From: "Swisher, Bob" <bswisher@ou.edu>
To: "'it-fyi@listserv.ou.edu'" <it-fyi@lists.ou.edu>
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?it-fy=EF=3A_On-Line_Course_About_Taking_On-Line?=
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 15:34:19 -0500
Penn State Offers an On-Line Course About Taking On-Line Courses
By JEFFREY R. YOUNG
Most students know what to expect in a traditional college classroom --
they'll show up at scheduled times, they'll be given homework and tests,
they'll raise their hands to ask questions. But what happens in an on-line
classroom?
Pennsylvania State University officials noticed that some students taking
classes through the university's on-line World Campus -- which opened last
year -- didn't know what to expect when they entered a virtual classroom. So
the university created a free on-line course about how to take on-line
courses. It's called World Campus 101
(http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu:8900/public/wc101/).
That might sound a little like handing someone a videotape explaining how to
work a VCR -- the tape would be useless to someone who can't figure out how
to hook up the machine in the first place. But Gary Miller, Penn State's
associate vice-president for distance education and the executive director
of the World Campus, says the course is more like the orientation program
offered to freshmen who arrive on the campus each fall.
"As we ramped up during this first year, it became apparent to us that our
students could do a better job if they had an orientation to the program,"
says Mr. Miller.
Anyone with access to the Web can work through the course at his or her own
pace, reading through any or all of the five sections. The course site reads
more like a computer instruction manual than a lecture, however, and it
comes complete with plenty of bulleted lists and screen shots to illustrate
major points. According to the site, if you complete the course you will:
"Gain an understanding of what it is like to be a distant learner."
"Ensure that you have the technical capabilities you need to
participate in the World Campus."
"Become familiar with the resources that are available to you as you
learn at a distance."
Mr. Miller says the main goal of World Campus 101 is to help students feel
comfortable in on-line classes, but he notes that the course is a
promotional tool as well.
"There is also a recruiting element to it," he says, adding that he hopes
the course will "help students make the decision to take the program."
Administrators created a similar course to help professors prepare to teach
the on-line courses. It's called Faculty Development 101, but it's available
only to on-campus users.
Copyright © 1999 by The Chronicle of Higher Education