Distance learning capabilities help students, faculty weather inclement conditions

The value of the campus’ online academic offerings are especially apparent this winter when inclement weather has made travel difficult and has periodically caused the Chillicothe Campus to cancel classes. More than just convenience, online offerings are of a high caliber. A focus of the campus’ online and distance learning emphasis has been a commitment to utilizing technology to offer a quality educational experience. Law Enforcement Technology Program Coordinator Jim McKean used a Tinseltown analogy to describe the distance learning experience. “It is an excellent tool to continue the learning cycle during periods of inclement weather (the good) if the student has Internet access (the bad). Some of our students come to campus with their laptops to access the Internet because they live in areas not covered by broadband to complete their assignments. Additionally, some students do not have laptops but complete their technology assignment in the Learning Commons. My anecdotal experiences tell me the good outweighs the bad since many students do complete their assignments upon return to campus, prior to the next class period.” “I'd like to add that I found the Blackboard virtual classroom to be helpful on one of the days when classes were cancelled. Those who could log onto their computers at the regular class time and we ‘meet’ in cyberspace. It's essentially a chat room, but there is also a whiteboardand a vehicle for posting documents and playing YouTube or other media clips,” psychology faculty member Cindy Matyi said. Biological sciences faculty member Robert Moats makes sure his students can learn from lectures even when the snow is falling. “My courses are not yet blended, per se, but I do use Blackboard and from the get-go, students expect materials to appear there,” he said. “One of the types of files that I post is simply a MP3 recording of the lectures. On the days when the weather prevents us from coming to class, I either post the recording from a previous quarter or record a new one. Since most of the students download the files, posting them as regular files works fine.” Political science faculty member Nicholas Kiersey uses technology so students can weather the bad weather and keep pace with class. “I teach POLS 150 in a blended format and we had a relatively seamless time during the snow. Students were still able to obtain their lectures from me via iTunes, and participate in our online discussion forum on Blackboard,” he said. “With my other classes it is a little harder to maintain continuity, of course, as students don't necessarily expect to have to check their email on a snow day, or sometimes don't even have electricity. One way around this, as I have been recently discussing with a couple of the OU-C online teaching community, is to make clear in the syllabus that this is an expectation in the event of snow.” Students often utilize the campus’ online technology even before classes begin for the quarter. Early in the quarter, and even before some quarters begin, students often try to log into Blackboard to see what is available for their courses. “Many students do like to get a headstart on the course, and some are probably trying to see what textbooks are required to purchase them from alternative sources,” Director of Information and Technology Services Patty Griffith said. The campus’ Technology-Rich Learning Community task force held a workshop for fellow OU-C faculty members in early January to discuss online and blended courses. For spring quarter 2010, there are nine online courses and three blended courses on the schedule.