We began session #12 with a description of the new "Frankenstein" cart that will enable instructors to capture audio and video of lectures, presentations, class discussions, etc. Contact Jerry Case if you would like to know more.
Next, Eva Zygmunt-Fillwalk described a project she is using in her EDEL 351 courses. Project Snapshot documents her students' teaching and learning, as well as serves as a family communication tool about children's learning. Eva discussed ways that she uses the Carnegie Gallery of Teaching and Learning to support what students are learning in undergraduate and graduate courses. This site offers many possibilities for documenting what our students are teaching.
Finally, John Burton presented a model for rapidly growing our graduate online enrollment. We asked John some questions and had a discussion about how this would work in our department. If you were unable to attend the meeting, please e-mail me, and I will send the proposal to you. Post any comments you have about it on the blog. (Click on the text just below this entry that says "comments".) You can also e-mail me with comments. I will collate our thoughts and submit them to Jim. Please comment immediately, because John wants to quickly move forward on this.
5 comments:
I think that if they really want to the program to be the one that teachers in Indiana look to, they should offer in-state teachers a larger tuition break. I also think the professors should have some say in the people who they are supervising.
I agree with Mike that I think faculty should have a say in who is hired to be "facilitators." I am supportive of finding ways to better meet the needs of the students we currently have and to address the issue of competition from for-profit companies. But I think we have to be very sure that we are maintaining the high quality graduate program we now have.
I am concerned about the proposal for 8-week classes. While classes have to be taught in a shorter time span in the summer (and I would be willing to do an 8-week summer course), I don't think 8 weeks is ideal. If we believe that students construct their own understanding, we need to give them time to do so. I don't think that students can process a semester's worth of material in 8 weeks. It may be unavoidable in the summer, but I think we should maintain our 16 week courses during the academic year. One of the arguments for the 8-week courses was so that students could finish in 18 months, by taking 2 courses each semester -- they can do that now. I think that making all of the courses in our MAE program into 8-week courses would compromise the quality of the program.
I wasn't at the meeting but have been informed about the general idea of having this type of program. I like the idea of us having a positive response to the alternative of a company coming in and having a greater say in what we do. I also think that if we have a say in who is selected to teach that will help. Is it possible that the fee given to professors for their course material being used by someone else is temporary or is this something that will continue?
While faculty may not have a say in general who the facilitators are who are hired, I think faculty should be able to have a say in specifically who is a facilitator for their course(s). Is it possible that a facilitator would be working with more than one course? How will the facilitators be evaluated? Will the faculty member who develops the course and is instructor of record be evaluated in any way? If so, how? Based on what information?
I agree with Pat about the 8 week courses. If we truly want students to process information and spend time with it, then 8 weeks is NOT long enough. Students could still take two courses each semester. I would alos like to limit how many courses a student takes during summer sessions. I've had students in my summer sections who are taking 3 or 4 courses AND finishing the end of the school year. That tends to reduce the quality of their work.
I DO beleive we have the best graduate program in the state and would like to see our program gorw, but not if it means losing the quality that we currently have.
I have a few thoughts:
* I agree with lowering tuition, it is essential to do so
* Is it possible to waive out of state tuition rates or grant reciprocity to students in nearby states or serving overseas in the military?
* Given the amount of money that this program generates, I think that the department and lead professor should reap more of the profits. After listening to what the private companies pay for these services, I would propose that the department get a percentage of the tuition generated and that professor who are supervising facilitators be paid $3,000 per session.
* Will BSU provide computers and DSL access to facilitators who are not on campus? I think this needs to be built in.
* How will this be counted towards load? If you are teaching one online course, that counts as one course. If you are teaching one online course and then supervising five sections, does that count as part of your load?
* Marketing and advertising are critical. I did a Google search for online graduate degrees in elementary education and BSU does not appear on the first two pages.
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