Criterion 1: Helping
Students Learn
MINUTES
MARCH 14, 2002
MEMBERS
PRESENT: Ann Miller, Maggie Myers, Ruth Barney, and Iden Smith
It was announced
that Matha Schleinitz will be replacing Ray Lepore on the committee.
Ann Miller
provided the Committee with copies of the technology grant that the
College will use to increase on-line and Blended flex classes. It will
also provide money to make all classrooms into smart classrooms. More
computer will be purchased for the Learning Lab and the Internet café.
The goal of the
committee’s project was discussed. It was decided that the goal would
tentatively be “Make more opportunities available to students by
increasing on-line offerings.” Incorporated in this goal would elements of
increasing the use of “blended flex” offerings and use of smart classroom
technology. Many related issues were discussed.
At this point
there are about 31 on-line and cassette offerings. What would be
reasonable goals to set for increasing this number?
Since some
students do not have access to computers, how do we make computers
available for them to use to do on-line classes or on-line assignments in
other classes? Currently, the Learning Lab is not open enough hours and
does not have enough computers to support increasing needs of students.
Also, tutors are not always available and do not always have the expertise
to help with an increasing variety of student and instructor needs. It was
mentioned that there may be a federal program to help students purchase
computers. We need to investigate this.
What will the
“Internet Café” be like and what impact will it have on student access to
computers?
What will the role
of the library in all of this?
There needs to be
a close relationship between faculty, the Learning Lab, and the Library.
How will we
support students who need technical help related to the use of their home
computers for class work?
Some students may
not want to or be able to visit campus. How do we deal with issues of
advising, registration, and book purchases?
At this point
there is no formal way of deciding which classes are offered on-line. We
may need to do some surveys to determine which classes students want to
take on-line. We also need to consider which classes have the potential to
be offered successfully on-line.
Increasing the
number of on-line offerings is dependent on the willingness of faculty to
develop courses. We may want to survey faculty to find out how many would
be willing to develop courses. This may limit the amount of increase that
we may reasonably expect in on-line offerings.
Training for
faculty will probably be needed so they know what is needed to make a good
on-line course. Also, the College as adopted Blackboard as its primary
on-line software package. Faculty need to be trained to use it
effectively.
Students who want
to take on-line courses and other courses requiring on-line work need to
be advised about the skills that are required for the course. Also,
students may need training in how to use Blackboard. Students may need
training on the study and organizational skills needed to be successful in
the on-line environment.
To measure the
effectiveness of our on-line offerings we may need to do course
satisfaction surveys. We may also need to compare number of students who
withdraw from or fail on-line classes versus traditional classes.
The committee
discussed including in our goal the training faculty to use smart
classrooms well, the use of Blackboard to enhance cassette classes, and
the use of videoconferencing.
The Committee
needs to incorporate adjunct faculty into the goal.
The meeting
adjourned at 10:00 a. m.
The next meeting
of the committee will be March 21 at 9:00 a. m. in room 228.
