Innovation and Leadership

AdjunctMatch: An e-Resource for Institutions & Online Faculty

With the demand for online instructors on the rise, higher education institutions are increasingly turning to part-time faculty for the expansion and instructional support of their distance-education programs. To assist college administrators who need a reliable and cost-effective system for finding qualified instructors quickly, WCET launched a new pilot project, AdjunctMatch. This online service will facilitate the adjunct hiring process for colleges and universities and for individuals seeking part-time employment to teach online or by other distance learning modalities.

This launch has three phases. Phase I, which began in March 2005, is a one-year pilot to refine the service and evaluate its viability. It is limited to 10 member institutions, with representatives serving on the advisory board. These representatives are working with WCET to refine the requirements for the service. WCET members involved in the pilot include six two-year schools: Chemeketa Community College in Oregon; Cochise College in Arizona; Eastern New Mexico University; West Hills Community College in California; Bellevue Community College in Washington; and Victoria College in Texas. The four-year schools involved in the project are Eastern Oregon University; Oregon State University; and University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Campus. UT TeleCampus in Texas, represents consortia interests.

Phase II, slated to begin in fall 2005, will allow more WCET member institutions to post positions and test the services through February 2006. If the earlier phases are successful, WCET will kick off Phase III in March 2006 by opening AdjunctMatch to nonmember institutions as well.

Although the development of a more efficient service by which institutions and e-learning faculty can find union is the initial aim of AdjunctMatch, the ultimate goal is to increase the quality of instruction offered via e-learning. By analyzing how AdjunctMatch is used, WCET will learn about current needs and trends and will employ that information to project future demands and gaps, giving various academic fields more time to prepare instructors in selected subject areas.

AdjunctMatch is being developed in partnership with Joe Pensa of Adjunctopia. Pro bono contributions include legal assistance from Bruce Antley of Dow, Lohnes and Albertson and development of a business modeling tool by Phil Clark of Business Planning for New Product Development.

AdjunctMatch will be supported by a combination of participation fees and advertising revenue. WCET members will receive a discount off the regular cost.

Center for Transforming Student Services

WCET, in partnership with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) and Seward Inc., established the Center for Transforming Student Services (CENTSS) in June 2005. The center provides institutions with a one-stop site where they can find tools and information about training and other resources, so that they can develop and deliver high-quality student services online.

One of the tools institutions can license through the center is the WCET Audit Tool. This online assessment instrument is designed to help an institution’s staff evaluate the sophistication of its student services online. This tool is currently available for 20 student services: academic advising, admissions, assessment and testing, bookstore services, career planning, catalog, communications (institution to student), disability services, financial aid, library services, orientation, personal counseling, placement services, registration, schedule of classes, services for international students, student accounts, student activities, technical support, and tutoring.

Through the center, WCET also plans to expand its research and writing on best practice models in student services online; to develop a one-stop searchable repository featuring a broad collection of electronic student service resources; to provide several communication tools to enhance the sharing of information on technology-enabled student services among institutions; and to offer workshops, webcasts, and consulting services to assist institutions in redesigning their services to increase student success and retention.

Two pilot workshops were conducted as part of the development of CENTSS:

• Best Practices in Online Student Services Workshop. During this two-day WCET workshop in March for the Hispanic Educational Telecommunications System (HETS), 75 individuals from Puerto Rico, New York, New Jersey, and Florida, representing 14 HETS member schools, examined best practices in student services online. They also explored the idea of some shared services, developed and offered through the HETS consortium, and formulated next steps for developing collaborative services.

• Best Practices in Student Services Online: Providing Experiences that Support Learners Workshop. WCET and The Higher Learning Commission held this joint workshop in Lisle, IL, last June, in response to the fact that the majority of students, including those studying through distance education, expect to access institutions through online resources and services. The workshop provided 140 individuals, representing 32 schools, with a forum that allowed institutional teams to critically examine the eight key online services students use and to explore and adapt good practices to enhance these services.

For more information about the Center for Transforming Student Services, go to www.centss.org.

EduTools

WCET’s EduTools is a website (www.edutools.info) providing independent reviews and objective information on e-learning software products, courses, and policies. EduTools, based on Bruce Landon’s work on reviewing and comparing course management systems (CMS), has attained an international reputation for its comprehensive set of reviews of course management systems. Scott Leslie (EduTools’ chief researcher), Russell Poulin (WCET’s associate director), and Landon are also consulting with institutions and systems seeking to purchase a new CMS product.

With assistance from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the “Landonline” site was adapted and expanded to better display the CMS reviews and to serve additional review needs, including reviews of learning object repository software, and of online Advanced Placement (AP and college courses. In the coming year, reviews of electronic portfolio software will be added.

A rewrite of the underlying database system is set to be completed by fall 2005. Once it is finished, the core code will be available in open source format, and EduTools will be flexible enough to provide comparisons for any item that can be described in a series of categories.

EduTools is also moving beyond its roots and undertaking the services described below.

Reviews and Research on Emerging Software Categories

EduTools is conducting analyses on e-learning software products that are still early in the adoption cycle. The first of these products was learning object repository (LOR) software. In the spring of 2004, EduTools assembled a group of interested users (Utah Education Network, University System of Georgia, Virginia Community College System, and Virginia Tech) who were searching for an LOR product. They paid to be part of a partnership where they selected products to be reviewed. Together, they also investigated common issues in successfully implementing an LOR and in promoting the effective use of learning objects. The partners had exclusive rights to the report and reviews for several months (they are now posted at www.edutools.info/LOR). They released the results during a panel at the 2004 WCET annual conference.

A second cohort of partners (Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Oklahoma Board of Regents’ ONE Net, and the University of North Carolina System) also researched a different set of LOR products and issues in 2005. The reviews and reports will be made available in September.

For 2005, EduTools has joined into a partnership with the Electronic Portfolio Action Committee (EPAC) to assemble a group of institutions and systems to analyze e-portfolio products. EPAC was created by a partnership between the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII) and the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and was headquartered at AAHE. EPAC includes some of the leading thinkers in the development and usage of e-portfolios. The research would follow the successful models used in EduTools’ research on learning object repository software both last year and this year. A small group of institutions and state agencies pay for the research and product reviews; they are given exclusive use to the information for a set time, and then the reviews are released to the public. The project is set to begin in October 2005.

Reviews of Online Courses

EduTools has been involved in two projects aimed at providing reviews and comparisons of commercially available online courses:

• Monterey Institute of Technology and Education. MITE is developing a service to review online high school, Advanced Placement®, and college courses. Initial reviews were conducted with assistance from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Additional reviews are now being funded by institutions seeking to have their courses evaluated. WICHE received the grant for this project and served as the fiscal agent, therefore the grant is not reflected in WCET’s financial information.

• WICHE’s Western Consortium for Accelerated Learning Opportunities: WCALO seeks to increase the number of “underserved” students taking the Advanced Placement examination. Teachers, administrators, students, and parents are interested in more information to guide them in making choices among their online AP course options.

The course reviews are conducted by three ”experts.” A content expert examines the suitability of the content in meeting the course goals; an instructional design expert comments on the interface used to deliver the instruction to the student; and a technical expert reviews the hardware and software requirements of the course.

Consulting

The EduTools team, with its deep experience in course management systems and other emerging-technology tools, has been contracted to assist campuses and systems in the software decision-making process. EduTools assisted the North Dakota University System in the selection process for a systemwide CMS product. The Utah Education Network is seeking EduTools assistance in creating an RFP for a CMS product. Another institution sought assistance on definitions of course product categories and opinions on the future of e-learning software products. EduTools’ team members have also served on expert panels for the WCET annual conference, the Southern Regional Education Board, IMS Global, and other organizations.

No Significant Difference Website

The No Significant Difference (NSD) website (www.nosignificantdifference.org) is designed to function as an ever-growing repository of studies comparing the educational effectiveness of a variety instructional media. Based on the analysis found in Thomas L Russell’s book The No Significant Difference Phenomenon, the website provides access to selected studies published in the book and additional studies that emerged after publication. In addition to studies that document no significant difference between different educational media, the website also includes studies that document significant differences in student outcomes, based on the mode of educational delivery.

During the 2004-2005 year, WCET agreed to host the site after the previous host decided to end its support. WCET worked at improving the site, including changing the database, installing a more robust search mechanism, and further subdividing the “significant difference” category so that the user could tell if the research results were better with technology, better with face-to-face, or if there were mixed results. In the future, WCET plans to expand the number of studies listed and may include other types of research studies.

Policy Forums

WCET staff managed a forum at the Hewlett Foundation in July 2004, exploring how computer games can be developed for educational purposes.   In September 2004, WCET staff managed an additional forum at the Hewlett Foundation that brought together all the current grantees of open educational resources projects for a series of discussions to determine directions for future Open Educational Resources funding by the Foundation.

Technology Costing Methodology (TCM): Completing the Toolbox.

TCM is a set of step-by-step procedures that enable institutional leaders to analyze the costs of using alternative modes of instruction in both on- and off-campus instruction. Developed in partnership with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), TCM offers a series of products to assist in analyzing instructional technology costs.

In April 2005, a CD-ROM containing new TCM products and updated versions of existing products was sent to each of WCET’s official member representatives. Updated products include:

• The TCM Handbook, Version 2.0 – step-by-step procedures for applying the costing methodology.

• The TCM Casebook, Version 2.0 – write-ups on the experiences of 16 pilot sites utilizing TCM and four white papers that focus on costing and technology issues in higher education.

• The TCM Tabulator, Version 2.0 – a series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that assist in applying the TCM procedures.

• The TCM Tabulator User’s Manual – full instructions on how to use each section and component of the TCM Tabulator.

• The BRIDGE Model – a tool useful for projecting the impact of costs across several courses or across an entire campus.

New products also included on the CD-ROM:

• The TCM Tabulator EZ – a shorter version of the TCM Tabulator, intended for those who want to create reports more quickly.

• The TCM Tutorial – a step-by-step tutorial designed to help all users improve their effectiveness and efficiency when using the TCM Tabulator.

The TCM CD-ROM can be ordered at www.wcet.info/projects/tcm. Some of the products are still available for free download from that website, as well.

The Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) supported TCM’s development with a grant that ended in December 2004. TCM will continue to provide training in using the TCM procedures and consulting on costing projects.