9 research outputs found
INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION
n the 60 years since the Declaration, changes have swept higher education. The emergence of online education promises that growth in its quality, scale and breadth could insure that education becomes a right.
Sloan-C research abundantly demonstrates that online education is effective for learning, especially for encouraging reflection, interaction, diversity and collaboration. It can take advantage of cost efficiencies, especially through curriculum redesign and shared resources. It provides access to more learners and more kinds of learners at their own chosen times and places.
Although teaching and learning online may take more time and effort, the growth of online education in the United States to 20% of the entire college population shows that faculty and students readily engage online. Nevertheless, there is still tremendous potential for growth
Managing and surviving disruptions, emergencies, disasters: Resilience and its application for UMUC
Would you know what to do if a massive power outage or other natural disaster disrupted your ability to access your online classroom? This presentation will discuss key research about managing and surviving disruptions and the implications for online programs like those at UMUC. Dr. Schweber will also highlight UMUC's Classroom Interruption Planning Guide and discuss preparedness suggestions with participants.Managing and Surviving Disruptions, Emergencies, Disasters:
Claudine SchWeber, Ph.D. ([email protected])
1Resilience*
â˘
ââŚpositive adaptation in any kind of dynamic system that comes under challenge or threat.â (Masten& Wright, 2009, p. 215)
â˘
âthe capability to rebound from a disasterâŚand to return to normal functioning with little delayâ (Chandra et al., 2010)
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âcapacity to cope with unanticipated dangers after they have become manifestâŚ[learning to] bounce backâ (Comfort, 1994, p. 158)
â˘
*Research conducted with Dr. M. Bouchard (2010)
2Continuity of operations (coop):
âan institutionâs ability to maintain or restore its businessâŚwhen some circumstance threatens or disrupts normal operationsâ
3Anticipation
(preparation)
Management
during event
(response)
Resilience (recovery)
Thriving or
Hyper â
resilience
(better off)
Crisis:
Trigger
Event
Resilience Continuum
4Resilience perspectives : itâs about survival and continuity
â˘
Anticipatory: âIdentification of potential risks, proactive steps to [enable survival]â;
â˘
Crisis: âcapability to rebound from disaster...and return to normal functioningâ
â˘
Economic: âability to reinvent business models and strategies as circumstances changeâ
5Examples of Disruptions (Disasters, emergencies, etc.)
â˘
Volcano ash clouds over Europe, Fall 2010
â˘
Hurricane Katrina, August 2005
â˘
Flooding in American south and Missouri, Spring 2011
â˘
Japanese earthquake, March 2011
â˘
UMUCâWebTychodownfor a week in Feb. 2007
6Today, we will also apply this to teaching & learning at UMUC
8Research Method
â˘
Modified âEvidenceâBased Researchâ (pioneered at Carnegie Mellon)
â˘
Literature search â57 sources: books or book chapters, scholarly articles, professional articles, dissertations, special reports/white papers.
â˘
Inclusion/exclusion criteria: 45 items remained
â˘
Analyzed resourcesâ>3 major themes: a) anticipationâpreparation; b) leadership; c) communication
ââdetails on method at end of presentation, if desired
9What we learnedâ1:
Primary Focus: AnticipationâPreparation
â˘
Become a High Reliability Organization (HRO): develop a âpreoccupation with [potential] failureâ
â˘
Develop a âculture of resilienceâ
â˘
Responsibility of Senior Leadership: avoid âamnesia syndromeâ; conduct resilience audits; delegate authority
â˘
Practice âbricolageâ
â˘
Hire staff with experience (âstrategic hiresâ)
10What we learnedâ2:
â˘
Identify and develop âbackâupâ systems: technology, other business locations, reserve fund. e.g. Xavier U and Hurricane Katrinaâtech backup in California.
â˘
Delegate decisionâmaking throughout organization; able to make decisions in âunfamiliar contextsâ (e.g. 9/11 and Morgan Stanley)
11What we learnedâ3:
Leadership, Communication
â˘
Need to be able to make decisions under pressure
â˘
Develop and test continuity plans
â˘
Communicate with various stakeholders (e.g, the public, students, colleagues)âearly and often!
â˘
Plan for âreputationâ management with stakeholders, media.
â˘
Establish a communication management strategy, plan, resources and implementation, and review regularly**
**UMUCâbe sure to keep a list of students and their emails in a separate, safe place
12UMUC Classroom Interruption Planning Guide
http://www.umuc.edu/faculty/interruptionguide.shtml
13Assume UMUC has been hit by a wide area power outage in midâsemester (as happened in upstate New York State in 2003).
*******
Whatâs your planfor continuing or managing the remainder of the course?
Question:
13Conclusions from this Research project
Organization resilience requires:
â˘
Senior level attentionâcommitment to a culture of resilience
â˘
Avoidance of complacency plan ahead
â˘
Periodic internal communication and readiness to implement external communication plan
â˘
Identifying and critiquing lessons learned
â˘
âŚPractice, Practice, Practice
14Further Research
â˘
Indentify cases: business, higher ed, (government?)
â˘
Investigate whether there is a causal link between planning and resilience; between planning and doing better (hyper resilience)
â˘
Leadership: what would case analyses reveal about decisions by leaders and adaptabilityandsurvival?
â˘
Compare scholar and practitioner perspectives
â˘
Investigate riskâbenefit impact on resilience planning: probabilityconsequence(e.g., Ford Pinto case)
â˘
Investigate higher education plans, actions, results.
15Claudine [email protected]
16More--Research Methods: details 1
â˘
Systematic review to âidentify, acquire, extract and synthesize existing research studiesâ (Leseureet al, 2004, p. 14)
â˘
57initial Sources = 9 books/chapters; 34 scholarly articles; 10 professional articles; 2 dissertations; 2 white papers
â˘
After exclusion: 45 resources
17More--Method 2: steps
1.
key word searches
2.
classification of sources: author, discipline and approach, focus (individual, org., community); type of study (scholarly, popular); key ideas; other
3.
inclusion/exclusion criteria identified and applied
4.
Analysis by themes: anticipation, leadership, communication, other
Two steps were developed but not implemented:
â˘
Assessment criteria:e.g., argument/ point made? Quality of the evidence, generalizability, contributions to theory,practice
â˘
Scoring: evaluation of each resource per assessment criteria, scale of 1â3 or NA
1
Fulbright experience: Polytechnic of Namibia
- Polytechnic of Namibia: Schools and Departments
- Issues and condition of the schoolTHE FULBRIGHT EXPERIENCE
Polytechnic of Namibia
September 12 â30, 2005
http:www.polytechnic.edu.na
Presented by:
Claudine SchWeber, Ph.D.
University of Maryland University CollegeNamibiaTHE POLYTECHNIC OF NAMIBIAPOLYTECHNIC OF NAMIBIA
Established 1995; Opened 1996
Formerly Tecknion, Academy for Tertiary Education
Prior to 1980 no higher education in Namibia
Focuses on applied science and technology; meeting some needs of Namibiaâs economy
Data: 4,066 students: 1,710 full-time
1,454 part-time
902 distance
On campus residents:335 (180 male, 153 female)Polytechnic Schools and Departments
School of Business and Management (67% of students)
School of Engineering & IT (16%)
Natural Resources and Tourism (11%)
Communication, Legal and Secretarial (6%)
Polytechnic Faculty and Staff
173 Academic
201 Administration and Support Staff
Presentations about e-learning, organizational change
Develop a pilot training program for blended e-learning
Train faculty, using Moodle (twice a day, two weeks)
Work closely with School of Engineering and Center for Teaching and Learning
Consult with faculty
Discuss e-learning with U.S. Cultural Center attacheâ, staff and U.S. Embassy officials
Consult with USAID re: teacher training technology proposal
Remain in continual communication with DM program and online class at UMUC
My ResponsibilitiesPolyheights ApartmentChallenges
Infrastructure Development
Bandwidth: to Internet (external 400 kbpsâ560 kbps) allocated for entire campus
2/3 lecturers and staff; 1/3 student labs
Internal bandwidth (Poly only) about 100 mbps
Restrict large student downloads and access to some sites
Off-campus dial-up access only; charge by the minuteChallenges, conât.
Lab Access
19 Labs assigned to departments: IT -11; Accounting -1; Engineering -4; Conservation & Agriculture -3
When labs are not in use for classes â locked (i.e. no student lab assistants)
New library has 6 labs with 55 computers connected;
hope to get 25 more computers
http://elearning.polytechnic.edu.na/My Challenges and Opportunities
Security âEngineering Office +late lab access
No internet connection in apartment
Bandwidth and slow speed â external web, 15-20 minutes to download
Substantial faculty interest and involvement
Student demand for technology integration and lab access is rising
Rector recognizes needAdditional Issues
AIDS
Insufficient public funding for tertiary education, non-scientific oriented funding formula
Need qualified faculty with doctorates, masterâs degrees
Permanent appointment only for Namibian citizens
Faculty on 1-5 year resident work permits
Local faculty market still newAdditional Issues conât.
Student qualifications in reading, writing, etc., needs substantial improvement
Secondary school graduates not adequately prepared for higher education
English often 2ndor 3rdlanguage; Afrikaans or tribal language firstEducational Costs
Tuition âlook for âbursariesâ
Travel to and from campus, taxi N12
Other: housing, materials, etc.TravelThank You
Fostering Interaction in the Online Environment_ Some Ideas for Instructors - DE Oracle
DE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Fostering Interaction in the Online Environment: Some Ideas for
Instructors
Claudine SchWeber
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Category: Âť Online-pedagogy Âť Classroom-communication
One of the challenges for the online instructor at the Graduate level is to foster interaction in such a
way that involvement is balanced with faculty direction. As we know from our traditional, face-to-face
classes, student involvement which can be applied to the work (or other) environment increases
understanding of the concepts and the likely retention of the materials. It also makes the class much,
much more interesting!
In the online environment, the lack of visual contact, the asynchronous nature of the communication,
and the need to use the technological tools requires conscious planning of activities which support the
learning process in this medium. Moreover, the technology should support--not dominate or distract
from--the learning process. Since this is sometimes difficult, the instructor must work at retaining
student interest and involvement in the subject matter, and in the unique contributions of each
student. At the Graduate School of Management & Technology we are fortunate that faculty and
students bring to the learning environment many years of professional experience. This wealth of
experience can expand exponentially when participants are located through the USA and the world.
Here are several suggestions for fostering involvement:
Group prjects: Class members are divided into groups, each of whom works on the same activity (to
see different interpretations) or different aspects of a task. Groups work in their private "study group"
area and then report back to the whole class, in the "public" area. Class members then comment,
question, assess each group's work. The instructor's role is to periodically raise questions about the
patterns or issues and then to summarize the main issues at the end of the time period for this
activity.
Case study analysis: A case is assigned to groups (as above) or to the class as individuals. After a
specified period of time, the respondents present their analyses to the entire class. The instructor
furthers the analysis by applying some of comments to the literature and asking additional questions.
Role play/simulation: Students are assigned varied roles which they "act out" in writing either in
small groups or in the class environment. The instructor intervenes at appropriate points to draw
conceptual and practical lessons from the interplay. Students are asked to apply the points to their
work situations.
Guest/expert visit: Specialists in an area covered in the course can "visit" for a specified period of
time, and work with the students on relevant topic(s). The challenge here, as in the face-to-face class,
is to give clear guidance to the guest so that s/he stays on target with the instructor's goals.
Student-led presentation/discussion: Student(s) are assigned a topic in which they must not
only present the ideas (via text or power point slides) but also must lead a discussion. To assure that
this is not just a lecture, the instructor will need to give guidance to the presenters and intervene with
questions, points to foster discussion.
Fostering Interaction in the Online Environment: Some Ideas for Instructors - DE Oracle
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Self-assessment applications: Students are assigned to take a self-assessment instrument (i.e,
Firo-B, Myers-Briggs, group effectiveness) and then asked to discuss the relevance of this assessment
to the work environment. (note: they should not be required to reveal their own scores, unless critical
to the learning process).
You will likely think of other ways to foster interaction among students in your course. For further
reference see Zane Berge's article "The Role of the Online Instructor/Facilitator
(http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/teach_online.html) " (May 27, l998) and Jay Alden, "A Trainer's Guide
to Web-Based Instruction" (Alexandria, Va: ASTD Press, l998).
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Elluminate Article: Revisiting Mega-Universities
The publisher of IRRODL, The Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research (CIDER), is pleased to link here to a series of eight online seminars that took place over Spring 2006, using Elluminate live e-learning and collaborative solutions. These interactive CIDER Sessions disseminate research emanating from Canada's vibrant DE research community, and we feel these archived recordings are highly relevant to many in the international distance education research community. To access these sessions, you must first download FREE software. Visit http://www.elluminate.com/support/ (Elluminate Support) for details on how to download this FREE software. * Revisiting Mega-Universities Gene Rubin and Claudine SchWeber University of Maryland University Colleg