CCFIT > Discussion Topics > Educational Technology

Educational Technology

Course Management Tools

• IET-Mediaworks, under the direction of Liz Gibson, provides support to faculty in the area of educational technology. Responsibility for course management tools was recently transferred from the MyUCDavis portal team and added to Mediaworks' portfolio (i.e., in terms of the design of those tools, as well as their development, maintenance, and support). Gibson explained that a new three-tier support model is now in place that involves IT Express Help Desk consultants, Teaching Resources Center support staff, and Mediaworks programmers.
• Training is available, through the Arbor, the Meet the Experts presentation series, and the Teaching Resources Center (TRC), for instructors interested in learning more about course management and other educational technology tools.
• TRC's focus has long been on helping improve the quality of instruction at UC Davis, including through direct interactions with TAs, faculty, staff and students. Ellen Sutter, TRC Director, noted that TRC was the main source of assistance for course management tools until the new support model was implemented. TRC's primary focus has shifted to offering more training and classes related to course management tools, and assisting instructors with the 'mechanics' of the tools (e.g., best way to set up a gradebook to meet the specific needs of the instructor).
• Tor Cross, from the Teaching Resources Center, provided statistics as well as a demo of several course management tools, including Website Builder, GradeBook, and QuizBuilder (see PowerPoint slides).

Some members expressed concern that some tools are not working as effectively as they need to (e.g., problems with the functionality and performance of the Web-based email program). There was some discussion regarding the extent to which the current tools should undergo further development to remedy those problems before a plan is developed for the next generation of course management tools. There was also some discussion of whether class materials should be made more publicly accessible. Ellen Sutter cited copyright concerns, and Tor Cross pointed out the existence of a public list of UC Davis classes (see http://classes.ucdavis.edu). Wes Wallender expressed concern about the workload issues associated with learning and administering these new tools for many faculty.

Caroline Bledsoe thanked members for their contributions to this discussion and asked for help developing the membership and charge for the CCFIT working group on course management. Send suggestions to Caroline Bledsoe at csbledsoe@ucdavis.edu.

12/13/04:Caroline Bledsoe provided an overview of the Sakai Conference she attended, along with other UC Davis and CCFIT representatives, earlier this month (see her Winter 2004 Sakai Project Conference on Course Management Systems Report).

She noted that the Sakai Project is a $6.8M program founded by a handful of universities (including Michigan, Indiana, MIT, Stanford, uPortal Consortium) to develop open source collaboration and learning environment (CLE) software that can be accessed, customized, and enhanced by any participating institution. ("Sakai" is the Japanese word for "chef"; the Sakai project is using the University of Michigan's course management tool software, named 'CHEF', a take-off on the TV show The Iron Chef.) UC Davis, through IET's Mediaworks department, is a member of Sakai's Educational Partners Program. Bledsoe then shared highlights from the conference, noting the transition from "course management systems" (emphasizing student-based interactive tools) to "collaborative learning environments" (emphasizing principles of learning and learning assessments). She also noted the shift from the 'e-decade' of the 1990s (email, e-learning, e-portfolios, etc.) to the current 'o-decade' (open source, online activities, online access). Bledsoe attended exciting demos of new software, such as a tool to teach "Concepts" (see some of those demos on the conference Web site at http://www.sakaiproject.org/conferenceDec_04/).

Peter Yellowlees, who also attended the conference, noted that Sakai provides the best alternative for course management tools in terms of the breadth and quality of the institutions participating in this effort. He indicated that the School of Medicine intends to move forward with the use of Sakai tools (e.g., to organize course materials, deliver content, assess and grade, and communicate among students and with instructors). IET, the School of Medicine, and the School of Veterinary Medicine are joining forces to develop/adapt those tools for campus use. They intend to launch a pilot by the end of January 2005 and offer a few courses by next Fall. Dave Shelby, who also attended the conference, added that IET is working very closely with both the Schools and Sakai institutions to provide the technical infrastructure (e.g., LDAP directory, access protocols, etc.) needed to support the adoption and use of those tools on our campus. He suggested that CCFIT could play an important role in assessing whether Sakai will be a good fit for the campus from a functional standpoint. The group could also outline issues and recommendations for helping faculty make the transition to this new way of thinking and learning.

Caroline Bledsoe is forming a working group to delve into these issues, and Ann Orel agreed to chair the group.

02/14/05: A working group has been set up to evaluate course management tools, including evaluation of the course management tools in MyUCDavis (with particular attention to Quizbuilder). Members of the group: Ann Orel, Chair; Wes Wallender, Tor Cross, Dave Shelby, Noreen Chan, Mark Stinson, and Kelly Crabtree. Caroline will also extend an invitation to join the group to Sandy Vella at the library.

03/14/05: Ann Orel, Chair of the CCFIT Working Group on Course Management Tools, reported that the group held its first meeting on March 8th. The group has agreed to meet weekly in April and May. They have been charged by Chair Bledsoe to study options and develop recommendations to guide the selection and development of the next generation of course management tools for campus use. The group is expected to submit their recommendations to the Vice Provost-IET by June 1st (see charge letter). CCFIT will discuss the group's report and recommendations at the June 13th meeting.

Following discussion with Council members, two additions will be made to the working group's membership: a representative from University Extension (to be identified by Dean Pendleton), and Professor Dick Walters, Computer Science.

Faculty Needs Assessment Survey

10/11/04: Andy Jones provided an update on the survey being developed by the Education Subcommittee. The survey's primary goal will be to identify instructors' use of educational technology and to determine their current and future needs in that area. Jones indicated that this survey is a follow-up to the faculty needs assessment conducted by the Learning Environment Architecture Development (LEAD) Project Team in the late 1990s. The new survey will be short and Web-based. Council members agreed that the note inviting faculty to participate in this survey should be co-signed by the chairs of the Academic Senate and Academic Federation. There was some discussion about the return rate expected from such a survey and what incentives might be available. Jones encouraged members to submit suggestions for possible incentives directly to him.

03/14/05: Andy Jones, Chair of CCFIT's Educational Technology Subcommittee, provided an update on the project to survey UC Davis instructors on their use of technology. Jones reminded the group of the purpose of the survey as well as the proposed timeline and publicity plans (see Faculty Survey Summary) before soliciting feedback on the draft memo announcing the availability of the survey. Council members provided the following suggestions:

• Clarify the language describing the types of awards offered by IET-Mediaworks and how they will be allocated;
• Consider including in the list of recipients graduate instructors, in addition to members of the Academic Federation and Senate;
• Consider eliminating the reference to the LEAD acronym (was deemed unnecessary; if used, spell out what it stands for);
• Keep the announcement short and to the point (to maximize chances that faculty will even read it).

Next steps include making the suggested changes, checking with the Chairs of the Academic Federation and Senate, finalizing the Web-based survey, and releasing the announcement both electronically and via campus mail.

04/11/05: Andy Jones, Chair of the Educational Technology Subcommittee, reported that the survey to assess UC Davis instructors' information technology needs is ready, and the memo announcing its availability will be distributed as soon as the second signature has been obtained. The Chairs of the Academic Senate and Academic Federation have agreed to issue the memo under their signatures. The deadline for filling out the survey is May 6th.

Electronic Grade Submission

02/14/05: Overall it was highly successful (see Fall 2004 Online Grade Submission). More grades were submitted within 72 hours after the final exams than ever before. The process was accurate, more efficient and cost less money (see the electronic grade submission Web site at http://classes.ucdavis.edu/grading).

Online Course Evaluations

12/13/04: On the topic of online course evaluations, Caroline Bledsoe suggested engaging the Academic Senate in a discussion of whether and how such evaluations could/should be conducted. She will ask Jim Chalfant, CCFIT liaison with the Academic Senate, to follow up on this issue. She thanked Julia Silvis for her report.

04/11/05: Jan Ilkiw, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs, presented an overview and demo of the online course evaluation system in use at the School of Veterinary Medicine for the last few years (see PowerPoint presentation). The system provides students with an anonymous way of evaluating both courses and instructors. In addition, the system includes an information management component that allows instructors and administrators to track the status of the evaluations. To encourage student participation, three email notifications are sent each quarter. In addition, Dr. Ilkiw meets regularly with students to explain the importance of these evaluations and to inform them of the various ways in which the feedback is used. Dr. Ilkiw reported a 97% rate of completion across all three years of the program. Next steps for the School of Veterinary Medicine include the development of standard-based data interchange formats, encouraging collaborative data interchange between existing academic and administrative systems across campus (such as the Faculty Merit and Promotion System that uses the "MyInfoVault" software), and developing an interface for the evaluation of courses based on the Sakai open source course management initiative (see http://www.sakaiproject.org).

Council members reported a range of reactions to online course evaluations across campus. The Academic Senate has expressed concern and the College of Engineering saw only a 35% response rate, while the UC Davis Medical Center reports having offered non-anonymous online course evaluations for years now, with a good acceptance rate both by faculty and students, and by staff who seem to appreciate the reduced administrative workload (no duplicate data entries). Chair Bledsoe reported that the TRC (Teaching Resources Center) has a tremendous workload at the end of each quarter as they process thousands of Scantron forms from the course evaluations. TRC would welcome an online system. Bledsoe also noted that typing of individual comments from the evaluations is a huge workload for staff in most academic departments.

Online Course Approval System

Student E-Portfolios

04/11/05: Michael Wilkes, Vice Dean for Medical Education at the UC Davis Medical Center, provided some background information on the decision to develop and implement e-portfolios for UC Davis medical students. He noted that this initiative was triggered in large part by the need to provide life-long learning opportunities for medical students and doctors as well as a tool to assess their competencies and manage their learning over time. Intended outcomes include promoting reflective learning with respect to development of skills and competencies, and encouraging students to own the process of development of skills and competencies. The UCDMC student e-portfolios went live in January 2005. They are the result of a collaborative partnership with the University of Newcastle (U.K.) where e-portfolios have been used by a large number of faculty and students for several years.

Dan Cotton, UCDMC's Information Services Support Group, gave an overview of the e-portfolios' features and modules (see presentation). Modules include a resume builder, a learning diary, a journal review tool, a 'virtual office' advisor meeting log (to facilitate interactions between students and advisors), as well as course management tools based on Sakai modules.

The graduate student representatives commented on the potential applicability of the resume builder module to many students across the campus. This tool enables students to build their resumes in installments over the years. One current limitation involves the termination of email accounts after graduation, which needs to be addressed so students can continue to access their files after they leave. Dave Shelby noted that the recent decision to produce ID cards for staff and faculty has led IET, University Relations, and other campus units to consider providing UC Davis affiliates with limited computing accounts through which they can log on to secure pages. Such an approach could be used to grant access to the students' e-portfolios post graduation.

Andy Jones commented on the merits of journal writing, noting that such writing has been shown to help students connect clear thinking with clear writing. He suggested a meeting with representatives from the Campus Writing Center for further discussion.