables faculty to design and create distinct, multimedia, interactive, learning activities for use in online or face-to-face instructional environments. There is a built-in equation editor and fourteen types of assessments that can easily be built using a fill-in-the-blank wizard, including virtual
flash cards, timelines and image maps.

Click here for an example of a "Drag and Drop Basket" made in iMod. Contact us to get your free copy of iMod and any additional help needed.

New Face for eCore

Stacey Rowland of the DDEC has taken over the role of eCore advisor (from Vista Migration queen Janet Gubbins). Stacey is currently implementing a program aimed at measurably increasing retention in eCore courses. Among the strategies have been surveys of eCore students, development of eCore mentor programs, increased and regular communication with our eCore students through telephone and email, and the redevelopment of the UWG eCore website. Please visit the eCore page and let us know what you think. Also, check out our feature story on eCore student, Kim Holder. As full-time mother of two, Kim credits UWG's online courses for making her continued educaiton possible.

The Last Bit of Vista Migration

On December 31st, UWG's license for the older version of WebCT, WebCT CE, will expire. By that time, all desired courses should be migrated to the new version of WebCT, currently referred to as WebCT Vista. Blank Spring course shells will be on the WebCT Vista server by October 20th, when the remainder of Arts & Science users are expected to join the
other college departments on the new WebCT Vista server.

To get started, faculty will need to complete this new required Board of Regents Technology Survey, in order to gain initial access to their Vista courses.

To assist with Vista training and migration:

• New training workshops and migration drop-in assistance dates have been posted to the http://www.westga.edu/~training/, 678-839-0630 )
• The UWG Vista faculty website is being expanded to include Helplets (online mini-movies demonstrating how to accomplish a specific task)
• DDEC staff are available for one-on-one assistance at your convenience. Email or call 678-839-0630.

Nazzal Becomes First to Gain 5-Star Online Course Recognition

Dr. Allison Nazzal, assistant professor of middle grades education, became the first UWG instructor to gain recognition for the development of a 5-Star Online Course. These online courses must meet rigorous standards of excellence and are reviewed by three persons: the instructor, a peer instructor, and the DDEC director or instructional designer. The course is MGED 4265, Instructional Design, Management, Technology. The 5-Star Online Course Review program was developed by Dr. Melanie Clay, DDEC director, as a way to promote online course quality at UWG. At the heart of the review is a detailed scoring rubric which includes specific standards relating to student information, interaction, assessment, and technology.

Oh What a Night

All five staff members of the Distance and Distributed Education Center took a short break from supporting elearning faculty and students and attended the UWG Centennial Gala. The DDEC is currently planning an Apollo Faculty Luncheon with a centennial theme to be held in the Spring.

New Apollo Award Criteria

Each spring at one of those fun monthly Apollo Club lunches, the DDEC recognizes faculty who have excelled in distance teaching, training and mentoring over the past year with an Apollo Award. Apollo Award recipients not only get a yummy lunch, accolades, and something swell for their vita, but also a very cool Apollo head trophy for their office. This year the criteria has changed just a little. To get the award, instructors must:

• teach at least 2 distance courses over the year (Summer 2006-Spring 2007) and at least one of the courses should be reviewed and receive 5-star status
• assist in leading at least one Distance Learning workshop . . . . by the way, presenting the seven-minute sizzle at an Apollo lunch does count for this one
• ask questions or make responses in the new Apollo Club listserv for faculty (designed to promote mentoring and sharing of experiences among UWG online faculty)

Is Your Online Course Worth 5 Stars?

Quality is a big word in online learning. How do we know that our courses are good enough? How can we prove it to our accreditors? Using research-based principles of good practice and perusing existing rubrics for quality online courses, Melanie Clay developed a 5-star course recognition program and worksheet for exemplary online courses. Using a scoring system paired with standards, the worksheet will work as a tool to enable faculty to easily improve their courses as well as gain recognition for meeting the 5-Star Standards. To be deemed 5-Star, an online course must be reviewed by the instructor, a peer, and a DDEC staff member. All 5-Star courses and developing instructors will be listed on the UWG website, and teaching a 5-Star course is one new criteria for the annual Apollo Awards.

2006 Apollo Awards

Eight online faculty were recognized for excellence in distance teaching, training and mentoring at the annual Apollo Awards luncheon. You'll surely want to drop by one of their offices to get a close look at their trophy. The awardees, who met specific criteria, including teaching two distance courses over the past year and leading training sessions were: Allison Nazzal, Betul Ozkan, Barbara McKenzie, Marty Bray, Abbot Packard, Sunil Harazi, Phyllis Snipes, and Dan Saurino.

VISTA Migration & Training Timeline Announced

In case you haven't heard, it's time to start migrating all online courses to WebCT Vista. Several courses have already been moved. Here's the schedule (established through a consensus process) of what courses will begin using Vista:

• Summer 2006: All COE courses & Math courses
• Fall 2006: All COB courses, Mass Comm, Philosophy & Nursing courses
• Spring 2006: All remaining Arts & Sciences Courses

All faculty should move their courses two months prior to the start of the assigned semester. To move your course, you must either attend one of the Drop-in Migration Sessions (see calendar) or make an appointment with the DDEC (email). The process will take 1-2 hours.

The second and final step - all faculty should receive WebCT Vista Training. This may be done through scheduled group sessions (see calendar), a specially-scheduled departmental session, or an individual session with DDEC staff (email). Or, if you wish, you may request self-training materials from Janet Gubbins (email).

One final note: Although the VISTA courses will reside on a state server instead of on campus, the DDEC will still provide the same faculty and student support.

Come Hop Aboard the iVan

The DDEC is taking a group of interesting faculty and staff to iPod Innovation Day at Georgia College and State University on April 16. GCSU has been on the cutting edge of using iPods for distance and distributed learning, and their work has recently been featured on CNN.com, Matha Stewart Radio, the Chicago Tribune and now right here on the DDEC newsblog. Our sister institution has also set up a really big server for iPodding that faculty from all USG institutions will be able to set up accounts on. The UWG iVan will leave at 6am and return late in the afternoon. The DDEC will also pick up the $30 registration fee of those attending from West Georgia. To sign up, email Janet Gubbins.

Migrating Birds and Online Courses

The BOR has informed us that WebCT Campus Edition will not be supported after December 2006, and that all campuses must be fully migrated to VISTA by Spring 07 semester. Just the word migration conjures up images of birds making a deliberate path to some better place. Yet, they have to know where they are going in order to get there. Last week, the Distance Education Steering Committee met and recommended that the migration begin with some courses in summer, and continue into spring. The proposed schedule is that Education courses (or at least most of them) begin in Summer; Business courses in fall; and Arts & Science courses in the spring. It was also recommended that departments migrate as a whole, rather than by individual faculty. DDEC staff are meeting with the TPC and academic department heads over the next few days to work out the exact timetables. VISTA demonstration workshops will begin next week, with weekly how-to sessions beginning in early-to-mid March.

Free Video Library for Online Courses

All UWG faculty have free access to an online video library developed by Georgia Public Broadcasting. There are more than 100 titles applicable to higher education in areas related to math, chemistry, political science, teaching, environmental awareness, and social sciences. The videos are broken into short (1-5 minutes) segments so that users may view an entire video or just a portion. The videos can be shown in class or online through WebCT. Examples of videos include footage of famous speeches, biographies of artists or musicians, videos of world cultures, and science and weather phenomena. For more information, contact Janet Gubbins.

Dear WebCat: How Do I Access My Past WebCT Courses?

All faculty should create backups, then download, and save a copy of all of their WebCT courses for themselves. These backups can be restored to a blank WebCT course at any time. The DDEC maintains copies of past WebCT courses for a period of one year. To access your past courses, go to webctarchive.westga.edu. Use the same default username and password that you use on the active WebCT server. If the course that you are looking for is older than one year old, contact the DDEC. Send your questions to the wise and wonderful WebCat.

For Better or Worse: WebCT Vista

Beginning in summer 2006, UWG online courses will begin migrating to WebCT Vista, hosted on a centralized USG server. The initial migration will only include a handful of courses (not yet identified), but full migration is expected by Spring 2007. Because of concerns about reliability and support with earlier versions of Vista, UWG is among the last of USG institutions to make this change. During recent semesters, many of the earlier technical issues with Vista seem to have been significantly reduced, says Janet Gubbins, UWG WebCT administrator. In addition, the Vista product offers enhancements such consolidated toolbars, quick-start pages for course setup, and enhanced grading, presentation, and private mail functions. Faculty training for Vista will be offered by the DDEC beginning in May.