Fall, 1996
HETI/EDNET Distance Learning Project
Report of the USU Board of Trustees
Educational Technology Master of Education Degree (M.Ed.)
Project Origin:
Don Smellie submitted a proposal to the State of Utah’s Higher Education
Technology Initiative. This was in part a response to the ETI funds sent to obtain
a lot of computer hardware for the schools without a provision for teachers to be
prepared on how or when to integrate the technologies into the curriculum.
The project was accepted April 25, 1995.
Purpose:
To give educators knowledge and skills to implement technology effectively in
the classroom.
Design, develop, and deliver and 18-course Educational Technology Master’s
degree program on the EDNET system over the next three years.
Organization and Participants:
July 26, 1995 the project was officially started with Dr. Andy Gibbons as the
project facilitator and Rick Cline as his assistant.
Dr. Charles Stoddard is in charge of the extension related contacts, including
promotion and management of the degree program as it goes out to the state.
Each course under development has a faculty member and a graduate
assistant.
Historical Context:
The Educational Technology Curriculum started about 12 years ago but has
only been available on campus and on the “Weekend” program.
Early Planning for the Project:
July 26, 1995. The project was kicked off at a faculty meeting with a briefing
by Don Smellie, Andy Gibbons, and Rick Cline.
Research on Distance Learning was reviewed and the number of students
and number of sites reflect the findings. Training of the faculty who will teach
on the system is based on current research from the literature in distance
education.
UEA Conference. We began advertising the program with a brochure which
was also distributed to all USU Extension Centers.
October 9,16, and 23, 1995. Three EDNET Conferences were held at sites all
over the state to inform educators about the degree and to do a Needs
Analysis. (Target population, current training, resources). This was followed
by a paper-based survey filled out by teachers and administrators to identify
the tasks that they feel they are currently doing. A telephone survey was also
conducted to identify other needs and tasks. UEN provided us with
information on the EDNET sites related to facilities and equipment.
Fall Quarter 1995. Dr. Gibbons taught a Current Issues Seminar on Cognitive
Apprenticeship and Distance Learning to interest on campus graduate
students in being TA’s for the development of the courses. Dan Robertson, a
graduate student, developed a guide for using Cognitive Apprenticeship
theories in developing the instruction for the program.
March 21, 1996 the Web Site was officially created for the ET program.
April 15 and May 13, 1996. Information meetings on the EDNET System were
held attracting educators from all over the state.
Presentations were made at the state professional organizations in March
informing educators of the program.
August, 1996. A pilot-test was conducted with Don Smellie (Ins.T. 636) and
Nathan Smith (Ins.T. 623) at USU’s EDNET site.
September, 1996. An orientation meeting was held on EDNET with the
students who had been accepted into the graduate program.
October 2, 1996. Classes started.
Progress and Status:
On Wednesday evening, October 2, at 5:30 and 8:15 pm Dr. Smellie/Dr.
Wood and Nathan Smith started teaching the first two courses. These are
only two of 18 courses being taught at 10 EDNET sites located at Logan,
Ogden, Salt Lake City, Orem, Roosevelt, Ephriam, Richfield, Price, Cedar
City, and Blanding.
Ins.T. 636—Dr. Don Smellie/Dr. Kent Wood, and TA Bill Egelund
Ins.T. 623—Nathan Smith, TA Anna Hairapetian
Current Development:
Five courses are currently under development for delivery at a distance.
These include:
Ins.T. 615—Dr. Linda Wolcott, TA’s Carol Rosenthal, and Marga Pertersen
Ins.T. 601—Dr. Andrew Gibbons, TA Rick Cline
Ins.T. 633—Dr. Andrew Gibbons, TA Rick Cline
Ins.T. 616—Nathan Smith, TA Anna Hairapetian
Sec.Ed. 619—Dr. Richard Knight, TA Katie Lee
Future Development:
Eleven more courses still need to be developed for the program as part of the
second and third year offering.
Other Related Projects and Requirements:
A web site was created by Shane Reed, our webmaster, which provides an
on-line syllabus for both courses, a student and faculty e-mail directory, and a
bulletin board for students to discuss issues with each other.
On-going evaluations will occur for each course during and at the end of each
course.
All students and faculty are connected on the Web.
There are 78 matriculated graduate students participating in the program.
All students were accepted into the School of Graduate Studies before the
program started.
Their average GPA is 3.48 and the average score on the MAT is at the 67.92
percentile nationally.
Presented by:
Dr. Don C. Smellie, Head
Department of Instructional Technology
and
Dr. Izar Martinez, Dean
College of Education