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Computer-Mediated Distance Learning at ISU
The Board of Education of the State of Idaho, United States of America, has funded as part
of the Idaho Technology Incentive Grant Program the demonstration computer-mediated
distance learning research project entitled "Computer-Mediated Intercollegiate Distance
Education and Learning Project" (COM-IDEAL Project). The COM-IDEAL Project, based
at Idaho State University, was granted $199,800 for this initial phase. This page contains
some of the descriptive sections of the original grant proposal. Other material, indicated by
internal links, will be posted as those pages become available, and you will, therefore, find
links that are not yet completed.
In addition to Dr. Owens (History), the other members of the COM-IDEAL Project team are
Dr. Dorothy M. Castile (Anthropology), Dr. Pamela N. Clarke (Chair, Nursing), Randy
Gaines (Manager. Media and Distance Learning Center; Associate Project Director), Dr. Teri
R. Hall (Anthropology), Dr. Linda C. Hatzenbuehler (Dean, College of Health Professions;
Project Director), Walter A. Stein (Chair, Physician Assistant Studies). The grant proposal
could not have been prepared without the active collaboration of Dr. Thomas M. Longhurst
(Speech Pathology and Audiology; Director of Grants, Health Professions), who drafted and
edited the final proposal, of Barbara J. Cunningham (Coordinator, Special Projects; Institute
of Rural Health), and of Karen Lewis (Secretary, Speech Pathology and Audiology), who
was a dedicated secretary. The COM-IDEAL Project team also appreciates the work of the
university's internal review committee and the continuous support of Dr. Edwin W. House,
Dean of Research, and Dr. Jonathan N. Lawson, Vice President for Academic Affairs.
You may either read through the complete proposal description, or you may use the links in
the following index to skip ahead to specific sections. At the end of each section, there is a
link which will bring you back to the index.
Skip Ahead
Project Summary
- To capitalize on new computer-mediated distance learning (CMDL) technology to
INCREASE ACCESS to university courses and programs for geographically-dispersed
students, INCREASE FACULTY PRODUCTIVITY and to INCREASE
INTERCOLLEGIATE COLLABORATION while REDUCING COSTS, ISU will organize a
series of Computer-Mediated Instruction Teams (C-MITs). These C-MITS will be used to
DEVELOP FACULTY and to initiate six new interdisciplinary CMDL courses.
These C-
MITS will provide the base for training and mentoring additional faculty, for student CMDL
orientation, and for developing ALTERNATE METHODS OF INSTRUCTION through
ENHANCED PATTERNS OF COLLABORATION with other educational institutions, state
agencies, private industry, hospitals and clinics.
All of the new courses produced in the 18-month grant period will be Internet-based,
including live audio/video, screen sharing and ENHANCED graphics which require more
sophisticated personal computers as well as a model with BASIC equipment requirements.
Both models will require extensive faculty training and collaboration with other institutions to
develop the necessary curricular components and specific technical modules.
ISU will demonstrate and DISSEMINATE use of this technology to develop innovative
instructional programs and to give faculty the expertise and motivation to participate in this
new type of coursework. CMDL will provide better education that is more flexible and
convenient and that enables high school, college and university students to access coursework,
and non-traditional learners to stay in the work force while studying.
ISU will EVALUATE the capabilities of enhanced and basic CMDL instruction by using
virtual classroom assessment procedures, outcomes assessments, surveying student/faculty
perceptions, monitoring faculty productivity, and student access to education and learning
programs. Results of the COM-IDEAL Project will be carefully EVALUATED and will
have a MEASURABLE IMPACT. ISU's efforts to pilot and field-test use of CMDL during
the COM-IDEAL Project will be expanded in future years (mid-1999-2002) to train/mentor
additional faculty and develop additional CMDL courses and collaborative relationships.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Introduction
- Idaho State University (ISU) has had a major involvement in
statewide distance learning (DL) for several years. DL has
allowed ISU to help meet regional education needs in southcentral
and southeast Idaho as well as statewide (Boise/Lewiston) needs
consistent with ISU's role and mission in the health sciences and
associated physical and biological sciences. ISU currently
offers 58 graduate and undergraduate credit courses, via full
interactive audio/video through eighteen fully equipped
classrooms from Boise to Idaho Falls. In fall of 1995, 557
students were enrolled while in fall of 1996, 924 were enrolled.
Communication is supplemented by regular use of courier, FAX, E-
mail, telephone and U.S. Mail. Computer-mediated distance
learning (CMDL), and more specifically use of the Internet and
the World-Wide Web (WWW), is the next logical step to expand
ISU's DL capabilities. The Computer-Mediated Intercollegiate
Distance Education and Learning Project (COM-IDEAL Project) will
allow ISU faculty to improve access to high school and university
students at home, school or work, at more flexible times and at
greater cost-effectiveness. CMDL is inherently less costly
because it does not require the expensive line charges and high
end hardware. The ISU administration and a number of ISU faculty
are motivated to take this next step but lack sufficient
financial resources. The COM-IDEAL Project will be the catalyst
to bring resources (hardware, software, training and mentoring)
together to overcome obstacles to ISU faculty becoming involved
with CMDL.
The COM-IDEAL Project is in concert with the Proposed
Implementation Plan of the Western Governors University (June 24,
1996) as well as the purpose of the ISU Technology Oversight
Council and the Statewide Strategic Plan for Public Education.
The COM-IDEAL Project will also help ISU meet goals and
objectives in the ISU Strategic Plan (August 30, 1996) such as:
extend appropriate services to students in distance learning
locations; develop effective instructional technology to increase
learning; and continue collaborative work with other educational
entities and provide learning opportunities for business,
industry and public agencies.
The Goals of the COM-IDEAL Project will first be presented, then
the General Work Plan followed by the Methods and Procedures for
accomplishing each of the enabling objectives which support each
COM-IDEAL Project goal. A brief discussion of our Future Goals
(mid-1999-2002) will conclude the project description.
Successful completion of the COM-IDEAL Project will serve as a
pilot project to lead ISU faculty, staff and students into the
21st Century of educational technology. The COM-IDEAL Project
will help ISU explore a frontier of unknown limits, but clear
potential, for the design of new courses and programs that will
greatly enhance the quality of teaching and learning, as well as
access, while reducing costs. It will also allow Idaho to
participate more fully in the Western Governors University
through offering developed courses, as they are field-tested, in
the Virtual Catalog.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Goals
- The FOUR PRIMARY GOALS of the COM-IDEAL Project are:
- To initiate and train three pilot Computer-Mediated
Instruction Teams (C-MITs).
- To develop a CMDL training module/mentoring system for
faculty and one for students.
- To develop six pilot CMDL courses.
- To field-test and evaluate the training modules/mentoring
systems and pilot courses.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
General Work Plan
- Three departments at ISU have been selected to pilot test CMDL
technology. These were selected based on faculty interest,
faculty experience with DL, the department's focus on multiple
levels of technology and degree delivery, diversity (social
science and health science), and the greatest cost/benefit ratio.
These departments are History, Anthropology, and Nursing.
The BASIC MODEL of CMDL
delivery which uses relatively inexpensive and easily-used
technology will be field-tested and evaluated through a graduate
course in History. The faculty in the Anthropology and Nursing
Departments will field-test and evaluate the ENHANCED MODEL
of CMDL delivery which makes use of multimedia capabilities,
access to discipline-related information, other WWW sites,
library holdings and real-time interaction.
A brief description of the contribution of selected faculty in
each department to the work plan will now be presented.
The College of Arts and Sciences' HISTORY DEPARTMENT will show
that through the use of the BASIC CMDL MODEL, significant
advances in student learning can be accomplished in three major
ways:
- it will demonstrate that intellectually-sound courses in many
disciplines can be provided for geographically-dispersed students
at remote sites through the use of relatively inexpensive and
easily-used technology;
- it will define techniques that can be used in most courses to
greatly increase the quality of teaching and learning by using
both real-time ("live") and asynchronic faculty-student and
student-student interactions;
- and it will clarify a means to increase faculty instructional
productivity and effectiveness.
Moreover, the BASIC CMDL MODEL requires a significantly lower
training threshold over which faculty members will have to pass
to provide this sort of distance learning. The History faculty
will pilot-test and evaluate a graduate-level History course,
HIST 597 Topics in World History, 1350-1800,
especially designed
for presently employed secondary school teachers and others.
A CMDL course ANTHRO g493 Preparation for Fieldwork Among the
Maya, using the ENHANCED CMDL MODEL by the College of Arts and
Sciences' ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT will be designed to prepare
upper-division undergraduate and graduate students for
interdisciplinary anthropological field research in Chiapas,
Mexico. This course will allow students to interact among
several disciplines within ISU and other national and
international institutions of higher learning. A minimum of six
modules will be designed both as independent and integrated
units, thus attracting students with specific interests as well
as providing the necessary historic and cultural context for
understanding current issues affecting the contemporary Maya
people of Chiapas. Each module will be developed by
collaborating faculty specialists enhancing both the individual
units and the overall quality of the course. This course will
give Idaho students from a variety of programs asynchronic and
real-time access to faculty at other academic institutions in the
United States and Mexico in many disciplines and subdisciplines.
This multi-disciplinary and participatory approach will service
students from a variety of programs of study.
The remaining five CMDL courses employing the ENHANCED CMDL MODEL
will be offered for Nurse Practitioner (NP) students
students in Lewiston, Boise and
Pocatello and rural sites throughout Idaho.
CMDL will make more efficient use of faculty
time, increase faculty productivity and increase course access to
include a wider range of students across the state and enhance
the services of many state institutions. The faculty at ISU will
work with Nursing faculty at Boise State University (BSU) and
Lewis-Clark State College (LCSC) to develop the curricular
components and specific technical modules. Both the Idaho
Primary Care Association and the Idaho Rural Health Coalition
wrote in support of this proposal.
Work has already begun on the NP curriculum with a two-year
planning grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to
improve primary care access by reaching out into rural areas of
Idaho. Initial planning includes the development of:
- collaborative clinical training sites;
- a coordinated clinical placement service;
- alternative funding avenues from the federal to the local
community levels;
- utilization of population-based planning in determining need
for practitioners;
- development of a statewide public education campaign;
- and examination of regulatory issues pertaining to midlevel
practitioners.
Staff of the ISU Media Distance Learning Center (ISU M/D LC), a
COM-IDEAL Project coordinator, two CMDL specialists, one graduate
teaching assistant (GTA) and hired consultants will provide
technical support and training to ISU faculty. Other
collaborators will be faculty/staff of the Idaho Consortia of
Education Technology (ICET), the College of Southern Idaho (CSI),
LCSC, BSU, the University of Georgia at Athens and El Colegio de
la Frontera Sur in Chiapas, Mexico.
As can be seen in the following sections, the work plan is
divided into five phases corresponding to the project goals.
Duration of the project will be eighteen months with a six-month,
no-cost time extension.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Methods and Procedures
- Each of the four primary goals will now be presented with
enabling objectives. Methods and procedures for accomplishing
each goal through completion of enabling objectives will also be
described.
Goal I
- The first goal is to Initiate and Train Three Pilot Computer-
Mediated Instruction Teams (C-MITs).
C-MIT Objective 1: Obtain human
resources necessary for project success
- ISU has hired one new and will shortly appoint a second
instructional technology support specialist who will be provided
as an in-kind contribution to the COM-IDEAL Project. These two
specialists, a CMDL curriculum design specialist (Faculty
Director: Instructional Technology) and Wesley O. Taylor, an
Instructional Technologist, will form the nucleus of the pilot C-
MITs to help selected faculty develop their CMDL courses. The
curriculum design specialist will be responsible for working with
faculty to facilitate these CMDL courses. Mr. Taylor will be
responsible for computer setup, software installation and
maintenance/operation, technical assistance (cameras, sound
cards, microphones, scanners, digital cameras), and instructional
support design. Both of these specialists have strong skills in
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Virtual Reality Markup Language
(VRML) and other relevant graphics programming languages for
creating WWW and multimedia applications. The services of the
Project Director and Associate Project Director will be provided
as an in-kind contribution. Grant funds will be used to hire a
.50 time senior secretary. Funds will also be used to support
selected faculty with release time; to hire one, 1.00 Graduate
Teaching Assistant (GTA). The ISU M/D LC also has a full-time
staff of twelve with expertise in photography, video, graphic
design and layout, printing, computing and distance learning who
will be available to project faculty and staff as an in-kind
contribution to the COM-IDEAL Project. The ISU Computer Center
(ISU CC) has a Program Analyst and a Programmer who will provide
design support and technical assistance for Unix-based
instructional WWW sites and for the ISU MOO interactive
"conferencing" site as an in-kind contribution.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
C-MIT Objective 2: Obtain hardware
and software resources necessary for project success
- With the ISU M/D LC as a co-applicant, project faculty and
staff will have access to a wide variety of basic and advanced
technology. The mission of the ISU M/D LC is to provide faculty
and staff with access to a variety of instructional and
communications technologies. All of the extant hardware,
software and staff of the ISU CC and of the ISU M/D LC will be
available to project faculty and staff as an in-kind contribution
to the COM-IDEAL Project.
The COM-IDEAL Project will employ two levels of technology, BASIC
and ENHANCED. The BASIC MODEL will be used by faculty in History
and the ENHANCED MODEL will be used by faculty in the
Anthropology and Nursing (Graduate NP Program).
In order to expand course access as much as possible, the BASIC
MODEL will require only fundamental Internet connection, use only
the most widely available communication techniques (e-mail and
basic computer equipment and software) and require minimal
faculty/student training. Instruction will involve both
asynchronous learning (through e-mail, on-line discussion lists,
and the World-Wide Web) and real-time ("live") classes (using
multi-user, interactive MOO "conferencing" software).
The ENHANCED MODEL, in addition to accessing the same features as
the basic model, will add screen sharing, including live video
and audio, digital still frames and advanced graphics. Through
collaboration with the private software development firm,
PictureTalk, Inc., the enhanced model will utilize the visual
communication software PictureTalk. This software
is a collaborative tool which will enable faculty and students to
share information through the Internet or on the Local Area
Network including live video and audio. For example,
PictureTalk software would allow screen sharing,
whereby, whatever is on the faculty member's computer screen
would appear on the student's computer screen. This technology
would allow a student or professor at his/her station to show an
outline for an essay or other draft work product to other
students or to a professor in his/her office. Through its
partnership with Picture Talk Inc., ISU will obtain the necessary
servers at substantial discounts.
Grant funds will be used to purchase a Unix server and
PictureTalk software (license and one year
maintenance) and to establish three faculty teaching stations and
twelve student learning stations. A teaching station will be
developed in the History, Anthropology, and Nursing
Departments. Student learning stations will be established in
four ISU related learning centers (Lewiston, Boise, Twin Falls
and Idaho Falls) as well as eight remote home/work based (loaner)
stations with sites to be selected based on participating student
requests. Each teaching/ learning station will be equipped with
a Compaq computer with 16mb of memory, CD-ROM as well as video
and audio cards, a digital camera, a document camera,
Powerpoint software and Internet connections and
access.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
C-MIT Objective 3: To Train three,
pilot, C-MITs to facilitate project success
- Each of three C-MITs (History, Anthropology, Nursing)
will include an experienced faculty member, the GTA, the two CMDL
specialists and other staff or consultants as needed. The three
teams will meet together for planning and training aperiodically
but more regularly as discipline-specific teams. The CMDL
specialists will be responsible for developing and implementing
training in hardware/software operation and in instructional
design technology. They will also be responsible for obtaining
training materials and references from other sources. All of
these resources, as well as the shared experiences of the teams,
will be used as a foundation for developing the faculty and
student CMDL training modules and mentoring systems (Goal II).
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Goal II
- The second goal is to develop a CMDL training
module/mentoring system for faculty and one for students.
Training/Mentoring System Objective
1: Faculty Training Module/Mentoring System
- A CMDL training module will be developed by the combined C-
MITs to help ISU faculty develop skills in CMDL. This module is
designed to help faculty learn basic and advanced technologies
and understand the principles of CMDL instructional design to
help them create their courses for CMDL format. This will be a
practical need-to-know module which will be learned through
application of CMDL. A mentoring system of experienced C-MIT
members and faculty just beginning CMDL will also be developed.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Training/Mentoring System Objective
2: Student Training Module/Mentoring System
- Participating students also need training in CMDL to
facilitate teacher-student, student-student communication and in
developing documents for evaluation. A
training module for students will be
developed as well as a system for pairing experienced CMDL
students with inexperienced students in mentoring relationships.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Goal III
- The third goal is to develop six, pilot CMDL courses during
the COM-IDEAL Project period.
CMDL Courses Objective 1: Graduate
History CMDL Course
- A three-credit, graduate History course, HIST 597, Topics in
World History, 1350-1800, will be created for CMDL delivery by
Dr. J. B. Owens using the BASIC CMDL technology model. This
course will focus on the scholarly debate underlying sections of
the National
Standards for World History 1350-1800, and is
designed especially for secondary education history and social
studies teachers throughout Idaho and for others who are
qualified to enroll.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
CMDL Courses Objective 2:
Anthropology CMDL Course
- A three-credit Anthropology course (g493), Preparation for
Fieldwork Among the Maya, will be developed for CMDL delivery by
Dr. Dorothy Castille and Dr. Teri Hall using the enhanced CMDL
technology model. They will affiliate with faculty at the
University of Georgia at Athens and El Colegio de la Frontera Sur
in Chiapas, Mexico as well as other ISU faculty and faculty from
CSI, BSU and University of Idaho (UI). The course will provide
an historic and cultural context for understanding current issues
effecting the Mayan people of Chiapas and will serve as a
foundation for students preparing for fieldwork in Chiapas.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
CMDL Courses Objective 3: Spanish
for Health Care Professionals
- A one-credit Language course (ANTHRO/Health Ed 218), Spanish
for Health Care Professionals, will be developed for CMDL
delivery by qualified Spanish-speaking faculty using the enhanced
model. No previous knowledge of Spanish is required for the
course. Students will learn the most common phrases used in
uncomplicated, everyday medical exchanges. Coursework modules
are organized by organic systems and common illnesses associated
with each system.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
CMDL Courses Objective 4: NP
CMDL Courses
- A year-long, six-credit, graduate course for NP students,
NURS 614 Adult Primary Nursing/ Chronic Illness and NURS 617
Adult Nursing II/Acute Illness will be developed
for CMDL delivery. This sequence presents an overview of chronic
and acute illness in the adult. Course modules include oncology,
rheumatology, neurology, pulmonary, cardiology, gastroenterology,
acute and chronic viral and infectious diseases as well as
modules in obstetrics and gynecology, endocrinology, hematology,
dermatology and ophthalmology.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Goal IV
- The fourth goal is to field-test and evaluate the pilot
courses and training modules/mentoring systems.
Field-Test/Evaluation Objective 1:
Teach Six CMDL Courses
- Evaluation of the project goals will be accomplished within
the context of the four project goals. Quality evaluation is an
ongoing process that is characterized by continuing self study
and by the use of tested surveys, questionnaires and analyses,
and by output objectives that can be quantitatively and
qualitatively measured. All six CMDL courses will be field-
tested by delivering them to ISU students, both on campus and at
distant sites. History will field-test the BASIC MODEL of
delivery while the other five courses, in Anthropology and Nursing,
will field-test the ENHANCED MODEL. Faculty and
students will log problems, concerns, suggestions for improvement
and general comments during the semester.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Field-Test/Evaluation Objective
2: Evaluate the Faculty/Student Training Modules/Mentoring
Systems
- Participating students will need to complete orientation
training in CMDL technology and be paired with an experienced
student mentor as they begin their respective CMDL course. The
faculty training module/mentoring system will be field-tested
with those that are teaching the six courses and as the C-MITs
train new faculty.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Field-Test/Evaluation Objective
3: Evaluate the Six CMDL Courses
- The six CMDL courses will be evaluated through
variety of means including:
- virtual classroom assessment procedures (e.g. transaction,
syntax and comment profiling)
- outcomes assessments (e.g. achievement, goal fulfillment,
competency mastery)
- student/faculty perceptions (e.g. satisfaction, growth,
affective disposition)
- system mechanics (e.g. technology, curriculum organization,
support services)
Skip back to the Skip Ahead List.
Reporting and Dissemination
- The staff of the COM-IDEAL PROJECT will submit formative
electronic program reports at six month intervals (1/1/98,
7/1/98, 1/1/99) and an ending summary report (8/1/99). Results
of the project will be reported in at least two national/regional
conference presentations and two article submissions.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Future Goals
- From mid-1999 to mid-2002 new C-MITs will be trained and ten
to twelve new CMDL courses each year in a number of departments
and colleges will be developed using the field-tested CMDL
Training Module with the faculty members of the first three C-MITs
as mentors for new faculty. A "train the trainer" model will be
used so that these newly trained faculty members will in turn
become trainers/ mentors themselves for additional faculty in
future years (2000+). ISU's plan calls for new C-MITs to be
developed in programs such as Physical, Occupational and Speech
Therapy Aide and Assistant, Speech-Language Pathology, Dietetics,
Health Education, Baccalaureate Nursing, Mathematics,
Sociology/Social Work in 1999-2000 and Deaf Education, Foreign
Language, Master of Public Health (MPH), Audiology, Counseling,
Pharmacy and Radiographic Science in 2000-2001.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.
Idaho State University is dedicated to shaping those people who
will serve the State's citizens and to enhancing the quality of
life of all Idahoans. It is to these ends that the COM-IDEAL
Project is dedicated.
"One of the most significant facts about us may finally be that
we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds
of life but end in the end having lived only one."
- Clifford Geertz -
Please send any questions or comments about this page to J. B.
Owens, COM-IDEAL Project Coordinator, at ,
or if your system will support the process, you can mail me NOW. Please include
your name and e-mail address in the body of your message.
Jump back to the Skip Ahead List.