IST Work

Timing: blogs@ist.psu.edu

/ Cole Camplese / 5 Comments

I read D’Arcy Norman’s post about getting a school-wide blogging service going and really couldn’t believe it. Seems we are on the same page. I have been pushing my group on the blog front for months — since last spring really. He does a great job laying some much needed groundwork … and then tonight I stumble across this post over at incorporated subversion and I am starting to think there is a paper here that would help a lot of people figure this thing out (at least a well executed blogsite).

I sat on the University-wide committee that selected (not passing any judgment on the selection, but …) ANGEL as our course management system and we used some well created matrices that outlined our needs, the tools on the market, and how it all aligned. I have been looking for something like that for multi-user blog tools and haven’t been able to find it. It looks like the need is very timely and there seems to be other interested people out there. I’d help work on something like that if anyone is interested.

We want to create an environment that allows faculty (at first) to create and manage their course blog sites. It has been a requested service by a few of our early adopters, but we haven’t gone after it yet. We did build some basic blogging functionality into the version 2.0 release of our Edison Services toolset, but pulled it at the last minute in favor of putting the horse back in front of the cart and collecting some requirements. I’d really like to have something in place by fall 2005, so we’ll see.

We have been able to automate a standard WordPress installation via a web interface that faculty can use, but it would become an administrative nightmare very quickly. Every install requires its own database and there isn’t any sort of way to upgrade all 160 faculty members’ blog spaces on the fly. I can only imagine what a bitch that would turn into. I love WordPress and am very excited to see the multi-user version! At any rate, we need a solid set of recommendations that match up to the needs of higher education. Let’s get it done … anyone want to help?

Quick RSS Resources

/ Cole Camplese / 2 Comments

Just a quick post to bring a few RSS overviews to light for my colleagues from the IIP … we met last week to talk about how moving to a content management/publishing system would help them transform their overall web presence and bring them to the bleeding edge in content publishing in the Higher Ed space … the concept of RSS as a research sharing tool is yet to really hit the mainstream, but as more and more people are introduced to the whole publishing/syndication/subscription model of the web, we’ll begin to see pockets of Research Centers and Institutes adopt it all. At least one can hope!

I wanted to drop a post in for the members of the IIP to read a little about the history of RSS and to see first hand how it works so they can draw their own conclusions to how it would be best utilized. First of all, here are two quick sites that review the history of RSS, the first is from the Dive into Mark blog space and the second takes a much more linear historical perspective from gotee.net … both good overviews. Here are a list of links to major milestones in web syndication dating back to the Netscape Publishing Program in 1999. Here is an additional resource just in, Quick Start Guide to RSS for Educators, from Will Richardson. Finally, here is a link to The Evolution of RSS … another good read.

Once you’ve read up on the history, it may make sense to get a bloglines account (or other free service) and subscribe to a few feeds. They have a fairly complete directory. Also, when you visit sites that have feeds, just look for the RSS or XML mark, control click (or on a PC, right click) it and select copy URL … use that to add it to your bloglines and you’ll be subscribed. Once you get a solid listing of subscriptions you should begin to notice your web surfing habits changing a bit.

At any rate, there are a few resources. If there are others, please leave comments.

Quickie: SI Speaker Series

/ Cole Camplese / Leave a comment

It hit me today that I should be organizing more speaker series events from the Solutions Institute. My team does so much research and development into emerging technologies that we ought to be sharing more with our students. Not so much an invited speaker series, and maybe not a series at all, but more of an opportunity for us to talk to IST students on a quasi regular basis and get the conversation around emerging technologies going. We have all sorts of invited faculty coming in to give their talks and the level of interest from students varies, but for the most part the topics are typically over their head, very dry, or esoteric. I know they are interested in stuff that is happening around them and it would help our efforts (as a School and within SI) if they were exposed to what is really going on in the emerging spaces. I’ll have to push this idea next week and see what kind of reaction I get.

IST Web 3.0 is Running

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After my post the other night, things picked up and we got most of the issues figured out fairly quick. The new IST Website was received in a positive way from nearly everyone … there were a few negative comments, but we ended up not needing the matrix we filled out with guesses on the times and names of the first complaints. They really didn’t come.

As I look back on the project I think I know why … we really did walk the talk on this one. I sat on committees for months listening to what people had to say, I did a big sell job to the Dean and other major stake holders at the school to get them to see the right way to do it, my team worked like mad to get everyone across the school involved in the process, and our technology team did an unbelievable job constructing the CMS. All in all, it was a solid project that everyone is proud of.

Now we need to kill the last several bugs, get the training for content providers complete, and start to think about how we can leverage the foundation we’ve put into place for all sorts of activities. From the get go, we were not really too excited about moving the administration of the School’s public web space into the Institute, but as we started to look at it we felt it would be an amazing opportunity to slide our teaching and learning web applications into the overall web presence of the School. We now have the public site ready and we are now going to shift gears and look at how Edison Services fits into that framework … maybe after weekend though.

IST Web 3.0 Live! Almost …

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One of the projects my team at the IST Solutions Institute is responsbile for is the new IST Web Site. It is in the process of going live. Its not that late, but the fact is that it could get that way quick as some strange things have happened since we moved all the code for the new CMS we built, the site, and all the goodies that go with it from development, to staging, and now to the live server … as with any huge IT project, things have cropped up.

The site, which we’ve been redesigning for the last 16 months or so, is built on a new CMS we’ve designed from the ground up to let users around our School make updates. It really is a nice toolset and will take away a lot of the headaches our Webmaster has dealt with for the last four years or so. There are lots of other nice things going on with the new site that you can read about for yourself.

But no technology launch goes completely smooth … we’re still here after the changeover a few hours ago finding little things here and there. The biggest is that the CSS engine doesn’t work at all in IE on the Mac … I am hopeful that by tomorrow when our students, faculty, staff, and partners start hitting the pages all will be good. If you take a look at the site, does us a favor, leave a comment here or take a minute and complete the survey available from the new homepage.

Could be a long night–>

Innovation in eLearning and Educational Product Design: The Story of the IST Solutions Institute

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Cole W. Camplese
Kristin Z. Camplese
March 13, 2003

Abstract

As a pioneer in developing and deploying innovative curricula in Information Sciences and Technology (IST), the IST Solutions Institute is proud and committed to share the story of our Education and Training Team. In 1999, the School of Information Sciences and Technology at The Pennsylvania State University opened its doors dedicated to the creation of leaders for a global, digital society. As part of our mission, curricular sharing and technology innovation are core success factors. To this end, the IST Solutions Institute was created to meet the challenges associated with this innovative goal.

As the creative center of the School of IST, the Solutions Institute serves as the primary outreach arm through its innovative, media-rich eLearning products and services, information technology research, and student-centered solutions. The IST Solutions Institute’s core areas of specialization include content and process management, Instructional Systems Design as applied to eLearning, and multimedia and visual design, authoring, and application development. Our organization is committed to solid pedagogy, quality products, creativity, and lifelong learning.

Our core initiative, Online IST, sets the Institute apart as the leading developer of integrated eLearning opportunities. Based on a custom instructional design and development methodology, the Online IST project has reached over 5000 students in the last two years. The entire online curriculum is supported by the Digital Design Document (D3), a custom, database-driven content management tool that facilitates content creation, collection, instructional design, team-based collaboration for designers and developers, and flexible course publishing.

The Online IST courses are created based on a custom, four-tier instructional design model. A seven-person team within the IST Solutions Institute manages all facets of Online IST design, development, delivery, and support. The design process is a highly collaborative one that integrates all team members and faculty/corporate subject matter experts. The Institute team has reduced design and development time to six months per course because of this innovative approach. In addition to the online course materials, the team is responsible for several complimentary components that serve to extend and support the reach of Online IST. These include the IST Solutions Exchange — a centralized web-based resource for students and faculty, Edison’s Services — a suite of set-up and management tools for students and faculty, the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Information Technology — a program for talented high school students, and the IST Faculty Academy — an annual conference dedicated to teaching and learning with technology.

All of the initiatives have been widely used throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition to the 19 location PSU Commonwealth Campus System, the Solutions Institute has delivered Online IST courses to educational partners who cannot adequately support an IST curriculum at their location. In addition, because of our close placement to corporate clients, the Institute has created many industry partnerships related to Online IST. Many of these projects have allowed us to validate the custom Instructional Design and Development model with high-level industry training courses.

The strategic direction of the IST Solutions Institute for years 2003-2005 is related to broader dissemination and revision of the Online IST curriculum, increasing the flexibility of delivery opportunities, and refining and extending the capabilities of the D3 content management system. In order to disseminate the Online IST curriculum to wider audiences, the Institute is engaged in creating licensing models that will provide other learning institutions and corporations with the high level learning topics in support of their learning objectives.

Background

As a pioneer in developing and deploying innovative curricula in Information Sciences and Technology (IST), the IST Solutions Institute is proud and committed to share the story of our Education and Training Team. In 1999, the School of Information Sciences and Technology at The Pennsylvania State University opened its doors dedicated to the creation of leaders for a global, digital society. As part of our mission, curricular sharing and technology innovation are core success factors. To this end, the IST Solutions Institute was created to meet the challenges associated with this innovative goal.

As the creative center of the School of IST, the Solutions Institute serves as the primary outreach arm through its innovative, media-rich eLearning products and services, information technology research, and student-centered solutions. Our positioning is unique to all of higher education; we are placed squarely between the School of IST and the corporate sector. This positioning allows the Institute to utilize the thought leadership of the university and apply it to real world challenges associated with industry. Because of this, we are afforded extensive opportunities for corporate partnerships, collaborative projects, and applied research initiatives. The Institute has become a leading applied research and development organization focusing on solutions for technology-assisted education and training challenges. This effort was recently recognized with the IST Innovators Award, presented by the students of the School of IST.

To learn more about the School of IST, please visit: http://ist.psu.edu . To learn more about the IST Solutions Institute in general, please visit: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu .

The Online IST Project

Our core initiative, Online IST, sets the Institute apart as the leading developer of integrated eLearning opportunities. Based on a custom instructional design and development methodology developed by the Co-Director of the Institute, Cole Camplese, the Online IST project has reached over 5000 students in the last two years. The entire online curriculum is supported by the Digital Design Document (D3), a custom, database-driven content management tool that facilitates content creation, collection, instructional design, team-based collaboration for designers and developers, and flexible course publishing. The goals of the Online IST project include:

  • Maintaining teaching and learning as the number one priority, regardless of delivery medium.
  • The extension of a problem-based learning approach for the curriculum that focuses on solutions and outcomes to real world problems (Solutions-Based Learning).
  • Development of a modular, scalable, reusable, and relevant curricular core.
  • Development of content management tools, processes, and teams to oversee the storage and maintenance of our curricular knowledge objects.
  • Integration of faculty and industry thought leaders in a collaborative design process that ensures broad-based coverage of relevant IST topics.
  • Providing centralized support to the 19 campus IST Commonwealth System through curricular integration and flexibility (i.e. materials used as full package or as supplemental material).
  • Providing the content baseline for IST core courses supplemented with extensive rich media.
  • Sharing the fully developed curriculum with educational and industry partners.

Currently, there are five fully developed Online IST courses. For a full listing of the courses and links to course demos, please visit:
http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/exchange/online_ist/courses/index.html

A typical Online IST course contains six hundred screens of instruction tied together through a custom Course Content Interface that organizes all materials for students. Within the course, there are, on average, 10-15 online topics of instruction, 2-3 real world problem activities, 5 virtual lab activities, and instructor and student guides (entitled “Roadmaps”). Because they are managed in the D3 system, these discrete components can be “mixed and matched” to create custom offerings due to the modular design. To break this down further, the online library currently contains 2663 screens of instruction, 670 graphics, and 147 high-level, Macromedia Flash-based interactive exercises and animations. To view samples of graphics and interactive exercises, please visit our Media Showcase at: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/exchange/online_ist/showcase . In short, the Online IST library is a criterion-referenced, highly comprehensive, interactive, and instantly accessible web-based resource that can be made available to allow instructors to create their own IT courses based on their specific learning goals.

In general, Online IST courses are adopted by individual faculty members and delivered to students at either the University Park or Commonwealth Campus location. To date, over 170 course sections of Online IST have been delivered by approximately fifty IST faculty members. Traditionally, faculty members have resisted usage of online or technology-based learning opportunities as course replacements. The adoption of Online IST has been effective in removing this traditional stereotype because of our focus on teaching, learning, and support.

The Online IST courses are created based on a custom, four-tier instructional design model. A seven-person team within the IST Solutions Institute manages all facets of Online IST design, development, delivery, and support. The design process is a highly collaborative one that integrates all team members and faculty/corporate subject matter experts. The Institute team has reduced design and development time to six months per course because of this innovative approach. In addition to the online course materials, the team has designed several complimentary components that serve to extend and support the reach of Online IST. Some of these include:

  • The IST Solutions Exchange is the central starting point for both students and faculty for all Online IST learning opportunities. All of the opportunities below are integrated within the IST Solutions Exchange. Available at: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/exchange
  • Edison’s Toolbox and Services are custom registration and support tools that empower PSU faculty in the delivery of Online IST courses and students with personalized support components. In Edison Services, accounts can be created for users external to the PSU authentication system. Available at: http://online.ist.psu.edu/Edison/index.cfm
  • The Online IST Problems Library is a problem-based learning repository that provides faculty and students with direct access to the ever-growing library of Online IST real world problem assignments. The goal of the Problems Library is to increase a faculty member’s flexibility with regard to usage of problem-based activities in the classroom. Available at: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/exchange/online_ist/problems/index.html
  • The Online IST Print Library provides printable versions of Online IST Topic Packs to faculty and students. These Topic Packs are generated by the D3 System to provide easy access when users cannot be connected to a computer. Available at: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/exchange/online_ist/print/index.html
  • Solutions-Based Learning Live is an “always on” streaming channel designed to distribute guest lectures of visiting professors and industry experts to a geographically-dispersed audience. Available at: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/exchange/innovation/sbl_live/index.html
  • The IST Expert Exchange is a community of users committed to providing answers to IST-related questions. This community consists of over 75 leading experts, as well as the IST faculty and student body. Available at: http://expert.ist.psu.edu

All of the initiatives have been widely used throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition to the PSU Commonwealth Campus System, the Solutions Institute has delivered Online IST courses to partners who cannot adequately support an IST curriculum at their location. Some of these course-sharing partnerships have involved:

  • Juniata College, a small rural private college
  • Holy Family College, a small urban, non-traditional college
  • Cheney State University, a Historically Black College and University in a suburban setting
  • State College Area School District, a large school district in central Pennsylvania.

In addition, the Online IST courses are shared with the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Information Technology. This program, supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, brings 75 of the top high school juniors to PSU for a five-week, intensive residency program in the summer. Designed and delivered by the IST Solutions Institute, this program focuses on solving relevant, real world information technology challenges using modular components of the Online IST learning repository. To review last year’s challenge, please visit: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/exchange/pgsit/

Because of our close placement to corporate clients, the Institute has created many industry partnerships related to Online IST. Many of these projects have allowed us to validate the custom Instructional Design and Development model with high-level industry training courses. Three examples include:

  • Infinity I/O (II/O): II/O is the leading provider of Storage Area Network training content. By combining the Online IST tools and methodologies with II/O content, a new standard for online training has been established.
  • Lockheed Martin Material and Data Services: The IST Solutions Institute created the world’s only Level 5 CMMI (Competency Maturity Model Integrated) interactive training course. This course is delivered to approximately 8000 Lockheed Martin employees.
  • IBM: The IST Solutions Institute has partnered with IBM to provide NetDB2, a web-based database manipulation tool that allows students to query data without a client application, to all IST students and faculty in the Online IST 210 course (Organization of Data).

Organizational Growth

The strategic direction of the IST Solutions Institute for years 2003-2005 is related to broader dissemination and revision of the Online IST curriculum, increasing the flexibility of delivery opportunities, and refining and extending the capabilities of the D3 content management system. In order to disseminate the Online IST curriculum to wider audiences, the Institute is engaged in creating licensing models that will provide other learning institutions and corporations with the high level learning topics in support of their learning objectives. Learn more by visiting: http://solutions.ist.psu.edu/license/topics/index.html .

Based on the knowledge we have gained in the last three years, the Institute has made the decision to provide faculty with online tools from Edison Services that empower the creation of individualized learning environments using the Online IST learning repository. A major focus of this effort will be on building easy and intuitive user interfaces with multimedia and graphical elements to streamline the creation of learning environments. The courses and learning objects are also under a constant revision process with plans for a new Course Content Interface, as well as new versions of all courses beginning in Fall 2003.

Furthermore, the Institute will be extending the D3 System to work more closely with emerging content repository standards. These standards will allow the Institute to effectively distribute our pre-designed knowledge objects for broad-based adoption. This move will allow the Institute to engage in a true “e2e” (education to education) distribution model.

The IST Solutions Institute is slated to move into a new, state of the art building in Fall 2003. This facility has been designed to create a “living value chain” that optimizes the research, development, and dissemination of our applied solutions. It will also allow for human resource growth in the areas of data and database management and client relationship management. By hiring other key personnel to expand our team, the Institute will be able to enhance the creativity of our solutions and bring them to life in more powerful ways. Other planned growth activities include visiting faculty members every semester to engage in scholarly activity, corporate sponsorships to create research clusters around key initiatives, and expanding the technology infrastructure to support our activities.

Core Competencies

The major disciplines and technical areas that the IST Solutions Institute specializes in are:

  • Content and Process Management: The foundation of the Institute’s initiatives are built on our custom design and development model using the D3 System. These models are based on proven instructional systems design models merged with product development theory. There is a synergistic relationship between our process and technology tools. It is a distinguishing characteristic of the Institute that our content management initiatives have been in place for nearly four years and are used in an actual production environment.
  • Instructional Systems Design as applied to eLearning: Our team’s experience is rooted in Instructional Systems Design theory. We have applied this knowledge to create “best in breed” eLearning solutions that meet the learning needs of students and provide a solid teaching basis for faculty. In addition, Instructional Technology Specialists within the Institute ensure that media is used to target multiple learning styles based on course learning goals.
  • Multimedia and Visual Design, Authoring, and Application Development: The IST Solutions Institute has a unique ability to bring its technology solutions to life using creative design techniques. Our learning repository is filled with interactive activities that extend the thought leadership of the content. Without these media elements, it would be impossible to capture the attention of our primary audiences. All of the initiatives related to Online IST are managed using web applications for authentication, delivery, and communication.

Teaching, Learning, and Creative Expression

Teaching, learning, and creative expression are core to the IST Solutions Institute mission. These elements form the foundation on which all projects are based. The obvious focus on teaching and learning occurs within the Online IST curriculum. Unique, problem-based learning models ensure that students are engaged in motivating, real world scenarios. In addition, student and faculty evaluation allow us to constantly improve the learning environments, as well as to research emerging trends and best practices for online learning. In support of this, the Institute manages and delivers an annual statewide conference, the IST Faculty Academy, which focuses on teaching and learning with technology within the “K-20” environment. For more information, please visit: http://pafaculty.org/ .

Fostering creative thinking is critical to the overall success of the IST Solutions Institute. To this end, team members are encouraged to engage in “design experiments” several times per year. These experiments allow members of the Institute the creative space to envision new solutions without the constraints of project timelines. Many of these design experiments make their way into actual projects delivered to both internal and external audiences. The only requirement of the design experiment is documentation and presentation of results to the entire team.

Furthermore, a focus on lifelong learning is required of the Institute team. Professional development funds are made available to support ongoing research and learning by the team. Penn State University also encourages lifelong learning by providing a 75% tuition reimbursement to all university employees. This allows our team to engage in higher level learning opportunities, including masters and doctoral degrees. Externally, our advisory board and corporate partners provide the Institute with learning opportunities and insight into real world processes, technologies, and challenges.

Although we pride ourselves on our ability to compete in the corporate sector, the IST Solutions Institute’s work is grounded in the spirit of higher education. Our direct ties to an academic department provide the underpinnings of teaching, learning, research, and service for all of our initiatives. While our production capabilities rival those in business, our main focus will always be on improving teaching and learning and creatively advancing our field.

Online IST: A Quick Project Overview

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Kristin Camplese
October 25, 2002

“The overarching goal of Penn State’s School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) is to pursue an agenda that focuses on the theoretical, application-oriented, and educational issues facing a digital global economy. Our research focuses on building an understanding of how information and technology fundamentally impact (and are impacted by) people, organizations, and the world community. The teaching and learning environments we offer are designed to build leaders for a rapidly evolving information-driven world. Because of the seriousness of technology demands faced by business, industry, and government, Penn State’s School of IST has moved aggressively on a broad front. One of the keys to these efforts was the development of the IST Solutions Institute (SI), an administrative arm of the school that is the driver of higher education institutional cooperation, knowledge transfer, and educational program development and delivery.” (School of IST, http://ist.psu.edu)

A primary focus of the Institute is the Online IST Project, which began in October 1999. The project presented a unique challenge: to create an online, problem-based, real-world, modular, reusable curriculum for the School of Information Sciences and Technology. One of the biggest challenges would be to flesh out a problem-based, online instructional design model that meshed with other unique, market-driven needs.

What has evolved through our team process is called “Solutions-Based Learning” — a real world model that focuses on teaching and learning within a business-oriented, team-driven process. Solutions-Based Learning not only focuses on students finding solutions to real world problems; it is a solution to the many high level learning needs that universities and schools have today. Solutions-Based Learning relies on presenting students with a real-world problem at the beginning of an instructional module. Within that module, topics support both the traditional instruction, as well as the problem-solving activity. As the students work through the content, they are not only gathering information for the problem solving process, they are participating in traditional online activities such as reading and collecting information in a hypertext fashion, discussing the content with students and facilitators in online bulletin boards, and interacting with multimedia exercises and streaming video events that enhance the content.

The Solutions-Based Learning and Online IST approach transforms the way in which courses are created, managed, accessed, and evaluated. It is innovative in three ways.

1. Online IST modules allow rapid configuration and tailoring of educational material –

Online IST courses are developed in a modular fashion by a team of faculty content specialists, instructional designers, and multimedia experts in the IST Solutions Institute. The School of IST has access to approximately 100 faculty in the information sciences. This enables the SI team to provide the most up-to-date content in information technology. Currently, there are four fully online courses: IST 110: Introduction to Information Sciences and Technology, IST 210: Organization of Data, IST 220: Networking and Telecommunications, and IST 250: New Media and the Web.

2. Delivery via the World Wide Web provides portability and anytime, any place access –

The Online IST courses are delivered through the World Wide Web. Teachers and students can access course content, multimedia exercises, live streaming video events, and lab activities through a simple web browser. In addition, they can communicate with members of their virtual class through synchronous and asynchronous communication tools. The “portability” of the courses enables learning to take place at any location in a “just in time” fashion. Both teachers and students can access the materials 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in any location. In this model, the expertise of the teacher is augmented by instant teacher and student access to a fully designed IT curriculum.

3. Interactive, problem-based courses increase student and teacher skills –

Learning gains are accomplished through activities and media including: team-based, real world problems, multimedia-based interactive exercises, online asynchronous and synchronous communication, and virtual lab activities. The resulting courses focus on developing students capable of understanding the theory, practice, and problem solving of IT. Real world problems are designed by faculty and industry experts in conjunction with Solutions Institute instructional designers to ensure that the problems are challenging, motivating, and aligned with course learning goals. Through these activities, students develop their oral and written presentation skills, professionalism skills, and research skills.

Since the project’s inception, experts within the IST Solutions Institute have designed, developed, and implemented four core online undergraduate courses. In approximately two years since the first course was finalized, approximately 100 sections with 5100 students around the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have utilized these courses.

The eight-person SI team responsible for the Online IST project is comprised of instructional designers, multimedia and graphics specialists, faculty development specialists, and project managers. Team members work directly with IST faculty members to create and constantly evaluate and improve the innovative Online IST courses. The director of the Online IST Project, Cole Camplese, has an extensive background in online education for both educational and corporate audiences. The Solutions Institute was recently awarded the IST Innovation Award by the students of the School for its groundbreaking work on the Online IST curriculum.

Alignment and Integration of e-Learning Support Mechanisms in Online IST

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Cole Camplese, Director, Education and Training Solutions
Kristin Camplese, Manager, Instructional Design and Research

April 7, 2001

Abstract

An e-Learning course is only as good as the support that is provided to both students and instructors. The School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at Penn State University has focused heavily on aligning e-Learning support mechanisms. The approach has been to provide integrated faculty development, student development, and print documentation in the form of the “Roadmap.” This presentation will provide an overview of the Online IST curriculum and detail the support mechanisms that have been pivotal to the success of this e-Learning initiative.

Online IST Background

The Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) formally opened in 1999 to develop leaders for the emerging e-world—professionals who put technology to work in any setting, whether it is business or social service, government, or education. Within the School, the Solutions Institute has been responsible for the translation of this innovative curriculum to an online world. The Online IST Curriculum was made real in the fall of 2000 when IST 110, An Introduction to Information Sciences and Technology, was delivered to a Penn State University IST audience. Since this initial roll out, approximately one additional course has gone online every semester. Future plans include online courses for the full undergraduate core and courses for the Professional Masters degree.

Online IST courses are built through a collaborative effort with thought-leaders in information sciences and technology, corporate partners and an experienced instructional design team. All of the courses are founded on the basic principles of Problem Based Learning, where students learn through solving real-world problems in cooperation with course materials, external research and team-based interaction. The courses are designed to be total packages—that is, they are designed from start to finish and can be taught with no additional design effort from faculty, if they so choose.

The Support Problem

As IST began to roll out online course offerings, we immediately realized that — no matter how good the online curriculum was — we needed the support and backing of IST faculty and students. In order to gain this, we needed to support them in their efforts to disseminate the online courses. Faculty members were excited about the new approach, but most had little experience implementing a course like this from both a technological and pedagogical perspective. They needed tools and information to help them in their quests to deliver our courses online. In addition, few, if any, students had experience in an online, problem-based course. The Institute needed to be able to provide teaching, learning, and administrative/ technological support in order to ensure widespread adoption of the courses. Beyond the instructional and technological issues, we had to be prepared to deal with the many change management and institutional issues that are always at the core of information technology projects.

The Support Solution

The support solutions that were envisioned considered all of our various stakeholders: faculty, students, administration, and staff/team members. We also realized that some of the support issues were really marketing issues in disguise. This meant we needed to create positive public relations through marketing materials. Some of these included “online course trailers” which introduced the courses as “coming attractions.” As part of this, a “customer support line” was also established. In short, we had to treat this like a business. However, teaching and learning could not be sacrificed.

Online IST Support Mechanisms

Several support pieces evolved as the delivery of the Online IST Curriculum continued. The Course Roadmap is the most important piece of the offering. The Roadmap is a printed manual (usually about 100 pages long) that walks both faculty and students through the course. It includes information about all course activities, grading rubrics, assignment checklists, technical set up, problem descriptions, and strategies for success in the course. Students are told “all of the answers to their questions are in the Roadmap.” The expectation is that they should consult that document before they go anywhere else. The document is the first line of support and has a nice byproduct—its comprehensive nature reduces the load on faculty members who are generally forced to answer hundreds of emails regarding the same course issues.

Faculty Development is the second key piece of our support puzzle. In anticipation of each semester, a faculty development session is held to prepare instructors both from a technical and learning perspective. In addition, the Solutions Institute holds the Faculty Academy (http://www.pafaculty.org), which is an event that helps teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. Special sessions at this event focus on Online IST.

Student Development is also important to the Online IST Support effort. The courses are designed to focus the first two to three sessions solely on course familiarization and team building. Called Module Zero and repeated in all online IST courses, these sessions go a long way in preparing students for the expectations of the course and help them immensely with team issues.

The final piece of the support effort is the Online IST Support Specialist whose main job is the support of both faculty and students in the online courses. The Support Specialist is also responsible for maintaining the online Solutions Support Suite, which includes many set up and support resources, as well as just in time training, and contact information on the web.

Beyond Support…

The alignment of these support mechanisms is also a very important idea to consider.

Alignment with Marketing: Along with the actual support events and sites, we provide marketing material to get faculty and students excited about upcoming learning opportunities. The Course Trailers that were referred to previously have been core to this effort.

Alignment with Administration and Curricular Goals: From the beginning of this effort, our Dean and administrative leadership have been in full support of the curriculum and its approach. Faculty and students are encouraged to get involved in the courses, and materials are freely available to the IST community. This support and institutional transformation enables high-level, high-energy, creative work and education.

Alignment with Design and Development Team: Our Instructional Design and Development Team within the Solutions Institute is a highly motivated and talented team. We have a shared vision of creating online learning that is educationally sound, practical, “implementable,” and fully supported for both faculty and students. Without this type of team alignment, our courses could not be successful.

Lessons Learned

We have begun to distill our experiences regarding support into a few “lessons learned.” To summarize:

  • Faculty and students do not want to feel disconnected.
  • Importance of “physical” support pieces (Paper!)
  • Importance of availability (Phone, IM, E-Mail)
  • Importance of some face to face contact (Hybrid Approach)
  • Faculty and students do not have a lot of experience in these types of learning models.
  • Importance of support before the course begins
  • Even with the “perfect” interfaces and ID models, they will still need support!
  • Remember it is a change management issue as well.
  • Technology always brings out the need for support
  • Be prepared to support your users’ technology needs or find someone who will.

The Bottom Line

The Solutions Institute approach has placed faculty and student support at the heart of every instructional design and development project. In addition, support specialists are valued members of every instructional design team. Ignoring the human element in these projects is the first step toward non-adoption. And without adoption, very few projects are successful.