G.L. Heileman 1 , C.T. Abdallah 1 , W. Shu 1 , C.
Christdoulou 1 , D. Knotts 2
1 Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
New Media & Extended Learning
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA

In this talk we describe the motivation, strategies, implementation details, and challenges associated with the creation of on-line graduate-level degree programs in the ECE department at the University of
New Mexico.

• New Mexico is one of the largest but least populated states in the US.
• Widely dispersed population centers, some highly technical, e.g., Los Alamos.
• University of New Mexico (UNM) has a long history of attempting to service these remote students.

• Distance Education at UNM:
 1920s , Correspondence courses offered.
 1980s , Instructional television offered statewide, and degree-granting distance education programs.
 1997 , First on-line course offered.
 1999 , Extended University dept. created
 2000 , WebCT adopted as university-wide learning management system.
 2001-2005 , on-line offerings grow from 17 to 124 courses, many of them in the ECE dept.

• The ECE department has played a leading role in the use of technology for distance education.
• Goal : creation of a completely on-line M.S. degree in the ECE dept.
• We expected the typical benefits associated with distance education, but a number of additional benefits emerged, and are discussed next.

• Students often sign up for on-line sections of a class, yet primarily attend the in-class sections.
 Flexibility - many of our students work fulltime and miss classes due to travel. This allows them to use the on-line section to
“make up” missed classes.
 This was also possible through instruction television, but not nearly as convenient.

• UNM LMS has allowed faculty to develop and teach courses from remote locations, e.g.,
 While off-site during the summer months.
 While on sabbatical in Europe.
• This activity is synergistic with the development of international programs.
 These types of courses have made it practical to implement dual-degree programs with Jiao Tong Univ.
(China) and Campinas (Brazil).
 Some of the coursework requirements can now be satisfied at the home institution, thus lessening the travel burden.

• Increasingly we see students “window shop” through our on-line offering.
 Students can try out courses in the dept. before committing to pursuing a graduate degree.
 This also addresses competition, as many nationwide on-line universities are now competing for our students.

• High drop-out rate. Less rigid => Students often underestimate the time commitment.
• Other problems typical of these types of programs:
 Difficulty in developing personal relationships.
 Trust environment necessary for exams.

• Biggest issue is workload.
 We must continue to offer in-class sections.
 Thus, on-line offerings imply additional work.
 Currently UNM provides extra compensation
(financial incentive) to faculty for developing on-line coursewares. This is critical!

• Many faculty also underestimate the time commitment associated with developing on-line coursewares.
 Department policy - encourage courses to first be taught as web-enchaned before going online.
 Web-enhanced means a traditional course that makes use of LMS technology as some part of the course.

• Asynchronous nature of the technology:
 Answers to questions are not immediate.
 Adjustments to pace of course and volume of materials is more difficult.
• As bandwidth becomes more available, live lectures, or at least live Q&A sessions will be possible.
• This may create the “tipping point”.

• Some courses are more difficult to implement on-line, as they have a more synchronous style.
• E.g., our graduate seminar series.
 Required of all graduate students.
 Seminars will be captured on video.
 In-class students are told they have the burden of asking questions the on-line students may think of.

• Laboratory courses have similar difficulties.
 We have offered these courses with weekend lab sections - students travel from nearby cities.
 We are experimenting with LabView to simulate some of the experiments, and with the ability to control laboratory equipment remotely.

• Our on-line course offering have grown dramatically over the past 5 years.
• It is now possible for remote students to take all of the graduate core courses in certain emphasis areas on-line.
• The offerings outside of the core courses are sparse - and this is what currently limits our goal.
• International students can satisfy certain UNM course requirements on-line while working at their home institution.