Fall 2000 - Volume 2, Issue 1

Building on the ten-course library created last year, the Virtual Learning Community has selected fifty courses to produce in 2000-2001. The fifty titles include all of the courses necessary for Associates degrees in Business Administration and Information Systems. After this year, every college in our system will have curriculum to offer these degrees entirely online.

Last year’s experience and resulting improvements in development techniques are key to this year’s aggressive development schedule. These improvements include:

At first glance, online testing seems problematic. How can cheating be prevented? How do you stop students from using books and other materials to answer questions? Online instructors around the North Carolina Community College System have answers. Here are eleven ideas to make online assessment work:

Traditional approaches to testing don’t work well online. A new mindset is needed. That’s not bad; most education experts agree that rote memory testing is not the best measure of learning in any environment.

In online courses, treat every test as if it were "open book." Use questions that challenge students even if they use resources when forming their answers. This practice is more like our real life tests anyway.

Treat online testing as a means, not an end. Assessments should not only measure learning, but serve as part of the learning process.

Students are less prone to cheating if they understand what to expect on tests. Ensure that they are appropriately prepared.

Post the question formats, test length, and time limitations well in advance. Post study guides that students can use to prepare. In addition, announce rules for the test, especially limitations on the resources students can use. Finally, post your college honor code so that students are aware of the implications of cheating.

The most important way to overcome online cheating (and realistically assess student under-standing) is to use application level questions. Essays, case studies, and other complex question types can be challenging to answer even if you are looking at the book.

There is room for some rote memory questions in online courses. These questions confirm student understanding and establish common con-text for learning. Instructors can use memory questions to gauge the pace of the course and identify students who are lost.

There are many kinds of online testing software. These packages produce consistent test format-ting and grade most questions. Use administration features in these programs to enhance the practice of online testing.

For instance, Blackboard CourseInfo has mechanisms to not only grade tests, but also provide feedback so students can learn from the questions they miss. For this to work, test writers must include quality feedback and turn on the appropriate options. Other common options include timers, the choice to allow one try or multiple tries at the test, and password protection.

One simple but important rule for test security is to make different forms of the test available. Alter question order or write tests with slightly different questions. Once a test is online, it only takes a minute to create alternate forms with cut and paste features.

In CourseInfo, build question pools. When constructing tests from pools, you can randomize sequence or pull a different set of questions (but the same number of questions) from the pool for each student. Once a question is in a pool, it can also be pulled onto other tests in the course.

A great deal of written communication passes between online students and the instructor. Pay attention to the writing style of students and save samples. Online instructors report that with a little awareness, it is easy to recognize work that is not the student’s own.

Require some personal opinions from students in answers. Ask students to provide examples from their own lives. These kinds of personal de-tails are difficult to fake.

Limiting the amount of time for which students can access a test makes any form of cheating difficult to implement. Don’t be too restrictive, but don’t give students forever either. In CourseInfo, do not make the test available until the day you want students to begin taking it.

Some colleges use local proctoring. When a test is given, students must either visit the college or find a local proctor to monitor their test. For instance, the fire prevention program at Coastal Carolina CC uses firehouses around the state to monitor the tests of online students.

This approach works if you have willing proctors and time to mail tests to them, but can also create problems. Many students take online classes because they cannot physically attend a course at specified times. Requiring them to test at a particular location precludes the very reason they signed up for the course. So please, use this approach with care.

The initial release of version 5 had significant bugs. Colleges that tried immediate upgrades experienced problems. The most important factor in deciding to upgrade is whether student coursework could be disrupted. Changes between versions 4 and 5 of CourseInfo are not so large that this disruption is worth risking. Pick a time to upgrade when significant work in online courses will not take place for three or four days.

First, you could try starting from the Online Course Template built for the Virtual Learning Community. In the template, much of the course site is already filled. Instructors can focus on the course content. The template includes directions about how to complete course design.

In their first attempt, many instructors find that it takes more time to teach a course online than it took to teach the same course in the classroom. This isn’t surprising—when they first taught the course face-to-face they also spent more time than they did on later attempts. How can online instructors minimize time and maximize results?

When one student has a question, others will ask it later. Post the answer in appropriate places on the course site and email the answer to all of the students at once. When a student asks a question that is answered by the course site (or could be found on another Internet site), instead of retyping the answer, send them the link to the site with the answer. Over time, this teaches students to use course references to locate their own solutions.

Every course has students who have skill with technology or experience with the course cotent. Offer these students extra credit or another reward in exchange for helping their classmates. Student discussion forums can also be very useful as a place for students to blow off steam, confirm their understanding, and build relationships with others. If they communicate with each other, they will send less email to the instructor.

Try the buddy system in online courses. Assign partners at the start and then require students to ask their partner for help before coming to the instructor. Many students are more comfortable asking questions of other students anyway. In checking with a partner, they may get the answer, but at minimum will confirm that their question needs to go to the instructor.

Many students learn socially and need contact with others to enjoy a class and succeed. Small group assignments facilitate this. Group projects actually work better online because the instructor can monitor (through email carbon copies or discussion forum viewing) group interaction. This enables them to confirm that workload is distributed fairly. An important side benefit is that groups of students produce fewer assignments to grade than individuals working alone.

Most instructors report that it is difficult to handle more than twenty to twenty-five students in an online course. In the classroom, one student asks a question and the others hear the answer. In an online course, everyone must interact individually with the instructor. Help administrators understand this issue so that they can provide adequate support through enrollment caps. In your first semester online, consider even smaller enrollments.

There are thousands of resources online that students can use for technical help, research and reference, background reading, or supplements for topics of special interest. People who are willing to help can be accessed by email. Collect lists of resources and save them. Send them to the class in email messages. Post them with assignments. Good resources serve as an instructor substitute, saving critical time.

Create patterns in the course content, kinds of assignments given, deadlines for assignments, and course communication practices. Online students who find a rhythm know what to expect next, and as a result become more secure. This security, in turn, reduces the number of questions and facilitates faster progress. Create patterns for yourself as well. Read email at certain times of day. Provide a consistent style of response. Patterns of organization will help the course progress smoothly for everyone.

Learning opportunities are available around the system for instructors who want to know more about online learning.

"Principles and Techniques of Online Instruction," a semester length online course covering a wide range of online instruction topics is in development with the Virtual Learning Community. Opportunities to take this course will be announced in the near future.

If your college offers courses in online teaching and learning practice, please submit them for advertisement in future issues.