Bridge to Hawaii

This has been such a serious week that I decided to lighten up a bit and adapt the old "Bridge to Hawaii" joke. Here's my version for DLA folks...just a joke, of course.....A DL Director was biking to her job at a California university, when all of the sudden she heard a big, booming voice from above. The Voice said, "You have done such a wonderful job as a DL Director and have helped to bring education to many people who previously did not have such opportunities. For your hard work, I will grant you one wish." The DL Director stopped her bike and pondered for a moment. Then she responded, "I would like for you to build a bridge to Hawaii so that I can ride my bike there any time I want." The Voice responded, "I need you to think more carefully. Your request is extremely difficult and would waste most of the natural resources that you have helped to save through your work in distance learning. You are asking for concrete and steel that will stretch thousands of miles long and hundreds of miles deep. Surely, you can think of something that is more in line with your true purpose." The DL Director thought for a long time, then finally responded. "I would like to be able to better understand and reach faculty. No matter what we do, they never seem completely satisfied. So what I want is for faculty to be happy." The Voice responded: "Do you want two lanes or four lanes on that bridge?"

Test Proctoring: Time to Ditch the Paper and the Pencils

Amazingly, a very significant portion of proctored testing of online students is still conducted via paper and pencil. Not only is this a less secure way of test delivery, but is enormously expensive in terms of mailing and labor to and from the testing sites and instructors. For years, we've had built-in testing tools in our CMSs, including Blackboard and WebCT. These tools also allow us to lock the test, enabling only the proctor to open it with a provided password. I think that there are two main reasons why some of us are stuck. First of all, many university testing centers simply don't have enough computers (in their testing centers) to test dozens of students at one time (such as during midterms). Another reason - plain old resistance to change. The entire process of testing and mailing is historically so cumbersome that once we have a system underway (even a greatly flawed one), any attempt to suggest obvious and available improvements is met with fear and panic. For those still wondering if the change is worth the initial invesment, let's review the benefits of using online testing in the proctored environment:

• no mailing costs


• significantly lower labor costs


• no printing costs


• instant grading (for objective tests)


• earth-friendly


• ability to randomize questions through test bank

Five Ways to Make Virtual Adjuncts Feel Connected to the University

One common concern regarding the use of adjunct and part-time faculty is that they are not integrated into the life of the university. Here are five simple ways to create a more inclusionary environment:

1. Initial training should include not just expectations about online teaching expectations, but also detailed information about the institution itself.


2. Require participation in at least one traditional faculty activity, such as committee involvement (virtually)


3. Sign them up for all electronic communications (daily bulletins, announcements) sent to on-campus faculty and staff.


4. Foster an administrative DL structure that provides the same level of support and respect afforded to on-campus instructors teaching DL courses. Record, digitize and post on the web all f2f training sessions for on-campus online instructors.


5. Send them a t-shirt with the university mascot when they first sign on.

Undergrad Degrees of DL Administrators

Though it's a dream job, becoming a DL administrator wasn't my dream. That's no surprise, since the field scarcely existed 20 years ago (except on a very limited basis). I took a few minutes to do some highly informal research to find out the educational origin of 25 randomly-selected DL adminers. In perusing the vitae of 25 individuals in charge of DL programs (directors, deans, assistant and associates deans and directors), I found that there was no most common bachelor's degree among them. In fact, out of the 25, there were 17 different degrees. These were:

• Political Science (2)
• Math (3)
• Psychology (4)
• Education (4)
• Journalism (1 - that's me)
• English (2)
• Engineering (1)
• Biblical Studies (1)
• Spanish (1)
• History (1)
• Oceanography (1)
• Sociology (2)
• Nursing (1)
• Music (1)

There were no business majors, nor computer-science, IT-related majors. Keep in mind this was by no means a scientific sample, but interesting nevertheless, I believe.

Evaluation: Why Student Satisfaction Matters

I was recently part of discussion regarding the importance, or lack of, student satisfaction as a measure of the success of a DL course or program. Clearly, it is student "learning" where we focus the brunt of our evaluation efforts - and must do so lest we wish to face the woeful proposition of being admonished by our accreditors. But student satisfaction measures are not fluff. They can be clear indicators of whether or not an online class needs a major fix, and whether of not our training programs for online instructors need to be realigned. Through student satisfaction measures, we can learn much - such as whether or not an online instructor is communicating on a timely basis, whether or not appropriate support systems are in place for online students, and whether or not we may hope to retain the student as a consumer of our online programs. Student satisfaction has a dramatic impact on our marketing, our enrollment, our retention, and even our course quality - if we utilize the data to thoughtfully make course, program, and administrative improvements.

DLA Word of the Week: Academic Analytics

This one is closely related to my posting Wednesday about data mining and new products such as Starfish. Academic Analytics is an emerging field that allows us to take ginormous amounts existing data (presently sitting quietly and often unused on our IT servers), and make it incredibly useful to us in decision making. Decision making might include predicting which students are most likely to succeed, what next fall's enrollment is going to be, or in the case of online learning, which students presently need or will need (predictive) certain types of support. Educause Review had a pretty good introductory article on the topic last year. I've posted some fun weekly words on this blog, but this is one you need to remember. I'm thinking this is going to be the new super hot conference topic for 2009, particularly when we're thinking about retention and online education.

Data Mining for Online Student Retention

At the top of my DLA Christmas Wish List would be a tool that automatically notifies DL support staff when a student is exhibiting at-risk behaviors in an online course (not logging in, not completing assignments, poor grades, etc.). The support person could then immediately contact the student and assist them or refer them to other services if needed (tutoring, counseling, etc.). I only recently learned that Blackboard has an integrated tool called Early Warning System that operates along these lines, and allows an instructor to set certain minimum standards. When students do not meet these standards, the instructor (and an "observer" if the instructor chooses) can pull this information up in a report. Another product, which I just discovered, called Starfish Solutions Early Alert appears to go a step further by not only identifying concerns, but tracking and facilitating interventions. I am not sure why I have not seen more discussion or excitement about these possibilities, since they have the potential to provide dramatically scale DLA student support services and create immediate improvements in retention.

Online Due Dates: An Argument for Leniency

Should online instructors have fast-and-firm rules about online deadlines? In other words, if a student forgets to turn in their discussion posting or do their quiz by the Thursday midnight deadline, should they get another chance? I think that the answer lies in what is best for the student. For me, that means some flexibility. Now, from experience, I see that many instructors disagree with me. Many students that I have supported or advised as an administrator have had disappointing grades not because they did not learn the material, but because they missed the deadline for turning in an assignment or quiz. Many faculty believe that we are doing students a disservice if we are too flexible - that they need to learn responsibility. However, when we have students with five online classes, it is easy to overook a deadline (I sometimes can't even remember five things I need to pick up at the grocery store). The result for the student is a zero, no exceptions, and this leads the student to not only have a lower GPA but also have great disdain for online learning. Yes, I clearly realize what a pain it is to go back and re-grade late assignments (as an instructor). For this reason, I try to build in several extra credit opportunities to make up for these lapses. In addition, I am often open to letting a student complete a limited number of assignments late, with some reduction in grade. Isn't our real purpose to give them opportunities to learn and succeed?

The Aging of DL Adminers

It has just occured to me this week in certain discussions with my staff (most who have been around for the long-haul with me), that we are significantly older than we were when we started our journey into online education and its support and administration. For some reason, this is a field people seem to stay in (that's good). Then I think about my many wonderful friends and colleagues over the world in DL Admin, and realize that they, too, have matured and even grayed a bit. Many of us were in our 20s and 30s when we somehow fell into this field, often by accident, and now we are middle-aged, over-the-hill (or fast approaching), and actually paying attention to phrases like "retirement planning." We are, as a rule, a few pounds heavier (I'm still working on this one) and a little less energetic (they say our lung capacity diminishes). On the bright side, we have experience, wisdom, and respect. But are we losing our spunk, our willingness to take chances, and our shine? I hope not! As we have reached a new lifestage, so have our maturing programs. As we aging DL Adminers work to find new meaning in our personal lives as the years flash by, we must also strive to keep our programs fresh and shiny.

DLA Weekly Word: Leaky Reply

This could be (or maybe has been) your worse nightmare. A Leaky Reply occurs when you hit "reply all" and send your electronic message to a bunch of people (like your boss, your students, or an entire listserv) and you only meant to send it to one. The term implies that the content of your email had some sort of embarrassing content which will cause you to panic and wish to disappear into your dark virtual cave. This certainly doesn't just apply to DL Adminers, but might be a cool term to use in student orientations or faculty training. Sally meant to tell only her online instructor about her embarrassing medical problem which would prevent her from completing her quiz on time, but was mortified when she inadvertently had a leaky reply to the entire class.

Kudos to Clear DL Policies

One of my favorite DL colleagues in the whole world, Debi Moon, developed some DL policies at Georgia Perimeter that I think serve as an outstanding beginning for anyone looking to develop or revise their own policies. She clearly put much effort into these, they are concise yet thorough, and wonderfully clear rather than full of legalese (and Debi happens to be a lawyer!). I know that it took some work to get all of these approved by faculty, and I know many of us DL Adminers are jealous of this feat. Among the topics covered in GPC's Policies for Distance Learning are course standards, faculty responsibilities, class sizes, student expectations, and faculty support.

DL Courses Consume 90% Less Energy

I remember years ago when most DL programs were mere infants, talking about how much gas and miles were saved by students/instructors not having to drive to class. Back in the glory days of the late 90s, this notion was interesting but was only seen as a little extra bonus. Of course, these days everybody is good bit more serious about gas prices and energy than they were 10 or 12 years ago. Today Business Wire India reports that online education is perhaps the "most effective way an institution can reduce its carbon footprint." They site a UK Open University study that found that DL courses consume 90% less energy and 85% less CO2 than do traditional courses. I truly think we'll see a greater emphasis on the green element of online learning - from conference presentations to more research to inclusion in marketing materials.

DLA Word of the Week: Lagfest

When you are using your course management system to input grades, copy courses, upload files, or whatever, and everything starts going very, very slowly, you are in a lagfest. Simply put, a lagfest is that ridiculously long time that you spend waiting for something online to process. Often a lagfest is applied to computer gaming, but I think that DLA administrators may spend even more time in the lagfest zone.

DLA2009 Call for Proposals

I am thrilled to announce that we have just opened up the Call for Proposals for our 10th Annual DLA Conference, to be held June 21-24, 2009 at the King & Prince Resort at St. Simons Island, Georgia. There are so many people who attend this conference year after year who tell me that it is their very favorite DL conference - so much discussion, learning, yummy food and fun. Though this conference is specifically for those administering DL programs (directors, deans, support staff, etc.), we usually have a fair number of online faculty who present related research. Our proceedings are bound and printed, rather than just being on a CD. Among the conference strands are: managing growth in DL; training and support; budget; marketing; ethics and copyright; quality assurance; and organizational issues. I would love to see some proposals this year about the potential impact of the Higher Education Act on DL, as well as issues related to the economy. The proposal process is simple and will take you just a few minutes.

Job Challenge Plus Fluid Environment Equals Incredible Support Staff

Basically, this is my simple take on continuous process improvement. As a organizational unit, we really never arrive. We must always, constantly, every day look for ways to do what we are doing better. Our rules and our roles are fluid. We will not maintain excellence if we rest on the laurels of yesterday and today. Every day I must make decisions, but rarely are these set in stone. Circumstances, opportunities, threats, and our own perceptions may change. Staff should not expect that what they are doing today is what they will be doing this time next year (or maybe even two months from now). Every year, I like to work with my own staff to re-evaluate their primary job responsibilities and shift these around a bit. In doing so, we consider how our organizational needs have changed, what areas need new blood or ideas, and what are the interests of each staff member. On a day-to-day basis, we are in constant learning mode, and never in a climate that sits by quietly focusing on the pre-determined tasks, but rather constantly challenging ourselves and one another, and listening very, very carefully to those faculty and students with whom we come in contact - for they are not necessarily saying the same things that they did last year. Sounds tiring? Well, not really. What is tiring is boredom and complacency.

Yep, Students are Customers

I'm really not sure why there continues to be any question about whether or not our students are customers. Hello - stocks are falling, banks are failing, budgets are being cut on a regular basis, and face it, we are in competition with one another for the tuition dollars of students. While our main purpose in offering DL programs is for the good of society (most of us want smart people around us) and to create some equity in educational opportunities, sometimes DL programs are actually developed in response to market demands (gasp!). And, I see marketing and promotion as becoming a more significant line in a DL budget. Of course it all begins with recruitment. For our DL programs we not only want to get the message out that they are available, but that our school is the best available brand for a particular group of target students. Beyond that, our job as DL Admins is to try to keep these students in our virtual doors once they enroll. This is where we get back to the tried-and-true customer service principles. Treat every customer (student) the way you expect to be treated. Quickly and effectively resolve the student's problem. Go the extra mile.... Some critics of the student-as-customer concept argue that all of this somehow diminishes the quality of education. I disagree. Part of the customer orientation is the delivery of a good product - in education this certainly includes challenge.

Nicenet Still Free and Easy

When we were first looking into purchasing WebCT or some other CMS 10 years ago, we discovered a simple, free tool called Nicenet Internet Classroom Assistant - brand new at that time. Clean and simple, Nicenet allows you to set up a quick online class in about 10 minutes. Features include a forum, a calendar, link sharing, document sharing and a list of class members. We used it for our very first online course, and with its lack of integration with dozens of other tools and cumbersome administrative side, I'm glad to see it's still available, still used, still free, and very much like it was 10 years ago. With a name like Nicenet, how can it not be friendly?

DLA Word (phrase) of the Week: Mouse Potato

This one is almost self-explanatory, and I think anybody involved in any way in online learning, teaching, or administration is in grave danger of becoming a mouse potato. If almost all of your waking life is spent with a mouse within a close proximity of your hand, then you are a mouse potato. A true mouse potato tends to work, play, shop, and communicate on the computer, often in blocks of five or more hours. Is this better than being a couch potato? I think so...I hope so.

Quiet but Big Worries about the Higher Education Act

A colleague from another state called me today to ask my opinion of the Higher Education Act (2008) reauthorized in August. Buried in this mongo, 1200-page bill (full text) is a line that says that accreditors must require institutions to ensure that any student enrolled in a distance course is truly the one doing the work. Specifically it states: "the agency or association requires an institution that offers distance education or correspondence education to have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit" So far, there are some questions and speculation but not a lot of answers. What exactly does this mean? Some, particularly companies who sell identification software (such as biometric or cameras) are interpreting it to mean that we must prove the identity of a student taking an online exam. But does this also apply to homework, discussion boards, papers, etc.? How can we prove that an online student who writes a term paper is truly that student unless they are actually proctored while writing the paper? This would be an impossible standard that could mean the demise of all online learning? Traditional courses are not held to such a standard, nor should they be. If it is only referring to proctored examinations, I can only imagine how instructors and institutions may respond. Yes, some will invest (or have their students invest) in online proctoring devices or face-to-face proctors. But I think that others would reduce or eliminate testing all together, relying only on discussion boards, papers, projects, etc. I am worried about this, and am anxious to hear how other institutions are responding, and what accreditors are interpreting this to mean.

Don't Cross the Ivory Line

As DL adminers, we are privy to the best and worst of online courses. If not careful, we can get lost in our best practices mindset, and start to believe that we are the utmost authority on online course design, online teaching, and everything in between. We start to think that we could save all students from those occasional yucky online courses if every instructor would just develop their course just exactly like we would. The problem? Well, there's just oodles of them. First of all, it's just not our place to cross that ivory line and get into the business of telling faculty how to teach. Train them, lead them, inspire them - yes; but remember that they are the true artists who must be allowed to sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly create their own masterpieces. I'm also one who, in spite of the scalability it may provide, who is not in favor of a cookie-cutter approach to online classes. I treasured the geniune and spontaneous character of f2f courses I took long ago, and think we move into dangerous territory when we attempt to rob online courses of the same. Finally, we begin to lose respect when our egos get in the way and we forget that we are administrators in a support role.