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Adapting a Brick-And-Mortar Program into a Distance Learning Program

Denny LinLa Sierra University

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Introduction

What are the issues?Discussion of issuesSample Cost & Revenue AnalysisSummaryRoundtable DiscussionReferences

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What Are The Issues?

Learning MethodsTechnologicalCourse ContentOrganizational

Issues in Developing Any Distance Learning Educational Program

Technological:

Bandwidth Req.Delivery technologiesComputer-assist tool

Learning methods:

Course DesignInteractivityClass size

Course Content:

Accreditation req.Curriculum dev.

Teamwork exercises

Organizational:

Support structuresPolicy DevelopmentReturn on Investment

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Learning Methods

Course design; decide whether to use Asynchronous courses:

Educational goal: i.e. Graduate students with exceptionally good teamwork skills

Activities: i.e. Extensive collaborative learning Technology: i.e. Support online communication, and

collaborative problem-solving Synchronous courses:

Faculties from sister institutions team-teach courses Hybrid courses:

Most of the course is in asynchronous format Few face-to-face type exercises in synchronous format

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Learning Methods (cont'd)

Ensure interactivity: require participation and

assignments, form learning teams, use peer grading

Class size: 15 - 20 students Restricting factors:

Teacher's ability to attend to students Network bandwidth

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Technological IssuesBandwidth requirements Many delivery methods available: Voice, Video, Data, and Print Media

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Technological Issues

Computer-Assist Tools Use tools that students will use

outside of class: In software engineering, some computer-

assisted software engineering (CASE) tools used to develop software can be adapted for distance learning

E-mail Web-browsers

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Course Content

The Computer Science Accreditation Board (CSAB) accreditation criteria:

program design faculty curriculum laboratory and computing resources students institutional support

How different would this criteria be from your area of discipline?

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Course Content (cont'd)

A Software Engineering program addresses "life-cycle" issues: Problem Analysis Software Requirements Software Design Implementation Verification and Validation Maintenance Software Metrics

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Course Content (cont'd)

Does the brick-and-mortar program address life-cycle issues?What is the competition doing to address life-cycle issues?Quick survey: only 10 of 20 institutions offering computer science courses, offer a software engineering degree; only 5 of the 10 address software engineering life-cycle issues as separate courses

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Course Content (cont'd)

Pre-requisites for an undergraduate degree in software engineering:

Make CPSC361 a pre-requisite to CPSC461

Focus CPSC361 on introduction to software engineering process, and life-cycle activities

Focus CPSC461 on large-scale implementation of the software engineering process covered in CPSC361

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Course Content (cont'd)

Pre-requisites for a graduate degree in software engineering:

CPSC541 Specification of Software Systems

CPSC544 or CPSC545: Principles of Application of Software Design or Software Systems Design

CPSC543 Software Generation and Maintenance

CPSC542 Software Verification and Validation

CPSC546 Software Project Management

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Course Content (Cont’d)

Building teamwork: Structure class

around team assignments

Use distributed proctoring to enhance interactivity

Adopt an open-source project

Change Control Board

Project Administrator

PrincipalArchitect

Configuration Management

TestSpecialist

ProjectManager

QualityAssurance

Verification & Validation

Design Team Implementation Team

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Organizational Issues

Fund support structures & student support servicesAddress policy development issues: Fiscal policies, tuition rates, technology

fees, state fiscal regulations. Governance: single or multiple board

oversight, staffing, and labor management.

Copyright issues, and liabilities

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Sample Cost & Revenue Analysis

Online courses: 5Students per class: 13Stipend per course: $2000 per 4 unitsTuition rate: $250/unitTechnology fee: NoneIT Support: YesServer Available: YesEstimated yearly growth rate: 15%

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Cost & Revenue Analysis Results

Distance Learning Costs vs. Revenues

$-

$200,000

$400,000$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

Year1

Year2

Year3

Year4

Year5

Year6

Year7

Costs Revenues

http://webpages.marshall.edu/~morgan16/onlinecosts/

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Summary

Issues are: Learning Methods: Decide on asynchronous,

synchronous, or hybrid course design, ensure interactivity, limit class size

Technological: Bandwidth limitations, decide on course delivery methods, use of CASE Tools

Course Content: Accreditation, curriculum changes, structure teamwork activities

Organization: Funding support, develop policies, perform return on investment analysis

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Discussion questions

List issues that have yet to be addressed in establishing a distance learning programHow do we know when a distance learning program is "successful"? Cost/Revenue ratio? Enrollment growth rate? Favorable external reviews? Other_____________?

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References

[Car99] D. Carver, "Educating the Software Engineering Workforce of the Future" http://bit.csc.lsu.edu/~carver/cseet_pres/index.html[Ehr00] S. Ehrmann, "Computer-Intensive Academic Programs: How to evaluate, plan, support, and implement (in that order) your campus technology investments", The American Association for Higher Learning Bulletin, November 2000. http://www.aahe.org/Bulletin/computer.pdf[Gfe97] B. Gellman-Danley, M. J. Fetzner, "Asking the Really Tough Questions: Policy Issues for Distance Learning". http://www.westga.edu/~distance/danley11.html

[Kle98] W. Klemm, "Eight Ways To Get Students More Engaged In On-Line Conferences". http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/org/tcon98/paper/klemm.html[Lin00] P. D. Lin, "Developing a Distance Learning Software Engineering Program". http://www.lasierra.edu/~dlin/classes/cpsc589/cpsc589.htm[Mor00] B. Morgan, "Is Distance Learning Worth It? Helping to Determine the Costs of Online Courses" http://webpages.marshall.edu/~morgan16/onlinecosts/

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References (cont’d)

[Owy97] K. Ostonen, H. Wang, S. Yang, "Distance Learning: Analysis of the ATM-Videoconferencing Project at CERN". http://webuniversity.web.cern.ch/webuniversity/WU_PRO.html[Prt99] I. Pritchard, "Reducing Class Size: What Do We Know?" http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ReducingClass/[Sch96] J. G. Schutte, "Virtual Teaching in Higher Education: The New Intellectual Superhighway or Just Another Traffic Jam?" http://www.csun.edu/sociology/virexp.htm

[Skw96] B. Schneier, J. Kelsey, J. Walker, "Distributed Proctoring", ESORICS 96 Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, P. 172-182, September 1996.[Tou95] J. D. Touch, "Defining High-Speed Protocols: Five Challenges and an Example That Survives the Challenges". http://www.isi.edu/~touch/pubs/jsac95.html[Wil95] B. Willis, "Distance Education at a Glance Guide #1" Engineering Outreach, University of Idaho, October 1995. http://www.uidaho.edu/evo/dist1.html