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Faculty Forum:  Online/Distance Education at CU

December 1, 12:00  (25+ people)

Introduction on prior conversations by Sara Thompson

Nationally, over one fourth of enrolled students take at least one online course.

At CU Boulder:         

23% increase in online enrollments in last two years

            10 graduate degree programs offered online

            Online undergrad post-bac degree in computer science coming shortly

            Fully online Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies degree in development

Broad range of online classes, from multi-media online (asynchronous) to hybrids to lecture capture (synchronous) classes to MOOCs

Online working group developing vision and mission statements; they are

 looking at policies, how to streamline process; how to make it easier for faculty to use online resources; how to insure that online classes demonstrate CU quality.

Q. What is the interdisciplinary degree?

            A.  This is a CUB program under development that responds to the Regents’ challenge to create online opportunities.  It is a sixty credit degree completion option.  We’re excited that the degree is being developed through a partnership between CE and the School of Education.  This degree will provide access to those across the state and beyond, and may have a special focus on teacher prep in rural areas.

Q.  What is the online working group?

            A.  A small committee of key players organized at the request of the provost to look at all the things we are doing with online/distance learning at CU.

Q.  Are we connecting with BVSD high schools?

            A.  Yes, we have a strong relationship with the schools to promote access.

Q.  What are the opportunities for faculty to teach online during the regular semesters?

            A.  This varies from school to college.  Continuing education would be happy to facilitate this.

Q.  Do we use the Adobe tool for face to face synchronous classrooms?

            A.  We are looking at various options, including Zoom.  We use a customized approach, with some classes being synchronous and some being asynchronous (which are better for our international students across time zones).

Comment:  Engineering has had online courses for a long time.  They use flexible online modalities to meet the needs of students.

Q.  What is the role of Continuing Education in online education?

            A.  Most undergraduate online classes are run through continuing education.  We have an outstanding instructional design team and Quality Matters review process to ensure quality.  Engineering manages its graduate classes.  The Graduate School is a partner on our online Master of Science in Organizational Leadership.  Online courses are offered through Summer Session, as well, with the guidance of the CE instructional design team.

Comment.  There is an important place at CU for hybrid classes.  There are pedagogical advantages to flipped classrooms. Research shows that students learn better in hybrid classes.  For example, there is an aerospace flipped class for non-majors that has been successful.

Comment.  Faculty should be aware of the resources of OIT’s academic technology design team.

Comment.  We need to be aware of access issues since student who take online courses through Continuing Education pay additional tuition.  There are real expenses for these courses that are paid through those charges, and there are some scholarship funds for students taking those courses.

Comment.  80-90% of our online students are degree-seeking; they are mainly upper class members.

Comment.  CU Complete aids students who are missing some credits to finish their degrees online.

Comment.  There are real opportunities through Continuing Education for graduate students to gain online experience which many institutions are looking for when they hire. There are pedagogic teaching grants for graduate students. There are also some postdoctoral opportunities.

Q/comment.  Should we be ASU?  They are way ahead of us, but we are a great residential university.

Comment.  Quality control is a key for online education at CU.  We use the Quality Matters Rubric.

Comment.  We are developing MOOC opportunities.

Comment.  Departments control what courses are created online.

Q.  What is the relationship between our interdisciplinary online degree and Regent Ludwig’s “moonshot”? 

            A.  Our degree is a response, that allows students to complete their degree with 60 credit hours online.  It will provide access to the outstanding quality of this institution to those bright and motivated students who may not be able to participate in the 4-year residential experience.

Q.  Do we have data to assuage faculty skepticism about online education?

            A.  Yes.  We have studies and metastudies that show that online education works. 

Comment.  We need more conversations on online education.  We need to recognize that different students will respond to different formats.

Comment.  We need to make sure we are providing students with access to the quality education available to students on campus.  Research has shown time and again that there is no significant difference in learning face-to-face vs learning online.