the usf/cob distance education project

The USF/COB Distance Education Project Vicki L. Gregory, Mel Pace and James Andrews University of South Florida

Willamae Johnson The College of the Bahamas

Overview Introduction How the Program Operates Blackboard and Virtual

Community Access to Information Conclusion

Introduction: Ms. Johnson,

COB Library Director

Need for an LIS master’s degree in The Bahamas

Development of the Contract Recruitment of students

LIS Program in The Bahamas

13 courses delivered in 3 ways: Face-to-face Blended Total web

Students will come to the USF Campus for a ten-week summer term in 2007 to complete their last 2 classes including supervised fieldwork.

Blackboard All SLIS classes utilize

Blackboard (web course management software) to some extent.

Blackboard also facilitates access to the USF Library, Registration system, and email to name just a few services.

Virtual Communities

Blackboard (web-based) course site with discussion boards, email, chat, and file-sharing capability. Includes all members of a

particular class SLIS Virtual Community on

Blackboard Includes all SLIS students

What is a Community? People who interact to satisfy their own

needs or roles People who have a shared purpose People who act within a determined set

of policies and guidelines All communities shape social

interaction and provide a common connectedness among members

Communities of Practice (CoP) Virtual Communities in

Education Jennifer J. Preece

Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability

CoPs in Education or other professions

The Design

Announcements Documents Discussion Board

Chat or IM

Anything ofInterestTo theCommunityMembers

Shared Documents, forms, applications, etc.

To exchange informationamongstudents & faculty not working at the same time .

To allow conversationamongmembers not in the same geographic area

USF Library Resources Students have full access to the

electronic resources and databases at USF.

Students authenticate once when they log onto Blackboard.

Full Access to USF Libraries Resources

COB Student

Full Access to USF Resources

Full Access to USF Libraries Resources

WWW Browser

COB Student

Full Access to USF Resources

Full Access to USF Libraries Resources

WWW Browser

USF/BlackboardID

COB Student

Full Access to USF Resources

Full Access to USF Libraries Resources

Re-configures to USF IP address

WWW Browser

E-Z Proxy Software

COB Student

Full Access to USF Resources

USF/BlackboardID

Full Access to USF Libraries Resources

Re-configures to USF IP address

Full Access to USF Resources

WWW Browser

E-Z Proxy Software

COB Student

USF/BlackboardID

Full Access to USF Libraries Resources

Re-configures to USF IP address

Full Access to USF ResourcesE-Journals

Bibliographic Databases

OPAC

Tutorials

…and many other resources

WWW Browser

E-Z Proxy Software

COB Student

USF/BlackboardID

Conclusion First cohort successfully

underway – currently in their third semester.

Beginning to recruit for a second cohort to start probably in 2007.

PowerPoint available at:

http://shell.cas.usf.edu/~gregory/ACURIL/USFCOB.mht