Course Development Tools for the Web: Do They Make a Difference

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• Course Development Tools for the Web Do They
  Make a Difference?

Presentation to ADETA October 29, 1999

Norm Vaughan Jim Zimmer Mount Royal College
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Overview

• Drivers for Selection of a Course Development
  Tool
• Connected Education
• Assessment Process
• Background CourseInfo and Blackboard Inc.
• CourseInfo Proof of Concept
• Demonstration
• Instructor and Student Feedback
• Questions, Comments, Discussion

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Drivers for Selection of a Courseware Development
Tool

• requests from instructors for courseware
  development tool
• sustainability issues with centralized courseware
  production model
• distance delivery
• Classroom PlusTM

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Classroom Plus?
use of learning technologies to augment, enhance
and extend face-to-face instruction.
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Promoting student connectedness with...

• their course materials (any place, any time)
• their classmates
• their instructors
• groups of students in the class
• experts in the field
• previous learning
• online information
• one another, upon course/program completion

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Assessment of Courseware Development Tools (fall
1998)

• Assessment criteria
• Literature review
• Survey of existing practice
• Identification of contenders
• Assessments
• Proof-of-concept

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Proof-of-Concept

• Winter/Spring / Summer / Fall 99
• 25 courses
• 23 instructors
• gt800 students
• approx. 80,000 hits since August 28/99

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Assessment criteria

• Flexibility
• Functionality
• Simplicity
• Reliability
• Service, Support and Responsiveness
• Company Stability and Trends in the Field

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Blackboards CourseInfo Background

• Blackboard Inc. headquartered in Washington DC
• CourseInfo developed at Cornell University, 1997
• Blackboard selected as primary technical
  consultant to the EDUCAUSE-IMS Project
• Recently secured 12.2 million second round
  venture funding (June 99)
• Version 3.0 release August 99

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Current CourseInfo Use

• Used by faculty at gt 1100 institutions in 68
  countries
• Currently gt 330 institutional licenses
• Adding 40 institutions/month fastest growth in
  field
• Among leading course development tools, claim to
  have largest number of faculty users and courses
  built

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Sample Current Users

• Cornell
• Yale
• Princeton
• Harvard
• Johns Hopkins
• USC
• William and Mary
• U of Toronto

• Georgetown U
• U of Pittsburgh
• Oregon State U
• Maricopa CC System
• Wake Forest U
• Arizona State U
• UNC--Chapel Hill

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Blackboards Current Partnerships

• AAHE--TLT Group
• Educause-IMS (primary technical consultants)
• Corporation for Research and Education Networking
• Microsoft
• Publishers
• International Thompson Publishing
• Archipelago (Harcourt Higher Learning)
• WW Norton
• Houghton Mifflin

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Course Info Demo

• Computers in Education
• courseinfo.mtroyal.ab.ca/courses/EDUC3325
• username adeta
• password learner

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Instructor Feedback

• 87 of instructors would use CourseInfo again
• 85 of instructors indicated that CourseInfo
  made it easier to put my course material online
• 77 of instructors indicated that they were able
  to use CourseInfo without a need or commitment to
  entirely overhaul or change my course
• 71 of instructors indicated that CourseInfo
  offered advantages over the way that they had
  previously taught their courses

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Instructor Feedback

• An extremely easy and intuitive tool to use.
• I believe that CourseInfo is easy enough that
  instructors who have little computer experience
  would be able to learn how to use it in a very
  short period of time.
• I will use CourseInfo every time I give a course
  in the future. I really like using it and the
  students are absolutely crazy about it.

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Student feedback.
Our class CourseInfo web site allowed me to keep
track of my marks throughout the semester which
was really valuable. I am also learning a lot
about how to use computers because of our
CourseInfo site and I think this is really
valuable.
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Student feedback (contd)...
Our class only met once each week but by using
the discussion forum and group pages section of
CourseInfo our class was able to stay connected
all week
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Student feedback (contd)...
I think that our CourseInfo web site really
contributed to my learning by being such a
valuable resource for assignments, tutorials,
students finished work, and of course my own
home page.
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Bibliography

• Blackboard CourseInfo
• www.blackboard.com
• Complete information about the CourseInfo tool
  combined with an opportunity to pilot the
  courseware.
• Fredrickson, S. (1999). Untangling a tangled
  web An overview of web-based instruction
  programs.
• www.thejournal.com/magazine/current/edeval.html
• Reviews 10 leading contenders in this field.
• University of Pittsburgh
• http//www.pitt.edu/washburn/ccs.htm
• Full assessment report of web based course
  development tools.

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Bibliography

• Campus Computing Project
• www.campuscomputing.net
• Begun in 1990, the Campus Computing Project
  focuses on the use of information technology in
  higher education.
• Marchese, T. (1998). The new conversations about
  learning.
• www.aahe.org/pubs/TM-essay.htm
• Learning-related insights from neuroscience,
  anthropology, cognitive science and workplace
  studies, and their implications for teaching and
  assessment.
• Chickering, A. Ehrmann, S. Implementing the
  seven principles Technology as a Lever.
• www.aahe.org/technology/ehrmann.htm
• Cost-effective and appropriate ways to use
  technology to advance the seven principles.

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Bibliography

• Boettcher, J. Conrad, R. (1999). Moving
  teaching and learning to the web.
• League for Innovation publication --provides an
  overview of issues and practicalities, including
  a summary of courseware development tools.
• Cross, K. (1999). Learning is about making
  connections.
• Summarizes recent findings related to neurologic,
  cognitive, social and experiential connections
  and their impact on learning.

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Questions, Comments, Discussion