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* • “…positive adaptation in any kind of dynamic system that comes under challenge or threat.” (Masten& Wright, 2009, p. 215) • “the capability to rebound from a disaster…and to return to normal functioning with little delay” (Chandra et al., 2010) • “capacity to cope with unanticipated dangers after they have become manifest…[learning to] bounce back” (Comfort, 1994, p. 158) • *Research conducted with Dr. M. Bouchard (2010) 2Continuity of operations (coop): “an institution’s ability to maintain or restore its business…when some circumstance threatens or disrupts normal operations“ 3Anticipation (preparation) Management during event (response) Resilience (recovery) Thriving or Hyper – resilience (better off) Crisis: Trigger Event Resilience Continuum 4Resilience perspectives : it‘s about survival and continuity • Anticipatory: “Identification of potential risks, proactive steps to [enable survival]”; • Crisis: “capability to rebound from disaster...and return to normal functioning” • Economic: “ability to reinvent business models and strategies as circumstances change” 5Examples of Disruptions (Disasters, emergencies, etc.) • Volcano ash clouds over Europe, Fall 2010 • Hurricane Katrina, August 2005 • Flooding in American south and Missouri, Spring 2011 • Japanese earthquake, March 2011 • UMUC—WebTychodownfor a week in Feb. 2007 6Today, we will also apply this to teaching & learning at UMUC 8Research Method • Modified “Evidence‐Based Research” (pioneered at Carnegie Mellon) • Literature search –57 sources: books or book chapters, scholarly articles, professional articles, dissertations, special reports/white papers. • Inclusion/exclusion criteria: 45 items remained • Analyzed resources—>3 major themes: a) anticipation‐preparation; b) leadership; c) communication ‐‐details on method at end of presentation, if desired 9What we learned—1: Primary Focus: Anticipation‐Preparation • Become a High Reliability Organization (HRO): develop a ‘preoccupation with [potential] failure’ • Develop a ‘culture of resilience’ • Responsibility of Senior Leadership: avoid ‘amnesia syndrome’; conduct resilience audits; delegate authority • Practice ‘bricolage’ • Hire staff with experience (‘strategic hires’) 10What we learned—2: • Identify and develop ‘back‐up’ systems: technology, other business locations, reserve fund. e.g. Xavier U and Hurricane Katrina—tech backup in California. • Delegate decision‐making throughout organization; able to make decisions in ‘unfamiliar contexts’ (e.g. 9/11 and Morgan Stanley) 11What we learned—3: Leadership, Communication • Need to be able to make decisions under pressure • Develop and test continuity plans • Communicate with various stakeholders (e.g, the public, students, colleagues)—early and often! • Plan for ‘reputation’ management with stakeholders, media. • Establish a communication management strategy, plan, resources and implementation, and review regularly** **UMUC—be 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 mid‐semester (as happened in upstate New York State in 2003). ******* What’s your planfor continuing or managing the remainder of the course? Question: 13Conclusions from this Research project Organization resilience requires: • Senior level attention—commitment to a culture of resilience • Avoidance of complacency plan ahead • Periodic internal communication and readiness to implement external communication plan • Identifying and critiquing lessons learned • …Practice, Practice, Practice 14Further Research • Indentify cases: business, higher ed, (government?) • Investigate whether there is a causal link between planning and resilience; between planning and doing better (hyper resilience) • Leadership: what would case analyses reveal about decisions by leaders and adaptabilityandsurvival? • Compare scholar and practitioner perspectives • Investigate risk‐benefit impact on resilience planning: probabilityconsequence(e.g., Ford Pinto case) • Investigate higher education plans, actions, results. 15Claudine [email protected] 16More--Research Methods: details 1 • Systematic review to “identify, acquire, extract and synthesize existing research studies” (Leseureet al, 2004, p. 14) • 57initial Sources = 9 books/chapters; 34 scholarly articles; 10 professional articles; 2 dissertations; 2 white papers • 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: • Assessment criteria:e.g., argument/ point made? Quality of the evidence, generalizability, contributions to theory,practice • Scoring: evaluation of each resource per assessment criteria, scale of 1‐3 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 –30, 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 Namibia’s 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 attache’, 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 kbps–560 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, con’t. Lab Access 19 Labs assigned to departments: IT -11; Accounting -1; Engineering -4; Conservation & Agriculture -3 When labs are not in use for classes → 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 →Engineering Office +late lab access No internet connection in apartment Bandwidth and slow speed → 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, master’s degrees Permanent appointment only for Namibian citizens Faculty on 1-5 year resident work permits Local faculty market still newAdditional Issues con’t. 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 –look for “bursaries” 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: » Online-pedagogy » 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 Contact Site Manager Created and Maintained by the Center for Support of Instruction © University of Maryland University College Powered by ArticleMS from ArticleTrader.com 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). Rating: Not yet rated Comments No comments posted. You must be logged in and be a member of the UMUC community in order to comment. If you are a member of the UMUC community and do not have an account, please register for a FREE one. If you have a guest account but are Faculty/Staff of UMUC please send an email to the DE Oracle Site Manager (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Please Update my DE Oracle Guest Account) so that your guest account can be updated. Fostering Interaction in the Online Environment: Some Ideas for Instructors - DE Oracl

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