Innovation in
Learning Center
and USAonline
2013-2014
Annual Report
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
MOBILE, AL
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 1
2 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Innovation in Learning Center
and USAonline
2013-2014
ANNUAL REPORT
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 3
4 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
TABLE
of CONTENTS
8
01 | ACADEMIC QUALITY
02 | ONLINE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
04 | STUDENT LEARNING & RESOURCES
05 | GRADUATE STUDENTS
06 | QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE
07 | ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
08 | INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
09 | STAFF & FACILITIES
35
10
14
29
37
26
31
43
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 5
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Annual Report for the Innovation
in Learning Center (ILC) and USAonline!
Formed in 2011 from four campus departments, the ILC/USAonline is one organization
with two primary entities under the Division of Academic Affairs.
USAonline
USAonline is the University’s virtual campus
and provides the technology infrastructure
necessary for effective teaching, learning, and
research collaboration at a modern institution of higher education.
ILC
The ILC is the University’s teaching and learning
center. The chief undertakings of the ILC are
faculty development, course development support,
and improving pedagogy and innovative learning
opportunities throughout the University.
Both full-time staff and graduate assistants have somewhat overlapping responsibilities
and often work together on a variety of projects and University initiatives. We have many
different initiatives at our Center. Some of these are combined, such as the integration of
new learning tools within USAonline and the training and support necessary for faculty
to use those tools. Others, like the ILC’s new Course Development Program, are limited
to one part of our organization.
6 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Innovation in Learning Center and USAonline is to improve the quality of learning at USA by
promoting a culture of innovation where faculty, staff, and students participate collaboratively in creative teaching,
learning, and professional experiences.
To achieve this mission, ILC/USAonline concentrates on the following outcomes:
Academic Quality
Maintain quality of instruction modality
Academic Integrity
Maintain academic integrity of distance
education courses and programs
Faculty Resources
Provide faculty resources and expertise to
effectively use technology in the learning
environment
Online Program
Development
Develop and enhance the appeal and quality
of new and existing USAonline academic
programs
Quality
Infrastructure
Provide quality infrastructure to support the
delivery of online education
Student Learning
Improve student learning through
technology
Student Resources
Provide students enrolled in online and
blended courses and programs access to
campus resources
Institutional Support
Provide institutional support for distance
education
Graduate Student
Development
Develop instructional design and technology
skills of IDD graduate assistants
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 7
01 | ACADEMIC QUALITY
01
R
esearch indicates that quality instruction is one of the most influential
factors in students’ academic achievement. The Innovation in Learning
Center is committed to assisting faculty in providing quality instruction
through a variety of tools, initiatives, and development opportunities across
all courses, whether online, blended, or in the traditional classroom.
8 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Quality Matters
Sakai Certification
One of the ways that the ILC and
USAonline are supporting academic
quality at USA is through the use of
the Quality Matters rubric and peer
review process for assuring the quality
of online courses. Quality Matters
(QM) is an internationally recognized
program which provides quality
standards for online course design. The
Innovation in Learning Center offers
QM certification workshops to faculty
and staff at the University and supports
official and University-Level course
reviews.
When the University began its
transition over to the USAonline/Sakai
learning management system in 2011,
one of the ILC’s primary functions was
to make sure that USA faculty were
proficient in the use of the new LMS.
In order to facilitate faculty proficiency
with the new LMS, the ILC developed
a four-part certification course called
Sakai 101 that covered the basic
functions of the system. There is also
an online version of Sakai 101. All fulltime faculty must be certified in all four
parts. Part-time faculty teaching online
or blended courses must also be certified
in all four parts. Part-time faculty who
teach only traditional classroom courses
are only required to take Part 1. As of
June 2014, 689 current full- and parttime faculty have been fully certified
in Sakai 101, and 126 more have been
certified in at least one part.
A total of 689 current
faculty have been fully
certified in Sakai 101,
while 126 more have been
partially certified.
ACADEMIC QUALITY | 01
iRubric
Rubrics are becoming increasingly popular in higher education because they
communicate clear expectations for assignments to students. USAonline has
a new tool called iRubric, which integrates with the USAonline Gradebook.
It allows instructors to assess learning
outcomes via the use of a rubric. Rubrics
are available by grade level, subject,
and type. Instructors may choose from
384,000 rubrics in the iRubric public
gallery and 686 rubrics already created
by the USA community. Additionally,
instructors may build their own custom
rubric and add it to the University gallery of rubrics.
programs. So far, iRubric has undergone a soft roll out, whereby faculty that
expressed initial interest last year were
notified of its availability. Campuswide announcements will be sent out
early 2015.
The iRubric public gallery
offers 384,000 rubrics to
choose from. The USA
community has already
created 686 rubrics.
More importantly, perhaps, iRubric
will allow academic programs to assess
learning outcomes beyond individual
assignments or even individual courses
by enabling assessment across entire
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 9
02 | ONLINE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
02
O
ne of the new initiatives undertaken by the Innovation in Learning Center
and USAonline in 2013-2014 is online and blended course development.
We are now partnering more with faculty to improve the quality of their courses
by directly assisting in the design and development of course materials.
10 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Communication Instructor, Megan Sparks,
(left) and the ILC’s Melissa Ferrell discuss
CA 110 course redesign
ONLINE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT | 02
Megan Sparks, working on the CA 110 course
redesign at ILC offices
Course Redesign
In 2013-2014, an ILC team worked
with course coordinator April Dupree
Taylor and other Communication
Department faculty on a large-scale
course-redesign project for CA 110
(Public Speaking). The CA 110 course
is a blended course where all lecture
materials are delivered online and students come to campus to participate
in orientation and icebreaker activities
and to deliver their speeches.
Megan Sparks, a Senior Instructor in
the Department of Communication,
and other Communication faculty
worked with ILC staff to make the
course more interactive and engaging. The course made its debut in the
Summer 2014 semester.
Full-time faculty in the Department of
Communication expressed a desire to
replace the publisher-created materials
The redesign of CA 110
featured the creation of
interactive multimedia
presentations and
several instructional
videos.
in the course with something they could
fully customize to meet their needs. The
redesign process included the creation
of interactive multimedia presentations
and several videos to deliver course content. The redesigned course includes
non-graded games that review course
materials. In addition to the videos
created by the ILC, the communication
faculty members were encouraged to
create their own video introductions to
help increase the instructor presence in
the course.
The redesign process also involved
making the course more organized
and navigable. For example, a Course
Information section was created as
a “course home” for students to find
important information about policies,
procedures, deadlines, and frequently
asked questions. This has already led
to a sizable decrease in the volume of
e-mails instructors receive related to
course management, enabling them to
focus on teaching and grading.
After going through
an extensive instructional design and
quality control phase
within the ILC,
the CA 110 course
was awarded official
Quality
Matters
certification. It is now being used for
all blended sections of the course.
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 11
02 | ONLINE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Media Production
The ILC provides a wide range of video
production services to help faculty
improve the quality of instructional videos
in their online and blended courses. Our
instructional video specialist, Dave Walker,
brings 25 years of video production
experience to USA, and the results have
been quite impressive.
Our video production services include
3 levels of production, ranging from
helping instructors find existing videos
to full-service video production.
Levels of video production:
In the spring and summer of 2014,
the ILC helped several faculty create
over 20 videos. The course that got the
most attention was CA 110, which was
the ILC’s first major in-house course
redesign project. Working with Megan
Sparks and other Communication
faculty, the ILC produced five Level 3
videos and four Level 2 videos. We also
researched and located several existing
videos to use in the course. In addition,
the ILC worked with Dr. Jenny Manders
to produce several Level 2 videos for her
AIS 301 and IST 302 courses and helped
Dr. Phil Carr edit a number of videos for
AN 101.
Level 1: Simple Video Production
Videotape an event or presentation for a
course. This is usually characterized by
a single camera shoot with only a few
simple edits.
Level 2: Moderate Video Production
Videotape and produce a program from
an interview or simple presentation. A
moderate amount of graphics, editing,
and music is usually involved.
Level 3: Full-Service Video Production
This involves extensive planning, research,
and script writing. Production often takes
place in multiple locations with a team
of production personnel. It is usually
heavily edited, and can contain extensive
graphics, music, and professional talent.
Example of ILC video production
12 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Dave Walker, the ILC’s
instructional video
specialist frames a shot
(right)
Faculty Consultations
Members of the ILC staff are on call to help
faculty members with any questions about
pedagogy, online teaching, or educational
media software programs.Faculty members
may call the ILC for help, drop in the office,
or request one-on-one assistance in their
own offices.
ILC/USAonline staff conducted more
than 40 one-on-one in-person help sessions
with faculty, either on a walk-in basis or by
appointment in their offices. Assistance
was provided to faculty members from all
across campus on topics ranging from new
features in USAonline, video production,
WordPress, video conferencing, and others.
Graduate Assistant, Dan Guo, assisting a faculty member (top)
Gratuate Assistant, Willette Brye, assisting G. Tashbin (bottom)
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 13
03
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
s the University’s “teaching and learning” center, the Innovation in
Learning Center considers faculty development a critical function.
The ILC offers workshops and other events on various aspects of pedagogy
throughout the academic year. The ILC also develops a wealth of training
resources on the use of various technologies and teaching issues. During
the 2013-2014 academic year, the ILC offered 108 events and had approximately 1900 attendees.
The ILC offered 108 events
with approximately 1900
attendees in 2013-2014.
14 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Faculty Development Day
The ILC’s Faculty Development Day is a daylong series of one-hour teaching workshops
that is offered the week before Fall and Spring
semesters. The workshops are led by a variety
of faculty from across campus and address issues
that concern or benefit all faculty. August 2013
Faculty Development Day sessions had a total of
192 attendees, while the January 2014 sessions
had 158.
The August 2013 Faculty Development
Day had a total of 192 attendees.
January 2014’s event had 158.
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 15
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
The following presentations were offered during Faculty
Development Day events in 2013-2014:
New Faculty Issues: Jim Connors
(Geology/Research), Brenda
Litchfield (Instructional Design),
Dawn McKinney (Computing)
Writing Across the Curriculum:
Frank Ard (Writing Center), Glen
Borchert (Biology), Chris Freed
(Sociology)
Communicating with Today’s
College Students: Michael Mitchell
(Student Affairs), Elisa Kennedy
(Physical Therapy), Heather Stanley
(Communication)
First Day Activities: Nicole Carr
(Sociology/Student Success), Phil
Carr (Anthropology)
Writing and Assessing Learning
Objectives: Cecelia Martin
(Institutional Assessment/Sociology),
Jack Dempsey (ILC/Instructional
Design), Jason Smith (ILC)
Teaching with i>clicker: Chondra
Freeman (Nursing), Smoot Major
(Biology), Rob Gray (ILC/English)
16 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Collaboration Across Course
Modalities: Brenda Litchfield
(Instructional Design)
Instructional Scaffolding for
Student Success: Nicole Carr
(Sociology/Student Success), Anne
Boettcher (Biology/Undergraduate
Research)
Beyond Course Design: Cecelia
Martin (Institutional Assessment/
Sociology), Jack Dempsey (ILC/
Instructional Design)
Protecting Our Students from
Going “Academically Adrift”: Julie
Estis (Speech Pathology), Phil Carr
(Anthropology)
Backward Design: Ron Styron
(QEP), Mimi Fearn (Earth Sciences)
Instructional Videos Made Easy:
Rob Gray (ILC/English), Dave
Walker (ILC)
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES | 03
Technology Training & Resources
The Innovation in Learning Center offers technology workshops
to faculty and staff to assist with integrating technology into
their teaching. In 2013-2014 the Innovation in Learning Center
offered twelve different technology workshops: i>clicker; Making
Instructional Videos with Camtasia Studio; Making Instructional
Videos with Camtasia Relay; Making your Online Course
Accessible; Sakai 201; Wordpress; Turnitin, Grademark, Peermark;
Emerging Technology; Editing Images Using Pixlr; Using Study
Mate; Adobe Captivate 7; Using Lessons Builder. Thirty-one
total technology workshops were presented and eighty-five faculty
participated.
In 2013-2014, the ILC offered
31 technology workshops, and
eighty-five faculty participated.
ILC staff conducting
a variety of technology
workshops
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 17
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
Dr. Rob Gray leading a
workshop on Increasing
Interaction with Online
Content (left)
Dr. Brenda Litchfield
leading a workshop
(below)
Dr. Ron Styron, leading a
Quality Enhancement Plan
workshop
Instructional Workshops & Seminars
Instructional workshops focus on pedagogical practices and Flipping your Classroom with Team-Based Learning; Advising
techniques that University faculty can integrate into their Essentials for Faculty; Assessment as Learning in the Online
classrooms. These workshops are facilitated by experienced Classroom; Interdisciplinary Teaching; Reciprocal Questioning
faculty who share their experience
to Increase Understanding;
and expertise with their peers.
Innovative
Approaches
to
517 participants
In all, 517 participants attended
PowerPoint; Helping Students
instructional workshops during attended instructional workshops Survive Lectures; International
during 2013-2014.
2013-2014. Topics of the workshops
Education; Designing Effective
included the following: Creative
Instruction;
Designing
Controversy; Beyond Video Lectures; Deepening Dialogue Application Activities; In-class and Online Strategies Hybrid;
and Reflection in Online Discussions; Embedding Librarians Wikis, Blogs, and Clogs; Teaching with Camtasia; Identifying
in Course Sites; Increasing Interaction with Online Content; Learning Styles; Test Item Creation and Analysis; The Basics of
Widening Student Perspectives with Wikis, Blogs, and Clogs; Memory and Its Effects on Learning; and Improving Student
Writing Objectives that Align with Learning Outcomes; Learning with TBL.
18 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES | 03
USAonline/Sakai
Training & Resources
Mary McCall leading Sakai 101 training
The ILC offered 16 face-to-face Sakai
101 workshops to a total of 124 faculty
participants in 2013-2014, while 75
faculty members completed Sakai
training online and 7 opted for the doit-yourself route.
The Innovation in Learning Center offers
training to University faculty, staff, and
graduate assistants on the University’s
Learning Management System, Sakai.
The ILC’s basic introduction to the
LMS is called Sakai 101. Sakai 101 is
a four-part, competency-based training
program that is offered in both oncampus workshops and online training
modules. Faculty can also provide
evidence of the required competencies
without formal training through a do-ityourself course review with an ILC staff
member.
The Innovation in Learning Center
provided the face-to-face Sakai 101
workshop sixteen times in 2013-2014
with a total of 124 faculty participants.
In addition, 75 faculty members
completed Sakai 101 online, while 7
opted for the do-it-yourself route.
The
Innovation
in
Learning
Center website, southalabama.edu/
departments/ilc/, hosts many resources
related to USAonline/Sakai. All 20
how-to-guides and 18 video tutorials
used for Sakai 101 are available on the
ILC website. There are an additional 22
how-to-guides available which cover
more advanced features of USAonline/
Sakai.
Willette Brye instructing a Sakai
101 workshop
ILC’s Lead Designer, Gurupreet
Khalsa, leading a Sakai 101
workshop (bottom)
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 19
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
Issue Panels
The ILC periodically offers panel discussions that focus
on issues and challenges facing higher education. In
September, a panel discussion presented the world premiere
of the feature documentary, Mobile in Black and White. The
panel included the film’s director, Dr. Robert Gray of the
ILC; the film’s producer, Dr. Joél Lewis of USA’s College
of Education; the film’s editor, Brian Butler of WEAR
Channel 3; and cartoonist J.D. Crowe of al.com, who
contributed several cartoons to the film.
Panel on the Future of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
with Dr. Christy Price, Dr. Tony Waldrop, Dr. Dee Fink, and Dr. Rob
Gray (above)
In November, a panel on Interdisciplinary Teaching featured
Dr. Leigh Ann Litwiller and Dr. Margaret Davis of Spring
Panel attendees (below)
Hill College’s Department of English and USA’s Phil
Carr and Chris Freed from the Department of Sociology,
Anthropology, and Social Work. The session explored
various strategies for incorporating multiple disciplinary
perspectives into one course. Together, these events had a
combined audience total of well over 100 people.
Panel on Interdisciplinary Teaching (above)
included Dr. Philip Carr, Dr. Chris Freed, Dr.
Margaret Davis (Spring Hill College), and Dr.
Leigh Ann Litwiller (Spring Hill College)
Diversity Panel Discussion (right) included J.D.
Crowe (al.com), Brian Butler (WEAR Channel
3), Dr. Rob Gray (ILC) and Dr. Joél Lewis
(College of Education)
20 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES | 03
Conference on Teaching and Learning (CoTL)
The South Alabama Conference on
Teaching and Learning began modestly
in May 2011 as a cost-effective way
to provide USA faculty with the
benefits of attending and presenting
at a national or regional teaching
and learning conference without the
expense of travel and registration.
After a successful debut with over
150 attendees, we invited Spring Hill
College, the University of Mobile, and
Bishop State Community College to
join as co-sponsors and to bring their
faculty. CoTL has grown each year,
and this year topped 300 attendees. The
Fourth Annual CoTL was held in the
newly remodeled USA Student Center
and boasted two excellent featured
speakers who each offered keynote
addresses and special workshops.
Dr. Dee Fink, Professor Emeritus at
the University of Oklahoma, spoke on
High Impact Teaching Practices and
gave a workshop on Integrated Course
Design.
Dr. Christy Price, Professor at Delta
State College, spoke on Engaging the
Millennial or Modern Learner and
offered a workshop on The Flipped
Classroom.
Both speakers were among the best we
have had at CoTL. The conference
also offered over 50 peer-reviewed
presentations from faculty all over the
southeast and two lunchtime panel
discussions. The first panel was on
The Function of Higher Education
at the Present Time and featured
Dr. Jennifer Good from Spring Hill
College, Dr. Latitia McCane from
Bishop State Community College, Dr.
Lonnie Burnett from the University
of Mobile, and Dr. Nicole Carr from
USA. The second panel was on The
Future of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education and featured USA’s
president, Dr. Tony Waldrop, keynote
speakers Dr. Dee Fink and Dr. Christy
Price. The ILC’s Dr. Robert Gray
served as moderator.
Dr. Christy Price and University
President, Dr. Tony Waldrop
during a luncheon panel
discussion (above)
Keynote speaker, Dr. Dee Fink,
speaking about “High Impact
Teaching Practices” (right)
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 21
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
This year’s CoTL grew to
over 300 attendees.
22 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES | 03
Summer Academy
There were 45 attendees
at the 2014 ILC Summer
Academy.
The ILC Summer Academy is a three-day
event which provides faculty with instruction
on techniques and tools to improve their
teaching and, more importantly, student
learning outcomes. Day 1 sessions included:
Stages of Active Learning in the Classroom,
Rubrics and iRubrics, and Informal
Collaborative Learning Techniques. Sessions
for Day 2 included: Active Lecturing
Techniques, Self-Assessment of Teaching,
Meta-cognitive Strategies, Memory and
Learning, and Video to Support Your OnCampus Course. Day 3 featured the Applying
the Quality Matters Rubric workshop. There
were 45 total attendees at this year’s Innovation
in Learning Center Summer Academy.
Dr. Brenda Litchfield
leading a workshop at
Summer Academy (above)
ILC Graduate Staff (left
to right) Mary McCall,
Willette Brye, and Dan Guo
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 23
03 | FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES
Summer Academy Workshop
leaders Dr. Brenda Litchfield, Dr.
Jack Dempsey and Dr. Rob Gray
(right)
The Summer Academy provided
faculty the opportunity to work
together as they learned strategies to
improve their teaching
24 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT & INITIATIVES | 03
Quality Matters
The ILC provides USA faculty and staff training
on the Quality Matters Rubric and course review process to help ensure that the University’s
online and blended courses adhere to a nationally recognized standard of quality design. The
ILC offers three Applying the Quality Matters
Rubric workshops each semester. Faculty who
have completed the workshop are also encouraged to become certified QM Peer Reviewers,
which requires a two-week online course offered
by QM. In Fall 2014, the ILC will begin offering the Applying the Quality Matters Rubric
workshop online.
Online Learning
Consortium Workshops
The ILC provides USA faculty with access to teaching workshops
offered by the Online Learning Consortium (formerly the Sloan
Consortium). These high-quality asynchronous online workshops
cover a wide variety of topics related to online and blended learning.
The OLC is the leading professional online learning society devoted
to advancing quality online learning into the mainstream of higher
education. In 2013-2014, just over 50 USA faculty participated in
OLC workshops.
To date, 97 people have been trained in Applying
the Quality Matters Rubric. We also have 14
faculty and staff trained as peer reviewers, 1 master reviewer, 4 trainers, and 2 completed official
course reviews. In 2013-2014, 33 people were
trained in Applying the Quality Matters Rubric.
In addition, 6 peer reviewers were certified.
To date, 97 USA faculty and staff
have been trained in Applying the
Quality Matters Rubric.
Dr. Jack Dempsey (above) training faculty (top
left) in Applying the Quality Matters Rubric
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 25
04 | STUDENT LEARNING & RESOURCES
04
D
espite our sense that today’s students are all technological
whizzes, many students need assistance adjusting to e-learning
environments. The Innovation in Learning Center offers many resources
to help students be successful in the online learning environment. We
also offer resources that help them acquire highly valued technology
skills that will serve them well in the high-tech job market.
Student Orientation Course
The Innovation in Learning Center has developed an online course to help
orient students to USAonline’s learning management system. Students may
demonstrate their skills using USAonline by completing a proficiency quiz
which is included in the USAonline Student Course. Students who pass the
quiz with at least 75% will receive a certificate of completion that they may submit to their instructor. Students are not required by the University to complete
the USAonline Student Course; however instructors may require that students
complete the course. In the first eight months of 2014 ( January-August), 1,951
users participated in the USAonline Student Course.
From January to August 2014,
1,951 users participated in the
USAonline Student Course.
26 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
STUDENT LEARNING & RESOURCES | 04
JagSkills
JagSkills is a self-paced system that offers technology skills
training on a wide variety of software packages. The system
is free to all students, faculty and staff.
Some of the applications available for training are:
Adobe Products (Captivate, Photoshop, Illustrator)
Microsoft Office 2010 and 2013
Internet Explorer
Crystal Reports
Lotus Notes
SAP Business Suite
Certification is available for the current version of
Microsoft Office.
During the past year, 473 different individuals used
JagSkills and accessed a total of 164 individual learning
modules. A total of 933 sessions were completed.
Student entering JagSkills portal (top) USAonline homepage, including
JagSkills (bottom)
473 different individuals used
JagSkills, accessing a total
of 164 individual learning
modules in 2013-2014.
Smarthinking
1078 students utilized 3,950
Smarthinking tutorial sessions in
2013-2014.
Smarthinking is an online writing tutoring service offered
through USAonline. Tutoring is offered on a drop-in or
scheduled basis. Faculty members may include the Smarthinking
resource in their online courses by adding it as a tool in their
USAonline sites. The University provides enrolled students
with a limited number of hours of writing tutorial services per
year through Smarthinking. Students may purchase additional
tutoring time if desired. In the 2013-2014 academic year, 1078
students utilized 3,950 Smarthinking tutorial sessions for a total
of 2,733 hours.
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 27
04 | STUDENT LEARNING & RESOURCES
Weekly Student Tips
Each week during the Fall, Spring, and
Summer semesters, the ILC creates a
Student Tip of the Week that provides
simple advice to students about various
features or tasks in USAonline or other
online technologies. In 2013-2014,
the ILC created 38 student weekly
tips on tools such as Assignments,
Forums, Profile, News, Wiki, Clog,
and the new look of USAonline that
was released in the Spring. Tips are
posted on the USAonline website and
are also available in an online archive.
WebEx
WebEx is a premiere online conferencing
and meeting tool that USAonline
has made available for faculty use in
courses, orientations, and meetings. It
enables faculty to develop synchronous
connections with students and colleagues
who are not available to attend face-toface meetings. Students may join WebEx
facilitated online class meetings via
computer or mobile device and engage
in a myriad of activities with simply an
internet connection.
WebEx is free to all University faculty.
Information about requesting an account
and getting started with WebEx is
available on the Innovation in Learning
Center website.
28 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
The ILC created 38 student weekly
tips in 2013-2014 on tools such
as Assignments, Forums, Profile,
News, Wiki, Clog, and the new look
and feel of USAonline.
05 | GRADUATE STUDENTS
05
G
raduate assistants in the Innovation in Learning Center have
the opportunity to develop real-world instructional design and
technology skills. The graduate assistants are students (MS and PhD)
in the Instructional Design and Development program at the University.
Complementing their academic training in Instructional Design and
Development with practical instructional design and faculty development
activities at the ILC gives students the opportunity to develop valuable
pedagogical experiences and increases their employability.
ILC Graduate Assistant
Larene Peeples participating
in media production training
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 29
05 | GRADUATE STUDENTS
Graduate Student
Training
Graduate Assistants (GAs) have the
opportunity to use the latest e-learning
software such as Captivate and Camtasia
Studio, have free access to software and
technology training (Lynda.com), and
benefit from peer mentoring to acquire
proficiency in other popular technology
resources and software used for projects,
courses, or faculty development.
Formal training sessions on different
technologies are conducted weekly for
both full-time staff and GAs. In addition, individual GA staff work with
full-time staff and peers in structured
one-on-one sessions, and new graduate
staff members are each mentored by a
peer trainer.
Formal training sessions
on a variety of different
technologies are
conducted weekly for all
ILC staff.
30 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
06 | QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE
06
U
SAonline, our University’s e-learning “campus,” provides many
tools that allow faculty members to create a robust and diverse
online learning experience for learners. The menu of e-learning tools
within the customized learning management system (LMS) includes
more than two dozen major tools (assignments tool, grade book, etc.)
native to the Sakai system. In addition, USAonline has made around 20
third-party (non-LMS) e-learning tools available for faculty to employ
in their courses. Some of these have been integrated directly into our
customized LMS software.
In support of this always-evolving learning environment, USAonline
and ILC staff provide frequent live and online training sessions to the
University community. The USAonline and ILC staff have developed
extensive just-in-time digital resources, such as video tutorials and howto-guides, to assist faculty and students using e-learning technologies.
These resources are available through the ILC and USAonline web
sites.
USAonline manages upgrades and adopts useful new tools and
improved interfaces as they become available and are needed. A
couple of recent additions to USAonline’s capabilities are the Lessons
Builder Tool and Page Order Feature.
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 31
06 | QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE
Lessons
Builder Tool
The Lessons Builder tool allows users
to create sophisticated and flexible
content modules and sequences which
can be organized by week or content
unit. The sequenced content can in-
Page Order
Feature
clude text, rich media such as video, activities from a variety of other tools in
the CLE, and external Internet-based
software.
The Page Order feature is another useful USAonline innovation, particularly
when used in conjunction with the
Lessons Builder tool. The Page Order
feature in the Site Editor tool allows
the site owner to change the order of
tools in the tools menu; remove tools;
hide tools so they do not display in the
tools menu but their content can still
be accessed by users; or disable tools so
that their content can be retained but
not accessible by users.
Both the Lessons Builder tool and
the Page Order feature add additional
functionality and give faculty members more flexibility in designing their
courses.
Example of Lessons Builder Tool
The menu of e-learning tools within USAonline includes more than two dozen major
tools native to the Sakai system. In addition, USAonline has made around 20 thirdparty (non-LMS) e-learning tools available for faculty to employ in their courses.
32 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE | 06
Student Assistants, Kalen Snyder and Alyssa Garner,
captioning media for USAonline
Sign-Up
Tool
The Sign-Up tool lets students sign
up for faculty-scheduled events such
as office hour visits or review sessions.
In addition, students can schedule collaborative group meetings or activities
in their USAonline Project Sites. This
tool has quite a few options, including
automatic group creation, attendance
tracking, meeting management, availability indicators, notifications, and
calendar tool integration.
Faculty members in the USA College
of Engineering use the Sign-Up tool
extensively for the purpose of scheduling academic advising with students.
Even if students reside out of town or
out of state, they may reserve a time
slot for advising and faculty may utilize the Meetings tool or WebEx in
conjunction with the Sign-Up tool to
conference with the students online.
Dr. Kevin West of the College of
Engineering using the Sign-Up tool
Accessibility
USAonline is committed to supporting
the University’s e-Learning Accessibility
Guidelines. We particularly focus on
captioning media, providing alternative
descriptions for graphics, and converting
PDF files to make them accessible.
Over 600 video and audio
files were captioned for
accessibility in 2013-2014.
We have created how-to guides on different captioning software programs,
demonstration videos on captioning,
and teaching tips on making online
courses and instructional material accessible. The ILC also teaches faculty
workshops on making online courses
more accessible.
For faculty unable to do captioning
themselves, the ILC employs undergraduate students to caption media. Requests to caption media from faculty
are handled through an online caption
request form, which can be found on
the ILC site. In 2013-2014, over 600
videos and audio files were captioned
for accessibility.
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 33
06 | QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE
Website
Development
During the last few months of the
academic year, the ILC has been
redesigning its website to increase
functionality and to fit better with the
look and feel of the University’s new
content management system. We’re
really pleased with the new design.
The ILC website is primarily intended
to provide faculty with access to many
mediated technology and pedagogy
resources, information about upcoming ILC events, and news about various university teaching and learning
initiatives. The new ILC website went
live in fall 2014.
Previous ILC website
New ILC website
34 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
07 | ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
07
M
aintaining academic integrity in distance education can be a challenge.
USAonline provides tools for online test monitoring and plagiarism
education and prevention.
ILC Director Jack Dempsey gives
a tour of the ILC facilities to Sr.
Vice President David Johnson
and University President Tony
Waldrop
ProctorU
USAonline has adopted ProctorU as its main online proctoring system.
This system uses live online proctoring of USAonline examinations. For
this first full academic year, examinations in 20 courses have been proctored using this service. ProctorU representatives and
ILC Graduate Assistants at
CoTL 2014
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 35
07 | ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Turnitin.com
Ensuring student papers are original is
especially challenging in the era of cut
and paste. To help faculty address this,
USAonline has integrated Turnitin, a
web-based plagiarism detection system, directly into USAonline/Sakai’s
Assignments tool. This system is valuable not just as a policing mechanism,
but also as a resource for educating
students about acceptable use of other
writers’ materials.
Turnitin is a very heavily used tool.
During the last academic year, 343
instructors and 13,546 students used
Turnitin. During that period, 50,327
assignment submissions were checked
for originality.
Gurupreet Khalsa
conducting a workshop on
Turnitin.com
36 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
343 instructors and 13,546
students used
Turnitin, and 50,327
assignment submissions
were checked for
originality in 2013-2014.
08 | INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
08
L
ocal support is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except
for school holidays). Users can call, email, or simply walk in to receive
personal assistance from skilled ILC/USAonline staff. Our staff can also go
work with faculty in their offices. All staff members are well-versed in using
USAonline and often serve as instructors for our Sakai workshops.
During 2013-2014, the ILC/USAonline fielded more than 1,500 support
calls from faculty, staff and students representing virtually every college and
department on campus. Many of the calls were about using the USAonline
learning management system. Other calls related to Camtasia Studio and
Relay, i>clickers, online collaboration and conferencing, Class Climate,
Peermark, Adobe Acrobat, and WordPress.
During 2013-2014, the ILC/USAonline
fielded more than 1,500 support calls
from faculty, staff, and students from
virtually every college and department
on campus.
Local Support
The ILC conducted more than 40 oneon-one in-person help sessions with
faculty, either on a walk-in basis or by
appointment in their offices.
Members of the ILC staff are on call to
help faculty members with USAonline
questions or with other questions
about pedagogy, online teaching, or
educational media software programs.
Faculty members may call the ILC for
help, drop into the office, or request oneon-one assistance in their own offices.
Graduate Assistant Larene Peeples assisting
a faculty member over the phone
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 37
08 | INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
24/7 Online Support
In addition to local support, we offer
an Online Support Center which is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days per
week via toll-free telephone assistance,
email, or chat. In 2013-2014, the
Helpdesk received over 2,700 support
calls while resolving the user's issue
on the first call 98% of the time. Also,
the Online Support Center includes
a searchable relational database that
can respond to frequent questions and
point users to related resources.
The Online Helpdesk
received over 2,700
support calls and
resolved the user's issue
on the first call 98% of
the time in 2013-2014.
USAonline Online Support System
38 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT | 08
ILC/USAonline
Websites
Both the ILC and USAonline sites
provide a wealth of just-in-time resources, links to services, and learning
tools.
The USAonline landing page (found at
ecampus.southalabama.edu) has many
helpful links for USA faculty members. This page operates as the gateway
and access point to USAonline/Sakai
courses.
From here, faculty can access useful information by clicking on the
“Faculty and Staff ” box at the top of
the page. Offerings here include tips,
accessibility guidelines, how to work
with special student populations, the
weekly bulletin, information about
faculty workshops, and other faculty
resources.
The USAonline landing page also
offers a Faculty Help section which
connects to our 24/7 Helpdesk and
allows users a variety of methods to
find answers to questions at any time.
There are also links on the USAonline
landing page to access JagSkills (for
self-paced tutorials on a diverse range
of technologies) and PAWS (USA’s
Personal Access Web System).
USAonline Faculty Resource Page
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 39
08 | INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
ILC/USAonline
Websites
The ILC website (southalabama.edu/
ilc) has numerous resources for USA
faculty. From here, you can register for
workshops and presentations (several
are offered each week on a variety
of instructural strategies, learning
technologies and other topics).
Additionally, the website provides
an extensive repository of current
and ongoing ILC initiatives, such as
accessibility, course redesign, and the
Online Learning Consortium. There
are also many PDF “how-to” guides
and video tutorials on subjects of
interest to USA faculty.
40 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
ILC Resources Repository
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT | 08
University Committee on
Electronic Learning (UCEL)
ILC representatives contribute regularly to initiatives involving
the University Committee on Electronic Learning, an institution-wide group representing colleges and units within the
University. The committee is appointed annually by the Senior
Vice President for Academic Affairs and is charged with analyzing and providing input on topics related to e-learning.
Committee members during the 2013-2014
academic year:
Jack Dempsey (Chair)
ILC/USAonline
Julie Estis
Allied Health Professions; Faculty
Sam Fisher
Arts & Sciences
Andy Lightbourne
Computer Services Center
Charles Guest
IRPA
Andrea Kent
Education
Marjorie Icenogle
Business
Mohan Menon
Business
Bob Coleman
Arts & Sciences
Srinivas Palanki
Engineering
Mary Duffy
Library
Matt Campbell
Computing
Kevin West
Faculty Senate, Engineering
Senate
Rob Gray
ILC
Valorie Dearmon
Nursing
Harold Pardue
Computing
Rosemary Rhodes
Nursing
Jean Tucker
University Attorney
Cecelia Martin
IRPA
Joyce Guest
Medicine
Ronald Styron
QEP Director
Jenny Manders
Continuing Education
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 41
08 | INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
USAonline Advisory Committee
The USAonline Advisory Committee is charged with providing
input regarding all issues related to the University’s delivery of
instruction via distance education. The Committee is appointed
annually by the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Committee members during the 2013-2014
academic year:
Jack Dempsey (Chair)
ILC/USAonline
Jeff Davidson
USAonline
Joe’l Lewis
Sam Fisher
Kathi Gradle
Robert Gray
Catherine Cochran
Diane Keasler
Jeff Landry
Andy Lightbourne
Jenny Manders
Al Chow
Gurupreet Khalsa
Jason Smith
Julio Turrens
Kalen Synder
Bret Webb
Paula Webb
Kelly Osterbind
Kevin West
42 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Education
Arts and Sciences
Computer Center
ILC
Medicine
Nursing
Computing
Academic Computing
Continuing Education
Business
Graduate Student
Representative
ILC
Allied Health Professions
Undergraduate Student
Representative
Engineering
Library
Registrar
Faculty Senate Representative
09 | STAFF & FACILITIES
09
T
he ILC/USAonline staff work collaboratively to support University goals.
During the 2013-2014 academic year, the Center had eight full-time staff,
from 8 to 11 graduate students, and three undergraduate staff.
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 43
09 | STAFF & FACILITIES
ILC/USAonline
Full-Time Staff
Jack Dempsey
Rob Gray
Jeff Davidson
Jason Smith
Director, Innovation in
Learning Center and
USAonline
Manager, Faculty
Development Services
Manager, Learning
Management System
Services
Systems Manager II
As Director, Jack conducts
strategic planning and budgeting, supervises all Center
staff, and leads and participates in organizational
and Center initiatives. Dr.
Dempsey holds a tenured
academic appointment as
Professor of Instructional
Design and Development.
In this role, Rob plans,
manages, and helps conduct
the numerous teaching
and learning workshops
and events offered by the
Center. Dr. Gray also
teaches courses in English
and Interdisciplinary
Studies.
44 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
Jeff is responsible for the
daily administration of
USAonline particularly
oversight of any technical
or functional issues. His
background includes over
25 years of programming
and IT support.
Jason is responsible for
planning, implementing and
supporting a wide range of
instructional technology
initiatives at the University
including e-learning tools
and accessibility compliance.
STAFF & FACILITIES | 09
Melissa Ferrell
Distance Learning Specialist II
Melissa works closely with
faculty members to provide
support for online and
blended course development, assists with support
calls for USAonline, and
facilitates Quality Matters
workshops.
Gabrielle
Kahanamoku
Distance Learning Specialist I
Gabrielle provides support
for faculty, staff, and students on USAonline and
related issues and generates
reports used for course
analysis and marketing.
Dave Walker
Angie Summersgill
Instructional Videography
Specialist
Secretary IV
Dave develops and produces instructional video
content for blended and
online courses at USA and
conducts workshops and
training related to the use
of digital media.
Angie serves as assistant to
the Director and provides
general support for all
Center activities and events.
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 45
09 | STAFF & FACILITIES
ILC Graduate Assistants
Standing (L to R)- Willette
Brye, Hameed Mirza, Candy
Harbin, Brandon Moss,
Angelia Bendolph, Stasia
Weston, Mary McCall
Seated (L to R)- Larene
Peeples, Sandra Rogers,
Gurupreet Khalsa, Dan Guo
ILC Undergraduate Assistants
(L to R) Captioning Assistants,
Kalen Snyder and Alyssa Garner.
Graphic Design Assistant,
Christine Rogalin. who provided
the design for this report.
46 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014
STAFF & FACILITIES | 09
Facilities
ILC recording studio
The Innovation in Learning Center and
USAonline are located in a suite of nine
offices inside the College of Education,
which is across the street from the main
campus. The staff uses the College’s computer labs to conduct technology and
learning management system workshops.
Meeting rooms around campus are used
for non-technology faculty development
sessions.
In January 2015, Innovation in Learning
Center and USAonline staff are scheduled to move to a new home in renovated offices at Faculty Court East on the
main campus. Construction is currently
in progress. Once completed, the renovated offices will house full-time staff
and graduate assistants and will include a
seminar room and a larger classroom for
conducting faculty and staff workshops.
ILC Grad Lab
Future ILC building currently
under renovation
ILC and USAonline 2013-2014 47
48 ILC and USAonline 2013-2014